With two seconds left on the game clock in Laramie, Wyoming, the home side Cowboys called timeout hoping to ice Utah State’s kicker, Tanner Cragun. The redshirt freshman was set to line up for a 40-yard field goal with a chance to give the visiting Aggies a walk-off win.
Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvell wanted to give Cragun a little more time to get nervous about the stakes.
Both sides sat at 1-6 heading into the game, Utah State was on one of the longest active losing streaks at six consecutive defeats. The Aggies trailed 25-24 meaning a miss would end the game and increase that skid to seven games.
Cragun said the extra thinking time didn’t affect him.
“I’ve never been fazed by icing,” Cragun said. “I know a lot of kickers are that I’ve talked to. But not thinking much (during the timeout). Just calming my body down, taking deep breaths and then just doing what I’ve practiced for so long.”
Utah State interim head coach Nate Dreiling took the time to hug a few of the coaches and keep a positive outlook no matter what happened with Cragun’s upcoming kick.
“I just told a bunch of coaches and players I love them and I’m so proud of them. And this kick has no relevance on how we did tonight and what they deserve,” Dreiling said. “I used that moment to really make sure they enjoyed each other and enjoyed what they’d been through to get to that point.”
There would be no need to force positivity, though, as Cragun didn’t waiver in the slightest. Amid perfect kicking conditions he hit a perfect kick from the middle of the field through the middle of the uprights.
.@TannerCragun WALKS IT OFF!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/iysKhRjU5K
— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 27, 2024
It was a new career-long for the freshman and the first walk-off game-winning field goal since Dominik Eberle hit from 30 yards to give USU a 37-35 win over Fresno State in 2019.
Dreiling nearly paid the price for a decision earlier in the fourth quarter that, in hindsight, appeared to be rather poor. When Utah State scored a go-ahead touchdown with 12 minutes left in the game, the point-after kick crew came out onto the field with Cragun putting the Aggies up 24-22. But a two-point try would have put USU up by three points, assuming it was successful and would have avoided a situation where the Aggies were pressured into a late drive in which they had to score.
“Thought about (going for two). But both teams were, at that point, moving the ball,” Dreiling said. “(Wyoming had) just went for a two-point conversion, didn’t get it. I though they changed points on that one and I wanted to make sure that we didn’t do the same. I thought there was a couple more scores by both teams so I wanted to make sure that we were not needing that point later. Thankfully it didn’t cost us. Could have went either way.”
That assumption turned out to be quite wrong, even if it made sense at the time. Both sides had scored touchdowns within two minutes of each other when Dreiling made that call. In the remaining 12 minutes only six more points would be scored by both teams combined.
Utah State’s offense stalling in the game was unfortunately not uncommon throughout the night. The Aggies started the game with a seven play, 75-yard touchdown drive but then didn’t score until late in the second quarter. Then, in the third quarter the offense had three consecutive three-and-out with four such drives in total in the second half.
The key, of course, was clutch play in clutch moments.
Late in the first half, Utah State went down 10-7. With Wyoming getting the ball out of the halftime break the Aggies needed to build some kind of momentum. They started by driving into field goal range with Cragun hitting his first field goal of the day.
Had that been it, the Aggies may have been OK with the result, but it got far better before the halftime whistle sounded.
With 1:13 left in the first half, Wyoming took the ball and tried to squeeze a field goal in themselves. Sawvell sent in Evan Svoboda at QB, who’d started but had been splitting snaps with backup Kaden Anderson, who promtly threw an interception to Jordan Vincent.
PICKED!
📺 @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/Nv1MTlj645
— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 27, 2024
The Aggies took over on Wyoming’s 44-yard line and, not content with just another field goal despite having just 35 seconds to work with, USU took it all the way to the end zone. That required some trickery as Grant Page threw the ball on a double pass, finding Rahsul Faison for a 36-yard gain. Faison then powered it in from eight yards out for a touchdown.
That sequence played a huge role in giving the Aggies a win. As it handed the Aggies a seven point cushion it was able to work with in the second half.
Utah State’s second-half offensive performance could probably be best described as performing when it matter most, but also only performing when it mattered most. As noted, the Aggies went three-and-out four times in the second half, but crucially, they did not do so for two important occasions: 1) When Wyoming took the lead 22-17, the Aggies scoring a touchdown on their very next drive. And 2) After the Cowboys hit a go-ahead field goal with 1:57 left in the game in which USU drove the field for a walk-off field goal.
That final drive saw the Aggies do whatever they had to for the necessary yardage. When USU found itself on a 4th & 3 in its own territory, backup QB Bryson Barnes found his way behind center for a QB designed run. He gained six yards out of the necessary three. Barnes even attempted a pass after a hurry-up following his fourth-down conversion before Spencer Petras returned to the field.
All of these moments were created despite the Aggies being down two offensive stars, wide receiver Jalen Royals and tight end Broc Lane. Royals had gone for 100+ receiving yards in four straight games before suffering a foot injury that has now ended his season prematurely. Lane will also miss the rest of the season.
Without those two, Petras’ numbers took a hit (25 of 39 for 194 yards and two touchdowns) but weren’t enough to keep the Aggies from a win. Particularly important in that fact was Faison’s 131 rushing yards, his fourth 100-yard rushing game but first since Oct. 5.
“We anticipated that once they knew Jalen wasn’t playing that there was probably a pretty strong chance that (Wyoming) would just double down on stopping the run,” Petras said. “And when they do, those hard, grinder four-yard gains that Rahsul is so good at are huge.”
Although the win is unlikely to be the catalyst for a season turnaround and bowl appearance, the Aggies have at least given themselves a chance at doing so. Ending the losing streak and salvaging some pride was an important stepping stone. And, after the game, Dreiling had a message for the fan base in a positive moment for a team going through a brutal season.
“You guys deserve so much,” Dreiling said. “Utah is such a special place, it has been unbelievable, not just to this team, but for my family. You guys deserve the world and all the success. So we are gonna continue to work to make sure we do our best for you guys and put a product on the field, not just that but also off the field, to make everyone proud. And hopefully tonight we’re getting one step closer.”
