--- The wait was over, no more practices, no more two-a-days, no more sweating away in the August heat. The start of another season had arrived, and with it, we jumped right into the fire in our first game with hatred renewed, as we headed down the highway to take on the Utes of Utah for the Battle of the Brothers, with both teams looking to get a leg up in the tri-battle for the Beehive Boot with BYU. Despite being on the road, and despite coming off a very poor season last year, we had some confidence heading into this contest, as we were much more evenly matched with Utah this time around.
We had a quite respectably ranked defense this year, and our offense was going to be back to almost full speed, with senior Adam Powers back under center to lead our offensive attack after sitting out last year with a redshirt. While we lost some talented receivers in Travis Munoz and Ryan Conley, as well as tight end Maurice Martin, to go along with some hits to the offensive line, we were able to fill the holes with the return of some players who sat out with redshirts last season, including receivers Eric McGuire and Dre Martin. The biggest question mark would be our running game. Losing star halfback Preston Roberson to graduation was going to be a tough hole to fill. That hole was made even tougher to fill with the loss of third-stringer Dante May to graduation, as well as second-stringer Brian Paris being sidelined this year with a redshirt. That would leave senior Matt Leierer, who has rushed the ball a grand total of two times in his entire collegiate career, as our starting halfback, true freshman Tyson Taylor as our backup halfback and true freshman Benjamin Silva filling in as third-string halfback. Utah won the coin toss and elected to kick.
A 30 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart gave us the ball at our 29 yard line to start the season. Starting the drive on the ground, Matt Leierer took the handoff from Adam Powers for a four yard rush, followed by a four yard gain to leave us looking at third and two. Leaving the ball in the hands of Leierer, he would get the job done with a three yard rush to pick up the first down at the 40 yard line. A first down dive by Tyson Taylor from the wingback slot went for a big gain of 8 yards, before a two yard rush by Leierer left us just short of the first down, lining up on third and inches. Powers would do the honors himself, taking the snap and pushing forward for a one yard rush, moving the chains to the Utah 49 yard line. Another wingback dive, this time by Leierer, went for a gain of 12 yards and another quick first down at the 36. Going into the air on first down, Powers dropped back and rifled a pass to Dre Martin, complete for a 14 yard gain and a new set of downs at the 22. Another first down pass, this time intended for Eric McGuire, was nearly intercepted, leaving second and 10. Lining up under center, Powers dropped back and hit tight end Cedric McKinney over the middle for a 15 yard gain, setting us up with first and goal from the 7 yard line. A first down rush by Leierer resulted in a three yard gain, followed by a four yard rush that left us with third and goal just inches from the goal line. It would not be meant to be, as Leierer was met at the line of scrimmage and stood up for no gain, leaving fourth and goal just outside the goal line. Taking the gamble and going for it on fourth down, potentially setting up a rhythm for this season, we would fail to gain even 6 inches, as the fourth down QB sneak by Powers ended in failure, Utah’s defense stopping us twice from inside the one yard line to force the turnover on downs and take over at the one.
Lining up in their own end zone after the turnover on downs, Utah came out running on first down, as Jason McNeil kept the ball on first down for a two yard gain, giving the Utes a little bit of breathing room. That trickle would turn into a waterfall as Michael Chavez took the second down handoff straight up the middle for a 55 yard gain, torching our defense to a first down at our 42 yard line. A first down screen pass intended for Matt Dahl was dropped, setting up second and 10. A carry by Chavez went for a gain of 5 yards to leave third and 5. Lining up on a big third down, McNeil would find Clint Lee near the right sideline, but he would get tackled for a minor gain of just two yards, bringing up fourth and three for Utah. Going for it on fourth down as well, Utah lined up in the shotgun for the play. The Utes would also see failure on their fourth down attempt, as our coverage left no one open for McNeil to throw to, defensive end Leroy Fuqua able to break through his blocker and get the coverage sack on McNeil for a 5 yard loss, forcing the turnover on downs at our 40 yard line.
Beginning our next drive on the ground, Leierer got us started with a 5 yard rush around the left end, followed by a dash up the middle for a 5 yard carry, giving us a quick first down at midfield. Another rush by Leierer would pick up just two yards, setting up second and 8. Running a play action pass on second down, the throw to fullback Raymond Watson was on-target, but a hit by the cornerback knocked the ball loose and incomplete to leave third down. Max Rhodes would keep us breathing on third down, pulling in the pass from Powers for a gain of 13 yards, moving the chains to the Utah 35 yard line. A quick pass over the middle on first down, intended for fullback Walter Johnson, ended up sailing behind him and incomplete, setting up a quick second down. Powers would recover on second down, finding Martin coming across the middle on a slant route for a 13 yard completion and another first down at the 22 yard line. Everything would come crashing to a halt on first down however, as Powers took a shot into the end zone, the pass intended for McGuire, only to have it intercepted by cornerback Alvin Jackson, Jackson falling out of the back of the end zone for a touchback to give Utah the ball at their 20 yard line.
Forced back onto the field after the interception, our defense wasn’t about to take it easy on the Utes offense, as a first down handoff to Chavez resulted in a four yard loss in the face of our blitz, leaving second and 14. That would be the final play of the first quarter, the score still knotted up at 0-0.
Starting the second quarter, our defensive victory would be short lived as Utah came out with a screen pass on second down, McNeil connecting with Chavez for a 16 yard gain and a first down at the 32 yard line. Another pass to Chavez resulted in another big gain, this time for 23 yards, and Utah lined up on first down from our 45 yard line. McNeil was forced to throw the ball away on a first down play action pass to avoid a sack, leaving second and 10. A pass to Clint Lee along the left sideline would result in two different defenders shaken off and a run up the sideline for an 18 yard gain, moving the chains to our 27. Derrick Johnson took the handoff on first down, only gaining two yards on the play to leave second and 8. A second down handoff to Chavez would again be blown up by the defense for a four yard loss, setting up third and 12. Despite Hart falling down on the coverage, a rushed pass to McNeil to avoid the pressure, intended for Maurice Allen fell well short of the receiver and incomplete, leaving Utah with fourth and long from our 29. Utah would settle for a 46 yard field goal by Sam Mayhew, giving the Utes a 3-0 lead with 7:11 left in the second quarter.
A 32 yard kickoff return by McGuire gave us the ball at our 25 yard line. Leierer got our drive started with a three yard rush, followed by a pitch to the right that resulted in an 11 yard gain and a first down at the 38 yard line. A first down pass over the middle intended for Martin ended in disaster again, as cornerback Erik Collins intercepted the pass, returning it 7 yards to our 40 yard line.
Taking over at our 40 yard line after the interception, McNeil dropped back to pass on first down and lofted the ball to Dahl. Our defense nearly got us the ball back as safety Charles Noble almost intercepted the pass, ultimately dropping it incomplete as he hit the ground to bring up second down for the Utes. Our defense would keep putting up their best efforts, as McNeil would end up sacked for a 5 yard loss on the second down pass attempt, leaving Utah with third and 15. McNeil dropped back to pass on third down, and this time our defense would get the ball back for us, as the pass intended for Chavez was intercepted along the right sideline by Hart, returned two yards before going out of bounds at our 35 yard line.
Lining up on first down after our defense got the ball back, Leierer started our drive with a 7 yard dash, followed by a one yard rush that left us with third and two. Taking our chances on the ground, a third down dive by Leierer from the wingback slot would pick up three yards and get the first down at the 47. An attempted option play on first down was utterly blown up by the defense, as both Powers and Leierer was instantly taken out by the defense, Powers tackled for a two yard loss on the play. A play action pass to tight end Jack Long went for an 11 yard gain, leaving third and one. Leierer took the ball on third down, rumbling for a 9 yard gain and a first down to keep us in action at the Utah 35 yard line. A two yard rush by Leierer was followed with a pass from Powers to Johnson over the middle for an 11 yard gain, moving the chains to the 22 yard line. Lining up under center on first down, the pass over the middle intended for McKinney was nearly intercepted by the middle linebacker, leaving second and 10. Greg Miller would keep the ball moving for us with a 10 yard reception near the left hash, giving us a first down at the 12 yard line. Leierer took the ball straight up the middle on first down, pumping his way to an 8 yard gain, before being stood up for no gain on the next play to leave third and two at the four yard line. Taylor would take the ball on third down, but could only manage a single yard as Utah’s defense again would shut us down inside the red zone, leaving fourth and one from the Utah three yard line, just 29 seconds left on the clock. We had gambled already and lost, but hoping our luck would turn around, we took the gamble once more, calling timeout to stop the clock with 27 seconds to play. Lining up on fourth and one, Leierer took the handoff and would succeed this time, fighting his way to a two yard gain to give us first and goal at the one yard line. We called our second timeout with 23 seconds to play, looking for at least two attempts at punching it in. We would end up only needing a single try, as Leierer took the first down handoff, found a gap to the left of the center and laid out, diving into the end zone for the one yard touchdown to give us a 7-3 lead with 21 seconds left before halftime.
A 23 yard kickoff return by Chavez gave Utah the ball at their 24 yard line, 17 seconds to work with. A first down screen pass to Chavez gained 16 yards and a first down at the 41 yard line, but tackled inbounds, forcing Utah to call their first timeout with 9 seconds left. Another screen pass to Chavez gained 7 yards, getting out of bounds at the 48 yard line with just four seconds remaining. McNeil would never even get the chance to throw the final pass, as McBride broke off his block and managed to get to McNeil right as he was winding up to throw, sacking him for a 7 yard loss that brought the second quarter to an end. With that, we headed into halftime holding onto a surprising 7-3 lead.
Opening up the second half, Johnson returned the kickoff 21 yards to give Utah the ball at their 25 yard line to start the third quarter. A diving deflection by safety Sam Richwalski broke up a first down pass attempt intended for Lee, bringing up an immediate second down for the Utes. A screen pass over the middle to Roger Armstrong went for a 9 yard gain, leaving Utah with third and one. A quick pass on third down connected with Dahl for a 6 yard gain and a first down at the 41 yard line, the Utes taking advantage of our run-cheating defense. Put under immediate pressure by our blitzing defense, McNeil was left dancing on his first down pass attempt, before throwing an on the move, off-balanced pass across his body, intended for Armstrong clear across the field along the opposite sideline. Instead of finding Armstrong, the very poorly thrown pass found its way right into the arms of cornerback Buck Castillo, who returned it 9 yards to give us the ball at the Utah 41 yard line.
Leierer started our offensive drive on the ground with a 7 yard carry, followed by a three yard rush that left us facing third and inches. Taylor would take the third down handoff, fighting his way to a four yard gain to pick up the first down at the 27 yard line. A four yard rush by Leierer was followed by a 10 yard dash up the middle to move the chains to the Utah 13 yard line. Taylor took the ball on first down, but was immediately dragged down by the blitzing cornerback for no gain, leaving second and 10. Lining up under center on second down, Utah completely sold out on the play action pass, leaving Watson completely uncovered along the right sideline, hauling in the pass from Powers and trotting into the end zone for a 13 yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 14-3 with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
A 24 yard kickoff return by Johnson gave Utah the ball at their 26 yard line. A bullet pass to Ronnie Wilson ended up sailing out of bounds behind the receiver and incomplete, leaving an early second down. A failed interception attempt by Noble allowed Dahl to haul in the second down pass from McNeil, taking it for a gain of 19 yards and giving Utah a first down at the 45 yard line. Chavez took the ball on first down for a one yard gain, followed by a 10 yard completion to Allen, the ball from McNeil thrown across his body, and Allen somehow picking that ball up before it hit the ground, resulting in a first down at our 44 yard line. A dropped pass by a wide open Wilson turned what would have been a sure first down into an incompletion, resulting in second down. McNeil would end up meeting our defensive line on the next play, as defensive tackle Ernest Sims broke through the block by the center and tripped up McNeil, credited with a sack for a 7 yard loss to leave Utah facing third and 17. The third down pass over the middle intended for Allen was broken up by Richwalski, and Utah was forced to punt on fourth down, our defense holding despite the early success by the Utes. The 51 yard punt would land at the four yard line and bounce into the end zone for a touchback.
Lining up after the touchback, Leierer got us off and running with a first down carry for a gain of 7 yards, followed by a rush for no gain to leave us looking at third and three. Dropping back into the shotgun on third down, Powers connected with Benjamin Silva out of the backfield for a huge 12 yard gain, picking up the first down at the 39 yard line. Turning back to the ground game, Leierer picked up four yards on the first down handoff, before Taylor was brought down by the blitz for a one yard loss to leave us with third and 7. Blown coverage by the defense allowed Max Rhodes to get open along the left hash, the pass complete for a 10 yard gain and a new set of downs at the Utah 48 yard line. Taylor took the handoff on first down, fighting his way to a 6 yard gain, followed by a three yard rush by Silva to set up third and one. Taylor would get the third down conversion, taking the handoff straight up the gut for a three yard carry, moving the chains to the 36 yard line. A first down carry by Taylor would pick up three yards, leaving us with second and 7. That would be the final play of the third quarter, our lead holding at 14-3 and looking to add on to it.
Opening up the fourth quarter, we lined up at the Utah 34 yard line facing second and 7. Lining up under center, Powers dropped back and rifled a pass to McKinney, but it was broken up, nearly intercepted, by the middle linebacker, leaving third down. The third down pass from Powers to Martin was on the mark, but while Martin was initially able to pull the ball in, he would end up dropping it as the hit from behind by the safety jarred the ball loose and incomplete. Out of field goal (for our kicker at least) and forced to go for it on fourth down, we would fail to convert as Powers was forced to dump the ball off underneath to Rhodes, a completion that would gain only two yards and give the ball back to Utah at their 32 yard line.
McNeil dropped back to pass on first down, Utah looking to close the 11 point gap right now, but his pass heaved deep down the right sideline intended for Wilson sailed long and out of bounds, bringing up second down. A second down screen pass to Chavez resulted in a 12 yard gain and a first down, Chavez shoved out of bounds at the 44 yard line. Handing the ball off on first down, Chavez picked up just two yards before our defense brought him down. A missed open field tackle by Hart allowed Allen to pull in the second down pass from McNeil, nearly taking it all the way to the house until a diving ankle tackle by Richwalski tripped him up for a 54 yard gain, setting Utah up with first and goal from our one yard line. Chavez would need just one play to punch it in for the one yard touchdown. Looking to further cut our lead down, the Utes went for the two point conversion, but the pass from McNeil to Armstrong in the corner of the end zone was overthrown and incomplete, our lead only cut to 14-9 with 7:49 left in the game.
A 21 yard kickoff return by McGuire left us lining up from our 19 yard line. Taylor got our drive started with a 6 yard rush around the left tackle, followed by a 6 yard dive up the middle, picking up a first down at the 31. Another handoff to Taylor resulted in a three yard gain, leaving second and 7, as we tried to chew up as much clock as we could. Naturally, we would throw our lead away as the second down pass intended for Rhodes was intercepted by outside linebacker Ben McKenzie, who returned it 39 yards for a touchdown. Utah would again go for the two point conversion, but the pass to Allen, completed this time, would result in the play being no good as he was brought down at the two yard line, leaving Utah’s lead at just 15-14 with 5:45 left in the game.
A 25 yard kickoff return by Hart gave us the ball at our 24 yard line for our next drive. After a three yard rush by Taylor on first down, we were able to catch Utah with the play action pass, Powers connecting with Watson for an 11 yard gain and a first down at the 38. Another rush by Taylor gained 5 yards, followed by a wingback dive by Taylor for a one yard gain, leaving third and four. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, blown coverage by the defense allowed Rhodes to get open and haul in the pass this time, complete for a 12 yard gain and a first down at the Utah 44 yard line. Taylor kept us moving with a three yard rush, before a pass over the middle to Johnson was broken up by the middle linebacker, leaving third and 7. Rhodes would come through for us yet again on third down, this time hauling in an 11 yard completion to move the chains to the 30 yard line and keep the clock ticking away. Taylor took the ball on first down for a 7 yard carry, followed by a three yard rush that left us facing third and inches, Utah calling their first timeout to stop the clock with 1:08 left in the game. Lining up for a huge third down play, Taylor was able to get the first down and then some, rushing for a gain of 7 yards to move the sticks to the 13 yard line. Utah didn’t bother to call a timeout this time, and the clock kept ticking under a minute. Trying to get us lined up for the game-winning field goal attempt, Taylor took the ball on first down for a three yard gain, followed by a second three yard rush to leave third and four. Silva then came on third down and fought his way to a two yard gain, setting up fourth and two at the 5 yard line, as we called our first timeout with four seconds left in the game. As expected, as we lined up for the 22 yard field goal attempt, Utah called their second timeout to try and freeze our kicker. They would do the same thing again as we lined up a second time, calling their final timeout. Lining up for the third time, the chip shot 22 yard field goal by Doug Marcus sailed through the uprights, giving us a 17-15 lead with one second left on the clock.
A squib kick up the middle was picked up by tight end Matthew Brown and returned 14 yards, the game seemingly over. As usual, the game couldn’t end there as we tried to find new ways to screw ourselves out of wins, this time by middle linebacker Sean Edwards being flagged for a facemask penalty during the tackle on the return, the 15 yards giving Utah the ball at our 38 yard line and an untimed down to screw us out of victory. McNeil lined up in the shotgun and chucked up the Hail Mary pass. Miraculously, we would not blow it, as safety Allen Salyer went up at the 5 yard line and intercepted the pass, returning it 5 yards before falling to the ground to seal our 17-15 season opening win over rival Utah and claim the Battle of the Brothers for 2022.
With the win, we open our 2022 season 1-0, 0-0 in Mountain West action. With the loss, Utah starts their year 0-1, 0-0 in Pac-12 play. Up next, we get a bye week to rest before it's back on the road as we play our biggest game of the season, a trip to the Big House to face #9 Michigan.
Final Score
17,
15
Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A rough return to action for Powers, going 14-24 for 158 yards and one touchdown, but also three interceptions. Rushing, Leierer led the way with 127 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries. Taylor ended with 74 yards on 20 rushes, Silva had 6 yards on two carries and Powers had zero yards rushing on three carries. Receiving, Rhodes was the top receiver with 48 yards on five receptions. Watson had 24 yards and the lone receiving touchdown on two catches. In all, eight receivers caught at least one pass during the game, all eight ending with double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – Surprisingly very good. Despite being put into tough situations by our offense, the defense held Utah scoreless in the first and third quarter, held them to only a field goal in the second quarter, and it wasn't until the fourth quarter that Utah's offense started to finish drives with touchdowns. A big part of that was some key stops and sacks on third downs, as well as three interceptions, one each by Salyer, Castillo and Hart. This could be a great season if the defense can keep playing like every game the entire year.
Utah State Kicking – A perfect day for Marcus, going 1-1 in field goal attempts, connecting on the game-winning 22 yard attempt, as well as going 2-2 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
| Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
0 |
7 |
7 |
3 |
17 |
|
0 |
3 |
0 |
12 |
15 |
| Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
| First Quarter |
| --- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
| Second Quarter |
| 7:14 |
|
Field Goal |
S. Mayhew, 46 yard field goal |
3-0 |
| 0:21 |
|
Touchdown |
M. Leierer, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick) |
7-3 |
|
| Third Quarter |
| 5:19 |
|
Touchdown |
R. Watson, 13 yard pass from A. Powers (D. Marcus kick) |
14-3 |
|
| Fourth Quarter |
| 7:49 |
|
Touchdown |
M. Chavez, 1 yard run (2-point conversion failed) |
14-9 |
| 5:45 |
|
Touchdown |
B. McKenzie, returned interception 39 yards (2-point conversion failed) |
15-14 |
| 0:01 |
|
Field Goal |
D. Marcus, 22 yard field goal |
17-15 |
| Utah State |
Stat |
Utah |
| 17 |
Score |
15 |
| 24 |
First Downs |
10 |
| 365 |
Total Offense |
228 |
| 54 - 207 - 1 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
13 - 36 - 1 |
| 14 - 24 - 1 |
Comp - Att - TD |
12 - 24 - 0 |
| 158 |
Passing Yards |
192 |
| 0 |
Times Sacked |
4 |
| 12 - 16 (75%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
1 - 5 (20%) |
| 1 - 3 (33%) |
4th Down Conversion |
0 - 1 (0%) |
| 0 - 0 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 2 (0%) |
| 4 - 2 - 1 (75%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
1 - 1 - 0 (100%) |
| 3 |
Turnovers |
3 |
| 0 |
Fumbles Lost |
0 |
| 3 |
Intercepted |
3 |
| 0 |
Punt Return Yards |
0 |
| 107 |
Kick Return Yards |
82 |
| 472 |
Total Yards |
310 |
| 0 – 0.0 |
Punts - Average |
1 - 51.0 |
| 1 - 15 |
Penalties |
0 - 0 |
| 22:56 |
Time of Possession |
13:04 |
| Goal |
XP Reward |
Completed |
| Win a Game |
100 |
x1 |
| Score a Touchdown |
25 |
x2 |
| Force a Turnover |
25 |
x3 |
| Rush for 100 Yards |
25 |
x1 |
| 3+ Sacks |
50 |
x1 |
| Play in an ESPN Classic Game |
75 |
x1 |
| Opponent under 150 Rush Yards |
50 |
x1 |
| Beat a Rival School |
50 |
x1 |
| Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards |
50 |
x1 |
| Pass Completion Over 50% |
30 |
x1 |
| 350+ Offensive Yards |
50 |
x1 |
| 10+ First Downs |
50 |
x1 |
| 4+ 3rd Down Conversions |
25 |
x1 |
| Goal |
Expectations |
Progress |
| Target Wins Per Season |
7 |
1 |
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Originally Posted by jaymo76
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