Las Vegas Bowl
VS #22
Game Notes
--- Here we were, the conclusion of Ramius’ third season at Utah State, the last season of his current contract. Despite an outstanding 2022 campaign that saw the team end on a 6 game winning streak and finish 7-1 in conference, we would end up second in the Mountain Division, missing out on a chance at the Mountain West title, and end up in the Las Vegas Bowl against a familiar face from Ramius’ years at Tulsa, the Washington Huskies.
It’d be a test for our defense as Washington entered with a rushing offense ranked #26 in the nation. Despite a better ranked rushing offense, Washington averaged more yards per game through the air than on the ground. Looking at the overall picture, Washington appeared a team of mediocrity. Other than the #26 national ranking in rush offense, the Huskies didn’t really separate themselves from the pack of NCAA teams, ranking between #41 and #87 in all other categories while playing their way to a just above .500 season at 7-5. However, being a team from the always dangerous Pac-12, the Huskies would be no exception to having to play a perfect game for us to defeat them.
Glancing at Washington’s schedule to judge their level of play this year, the Huskies opened up their season with a 27-21 win against Hawaii, followed by a 38-17 victory at Boise State. They would go on a bit of a rough stretch, dropping three straight games with a 28-9 loss to #3 Louisiana Lafayette, a 35-28 loss at #10 UCLA and a 49-26 loss at #24 Stanford. They would get it turned around with a 23-10 win over Arizona, a 38-21 victory against California and a 35-28 win at Arizona State, before being upset by Colorado 38-28. The Huskies would make it to 6 wins with a 35-28 win over Oregon State, followed by a 27-24 loss at #18 Oregon, before wrapping up their season with a 31-17 win over rival Washington State.
For the most part, they played close games all season, only truly being blown out in two of their five losses, the loss to Louisiana Lafayette and the loss to Stanford. Otherwise they stayed within 10 points in their other three losses. Probably the one thing that does not bode well for Washington is the fact that they went 0-4 against teams ranked in the Top #25 this season. Playing against a ranked Utah State squad likely doesn’t fill them with a ton of confidence. But, then, that’s why they play the games. Washington won the coin toss and elected to kick.
A huge 46 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart on the opening kickoff gave us great field position to start the game, lining up from our own 39 yard line. Getting our drive started on the ground, Leierer got us off and running with a 6 yard carry on first down, followed by a three yard rush to leave third and one. Leierer would manage to find a gap and pick up the first down with a four yard rush, moving the chains to the Washington 48 yard line. We’d keep pounding right away on first down as an outside blitz left a huge gap up the middle, allowing Leierer to gain 11 yards for a first down at the 37. Unfortunately, Leierer would leave the game after that play, suffering from an injury. After a rush by Tyson Taylor gained just one yard, we switched it up on second down. Still lining up under center, this time Adam Powers dropped back and threw a quick pass to tight end Cedric McKinney, good for a gain of 11 yards and a new set of downs at the 25 yard line. Taylor took another crack at rushing the ball on first down, fighting his way to a gain of 6 yards, followed by a two yard rush to bring up third and two. Before lining up on third down, we got word that Leierer’s collegiate career had come to an early end, as he suffered a mild concussion two plays ago, forcing him to be benched for the rest of the game. With that, our rushing game fell onto the shoulders of three true freshmen in Tyson Taylor, Benjamin Silva and Zack Coleman. Lining up on third and two, Taylor would just barely make it to the first down marker, getting spun by a pair of defenders across the line for a two yard gain, picking up a first down at the 15. A first down rush by Taylor resulted in a two yard gain, followed by a three yard rush to leave third and 5. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Powers tried hit Eric McGuire in the back of the end zone, but the pass was broken up by the safety to leave fourth down. The 26 yard field goal by Doug Marcus split the uprights, giving us a 3-0 lead with 3:57 left in the first quarter.
A 29 yard kickoff return by Nate Burton gave Washington the ball at their 33 yard line. A first down rush by Herb Rouse got Washington off to a quick start with a 6 yard gain, but the Huskies would promptly go backwards, as Wesley Gross dropped back to pass on second down. Finding no open receivers he tried to scramble around the right tackle, but ended up scrambling right into the arms of defensive end Caleb McBride, resulting in a sack for a loss of 6 yards to leave third and 10 after the offsetting plays. Gross would try to heave a pass nearly 50 yards downfield, but he overshot the intended receiver by nearly 15 yards, the incomplete pass bringing up fourth down and forcing Washington’s punt team onto the field. A three yard return by McGuire on the 49 yard punt left us starting our next drive at our 20 yard line.
Lining up after the punt, we decided to switch things up this time and came out passing on first down, Powers just getting the pass off before being leveled, the pass completed to Dre Martin for a gain of 16 yards and a first down at the 36 yard line. Another first down pass, this time to Max Rhodes, picked up 12 yards to move the chains to the 48 yard line. Switching to the ground on first down, Taylor was only able to pick up one yard on the play, followed by a four yard rush to leave us facing third and 5. Taking a gamble on an extremely rare triple option play (at least by this offense), it ended up a disaster as Taylor was left with nowhere to run after the pitch, forced backwards and tackled for a four yard loss to leave us punting on fourth and 9. A so-so punt by Freddie Arnold traveled 22 yards, going out of bounds at the Washington 27 yard line.
The Huskies came out on first down putting the ball on the ground. Rouse proved to be an elusive little bastard as he proceeded to hurdle, juke and spin his way past multiple defenders and up the right sideline, aided by some very fast legs, before finally being trapped between a couple defenders and the sideline to limit the damage to a 21 yard gain that would give Washington a first down at their 48 yard line. After a 5 yard rush by Rouse up the middle, Gross tried to go over the middle through the air for a short pass, but a well timed deflection by cornerback Charles Noble batted the ball away, leaving the Huskies with third and 5. Our pass rush nearly sacked Gross on the play, but he was able to juke past the diving defender, before being forced to throw the ball away as the pocket collapsed around him. The incompletion would leave fourth down and Washington was forced to punt the ball once more. The coffin corner punt would be successful, as the 42 yard punt would sail out of bounds at our 5 yard line.
Coming out on offense in the shadow of our own goalpost, Taylor tried to get us started, but he was quickly met by two defenders and brought down for no gain on the play. That would be the final play as the clock hit all zeroes, ending the first quarter with our lead holding at 3-0.
Opening up the second quarter, we took another chance on the ground, the second rush by Taylor more successful this time as he gained four yards on the play, leaving third and 6 from the 9 yard line. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Powers would needle a pass in between two Washington defenders, somehow getting the ball into the hands of Martin for a 7 yard completion and a first down at the 17 yard line. Going back into the air on first down, Powers tried to connect with tight end Jack Long over the middle, but the pass ended up intercepted by outside linebacker Wendell Jenkins, returned 7 yards to give Washington possession at our 22 yard line.
Lining up after the interception, the Huskies would give the ball to their guaranteed yards machine, as Rouse took the handoff around the left end for a 13 yard rush, setting Washington up with first and goal from the 9 yard line. Despite shaking off two defenders on first down, Rouse was limited to no gain this time as he tried to go around the right end. Going no huddle on second down, the rushed play seemed to confuse the Washington offense more than it did our defense, as Gross faked a handoff to Rouse, only to end up sacked for a 5 yard loss as McBride came through completely unblocked, diving at Gross’ feet to bring him down before he could get rid of the ball. That would leave Washington facing third and goal, lined up from the 14 yard line. We ended up extremely lucky on third down as Washington went into the air, Gross dropped back and throwing a pass to a completely wide open Cory Baker just outside the goal line. Thankfully, Baker tried to catch the ball and turn into the end zone at the same time, proceeding to let the ball go right through his hands and bounce off his body and onto the ground for an incomplete pass, saving the touchdown and forcing Washington to settle for a field goal. The 31 yard field goal by Greg Concepcion would sail through the uprights, tying the game up at 3-3 with 7:08 left in the second quarter.
A 15 yard kickoff return by McGuire, in an extremely poor decision that saw him take the ball out from very deep in the end zone, and then after getting close to the 15 yard line, end up going backwards after shedding a tackler, resulted in our offense lining up from their own 6 yard line to start the offensive series. We would end up getting even closer to the goal line rather than further away from it, as Taylor took the handoff on first down, only to end up tackled in the backfield for a two yard loss, leaving second and 12 from the four yard line. Taylor tried to get us moving in the right direction, but the Washington defense left us completely buggered, as Taylor was tackled for a one yard loss to bring up third and 13 at our three yard line. With no choice but to take our chances through the air, Powers lined up in the shotgun. He dropped back to pass but found little time to do anything as Washington brought a blitz. Powers quickly rolled out and scrambled towards his right, trying to buy time before the defense closed in on him. Despite throwing across his body, Powers was somehow able to complete a pass downfield to Martin, but the momentum of both Martin and the pass that was thrown to lead him, carried Martin out of bounds for only an 11 yard gain, resulting in fourth and two at the 13 yard line. A 16 yard return by Burton on the 41 yard punt set Washington up with beautiful field position at our 39 yard line.
Beginning their drive in our territory, the Huskies would nearly squander the great starting spot as Rouse tried to rush the ball on first down, only to be tackled for a one yard loss, before a pass intended for Wesley Stewart was dropped incomplete to leave third and 11. But Washington would need just two passes to get back on track, as Gross found Rouse out of the backfield and up the left sideline for a 21 yard completion to move the ball to our 19 yard line, followed by a 12 yard pass to Vincent Robinson, setting Washington up with first and goal from our 7 yard line. The Huskies returned to the ground on first down, but we were able to contain Rouse and tackled him for a three yard loss on the play. Tony Marshall would try his luck on second down, but he too would end up going backwards for a three yard loss, bringing up third and goal at the 13 yard line. Baker ended up once again being Gross’ target on third and goal from the second consecutive drive, but while he briefly managed to pull the ball in, he would end up dropping it on contact by the members of our secondary, forcing Washington to settle for another field goal attempt on fourth and goal. The 30 yard field goal by Concepcion gave Washington a 6-3 lead with 3:49 left in the second quarter.
We would need just 12 seconds to respond and take over the lead as McGuire received the kickoff 5 yards deep in our end zone. Getting multiple big blocks, he was able to find a hole up in the left side of the kickoff team and broke through, turning out towards the sideline to avoid two pursuing Washington players and proceeded to take it all the way for a 105 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, giving us a 10-6 lead with 3:37 left until halftime.
A 26 yard kickoff return by Burton would give Washington the ball at their 27 yard line. Rouse would waste little time in getting the Huskies moving, taking the handoff on first down straight up the middle for a 16 yard gain and a quick first down at the 44 yard line. Continuing to pound it down our throats, Rouse rushed for a 8 yard gain on first down, followed by a 7 yard carry around the right tackle to move the chains to our 41 yard line. Gross would keep the ball on first down this time, fighting his way to a 10 yard gain, just coming up short to leave second and inches. Rouse would try and pick up the first down but was met in the backfield by our heavy blitz, tackled for a three yard loss to leave third and three. Dropping back to pass, Gross never had a chance on third down as we brought all four linemen and all three linebackers on a blitz, Gross ending up almost immediately surrounding in a collapsing pocket and sacked for a 7 yard loss, forcing Washington to punt the ball on fourth and 11. The punt would sail 41 yards and out of the back of the end zone for a touchback, giving us the ball at our 20 yard line.
Lining up after the touchback with just 1:55 left on the clock, we took into the air on first down, but the pass from Powers intended for McGuire was broken up by the middle linebacker, leaving second down. Powers tried to hit Al Washington on an out route on second down, but the pass was also broken up after it was thrown behind the receiver’s back, bringing up third and 10. Another pass intended for McGuire would end up woefully underthrown and was nearly intercepted, as we would proceed to go three and out on this drive. A 7 yard return by Burton on the 33 yard punt would give Washington the ball at our 48 yard line.
Starting their drive yet again in our territory, Washington came out trying to pass, but our defense would reign supreme on first down as the backside blitz would get to Gross and sack him for a 6 yard loss, putting the Huskies into an immediate hole. Washington would call their first timeout after the play, stopping the clock with 1:32 remaining. Lining up in the shotgun on second down, a screen pass to Rouse would net just four yards to leave third and 12. Going no huddle on third down, the Huskies would take their chances on the ground with Rouse (which with the way he’s run today was actually a rather logical play call), but it would not pay off this time for the Huskies, as Rouse could only gain 6 yards on the play before being brought down by three defenders, forcing Washington to punt on fourth and 6. We would call our first timeout to stop the clock with 1:06 remaining, keeping the Huskies from wasting clock before punting. The punt would sail 44 yards into the end zone for another touchback, starting us once more from our 20 yard line with exactly one minute remaining until halftime.
Beginning our drive from the 20 yard line, with only one minute left on the clock, it was right into the air for our drive as Powers completed a pass over the middle to McGuire for a 14 yard gain and a quick first down at the 34 yard line. Going into the no huddle, Powers tried to go back to McGuire on a comeback route, but the pass was jumped by the cornerback and swatted away to leave third down. Martin would keep us moving on third down as he cut across on a slant route and pulled in a pass from Powers for a 13 yard gain, moving the chains to the 49 yard line with 43 seconds remaining. Staying in the no huddle, we would see our drive end up in danger as two incomplete passes intended for Martin and Rhodes brought up third down, just 36 seconds to go. It would be Martin who would save the drive again as he head for the sideline on a comeback route and caught the slightly wild pass from Powers on a dive, just barely getting his feet down inbounds before falling out of bounds, the pass good for a gain of 13 yards to give us a first down at the Washington 38 yard line. Powers tried to go back to Martin on a streak route up the right sideline, but he horrendously overthrew the pass, as it sailed nearly 20 yards over Martin’s head and well out of bounds, leaving second down. Staying in the field of play this time on second down, Powers was able to hit Long on an out route, which, thanks to some downfield blocking by McGuire, turned into a 24 yard gain that set us up with a new set of downs at the 14 yard line. Racing to the line with the clock momentarily stopped, Powers tried to find an open receiver near the end zone, but was forced to dump it off to Greg Miller for just a 5 yard gain to leave second and 5 at the 9 yard line, forcing us to call our second timeout with 13 seconds remaining. Unfortunately that would be as far as we would get as Powers dropped back to pass on second down. Upon finding the pocket starting to collapse, and with a giant patch of green in front of him, Powers tried to take off scrambling, only to end up tripped up by the foot of his own center, resulting in a sack for the defense for a loss of two yards, leaving third down from the 11 yard line. With only 7 seconds on the clock following the play, despite it only being third down, rather than risk running out of time while trying to take one last shot at the end zone, we were forced to settle for the field goal attempt. Despite the bad angle, the 28 yard field goal by Marcus was good, increasing our lead to 13-6 with four seconds left until halftime.
A 27 yard kickoff return by Burton would give Washington the ball at their 27 yard line, just one second remaining. The Huskies were content to head into halftime as things stood, handing the ball off to Rouse, who went up the middle for a 5 yard gain to take us into halftime with a 13-6 lead.
Opening up the second half, a 26 yard return by Baker on the kickoff would set Washington up at their 25 yard line to begin the third quarter. Rouse would kick things off, as usual, with an 8 yard rush around the left side of the line, before being tripped up for just a one yard gain to leave third and one. Despite being mostly wrapped up twice, Rouse would somehow break loose multiple times on third down on his way to a 22 yard rush and a first down at our 44 yard line. Rouse would keep plugging away on first down with a four yard carry, before being stood up for no gain to leave third and 6. Gross dropped back to pass on third down, but tried to take off scrambling in the face of pressure, only to end up tripped up, and technically sacked, for no gain to bring up fourth and 5, finally bringing to an end Washington’s no huddle offense. Sitting with fourth down on our 39 yard line, the Huskies would go for it on fourth down, but they would come up short as the completion from Gross to Jeff Smith would gain only three yards, turning the ball over on downs at our 36 yard line.
Taylor would get our next drive started on the ground, but he would only pick up one yard before being quickly spun down by the defense. Another attempt on second and 9 would result in no gain, leaving us facing third and 9. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Powers tried to find Martin over the middle, but the pass was broken up and we were forced to punt on fourth down. A 13 yard return by Burton on the 37 yard punt gave Washington the ball at their 38 yard line.
Lining up after the punt return, Washington’s drive would get off to a very slow start, as Gross’ pass on first down sailed long and out of bounds over the head of his intended receiver, followed by a second down rush by Rouse that would lose four yards, leaving Washington lining up facing third and 14. We would get lucky on third down as Gross threw up a pass intended for Burton, who was cutting over the middle of the field. Thankfully Gross tried to lead Burton too much and overthrew the pass, the ball landing incomplete a couple yards ahead of Burton to force out the punt team on fourth down. An 18 yard return by McGuire on the 48 yard punt got us back in action from our 35 yard line.
Lining up following the punt, we again elected to try our luck on the ground on first down, where Taylor would find more success this time around, starting us with a 7 yard carry, followed by a 5 yard carry to pick up a new set of downs at the 47 yard line. Taylor would keep pounding away on first down with a 6 yard gain up the middle, before Benjamin Silva, on his first carry of the game, would end up stood up and flattened on his back by the defensive tackle for no gain, leaving us with third and four. Lining up under center on third down, Powers dropped back to pass and found Long up the middle out of the tight end slot, the pass good for a 17 yard gain and a first down at the Washington 30 yard line. Staying in the air on first down, Powers would try to squeeze a pass into a tight gap to McGuire, only to have it intercepted by cornerback Mike Williams, giving Washington the ball at their 23 yard line.
Coming out after the interception by their defense, the Washington offense would head into the air on first down as Gross would connect with a diving Baker for an 11 yard gain and a quick first down at the 34 yard line. Instantly going into the no huddle (surprise, surprise), Washington kept the ball moving through the air as Gross found Robinson over the middle for a 9 yard gain. Dropping back to pass on second down, Gross couldn’t find anyone open before the pocket started to close, so he took off running and found ample room to move, scrambling for a 9 yard gain and a first down at our 49 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, intended for Baker over the middle, and Washington taking their first huddle of the entire drive, the offense came out on second down in a five wide formation, with Gross hitting Sam Payne for a gain of 14 yards and a first down at the 35 yard line. Even worse than the no huddle offense was Washington’s five wide no huddle offense, as Gross dropped back and quickly found Smith along the left sideline for an 11 yard gain to move the ball to our 24 yard line. After a 5 yard scramble by Gross, the Huskies offense would be the first offense to find the end zone today, as Gross connected with Payne over the middle for a 19 yard touchdown pass, tying the game up at 13-13 with 1:27 left in the third quarter.
McGuire would field the following kickoff in the back of the end zone, the kick caught for a touchback as his right foot stepped out of bounds while catching the ball. Lining up from our 25 yard line following the touchback, Taylor would get us off and running with a four yard carry on first down, followed by a gain of just one yard, Taylor being violently leveled on the tackle to leave third and 5. Taking a crack through the air, despite the poor ending of the previous drive, Powers lined up in the shotgun and fired off a pass to Rhodes, completed for an 11 yard gain and a first down at the 41 yard line. Staying in the shotgun on first down, Powers would be forced to bail out of the pocket, finding some open space and scrambling for a 13 yard gain, moving the chains to the Washington 46 yard line. That would be the final play of the third quarter, the score all knotted up at 13-13.
Opening up the fourth quarter, we got back to it on offense, lined up at the Washington 46 yard line, with a first down rush by Taylor that would pick up just two yards. Taking a chance with a play action pass on second down, despite throwing off his back foot while trying to avoid the pass rush, Powers was able to complete a pass to McGuire for a 12 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 32 yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Taylor was able to fight his way to a positive gain of four yards this time, followed by a three yard rush to leave third and three. Taking a gamble through the air on a quick pass, the ball intended for Martin was badly thrown and nearly intercepted, leaving fourth down at the 26 yard line. Despite multiple poor performances by Marcus this season from longer than 30 yards, we gave it a prayer on fourth down and lined up for a 43 yard field goal. In a rarity, he would manage to clear the crossbar by a couple yards, giving us a 16-13 lead with 6:47 left in the game.
A 28 yard kickoff return by Burton would get Washington lined up at their 29 yard line. The Huskies would start things off on the ground, but the handoff to Rouse would be well defended for a change, limiting the damage to just two yards. Going no huddle on second down, Gross went into the air and completed a short pass to Robinson, but he was quickly spun down for only a two yard gain, leaving third and 6. Racing back to the line once more, the third down play for Washington would be a short one as our pass rush forced Gross to quickly throw the ball away, our defense bending but not breaking as the Huskies were forced to punt. A 15 yard return by McGuire on the 47 yard punt would get us back in action from our 34 yard line.
Returning to the field after the punt return, our offense trotted out holding a three point lead with just 5:49 remaining in the game. This was an important drive with two primary goals. Run down some clock and increase the lead, preferably via a touchdown. Going outside on first down, Taylor would fight his way to a 6 yard rush on first down, followed by a big 10 yard carry to pick up an early first down at midfield. Silva would come in on first down and rumble his way up the middle to a gain of 9 yards, before a 6 yard rush by Taylor would move the chains to the Washington 35 yard line. Taylor tried to pick up yards off the right tackle, but he was quickly brought down for no gain on the play. Going into the air on second down, Powers would find Rhodes on an out route for a 9 yard gain, setting up third and one. Putting the drive in Taylor’s hands, he would get the first down and then some with a 10 yard rush right up the gut, setting up a first down at the 17 yard line. Continuing to pound the ball away, Taylor would only manage a two yard gain on first down, followed by a 7 yard rush to leave us facing third and one at the 8 yard line. Washington would call their first timeout with 2:10 left in the game. Only one yard away, we decided to go for it on the ground. Worst case scenario, we didn’t get it and forced Washington to use their second timeout. Silva would be the back of honor this time, but he would end up stood up for a one yard loss, forcing us to make a decision on fourth and three, Washington’s second timeout stopping the clock with 2:07 left. While not being happy about it, we decided to settle for the field goal and hope our defense could make a stop when it mattered most. The 27 yard kick by Marcus increased our lead to 19-13 with 2:04 remaining, setting us up for either a great win or a devastating loss.
A 22 yard kickoff return by Burton would start Washington from their 24 yard line, the Huskies with exactly two minutes to work with as they needed a touchdown to win. It would be an incredible start for our defense was Gross tried to drop back to pass on first down, only to quickly take off scrambling under pressure from our pass rush. In the process of running around his blockers, he ended up tripped and sacked for a two yard loss. Racing to the line, Gross would then spike the ball to stop the clock at 1:45 remaining, Washington forced into a third and 12 situation just mere seconds into their drive. Lining up in the shotgun again on third down, Gross would heave up a pass down the right sideline intended for Baker, only to have it intercepted by cornerback Leonard Hart to give us the ball at the Washington 42 yard line with 1:39 remaining, Washington’s only turnover of the game coming at the worst possible time.
Lining up following the interception, we looked to keep it on the ground and run out the clock in just a couple plays. Silva would get us started, but would quickly get tackled in the backfield for a two yard loss, Washington using their last timeout to stop the clock with 1:36 remaining. Silva would take the ball on second down for a 6 yard rush, followed by a two yard gain that would leave us with fourth and four at the 36 yard line. Letting the play clock run out, we were forced to punt the ball away with 28 seconds remaining, the delay of game penalty pushing us back to the 41 yard line. Trying to coffin corner the punt, instead Arnold would make quite possibly the worst shanked punt in college football history, as the ball traveled a whopping 7 yards and went out of bounds at the Washington 33 yard line, breathing life into the Washington sideline and resulting in multiple broken headsets on the Utah State sideline.
Taking over at their 33 yard line with just 25 seconds remaining, Washington was going to have to be perfect this drive with no timeouts to bail them out. It would be disaster for the Huskies as our defense would bail our asses out. Heaving up a, maybe a bit early, Hail Mary pass down the left sideline, intended for Damian Johnson, the pass would be intercepted by cornerback Buck Castillo to give us possession at our 10 yard line with just 16 seconds left in the game. Lining up on first down, Powers would simply drop to a knee to put the topper on our surprising 19-13 victory over the Washington Huskies.
With the win, we end our 2022 season at 11-2, 7-1 in Mountain West action. With the loss, Washington’s year comes to a close at 7-6, 5-4 in Pac-12 play.
Final Score
#2219,
Stat(s) of the Game:
Utah State Offense – A rather poor day for Powers, ending his career going 14-26 for 117 yards and two interceptions. Rushing, Taylor led the way today with 89 yards on 30 carries. Silva had 15 yards on 6 rushes. Leierer ended his career watching from the bench after exiting with an injury early on, only gaining 24 yards on four carries. Powers, due to a couple scrambles, had 10 yards on three rushes.
Receiving, Martin was the top receiver with 62 yards on five catches in his final game. Rhodes ended his collegiate career with 32 yards on three catches. Long had 41 yards in just two catches today. McGuire wrapped up his career with 26 yards on just two catches, though he did also have a 105 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, which was our only touchdown all day. Tight end McKinney ended his career with just one catch for 11 yards. In all, six receivers caught at least one pass today, five of them ending with double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – They put up one hell of a fight today. Despite having issues at times with Washington's no huddle offense, and despite having issues stopping Rouse a couple times, the defense performed pretty damn well, limiting Washington to just a touchdown and two field goals. While Washington's lone touchdown came on offense, our lone touchdown came on special teams, thanks to McGuire taking a kickoff return back 105 yards for a touchdown.
Utah State Kicking – A rarity today, it was a perfect day for Marcus, who proceeded to go 4 for 4 in field goals, making kicks of 26, 28, 43 and 27 yards out. He would also end 1 for 1 on PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score 0 6 7 0 13 #22 3 10 0 6 19
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 4:00 Field Goal D. Marcus, 26 yard field goal Second Quarter 7:11 Field Goal G. Concepcion, 31 yard field goal TIED 3-3 3:52 Field Goal G. Concepcion, 29 yard field goal 3:37 Touchdown E. McGuire, returned kickoff 105 yards (D. Marcus kick) 0:04 Field Goal D. Marcus, 28 yard field goal Third Quarter 1:27 Touchdown S. Payne, 19 yard pass from W. Gross (G. Concepcion kick) TIED 13-13 Fourth Quarter 6:47 Field Goal D. Marcus, 43 yard field goal 2:04 Field Goal D. Marcus, 27 yard field goal
Game Stats
Washington Stat Utah State 13 Score 19 11 First Downs 19 214 Total Offense 315 30 - 108 - 0 Rushes - Yards - TD 43 - 138 - 0 10 - 22 - 1 Comp - Att - TD 14 - 26 - 0 106 Passing Yards 177 4 Times Sacked 1 2 - 12 (16%) 3rd Down Conversion 7 - 15 (46%) 0 - 1 (0%) 4th Down Conversion 0 - 0 (0%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 3 - 1 - 2 (100%) Red Zone - TD - FG 3 - 0 - 3 (100%) 2 Turnovers 2 0 Fumbles Lost 0 2 Intercepted 2 34 Punt Return Yards 36 157 Kick Return Yards 165 405 Total Yards 516 6 – 45.5 Punts - Average 5 – 28.6 0 - 0 Penalties 1 - 5 13:26 Time of Possession 22:34
Utah State Coach Goals
Goal XP Reward Completed Win a Game 100 x1 Score a Touchdown 25 x4 Kick/Punt Return Touchdown 50 x1 Force a Turnover 25 x1 Rush for 100 Yards 25 x1 NCAA Record: Longest Kick Return (105 Yards) 300 x1 Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead 10 x1 3+ Sacks 50 x1 Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards 50 x1 Opponent Under 300 Pass yards 50 x1 Pass Completion Over 50% 30 x1 100% Red Zone Efficiency 50 x1 10+ First Downs 50 x1 Rush for 2000 Yards (Season) 400 x1 4+ 3rd Down Conversions 25 x1
Job Security Status
100%
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