--- After a long offseason of training, meetings and practices, the start of the 2024 football season had finally arrived. Fans and players would be going into a true unknown this season as the Aggies scrambled to replace nearly their entire offense from last season. Most teams could reasonably bounce back from losing one or two key players. Utah State, on the other hand, would have to replace the starting and backup quarterbacks, starting running back, #1 and #3 wide receivers, starting tight end, and the starting and backup left tackles. Defense and Special Teams weren’t untouched either, as losses impacted the #1 cornerback, two-thirds of the linebacker corps and the punter.
It wouldn’t be an easy start to the season as we tried to replace all those lost starters, as we would be dropped straight into the fire with a road game at rival Utah. We would also be officially kicking off the 2024 football season for the entire nation, playing a lone game by ourselves on Thursday night. We could only hope that redshirt junior quarterback Pat Williams, junior running Benjamin Silva, junior and redshirt senior wide receivers Adam Washington and Greg Miller and redshirt freshman tight end Nate Williams would be prepared and able to fill the holes in our young offense. We won the coin toss and elected to kick to start the season.
A 29 yard kickoff return would set Utah up at their 32 yard line for their first offensive drive of 2024. The Utes would waste little time in moving the ball on our defense, as Maurice Allen pulled in a 29 yard completion from senior quarterback Jonathan Harrell, giving the Utes a quick first down at our 39 yard line. A 6 yard pass to tight end Clint Lee would be followed with a 33 yard touchdown pass to Trey Riley, giving Utah a very fast 7-0 lead with 9:08 left in the first quarter.
Benjamin Silva would get us some great field position with a 46 yard kickoff return, lining our offense up at the 44 yard line. Our running game would be mediocre to start, as consecutive rushes by Silva would gain just 5 yards to leave third and 5. Taking our first shot through the air, Pat Williams was able to drop back from the shotgun and connect with Tyson Taylor for a 14 yard gain, keeping our drive alive at the Utah 38 yard line. We would slowly start to find more success on the ground, as a first down rush by Silva would go for a 6 yard gain, followed a four yard rush that would leave us facing third and inches. Silva would get the call on third down, and would get the job done with a 5 yard carry, moving the chains to the 23 yard line. Taking a chance through the air on first down, Williams would find Greg Miller over the middle, but the pass would end up dropped and incomplete. Lining up under center on second down, Williams would through a very ballsy pass over the middle between both inside linebackers, and into the hands of tight end Shaun Livingston for a 23 yard completion, giving us first and goal just inches from the goal line. Silva would get the play call and plow forward for a one yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 with 5:48 left in the first quarter.
Utah would again field the kickoff from inside their 5 yard line, a 23 yard return giving the Utes the ball at their 24 yard line. Donald Walker would get Utah started with a three yard rush, followed by a 5 yard pass to Riley to bring up third and two. A third down blitz by our defense would pay off huge as Harrell was forced to scramble and ultimately throw the ball away to avoid a sack, forcing the Utes to punt on fourth and two. A 22 yard punt return by Silva on the 41 yard kick would give us the ball at our 48 yard line to start our next drive.
Lining up near midfield following the great punt return, our offense looked to repeat their success of the previous drive and stake a claim for the lead in this game. A pair of rushes by Silva would go for gains of three and four yards, bringing up a quick third and three. Leaving our fate in Silva’s hands, he would just manage to prolong our drive with a four yard rush and a first down at the Utah 42 yard line. Taylor would take over on first down, plowing up the gut for a 9 yard carry, followed by a spinning washing machine spin cycle like run up the field for a second gain of 9 yards, giving us a first down at the 24. Despite Utah’s best efforts, including blitzing two linebackers, Silva would somehow avoid the rushers in the backfield and would shimmy his way out of one tackle attempt, on his way to a second consecutive 9 yard gain. A 6 yard rush on second down and one would move the chains as we would end up with first and goal from the Utah 9 yard line. With Utah unable to do anything this drive to stop our running game, we chose to just keep it in the hands of Silva on first down, who would plow ahead for a 7 yard carry, leaving second and goal at the two yard line. Silva tried to punch it in on second down, but was tackled for a gain of just one yard, bringing up third and goal from the one. Silva would again get the call on third down, taking the handoff and bouncing outside the right tackle, fighting through the defensive end and falling into the end zone for a one yard touchdown, his second of the day, to give us a 14-7 lead with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.
A 36 yard kickoff return, that came just two players away from being a near return to the house, would give Utah the ball at their 35 yard line. Utah’s drive would get off to a poor start with two straight very ugly incomplete passes, neither throw anywhere near a Utah receiver. Even despite completing a screen pass to Walker on third down, he would end up tackled shy of the first down marker for a gain of only 8 yards, forcing Utah to punt on fourth and two. That would be the final play of the first quarter as the clock ran out during action, Utah State leading 14-7.
Starting the second quarter, Utah’s punt team came out on fourth down. A 9 yard return on the 40 yard punt would give us the ball at our 27 yard line. Picking up where we left off last drive, Silva got the play call on first down, only to be instantly stood up for no gain on the play. Taking another crack at the Utah defense, Silva took the handoff up the middle and found much better success this time around, rushing for a gain of 8 yards to leave third and two. Despite running into red at the line of scrimmage, Silva was able to bounce past the defensive tackle and across the line of scrimmage for a 6 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 41 yard line. Taylor would take over on first down, fighting his way to a 5 yard gain around the left guard, followed by a pitch right to Silva for a gain of three yards, leaving us facing third and two. Once again leaving the drive in the hands of Silva, he would just barely find a hole through the blitz and pick up three yards on the carry, giving us a new set of downs at the Utah 48 yard line. Running a play action pass on first down, tight end Gerald Woods was able to come down with a quick pass from Williams for a 14 yard completion and a first down at the 34. Airing it out on first down, Williams dropped back from the shotgun and heaved a deep pass down the left sideline and into the end zone intended for Adam Washington, only to have the pass intercepted in the back of the end zone by cornerback Josh Dailey, the touchback giving Utah the ball at their 20 yard line.
Taking over on offense after the turnover, Walker would get the Utes moving with a 5 yard carry on first down, followed by a two yard gain to bring up third and three. Our defense would thankfully come through again, with a strong blitz and air tight man coverage forcing a bad pass from Harrell that would harmlessly land incomplete and force Utah to punt once more. A 10 yard return on the 46 yard punt would give us the ball back at our 36 yard line.
Returning to our ground game to start this next drive, Silva would stumble forward for a gain of four yards on first down, before being stood up for no gain on a second down rush attempt, leaving us facing third and 6. Going into the air on third down, Williams would drop back and fire a pass intended for Tristan Muhammad, only to overthrow the ball and force us to punt on fourth down. A 10 yard return on a poor 34 yard punt would set Utah up from their 35 yard line.
Liking up on offense following the punt return, the offensive struggles of the Utes would continue as consecutive passes by Harrell would end up incomplete to quickly bring up third down. A rushed third down pass would likewise end up incomplete, and Utah was forced to punt once more. An 8 yard return on the 43 yard punt would give us the ball at our 29 yard line.
Starting once more on the ground, Silva would get the call on first down, diving forward for a gain of 5 yards, followed by a 7 yard carry to give us a new first down at the 41 yard line. Another first down rush by Silva would see him stood up for a gain of just two yards, before plowing ahead on an 8 yard dash over the top of multiple Utah defenders to bring up third and inches. Silva would get the first down and then some with a big 10 yard rush, giving us a first down at the Utah 39 yard line. With time running short, it was into the air on first down as Williams dropped back on a play action pass, finding fullback Walter Johnson for a gain of 12 yards and a new set of downs at the 27 yard line. Lining up in the shotgun on first down, Williams was able to connect with Washington over the middle for a 16 yard completion, giving us a first down at the 11 yard line with a minute and a half left on the clock. Putting the drive back in the hands of Silva on first down, he would get the handoff, find a huge hole outside the right guard and stumble and bumble his way all the way into the end zone for an 11 yard touchdown rush, his third rushing TD of the game, giving us a 21-7 lead with 1:13 left in the second quarter.
A 21 yard kickoff return would give Utah the ball at their 22 yard line, 1:09 remaining on the clock. Despite a forced incomplete pass on first down, the Utes would not go quietly, as Harrell connected with Lee for an 11 yard gain and a first down at the 33, the Utes calling their first timeout with exactly one minute remaining. A questionable pass over the middle to Allen would result in him quickly being tripped up for a gain of just 5 yards, leaving second and 5 and forcing Utah to burn their second timeout. An incomplete pass down the left sideline would bring up third and 5 for the Utes, just 52 seconds left on the clock. Despite our defensive pressure, Harrell was able to complete a pass to Jerrell Lewis for a gain of 20 yards and a first down at our 42 yard line. Going no huddle on first down, the Utes tried to fire a pass over the middle to Joey McMahan, only to have it broken up incomplete, leaving second down and the clock stopped with 38 seconds remaining. With yet another year’s defense collapsing at the worst times, the defense would fold on second down as Harrell connected with a double covered Allen down the left sideline for a 27 yard gain, giving Utah a first down at our 15 yard line with 32 seconds to go. With their backs against the wall, our defense would make probably their two best plays of the game thus far, as a first down blitz would reach Harrell and sack him for an 8 yard loss. Going no huddle on second and 18, despite getting caught out of position while trying to line up at the snap, our defense was able to force Harrell overthrow his pass down the left sideline out of bounds, leaving the Utes facing third and 18 with 9 seconds left on the clock. Despite nearly blowing it as our cornerback got beat down the right sideline, Harrell would again overthrow the pass under pressure, forcing Utah to settle for a field goal. The 40 yard kick by Sam Mayhew was good, cutting our lead to 21-10 with one second left until halftime.
Silva was only able to manage a 21 yard kickoff return before being tackled, sending us into halftime with a 21-10 lead.
Opening up the second half, a questionable 18 yard kickoff return by Jon Morris would give us the ball at the 12 yard line to start the third quarter. Silva would get our drive off and running with a 7 yard carry on first down, followed by an initial three yard gain. However, during the play, Silva would fumble the football, the ball scooped up by fullback Johnson, who would be credited with the three yard carry and a first down at the 22 yard line. The fumble would be reviewed, with it ultimately being determined that Silva was down by contact before the ball came loose, the credit for the three yard gain instead going back to Silva, though we would still have a first down at the 22 yard line either way. Silva would keep us moving with another 7 yard carry, followed by a four yard gain to move the chains to the 34 yard line. Silva would keep plowing ahead on first down, finding a hole along the right tackle for a gain of 8 yards, before being quickly brought down for no gain to leave us facing third and two. Leaving our faith and trust in Silva, he would get the handoff and find a gap in the defense for a 6 yard gain, moving the chains to the 48 yard line. Calling a play action pass on first down, Williams would connect with Woods for a gain of 5 yards. Lining up under center on second down, the pass attempt intended for Livingston would end up batted away, leaving us with third and 5. Coming out in the shotgun on third down, Muhammad would get the call, pulling in a 14 yard pass from Williams for a first down at the Utah 33 yard line. Returning to the ground game on first down, Silva would fight his way forward for a gain of four yards, followed by a second four yard rush to leave us facing third and two. Taylor would get the ball on third down, just barely picking up two yards before being flattened, giving us a first down at the Utah 23. A first down pass intended for Washington was nearly intercepted by the outside linebacker, followed by a another incomplete pass, this time intended for Miller, to leave us facing third and long. Taylor would get his number called on third down, just beating the safety to the ball for a 22 yard completion, giving us first and goal at the one yard line. Taylor would try to punch it in on the ground on first down, but he would end up tackled for a two yard loss, leaving second and goal from the three. Taylor would take another crack, only to be stood up for no gain, bringing up third and goal. Taylor would try once again, but would only gain a single yard on the play, leaving us kicking on fourth and goal from the two yard line. Freshman kicker Max Thompson would cap off the 18 play drive with a 19 yard field goal, increasing our lead to 24-10 with 2:46 left in the third quarter.
A 24 yard kickoff return would give Utah the ball at their 25 yard line. Walker would get the Utes started with a 12 yard rush for a first down. Another rush would result in a loss of two yards on the play, followed by maybe the worst shovel pass in history to Charlie Smith, resulting in another two yard loss to bring up third and 14. The third down pass over the middle was very nearly intercepted by our middle linebacker, forcing Utah to punt. A 6 yard return on the 38 yard punt would give us the ball from our 34 yard line.
Lining up under center on first down, Taylor got the call with a four yard carry, before being stood up for no gain on second down, leaving us facing third and 6. Trying to go into the air on third down, Williams would end up throwing his second interception of the game, picked off by middle linebacker MarquesReid, who would return it 5 yards to our 46 yard line.
Taking over possession inside our half of the field following the interception, Utah came out passing with a play action pass, only to gain a single yard as they failed to fool our defense. The Utes would instead come punching right back on second down, as Harrell found Josh Griffith for an open 14 yard completion and a first down at our 32 yard line. That would be the final play of the third quarter, our lead standing at 24-10.
Opening up the fourth quarter, the Utes lined up on first down from our 32 yard line, and promptly handed the ball off to Walker for a gain of 9 yards on the play. Anticipating the run on second and short, the Utes would instead run a flawless play action pass, leaving Riley completely uncovered for a 23 yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 24-17 with 9:31 left in the game.
A 27 yard kickoff return by Jesse Breedlove would give us the ball at our 23 yard line, just 9:28 away from victory, if we could hold on. Coming out running the ball on first down, Taylor took the handoff up the middle for a gain of 6 yards, followed by an 8 yard rush to pick up a quick first down at the 34 yard line. Taylor would keep plugging away on the ground, fighting his way to a gain of three yards on first down, followed by a three yard carry to leave us facing third and four. Taking a chance through the air on third down, Williams was able to connect with Muhammad for a 12 yard completion, giving us a new set of downs at the Utah 47 yard line. Taylor would resume his rushing attack on first down, sprinting outside the right tackle for a 5 yard gain, before being quickly spun down at the line of scrimmage for no gain, bringing up third and 5. Lining up under center on third down, Williams would find Livingston over the middle for a gain of 13 yards and a new first down at the 30 yard line. Resuming our rushing attack, Taylor would only manage a two yard gain on first down, followed by a three yard rush that would again leave us facing third and 5. Coming out in the shotgun on third down, Williams would connect with Zach Coleman for a gain of 16 yards over the middle, giving us first and goal at the 9 yard line. Coleman would take over in the backfield on first down, rushing his way to a gain of four yards, followed by a three yard rush by Taylor to leave third and goal from the two yard line. Coleman would get the call on third down, only to be tackled for a loss of one yard to bring up fourth and goal at the three yard line. Thompson would split the uprights on the 20 yard field goal, increasing our lead to 27-17 with 2:51 left in the game.
A 30 yard kickoff return by Riley would give Utah the ball at their 36 yard line. Throwing under pressure on first down, Harrell’s pass intended for Griffith would land incomplete, before Harrell was forced to throw the ball away to avoid a sack on second down, bringing up third and long. Another overthrown pass on third down would essentially bring up the play of the game, as Utah would go for it on fourth and 10. A stop right here, with a 10 point lead and only 2:33 left on the clock would make it all but impossible for Utah to mount any possible comeback. Our defense would step up to the job as the blitz forced a woefully underthrown pass by Harrell, the ball landing over 15 yards behind the closest receiver, forcing the turnover on downs.
Taking over after the forced turnover on downs, our offense got lined up from the Utah 36 yard line. Taylor would get us started on the ground, but he would only manage a single yard gain on the play, Utah calling their first timeout immediately after. Another rush by Taylor would pick up three yards, leaving third and 6, Utah calling their second timeout following the play. Playing the strategy of the situation, instead of passing to try and get the first down, we elected to run on third and 6. If we got the first down, all the better, but if we failed, Utah would be forced to either call their third timeout, or watch the clock keep ticking down from 2:12 and well underneath two minutes, while we took our sweet time lining up for a field goal. Taylor would take the handoff on third down, managing only a three yard gain to bring up fourth and three at the Utah 29 yard line. Utah would call their third and final timeout, stopping the clock with 2:10 remaining. We would line up for the 46 yard field goal, looking to make this a 13 point game, The ungodly ugly kick from Thompson never had a chance, both going wide left, as well as landing over 5 yards short in the actual end zone, clearly Thompson not having jack crap for length strength.
With the missed field goal, Utah would take over at their 29 yard line, lining up with 2:06 remaining on the clock and no timeouts left, needing 10 points, two possessions, to tie. Unbelievably, they would almost instantly get 7 of those needed 10 points, as Harrell found Walker over the middle, and after three broken tackles, it was a 71 yard footrace for a touchdown, cutting our lead to 27-24 with 1:53 left in the game.
Lining up for the onside kick, our hands team would make damn sure not to be responsible for us blowing it, as Miller snatched the ball out of the air off the bounce, giving us possession at the Utah 43 yard line with 1:52 remaining in the game. Taylor would get the ball on first down, fighting forward for a gain of four yards, followed by a 5 yard rush to bring up third and one, with one minute remaining on the clock. A 5 yard rush by Taylor would seal the deal, picking up a first down at the Utah 29 yard line. A single kneel down by Williams would 15 seconds left would ice the game and our 27-24 victory over rival Utah.
With the win, we open our 2024 season at 1-0. With the loss, Utah opens their year 0-1. Up next, we head to Denver, Colorado and Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium to face the #7 Michigan Wolverines in a neutral site contest. Michigan enters the game 1-0 followed a 45-24 win over Mississippi State in week one.
Final Score
27,
24
Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A rough first start for Williams. While he did go 11-18 for 160 yards, he also had no touchdowns and two interceptions. Rushing, Silva led the way with 175 yards and three touchdowns on 37 carries. Taylor finished with 73 yards on 23 rushes and Coleman gained three yards on two carries. Receiving, Livingston ended up the top receiver with 36 yards on two catches. Right behind him was Taylor with 35 yards on two receptions. In total, seven receivers caught at least one pass today, and all seven receivers ended with double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – Not a terrible day by the defense. Despite a rough opening drive and a very rough fourth quarter, the defense was actually pretty damn well shut down all game and kept the Utah offense pretty well under wraps. Between a mix of timely blitzes, a stifling man-to-man defense and a damn good four man pass rush, the defense was able to keep Harrell off his game most of the day, leading to a lot of overthrow and underthrown passes that repeatedly doomed offensive drives for the Utes.
Utah State Kicking – Unfortunately, freshman Max Thompson would very much prove to not be in the same league as former kick Doug Marcus. While Marcus had his own struggles once reaching the 50+ yard range, Thompson was woefully short on a 46 yard attempt today, that very well may have still been short even from 40 yards. Unfortunately, that is going to screw our strategies this season as we can no longer rely on our field goal unit from 40-50 yards out, instead we're going to essentially be limited to kicks from 35 yards or less, leading to either an increase in punts on the opponent's half of the field, or some ballsy fourth down attempts.
Now it wasn't entirely terrible. While that 46 yard miss was extremely ugly, Thompson was able to nail two field goals from 19 and 20 yards out (as would be expected), so he still finished a respectable 2-3 today, along with 3-3 on extra points.
Scoring Summary
Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
14 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
27 |
|
7 |
3 |
0 |
14 |
24 |
Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
First Quarter |
9:08 |
|
Touchdown |
T. Riley, 33 yard pass from J. Harrell (S. Mayhew kick) |
7-0 |
5:48 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 1 yard run (M. Thompson kick) |
TIED 7-7 |
0:16 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 1 yard run (M. Thompson kick) |
14-7 |
|
Second Quarter |
1:13 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 11 yard run (M. Thompson kick) |
21-7 |
0:01 |
|
Field Goal |
S. Mayhew, 40 yard field goal |
21-10 |
|
Third Quarter |
2:46 |
|
Field Goal |
M. Thompson, 19 yard field goal |
24-10 |
|
Fourth Quarter |
9:31 |
|
Touchdown |
T. Riley, 23 yard pass from J. Harrell (S. Mayhew kick) |
24-17 |
2:51 |
|
Field Goal |
M. Thompson, 20 yard field goal |
27-17 |
1:53 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Walker, 71 yard pass from J. Harrell (S. Mayhew kick) |
27-24 |
Game Stats
Utah State |
Stat |
Utah |
27 |
Score |
24 |
24 |
First Downs |
6 |
409 |
Total Offense |
272 |
63- 249 - 3 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
7- 21 - 0 |
11- 18 - 0 |
Comp - Att - TD |
14- 31 - 3 |
160 |
Passing Yards |
251 |
0 |
Times Sacked |
1 |
15- 20 (75%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
1- 8 (12%) |
0 - 0 (0%) |
4th Down Conversion |
0- 1 (0%) |
0 - 0 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 0 (0%) |
5- 3 - 2 (100%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
1- 0 - 1 (100%) |
2 |
Turnovers |
0 |
0 |
Fumbles Lost |
0 |
2 |
Intercepted |
0 |
52 |
Punt Return Yards |
10 |
112 |
Kick Return Yards |
162 |
573 |
Total Yards |
444 |
1 – 35.0 |
Punts - Average |
5- 41.8 |
0 - 0 |
Penalties |
0 - 0 |
28:08 |
Time of Possession |
11:52 |
Utah State Coach Goals
Goal |
XP Reward |
Completed |
Win a Game |
100 |
x1 |
Score a Touchdown |
25 |
x3 |
Rush for 100 Yards |
25 |
x1 |
Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead |
10 |
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 |
100% Red Zone Efficiency |
50 |
x1 |
Score 21 Or More Points |
50 |
x1 |
350+ Offensive Yards |
50 |
x1 |
10+ First Downs |
50 |
x1 |
4+ 3rd Down Conversions |
25 |
x1 |
Utah State Contract Goals Update
Goal |
Expectations |
Progress |
Target Wins Per Season |
8 |
1 |
Job Security Status
100%
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