Smooth Pancakes' Coaching Carousel Career

2020-21 Off-Season


Players Leaving

Player	Position	Overall	Year	Reason	Overall of Next Player
Brad Edwards	C	88	Senior (RS)	Graduation	68
Richard Burnette	K	82	Senior (RS)	Graduation	N/A
Johnny Henderson	RT	78	Senior (RS)	Graduation	69
Marcus Garrett	DT	78	Senior (RS)	Graduation	76
Tim Fields	TE	77	Senior (RS)	Graduation	65
Paul Huffman	LT	77	Senior (RS)	Graduation	70
Lee Bradley	MLB	76	Senior (RS)	Graduation	70
Thomas Harris	MLB	76	Senior (RS)	Graduation	70
Carlton Herring	FS	76	Senior (RS)	Graduation	N/A
Michael Smith	WR	71	Senior (RS)	Graduation	79
Pat Ashley	RE	70	Senior (RS)	Graduation	84
Steve Goins	MLB	68	Senior (RS)	Graduation	70
John Harrington	HB	64	Senior (RS)	Graduation	82
Chaz Sanders	RG	62	Senior (RS)	Graduation	70
Erik Clark	LE	62	Senior	Graduation	70
Dustin Parker	FS	62	Freshman	Transfer	N/A
Brian James	FB	60	Senior	Graduation	N/A

NFL Draft

Player	Position	Overall	Year	Projected Round	Drafted Round
---	---	---	---	---	---

Transfer Requests

Player	Position	Transferring From	Transferring To	Year	Overall	Reason	Admitted/Denied
Dustin Parker	FS	Utah State	Texas	Freshman	62	Playing Time	---

2020 Utah State Recruiting Class

Player	Position	Position Rank	Tendency	Star Ranking	:sparq:	Overall	+/-	Notes
Leonard Hart	CB	#28	Balanced	:3star:	67.00	78	+8	GEM
Shelton Woods	G	#24	Balanced	:3star:	57.00	76	+5	GEM
Justin Dunn	MLB	#2	Balanced	:4star:	73.00	76	-2
Shaun Peterson	DE	#31	Balanced	:3star:	63.00	73	+3
Jesse Breedlove	CB	#25	Balanced	:3star:	67.00	72	+2
Justin Wallace	T	#35	Balanced	:3star:	57.00	71	+2
Johnny Sullivan	MLB	#24	Run Stopper	:3star:	64.00	71	-1
Derrick Perez	MLB	#50	Run Stopper	:3star:	64.00	71	+3
Pat Williams	QB	#16	Pocket Passer	:3star:	65.00	70	-1
Doug Marcus	K	#34	Accurate	:1star:	40.00	70	+4
Jason Baker	OLB	#34	Run Stopper	:3star:	64.00	69	-1
Craig Cruz	CB	#20	Coverage	:3star:	67.00	69	---
Jesse Wright	K	#15	Accurate	:2star:	50.00	69	-2
Aaron Allen	WR	#281	Possession	:1star:	48.00	68	+2	JUCO (JR)
Kyle Mitchell	FS	#19	Coverage	:3star:	67.00	67	-3
Jon Morris	WR	#221	Speed	:2star:	59.00	65	+6	GEM
Walter Johnson	FB	#56	Balanced	:1star:	49.00	63	+4
Kevin Thomas	G	#28	Balanced	:3star:	57.00	62	-8	BUST
Paul Rodgers	G	#156	Balanced	:1star:	40.00	61	+6	GEM
Drew Triplett	DT	#109	Balanced	:3star:	57.00	60	-3
Marcus Williams	DT	#155	Pass Rusher	:1star:	40.00	52	---
Darrell Archie	FB	#69	Blocking	:1star:	49.00	50	+10	GEM
Roger Coleman	FB	#65	Balanced	:1star:	49.00	48	+2

Recruiting Class Rank

Rank: 55




Position Changes

Player	Position	Overall	New Position	Overall
Paul Rodgers	RG	61	C	62
Sean Baker	RT	68	LT	68

Training Results

Highest Overall Player - Adam Powers - QB - 92 OVR (+5)
Largest Training Increase - Preston Roberson - HB - 88 OVR (+6)




Cut Players

Player	Position	Depth Chart Rank	Year	Overall
Roger Coleman	FB	3rd	Freshman	48
Marcus Williams	DT	4th	Freshman	52
Charles Thomas	MLB	6th	Freshman (RS)	65
Jesse Wright	K	2nd	Freshman	69

Conference Changes

Team		Old Conference	New Conference
---		---	---

BCS Bowl Tie Ins

Slots	Conference	Bowl
Automatic Qualifier	:ACC:	Orange Bowl
Automatic Qualifier	:AAC:	Any Bowl
Automatic Qualifier	:Big_Ten:	Rose Bowl
Automatic Qualifier	:Big_12:	Fiesta Bowl
Automatic Qualifier	:Mountain_West:	Any Bowl
Automatic Qualifier	:Pac_12:	Rose Bowl
Automatic Qualifier	:SEC:	Sugar Bowl
Open Slot	At Large	Any Bowl

2021 Utah State Football Schedule

Week	Home/Away	Team	Result	Score	Record	Game Notes
1	Home	:Utah:	Loss	35-38	0-1	Season Opener Home Opener Battle of the Brothers Beehive Boot
2	Away	:Tulsa:	Loss	21-42	0-2
3	Home	:Old_Dominion:	Loss	30-31	0-3	Homecoming
4	Away	:BYU:	Loss	27-28	0-4	The Old Wagon Wheel Beehive Boot
5	---	Bye Week	---	---	---	---
6	Home	:Fresno_State:	Loss	38-62	0-5 (0-1)	Conference Opener
7	Away	:Hawaii:	Loss	62-65 3OT	0-6 (0-2)
8	Home	:New_Mexico:	Win	45-7	1-6 (1-2)
9	Away	:Colorado_State:	Win	30-29	2-6 (2-2)
10	Home	#18 :Boise_State:	Loss	17-24	2-7 (2-3)
11	Away	:Air_Force:	Loss	20-24	2-8 (2-4)
12	---	Bye Week	---	---	---
13	Home	:UNLV:	Win	42-13	3-8 (3-4)	Senior Night
14	Away	:Wyoming:	Win	42-14	4-8 (4-4)	Bridger's Battle
15	---	Bye Week	---	---	---
CCG	:Mountain_West:	Bye Week	---	---	---	Mountain West Championship Game
Bowl Game	Bowl Game	Bye Week	---	---	---	2021 Bowl Game

--- The scores are hyperlinks to the posted game report of that game. Just click on the score/link to be taken to that game's posted report.

The following players have been redshirted for the 2021 season.

2021 Redshirt Players

Player	Position	Depth Chart Rank	Year	Overall
Adam Powers	QB	1st	Senior	92
Matt Leierer	HB	4th	Senior	72
Eric McGuire	WR	1st	Senior	83
Dre Martin	WR	1st	Senior	79
Tim Peterson	LG	2nd	Senior	73
Paul Rodgers	C	2nd	Freshman	62
Shelton Woods	RG	1st	Freshman	76
Perry Johnson	LOLB	2nd	Senior	77
Buck Castillo	CB	3rd	Senior	72
Lawrence Coker	CB	5th	Junior	64

2021 Preseason Top 25

Rank	Team	2020 Record	Overall	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
1	:Ohio_State:	14-0	A+ (99)	A+ (99)	A (95)	D-
2	:Alabama:	12-2	A+ (99)	A+ (99)	A+ (99)	B
3	:Notre_Dame:	11-2	A+ (97)	A+ (97)	A+ (99)	A
4	:Virginia_Tech:	13-1	A (95)	A+ (97)	A (95)	B
5	:Texas:	9-4	A (95)	A+ (97)	A- (93)	B
6	:North_Carolina:	10-3	B+ (90)	B+ (90)	B+ (90)	A
7	:LSU:	8-5	B+ (91)	B+ (91)	A- (93)	B+
8	:Oklahoma:	9-4	A (95)	A+ (99)	A- (92)	A
9	:Texas_A&M:	9-4	A+ (97)	A+ (99)	A- (93)	A-
10	:USC:	10-4	A+ (97)	A+ (99)	A (95)	A+
11	:Nebraska:	11-3	A- (93)	A (95)	B+ (90)	B-
12	:Washington:	10-4	A+ (97)	A+ (97)	A (95)	A-
13	:Kansas_State:	12-1	B+ (88)	B+ (90)	B (87)	B
14	:Michigan_State:	9-4	A- (93)	A+ (97)	A- (92)	B
15	:Georgia_Tech:	11-2	B+ (90)	B+ (90)	B+ (90)	B-
16	:Oregon:	8-5	A- (93)	A (95)	A- (92)	A
17	:TCU:	10-3	B+ (91)	A- (93)	B+ (90)	A
18	:Boise_State:	12-2	B (84)	B (86)	B (87)	C+
19	:South_Carolina:	8-5	A- (93)	A (95)	A- (92)	B+
20	:Tennessee:	8-5	B+ (90)	B+ (90)	B+ (88)	B+
21	:Auburn:	8-5	B+ (90)	A- (93)	B+ (88)	D-
22	:Arizona:	9-4	B+ (91)	A (95)	B+ (88)	C+
23	:Florida:	9-5	A (95)	A- (93)	A+ (99)	A+
24	:West_Virginia:	8-5	B+ (88)	B+ (90)	B+ (88)	C+
25	:Illinois:	9-4	B- (83)	B (86)	B- (82)	B+

Mountain West Teams and 2021 Opponents

Rank	Team	2020 Record	Overall	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
18	:Boise_State:	12-2	B (84)	B (86)	B (87)	C+
39	:Fresno_State:	9-4	B- (81)	B (84)	C+ (78)	B
50	:San_Diego_State:	9-5	B (86)	B+ (88)	B (87)	B
52	:BYU:	7-6	B (84)	B+ (88)	B- (80)	D+
54	:Utah:	7-6	B+ (88)	B+ (88)	B+ (90)	B+
62	:Utah_State:	9-4	B- (81)	C+ (79)	B- (82)	D
71	:Tulsa:	7-5	C+ (79)	B- (83)	C+ (76)	B+
84	:San_Jose_State:	5-7	C (74)	C+ (77)	C (75)	D
91	:Wyoming:	6-7	C+ (79)	C+ (79)	B- (80)	B-
96	:Nevada:	6-7	B- (83)	B (84)	B- (80)	C+
98	:Old_Dominion:	6-6	C (74)	C+ (79)	C- (70)	D-
111	:Colorado_State:	3-9	C (75)	C+ (77)	C (75)	B-
112	:Hawaii:	4-8	C+ (79)	B (84)	C (75)	B
113	:UNLV:	4-8	C (74)	C+ (79)	D+ (68)	D
115	:Air_Force:	4-8	C (75)	C (75)	C+ (76)	D
119	:New_Mexico:	3-9	C- (70)	C (72)	C- (70)	D-

"For Our Readers" Teams

Rank	Team	2020 Record	Overall	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
1	:Ohio_State:	14-0	A+ (99)	A+ (99)	A (95)	D-
19	:South_Carolina:	8-5	A- (93)	A (95)	A- (92)	B+
21	:Auburn:	8-5	B+ (90)	A- (93)	B+ (88)	D-
24	:West_Virginia:	8-5	B+ (88)	B+ (90)	B+ (88)	C+
42	:FIU:	11-3	B- (81)	B- (81)	B- (82)	C
44	:Arizona_State:	7-6	B+ (88)	B+ (91)	B (85)	B+
59	:Arkansas_State:	9-4	B- (81)	B- (83)	B- (80)	C-
71	:Tulsa:	7-5	C+ (79)	B- (83)	C+ (76)	B+
81	:Southern_Miss:	7-6	C (74)	C (75)	C (73)	B-
105	:Navy:	6-7	C+ (79)	C+ (79)	C+ (78)	B

2021 Utah State Two Deep Roster


Offense

Spoiler: show

Position	Rank	Name	Year	Overall
QB	1	Jason Barnes	Sophomore (RS)	81
QB	2	Ross Brown	Junior (RS)	75
HB	1	Preston Roberson	Senior (RS)	88
HB	2	Brian Paris	Junior	80
FB	1	Walter Johnson	Freshman	63
FB	2	Darrell Archie	Freshman	50
WR	1	Travis Munoz	Senior (RS)	78
WR	2	David Douglas	Junior	78
WR	3	Ryan Conley	Senior (RS)	76
WR	4	Max Rhodes	Junior (RS)	73
WR	5	Aaron Allen	Freshman	68
TE	1	Maurice Martin	Senior (RS)	70
TE	2	Jack Long	Sophomore (RS)	67
LT	1	Derek Smith	Sophomore (RS)	75
LT	2	Sean Baker	Sophomore (RS)	71
LG	1	Brian Johnson	Senior (RS)	73
LG	2	Kevin Thomas	Freshman	62
C	1	Adam Jefferson	Senior (RS)	75
C	2	---	---	---
RG	1	Jason Oliver	Senior (RS)	74
RG	2	---	---	---
RT	1	Jake Lee	Junior (RS)	74
RT	2	Justin Wallace	Freshman	71

Defense

Spoiler: show

Position	Rank	Name	Year	Overall
LE	1	Caleb McBride	Junior (RS)	76
LE	2	Freddie Wilson	Senior (RS)	66
RE	1	Kevin Tolbert	Senior (RS)	88
RE	2	Shaun Peterson	Freshman	73
DT	1	Adam Grant	Senior (RS)	81
DT	2	Ernest Sims	Junior (RS)	78
DT	3	Scott Flanagan	Sophomore	66
DT	4	Drew Tripplett	Freshman	60
LOLB	1	Al Washington	Senior (RS)	83
LOLB	2	John Hale	Sophomore (RS)	71
MLB	1	Justin Dunn	Freshman	76
MLB	2	Sean Edwards	Junior (RS)	75
ROLB	1	Casey Hunter	Junior (RS)	80
ROLB	2	Arthur Lee	Senior (RS)	75
CB	1	Kevin Moore	Senior (RS)	89
CB	2	Leonard Hart	Freshman	78
CB	3	Jesse Breedlove	Freshman	72
CB	4	Jeremy Thurman	Senior (RS)	72
FS	1	Charles Noble	Junior (RS)	73
FS	2	Kyle Mitchell	Freshman	67
SS	1	Sam Vinson	Senior (RS)	80
SS	2	Sam Richwalski	Junior (RS)	76
K	1	Doug Marcus	Freshman	70
K	2	Ed Allen	Junior	76
P	1	Ed Allen	Junior	76
P	2	Doug Marcus	Freshman	70
KR	1	Preston Roberson	Senior (RS)	98
KR	2	David Douglas	Junior	93
PR	1	Preston Roberson	Senior (RS)	98
PR	2	David Douglas	Junior	93

Utah State Three Year HC Contract Goals - Year Two

Goal	Expectations	Progress
Target Wins Per Season	7	4

Job Security Status

100%

--- Contract goal numbers and job security updated through Season 11, Off-season.

Alright, so expectations went up. After last season, the target number on my contract has now gone up to 7 wins.

With the schedule we have this season, that is going to be a tall task. Practically every game on our schedule is going to a battle. I'm already expecting losses to Boise State, Fresno State and probably Utah. BYU, I'm going to have to play perfect football to win.

Tulsa, Wyoming and Hawaii all have the talent to make for very difficult games against them. Even Colorado State has improved a bunch this year, making them a more dangerous team. Even Air Force will probably put up a fight.

UNLV, New Mexico and Old Dominion are probably the only games that appear to be safe wins.

Holy shit! WVU won a bowl game in your dynasty! It's like a Christmas fuckin' miracle.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

Holy shit! WVU won a bowl game in your dynasty! It's like a Christmas fuckin' miracle.

---

:D Yeah, West Virginia did decent last year. Finished 8-5, won the Holiday Bowl over Oregon and ended the year ranked 20th.

West Virginia could have another good year, ranked 88 overall, 90 on offense and 88 on defense. Only issue, their first game of the season, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game vs. #2 Alabama. :fp:

But it gets better, with FCS East and Maryland your other non-conference games. So figure 2-1 in non-conference play, just need four more wins to get bowl eligible.

Whats Toledos and Oh St notable games in your dynasty?

Finally ASU :Arizona_State: has a winning season in your dynasty. For awhile there Smooth I thought you were game fixing... :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dhook27

Whats Toledos and Oh St notable games in your dynasty?

---

Not sure, I'll have to check next time I'm online, maybe tomorrow night or Sunday.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaymo76

Finally ASU :Arizona_State: has a winning season in your dynasty. For awhile there Smooth I thought you were game fixing... :D

---

:D I was trying my damnedest. Then stupid EA had to go and change it so that the results for each week were simulated while advancing the weeks. Sort of ruined my efforts. ;)

"Clemson cleans house" will take awhile, purdy dirty up there :D

When I grow up I want to be like smooth and be able to create and insert pretty tables, charts and graphs :nod:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SCClassof93

When I grow up I want to be like smooth and be able to create and insert pretty tables, charts and graphs :nod:

---

Now that's a good goal to have in life! :up: :)

After a nice "vacation" from football (mostly due to work hours being an utter bitch for the last couple weeks), looking to get the first game with Utah fired up tomorrow.

I'm a little tempted to do it tonight, but I'm tired as hell, going on only 6 total hours of sleep since 4:30 AM Friday morning. So I'm not gonna try to get it in tonight.

Tomorrow however, should work out. Denver's on a bye week this week, so not really any NFL games that truly interest me or that I absolutely have to watch, so I should be able to get Utah played and maybe even knock out Tulsa.

Game One

:Utah: :@: :Utah_State:



Game Notes

--- The start of another season had arrived, and with it, we jumped right into the fire in our first game with hatred renewed, as the Utes of Utah came to town 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. It was going to be a staunch test for our first game of the season, especially with Utah entering the game much more highly rated and touted by the national media. While our defense was being rated respectably this year, we were going to have to find a miracle on offense, with sophomore second-string QB Jason Barnes taking over under center this year, while Adam Powers would sit on the sideline under a senior year redshirt. Would the decision to keep Powers around for one more year pan out? Or would not using him here and now come back to bite us in the ass? Utah won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A 26 yard return by David Douglas got our 2021 season opened up at our 22 yard line. We got our first drive started on the ground, as Preston Roberson took the ball off-tackle for a three yard gain on the play. A second rush by Roberson picked up four yards, bringing up our first third down of the season, facing third and three. Dropping back from under center on third down, Jason Barnes threw his first pass of his career, finding fullback Walter Johnson coming out of the backfield to the right side for a 10 yard completion and a first down at our 39 yard line. Returning to the ground, Roberson picked up where he left off with a 7 yard carry, followed by a four yard gain to just get the first down at the 49. Continuing with the rushing game, Roberson pounded his way through the line for a 6 yard pickup, before Brian Paris took over with a 7 yard gain, moving the chains to the Utah 37 yard line. Continuing with what works, Roberson picked up 7 yards on the ground, followed by a three yard carry to pick up another first down at the 27. Following the mantra “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, Paris took the ball on first down for a gain of 5 yards, followed by a 6 yard rush by Roberson to get yet another first down at the 16 yard line. Roberson took the ball on first down, gaining 5 yards on the play, before Paris stumbled and bumbled his way to a 6 yard gain up the middle, giving us first and goal from the 5 yard line. Roberson punched the first down handoff straight up the middle, fighting his way to a four yard gain, leaving second and goal at the one yard line. Roberson received the handoff on second down, but a timely blitz by the middle linebacker brought him down for a one yard loss, leaving third and goal at the two yard line. Despite the failed attempt on the previous play, we would find the end zone on third down as Paris punched it in for a two yard touchdown to cap off a monstrous 16 play, 78 yard drive, nearly all on the ground, that took an entire 6 minutes off the clock, giving us a 7-0 lead with 2:55 left in the first quarter.

It would take Utah all of 12 seconds to respond, as Adam Jennings took the kickoff at the two yard line, and proceeded to weave his way through our kick team, taking the ball all the way back for a 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, tying the game back up at 7-7 with 2:43 left in the first quarter.

A 21 yard kickoff return by Roberson got us lined up at our 19 yard line for our next drive. Roberson got the drive started with a 5 yard carry around the right tackle, before punching it up the middle for a 6 yard gain and a first down at the 30 yard line. Paris took over on first down with a 5 yard rush, followed by a gain of one yard to leave us facing third and four. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Barnes took the snap and tried to rifle a pass over the middle to Travis Munoz, but the pass was broken up by the middle linebacker, leaving us punting on fourth and four. A 16 yard return on the 40 yard punt gave Utah the ball at their 40 yard line.

The Utes offense came out for the first time of the entire game, with 1:04 left on the clock in the first quarter. Utah would waste absolutely no time in shredding our defense to pieces behind their no-huddle offense. Jason McNeil got the drive started with a 6 yard pass to Marty Gray, followed by an 18 yard rush by Michael Chavez around the left tackle, setting up a first down at our 36 yard line. Going back to the air, McNeil found Gray again for a three yard gain over the middle, followed by a high toss long the right sideline to Sam Hamby that went for a gain of 13 yards and a first down at our 20 yard line. McNeil would do the rest of the damage, taking off rushing around the right end for a 16 yard gain, pushed out of bounds at the four yard line to set up first and goal. McNeil then scrambled up the middle on first down for a gain of three yards, nearly driving his way into the end zone before being stuffed and brought down short of the goal line, leaving second and goal at the one yard line. That would be the final play of the first quarter as the clock ran out, the score still tied 7-7.

Opening up the second quarter, Utah lined up with second and goal from the one yard line. Derrick Johnson would have little trouble finding the end zone as he beat our blitz to the outside and waltzed his way into the end zone for a one yard touchdown, giving Utah a 14-7 lead with 8:58 left in the second quarter.

A 24 yard kickoff return by Roberson got us started at our 24 yard line for our next drive. Bouncing off of one defender in the backfield, Roberson took the first down handoff up the middle, managing to pick up 5 yards on the play, followed by a three yard rush by Paris to leave us with third and two. Taking our chances on the ground, Roberson took the ball on third down, picking up two yards on the play but stopped just short of the first down marker, leaving fourth and inches from the 34 yard line. With the offensive explosiveness that Utah showed on their first drive, it was going to matter little whether they just needed to cross 34 yards or 84 yards, and needing to keep up with that explosive offense every way and chance we could, we elected to make the extremely ballsy play, going for it on fourth and inches from our 34 yard line. Roberson received the huge handoff, and came through for our offense with a four yard carry, giving us new life at our 38 yard line. Paris took the ball on first down, picking up four yards on the play, before Roberson got stuffed for a gain of only two yards to leave third and four. Returning to the air on third down, we called a play action pass, the pass from Barnes to Cedric McKinney surprisingly good for a 12 yard completion and a first down at the Utah 44 yard line. Opening up the playbook a little, we came out in the shotgun on first down, Barnes finding Munoz along the right sideline for a 26 yard gain and a new set of downs at the 18 yard line. After shaking off the cornerback, Munoz had nothing but green field in front of him and easily could have taken it to the house, but he tried to put on the jets a little too soon while turning up field and started to lose his balance, never quite recovering it and ultimately falling forward at the 18 instead of finding the end zone. A quick pass from the shotgun to Ryan Conley on first down went for a big 15 yard gain, setting us up with first and goal from the three yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Roberson tried to punch it up the middle, gaining one yard on the play to leave second and goal from the two. Paris came in on second down, but was likewise unsuccessful, gaining only one yard to bring up third and goal at the one yard line. Roberson received the ball yet again on third down, officially gaining one yard on the play, but still not finding the end zone, leaving us with fourth and goal just outside the goal line, and looking at another tough call to make on fourth down. After going for it on fourth and inches from our 34 yard line, it would be stupid to not go for it on fourth and goal inside the one yard line, essentially fourth and inches at the goal line, so we lined up in the power I and Roberson would finally get the job done on the fourth attempt, punching it in for a one yard touchdown and tying the game back up at 14-14 with 3:46 left in the second quarter.

Utah would kneel the kickoff down in the end zone for a touchback, taking the ball at their 25 yard line to start their next drive. Chavez got the drive started with a 13 yard rush and a first down at the 38 yard line. The defense would finally claim a victory on first down, as McNeil held onto the ball too long, ending up sacked by defensive tackle Adam Grant for a 5 yard loss, bringing up second and 15. Chavez recovered those lost yards with a 12 yard rush to leave third and three. McNeil dropped back again on third down, firing off a pass over the middle to a wide open Derrick Barrett, but he tried to turn up the field too soon and ended up dropping the pass, which was nearly intercepted off the ground by our secondary, leaving Utah’s punt team coming out on fourth and three. A huge 34 yard return by Roberson on the 41 yard punt got us set up from our 48 yard line, 2:39 left until halftime.

Starting the drive in the air, Barnes tried to find tight end Marcus Martin over the middle on first down, but the pass was broken up, leaving second and long. Dropping into the shotgun on second down, Barnes was able to connect with Munoz near the right hash, good for a 13 yard gain and a first down at the Utah 39 yard line. Conley came through for us on first down, pulling in the pass from Barnes for a pickup of 17 yards and a new set of downs at the 22. Continuing through the air on first down, Barnes found Munoz again, this time for a 15 yard gain to give us first and goal at the 7 yard line. Handing the ball off on first down, Roberson took the ball for a two yard gain, leaving second and goal at the 5 yard line. Another rush by Roberson gained another two yards, bringing up third and goal at the three. We would end up walking away from that great drive with absolutely no points to show for it, as the pass from Barnes over the middle, intended for Douglas, was intercepted by outside linebacker Gerald Irvin in the end zone, who dropped to a knee for the touchback, giving Utah the ball at their 25 yard line, 33 seconds left on the clock.

Taking over at the 25 yard line after the interception, McNeil lined up in the shotgun, finding Hamby over the middle for a quick 12 yard gain and a first down at the 32 yard line, Utah calling their first timeout with 29 seconds left. Firing off a quick dump pass, McNeil found Gray on first down, and it nearly turned into points, as Gray broke his way out of two tackles, turning a gain of maybe 8 yards into a 29 yard gain, a desperation dive at the ankles tackle bringing him down and keeping it from turning into 7 points. That would leave Utah with first and 10 from our 39 yard line, the Utes calling their second timeout with 21 seconds to go. We caught a break on first down, as a pass from McNeil, completed to Oliver Harris along the left sideline, was ultimately ruled incomplete as Harris had to go up in the air to pull it down, his feet coming down out of bounds to leave Utah with second and 10. We dropped everyone, including their grandmother, back into coverage on second down, and for the most part, were able to limit the damage as McNeil had to settle for a 10 yard completion to Chavez. It did still work out as the gain went for a first down at our 29 yard line, the Utes rushing to the line with the clock momentarily stopped. Snapping the ball with 11 seconds left and ticking, our prevention defense failed to prevent on first down, as McNeil lofted up a pass to a wide open Harris in the end zone for a 29 yard touchdown, giving Utah a 21-14 lead with 6 seconds left until halftime, the Utes covering 75 yards in just 27 seconds.

Roberson received the kickoff in the end zone, just dropping to a knee for the touchback to give us the ball at our 25 yard line, 6 ticks left on the clock. Taking a shot for the hell of it, Barnes dropped back from the shotgun, launching up a Hail Mary pass down the right sideline. Our prayers would be half answered, as Conley was able to somehow snag down the pass, but he was promptly tackled by two Utah defenders at the Utah 26 yard line for a 49 yard completion. That would be as there was no time left on the clock, taking us into halftime, Utah leading 21-14.

Opening up the second half, a 20 yard kickoff return by Harris got Utah lined up from their 20 yard line to start the third quarter. A screen pass to Chavez got things started with a 9 yard gain, followed by a 6 yard gain on the ground to pick up the first down at the 36 yard line. Chavez took the ball on first down for a pickup of four yards, before we caught a break as the second down pass from McNeil to Hamby near our 45 yard line was dropped by Hamby as he went out of bounds, the incomplete pass bringing up third and 6. Despite getting a chance to regroup for the third down play, our defense would still give up the play as McNeil found Barrett for a 9 yard completion along the left sideline, picking up the first down at the 49 yard line. Turning to the ground game, Johnson took over, but our defense was more than ready for him, limiting him to rushing gains of just two and three yards, leaving Utah facing third and 5 at our 45. The rush on second down would come at a cost as Johnson remained on the field after the play, suffering a strained back that would leave him out for at least a quarter, and put a dent into Utah’s running back corps. A good blitz forced McNeil to dump the pass off to Barrett, who was promptly tackled for a gain of only a single yard, but it would all be for naught, as a flag came out on the tackle, a facemask penalty called on safety Charles Noble, turning fourth and four into a first down for Utah at our 29 yard line. Chavez would take to the ground on the first down play, rushing up the middle for an 8 yard gain, followed by a two yard carry that was stopped just short, leaving Utah facing third and inches. Our defense would finally claim victory as McNeil tried to convert the third down himself, only to be brought down in the backfield for a two yard loss by middle linebacker Justin Dunn, bringing up a field goal attempt on fourth and three. The 38 yard field goal by John Bell was good, giving Utah a 24-14 lead with 6:08 left in the third quarter.

Roberson fielded the kickoff 6 yards deep in the end zone, simply dropping to a knee to take the touchback and get us underway from our 25 yard line. Starting our drive on the ground, Roberson took the first down handoff for a four yard rush, followed by a 5 yard gain that left us looking at third and one. Utah didn’t make it easy, but Roberson was able to fight his way to a three yard gain and pick up the first down at the 36 yard line. Paris came in on first down, only able to get two yards on the rush before being swarmed by defenders. Lining up under center, Barnes dropped back on second down, firing off a pass to tight end Jack Long for a gain of 12 yards and a first down at midfield. Roberson returned to the backfield on first down, fighting his way to a four yard gain, before driving for a pickup of 5 yards to bring up third and one. Trying to catch the defense sleeping, a play action pass on third down, intended for McKinney, was broken up by the outside linebacker, leaving us with fourth and one from the Utah 41 yard line. Unfortunately too far out of field goal range, we brought out the punt team on fourth down. Ed Allen would come through huge for us on the play, kicking a perfect corner coffin punt out of bounds at Utah’s four yard line to leave their offense buried.

Taking over at the four yard line after the punt, the Utes were going to have to get the ball moving to leave the shadow of their end zone. It would only get more dangerous for the red and white, as Dunn broke through on a play action pass, not falling for the fake and sacking McNeil for a three yard loss, McNeil just barely avoid the safety, but leaving Utah lining up on second and 13 from inside the one yard line. Chavez would recover two of those lost yards on the ground, leaving third and 11 from the three yard line, before turning on on third down and burning us around the right tackle, going for a 14 yard carry and getting the first down at the 17 yard line. After a one yard carry by Chavez, McNeil came out in the shotgun on second down, trying to connect with Hamby deep over the middle, who thankfully, for us, dropped the pass and put a fork in what would have been at least a 20 yard gain, leaving Utah facing third and 9. Forced to rush his pass to avoid a sack by the blitzing Dunn, McNeil’s hurried throw intended for Barrett sailed high and long, landing incomplete between a pair of defenders to leave the Utes punting the ball back on fourth down. There was no return by Roberson on the 45 yard punt as he muffed the catch, thankfully able to dive on top of it before the nearest Utah player, who was still 10 yards downfield, was able to make a play on the fumble. That failed punt return left us starting our next drive from our 37 yard line.

Lining up after the punt, Roberson was unable to find any gap or seam on the first down carry, meeting nothing but a wall of white and brought down for no gain on the play. Dropping back into the shotgun on second down, Barnes tried to connect with Douglas over the middle, but the ball was broken up by the middle linebacker, leaving third and 10. Trying through the air again, Barnes was able to find Conley cutting open across the right hash, but he was hit as he went to release the pass, the ball going straight up in the air and harmlessly landing on the ground just mere feet away, leaving us punting the ball right back on fourth down. A 15 yard return by Jennings on the 37 yard punt got Utah back in action from their 40 yard line.

Chavez tried to get things started on the ground for the Utes, but met the brick wall that is defensive end Caleb McBride, brought down in the backfield for a three yard loss to leave second and 13. An incomplete pass by McNeil intended for Harris would leave the Utes again facing a third and long as our defense started to make, and take, a stand. That stand would last for another play, as 6 rushers left McNeil scrambling to find someone open, only to end up sacked by defensive tackle Ernest Sims for a loss of 8 yards, bringing out the punt team on fourth and 21. That would be the last play of the third quarter however as the clock ran out without another snap, Utah holding onto a 24-14 lead.

Opening up the fourth quarter, Utah lined up to punt the ball away on fourth and 21, a 13 yard return by Roberson on the 37 yard punt giving us the ball at our 45 yard line to start. Roberson took the ball on first down for a four yard gain, before a play action pass on second down would end up biting us in the ass in supreme fashion, the pass intercepted near the left hash by Jennings, who proceeded to return it all the way to the end zone for a 58 yard interception return for a touchdown, increasing Utah’s lead to 31-14 with 8:14 left in the game. This was turning out to be quite the defensive and special teams game for Jennings, who already had a 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown to go along with his now 58 yard interception return for a touchdown.

A 24 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart gave us the ball at our 23 yard line for our next drive, looking for a miracle with only 8 minutes left and down by 17. Coming out passing on first down, Barnes was briefly able to connect with Douglas over the middle, but he dropped the pass after being hit by the safety, the ball landing incomplete to bring up second down. Taking a shot deep down the left side line for Munoz, he was unable to come down with the pass from Barnes, leaving us with third and 10. The third down pass to Max Rhodes would be the drive saver, going for a gain of 12 yards and a first down at the 35 yard line. Aaron Allen pulled in a 5 yard completion on first down, followed by a 12 yard pass to Martin to pick up the first down at the Utah 48 yard line. Dropping back in the shotgun on first down, Barnes tried to hit Dante May over the middle, only to end up throwing his third interception of the game, as outside linebacker Ben McKenzie picked off the pass and returned it four yards to the 46 yard line.

Taking over after the interception, McNeil came out passing on first down, connecting with Harris over the middle for 5 yards, before keeping the ball himself and rushing for a two yard gain to bring up third and three. Chavez would pick up the first down with a 13 yard carry, moving the chains to our 35 yard line. McNeil would then put Utah back on the board, faking the handoff to Chavez, which our defense bit hook, line and sinker, and with a couple blockers, took off for the right sideline and took it all the way in for a 35 yard touchdown, increasing Utah’s lead to 38-14 with 6:04 on the clock, Utah’s entire drive lasting a whole 42 seconds.

A 19 yard kickoff return by Douglas left us starting our next drive at our 16 yard line. While any hope for a comeback was essentially over, we were still going to try and save face, coming out throwing on first down, the pass over the middle to Douglas good for a 14 yard gain and a first down at the 30 yard line. Greg Miller pulled in a 5 yard pass on first down, followed by a 65 yard touchdown pass to Rhodes, in one of the oddest plays in this coach’s history. Rhodes was swarmed by defensive players after the catch, with no less than four Utah players at any one time, 6 defenders in total involved in a gang tackle. However, Rhodes would ride the wave of bodies, somehow managing to avoid having any part of his body hit the ground, and eventually managing to get back on his feet. While the mass of Utah defenders were still trying to untangle themselves, as well as the two or three offensive players who had gotten involved, Rhodes was able to get his feet under him and take off running for the end zone with nothing but green in front of him, outracing cornerback Erik Collins to the end zone, Collins not able to initiate a tackle attempt until Rhodes was already at the one yard line and going into the end zone. The PAT cut Utah’s lead to 38-21 with 5:15 left in the game and gave us maybe a glimmer of hope.

Still down by 17 with only 5 minutes left in the game, we just couldn’t trust our defense enough to get the job done, and then went for the onside kick. Unfortunately it was not meant to be as Clint Lee recovered the ball for the Utes, giving the possession at our 45 yard line. Coming out passing on first down, Dunn was able to somehow slip through the offensive line and get to McNeil, sacking him for a three yard loss on the play. Utah came out passing again on second down, as McNeil made up the lost yards with a three yard completion to Maurice Allen, before dumping off the ball on a third down screen pass to Chavez, who was quickly brought down for a gain of only three yards, leaving Utah punting on fourth and 7. The ball landed at the 5 yard line and bounced into the end zone for a touchback, getting our next drive underway at the 20 yard line.

Our drive got off to a rough start, as the pass from Barnes intended for Rhodes was nearly intercepted, ultimately falling incomplete to bring up second down. A 12 yard completion to Conley kept us moving forward with a first down at the 32 yard line. Rhodes would come through with a 16 yard grab along the right sideline, falling backwards out of bounds to stop the clock at the 47 yard line. Jennings almost had his second interception of the game, getting his hands on the pass intended for Conley, but unable to hold onto it, the incompletion bringing up second and 10. Barnes tried to connect with Douglas on second down, but his pass was overthrown and incomplete, leaving us with third and 10. Rhodes would come through for us with an 11 yard reception, getting the first down at the Utah 42 yard line. Rushing to the line of scrimmage, Barnes tried to go right back to Rhodes, but the cornerback made a good play on the ball and broke the pass up while simultaneously taking down Rhodes, leaving us with second down. Munoz was able to pick up the first down with a 14 yard completion, moving the chains to the Utah 28 yard line. Going deep down the left side line, the second attempt to Munoz was no good, broken up in the end zone by the safety to leave second and 10. Barnes would end up holding onto the ball too long on second down, sacked for an 8 yard loss to leave third and 18, forcing us to call our first timeout with 2:52 left in the game. Paris would come through huge for us on third down, slipping out of the backfield and beating the outside linebacker to a high pass, good for a 31 yard gain to set up first and goal from the 6 yard line. Martin would get us back into the end zone, getting open out of the tight end position and hauling in the quick pass from Barnes, cutting Utah’s lead to 38-28 with 2:34 left in the game.

Going once more for the onside kick, Utah would again recover as Gray came up with the football, the Utah offense starting their drive at our 40 yard line. The Utes were definitely trying to run out the remainder of the clock, which worked perfectly for our bring the entire house blitzing defense, as McNeil twice tried to keep the ball himself on the ground, instead ending up tackled for losses of four and three yards, leaving Utah facing a third and 17 situation, our second timeout finally called with 1:49 left on the clock. Bringing everything and the kitchen sink once more, Chavez would only manage a 6 yard gain, forcing Utah to punt the ball away on fourth and 11 from our 41 yard line, our third and final timeout taken with 1:45 left on the clock. The 41 yard punt would land just inside the end zone for a touchback, giving us the ball back at our 20 yard line, 1:40 left to work with.

Coming out passing on first down, Barnes took a shot deep down the left sideline, but the cornerback would break up the pass intended for Munoz, leaving second down. Conley would get us moving on second down with a 13 yard reception and a first down at the 33 yard line. Going no-huddle, Barnes tried to find Conley again, but a diving pass deflection by the safety broke the pass up and left second and 10 once more. A pass down the sideline intended for Douglas sailed long and out of bounds, leaving third down. Miller would come through with a 12 yard reception and a first down at our 45 yard line. Going back to the line without huddling, Barnes tried to find Munoz over the middle, but the play was broken up to bring about another second down. Rhodes would come through huge for us once more, finding a gap in the secondary up the right sideline, hauling in a pass from Barnes and sprinting for the end zone, eventually caught up to and dragged down from behind for a 51 yard gain, setting up first and goal at the four yard line, though it would come at a minor cost as Rhodes would end up sideline for brief remainder of the game with a bruised thigh. It would take us just one more play to punch it in the end zone, as Barnes connected with Long from the tight end position for a four yard touchdown, further cutting Utah’s lead to 38-35 with 54 seconds left in the game.

Hoping and praying that the third time would be the charm for us, we lined up for our third onside kick of the quarter, but it was not meant to be as Barrett recovered the kick, giving Utah the ball at our 42 yard line, the Utes needing only kneel the ball twice to run out the rest of the clock and hand us a 38-35 defeat to start the year.

With the loss, we open our 2021 season 0-1, 0-0 in Mountain West action and lose our shot at winning the Beehive Boot for another year. With the win, Utah opens their year 1-0, 0-0 in Pac-12 play, the Utes once again getting the inside track to the Beehive Boot. Up next, we hit the road for the first time of the season, with a trip to Oklahoma to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. This will be Tulsa's first game of their season, after opening week one with a bye week.

Final Score
:Utah: 38, :Utah_State: 35



Stat(s) of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A good, yet horrible day for Barnes in his first career start. He did end up going 25-44 for 452 yards and three touchdown, however those three touchdowns came in the final 5 minutes of the game when we were airing it out just to try and make a comeback. He also ended up throwing three interceptions, one thrown in the end zone that ruined a drive clear down inside Utah's 10 yard line, and then also threw a pick six that put helped Utah start piling on points in the early fourth quarter. Rushing, Roberson led the way with 104 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries. Paris had 36 yards and one touchdown on 10 rushes.

Receiving, Rhodes led the way with 155 yards and one touchdown on five catches. Conley had 106 yards on five receptions. Martin ended with 18 yards and one touchdown on one receptions, Long with 16 yards and one touchdown on two catches. In total we had 11 different receivers catch at least one pass today (WR - Allen, Conley, Douglas, Miller, Munoz, Rhodes. TE - Long, Martin, McKinney. HB - Paris. FB - Johnson), 10 receivers ended with double digit yards, Rhodes and Conley the only two to reach triple digit yards.

Utah State Defense – They had some good moments, namely four sacks and eight tackles for a loss, as well as actually forcing Utah to punt a handful of times. But otherwise, some useless as Utah for a while there was stringing together drive after drive and refusing to either let us pull ahead or forcing us to play catch up.

Utah State Kicking – A very quiet day for freshman kicker Doug Marcus in his first career game. He never attempted a field goal, but did go a perfect 5-5 in PATs.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
:Utah:	7	14	3	14	38
:Utah_State:	7	7	0	21	35

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
2:55	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	B. Paris, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 7-0
2:43	:Utah:	Touchdown	A. Jennings, returned kickoff 98 yards (J. Bell kick)	TIED 7-7
Second Quarter
8:58	:Utah:	Touchdown	D. Johnson, 1 yard run (J. Bell kick)	:Utah: 14-7
3:46	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	P. Roberson, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	TIED 14-14
0:06	:Utah:	Touchdown	O. Harris, 29 yard pass from J. McNeil (J. Bell kick)	:Utah: 21-14
Third Quarter
6:11	:Utah:	Field Goal	J. Bell, 38 yard field goal	:Utah: 24-14
Fourth Quarter
8:14	:Utah:	Touchdown	A. Jennings, returned interception 58 yards (J. Bell kick)	:Utah: 31-14
6:04	:Utah:	Touchdown	J. McNeil, 35 yard run (J. Bell kick)	:Utah: 38-14
5:15	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	M. Rhodes, 65 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah: 38-21
2:34	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	M. Martin, 6 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah: 38-28
0:54	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	J. Long, 4 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah: 38-35

Game Stats

Utah	Stat	Utah State
38	Score	35
12	First Downs	28
257	Total Offense	584
29 - 124 - 2	Rushes - Yards - TD	40 - 132 - 2
13 - 19 - 1	Comp - Att - TD	25 - 44 - 3
133	Passing Yards	452
4	Times Sacked	1
4 - 10 (40%)	3rd Down Conversion	8 - 14 (57%)
0 - 0 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	2 - 2 (100%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
2 - 1 - 1 (100%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	5 - 4 - 0 (80%)
0	Turnovers	3
0	Fumbles Lost	0
0	Intercepted	3
31	Punt Return Yards	47
123	Kick Return Yards	110
411	Total Yards	741
5 – 41.8	Punts - Average	3 - 38.0
0 - 0	Penalties	1 - 15
11:21	Time of Possession	24:39

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Score a Touchdown	25	x5
Pass for 250 Yards	25	x1
Rush for 100 Yards	25	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
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	7	0

Job Security Status

100%

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, it was all #2 Alabama as the Tide whooped #24 West Virginia 52-10. In the game of the week, #3 Notre Dame thumped #4 Virginia Tech 48-10. #5 Texas beat North Texas 52-13. Miami knocked off #7 LSU 28-27. #10 USC beat Fresno State 35-21. #11 Nebraska topped Florida Atlantic 31-21.

#12 Washington edged out Hawaii 24-22. The 2021 Texas Kickoff Classic ended in upset as #20 Tennessee knocked off #13 Kansas State 42-20. #19 South Carolina edged out Mississippi State 31-28. #22 Arizona blew out UNLV 49-7. #23 Florida beat Idaho 49-3. And in a special, non-top 25 contest, the 2021 Cowboys Classic went to Oklahoma State, who topped Florida State 41-24.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State remains 0-0 (0-0 Big Ten) with a bye week. Morsdraconis, #24 West Virginia opens 0-1 (0-0 Big 12) with a 52-10 loss to #2 Alabama. Souljahbill, Southern Miss remains 0-0 (0-0 C-USA) with a bye week. Jaymo, Arizona State remains 0-0 (0-0 Pac-12), with a bye week. LeeSO, #21 Auburn remains 0-0 (0-0 SEC) with a bye week. SCClassof93, #19 South Carolina opens the year 1-0 (1-0 SEC) with 31-28 win over Mississippi State. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State remains 0-0 (0-0 Sun Belt) with a bye week. Florida International opens their year 0-1 (0-0 C-USA) with a 41-24 loss to Central Florida. Navy remains 0-0 (0-0 American) with a bye week. Tulsa remains 0-0 (0-0 American) with a bye week.

In Mountain West action, Air Force blanked Georgia State 45-0, Colorado State won the Rocky Mountain Showdown over Colorado 34-17, #10 USC topped Fresno State 35-21, #12 Washington edged out Hawaii 24-22, #22 Arizona destroyed UNLV 49-7 and Utah beat Utah State 38-35. Not a good start for the Mountain West, as we go 2-4 in the first week of the new season.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Notre Dame (36 first place votes) jumps two to become the #1 team, Ohio State (22 votes) drops one to #2, Alabama (2 votes) falls one to #3, Texas (1 vote) climbs one to #4 and North Carolina jumps one to #5. Oklahoma jumps two to #6, Texas A&M climbs two to #7, USC moves up two to #8, Nebraska jumps two to #9 and Washington climbs two to #10. Virginia Tech drops seven to #11, Michigan State climbs two to #12, Georgia Tech jumps two to #13, Oregon moves up two to #14 and LSU falls eight to #15. TCU moves up one to #16, Tennessee climbs three to #17, Boise State remains #18, Miami enters the poll at #19 and South Carolina drops one to #20. Auburn remains #21, Kansas State falls nine to #22, Arizona drops one to #23, Florida falls one to #24 and Illinois (247 points) remains #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was: West Virginia (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, UCLA (223 points) is #26, followed by Baylor (116), West Virginia (90), Northwestern (86) and Oregon State (58) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Washington State (49), Stanford (45), Ole Miss (31) and Iowa (6).

An early season look at the Heisman race, Ohio State QB Matt Cowan is #1, Arizona HB Kevin Simpson is #2, Connecticut HB David Ward is #3, Georgia Tech QB Phil Terrell is #4 and Alabama HB Derek Scott is #5.

The Utah game really was not as close as the score makes it appear. By and large, we were getting our asses handed to us all game long.

A lot of our yards got racked up on drives where we ended up throwing an interception (driving all the way down to the goal line and throwing an interception in the end zone for instance) or on drives where we started deep in our territory, got out to midfield or into Utah territory, but still ended up forced to punt.

Utah also had a lot fewer yards due to their scoring on special teams and defense. Thanks to a 98 yard kickoff return, Utah's offense never touched the ball until just a minute or so left in the first quarter. Same with the 58 yard interception return, their offense spent a large portion of the fourth quarter on the sidelines.

So just looking at the score, and the stats showing us out-gaining Utah on offense by over 327 yards, it appears that this was one hell of a slobber-knocker game. In reality, it was an ass-whooping that we somehow managed to only lose by 3 points instead of 20 or more.

I'm currently in the second quarter of the game against Tulsa, 8 minutes left in the quarter, and Tulsa has now scored on touchdown passes of 52 and 57 yards, both times over the middle in traffic, both times my defender engages in a full body wrap tackle attempt, both times the receiver just shakes it off like it's nothing and proceeds to outrun my entire defense to the end zone. This is bringing up every single memory of playing these sons of bitches last season. :fp:

I've already decided, NEVER AGAIN, am I scheduling Tulsa. To hell with this shit. It's one thing to get beat fair, but these cheap ass scores that Tulsa keeps getting (both last season's game and now) are doing nothing but aggravating me. To hell with them, they're off my schedule permanently in the future.

Game Two

:Utah_State: :@: :Tulsa:



Game Story

--- Coming off our season-opening loss at the hands of Utah, it was time to jump into our first road trip of the year, hitting the road to take on Tulsa. Unfortunately we really didn’t have anything to go on in regards to Tulsa, as they had a bye week in week 1. All we had to really go by were the subjective numerical ratings of both teams. Overall, we held a slight edge, while Tulsa was rated as having the superior offense, and our defense rated as the by far superior unit. Looking at head to head, our offense (rated 79), would be going up against Tulsa defense (rated 76), while our defense (rated 82) would be going up against Tulsa’s offense (rated 83). If those ratings were anything close to true, it could result in one hell of a game this afternoon. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.

Aided by a 12 MPH wind, the opening kickoff sailed out of the back of the end zone for a touchback, giving Tulsa the ball at their 25 yard line to start the game. David Dykes got the drive started on the ground, brought down in the backfield for a three yard loss to bring up second and 13. Dykes would come back with an 8 yard gain, leaving third and 5. A blitz by our defense on third down forced Ryan Wilson to rush his pass, the ball intended for Marcel Leak sailing long and incomplete to bring out the punt unit. Despite muffing the punt, Preston Roberson was able to field the 43 yard punt and return it 7 yards to our 36 yard line.

Lining up for our first drive of the game, we came out on the ground, looking to get a feel for the gold and blue. Roberson received the handoff but found nowhere to run, only able to get two yards on the play before being swarmed by defenders. Another rush by Roberson picked up three yards on the play, leaving us facing an early third and 5. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Jason Barnes was able to get a pass off to Travis Munoz, who had enough separation from the cornerback to field the pass for a 14 yard gain and a first down at the Tulsa 46 yard line. Roberson took over again on the ground on first down, managing three yards on the play, followed by a 7 yard rush to get the first down at the 35. Brian Paris took over on first down with a pair of rushes going for gains of four and three yards, bringing up another third down and three. Lining up under center on third down, the play action pass from Barnes to Cedric McKinney caught the defense sleeping, the pass good for a gain of 11 yards, moving the chains down to the 17 yard line. Roberson returned the backfield on first down, only able to get three yards on the carry, followed by a huge 8 yard rush around the left tackle, giving us first and goal at the 6 yard line. Paris received the handoff on first down, fighting his way straight up the middle for a four yard gain, leaving second and goal at the two. Roberson tried to punch it in, but got stood up for a gain of one yard, setting up third and goal at the one yard line. Roberson would not be denied this time, fighting his way through a pile of bodies and falling into the end zone for a one yard touchdown run, giving us a 7-0 lead with 3:02 left in the first quarter.

Another wind-aided kickoff led to another touchback, and Tulsa got started once more from their 25 yard line. Dykes got the drive started on the ground, stood up for a one yard gain, followed by a 10 yard pass from Wilson to Leak for a first down at the 36 yard line. Wilson kept the ball on first down, rushing around the right end for a gain of 12 yards, moving the chains once more to the 48 yard line. Dykes tried to take the ball on a delayed handoff, but our defense was ready and stopped him for no gain. Dropping back from under center on second down, Wilson rifled a pass over the middle intended for Willie Callahan, but while Callahan was able to grab the ball briefly, a well timed hit by the safety knocked the ball loose and incomplete, bringing up third and 10. Callahan would come back over the middle again on third down, the outside linebacker making contact after the catch for what would have been fourth down, but Callahan proceeded to shake the tackle loose and with nothing but green in front of him, outran the entire defense to the end zone for a 52 yard touchdown pass, tying the game up at 7-7 with 2:07 left in the first quarter.

A 23 yard kickoff return by David Douglas got us back in action from our 25 yard line. Roberson took the handoff on first down, rushing his way to a 6 yard gain around the right tackle, followed by a dive up the middle for 7 yards and a first down at the 38 yard line. Paris took over with a four yard gain on first down, before Roberson fought his way to gain of 6 yards and another set of downs at the 48. Continuing with our ground assault, we would end up going backwards on first down as the blitz left nowhere to run, Paris slowed down by his blocker and promptly tackled for a two yard loss. Calling a play action pass on second down, the throw from Barnes to Walter Johnson only picked up four yards, leaving us with third and 8. That would be the final play of the first quarter, the score all knotted up at 7-7.

Opening up the second quarter, we faced a tall task, lining up on third and 8 from midfield. Lining up in the shotgun, Max Rhodes would come through for us, getting open down the right sideline and hauling in the pass from Barnes for a gain of 22 yards and a first down at the Tulsa 28 yard line. An incomplete pass over the middle intended for Aaron Allen left us lining up on second and long. It would get worse as Barnes would make his first mistake of the game, his pass over the middle intended for Douglas intercepted by cornerback Tommy Bullock, who managed a one yard return before being tackled at the 24 yard line.

Taking over after the interception, Dykes wasted little time in burning us with a 19 yard dash, picking up a first down at the 43 yard line. Going into the air on first down, the pass from Wilson intended for Leak was rushed due to the blitz and thus off the mark, leaving cornerback Kevin Moore with all the time in the world to make an interception attempt, but he was unable to hold onto the ball and dropped it, leaving Tulsa in possession on second and 10. We would get burned once more as Trey Merritt caught a pass over the middle from Wilson, broke his way out of a tackle and raced the defense to the end zone for a 57 yard touchdown, giving Tulsa a 14-7 lead with 8:10 left in the second quarter.

The kickoff sailed into the end zone for a touchback, giving us the ball at our 25 yard line. Roberson got the drive started on the ground with a three yard rush, followed by a gain of 6 yards around the left tackle, leaving us facing third and one. Leaving our drive in the hands of Roberson, he took the third down handoff up the middle for a four yard rush, picking up the first down at the 38 yard line. Paris took over in the backfield on first down, fighting his way to a 5 yard gain, before a 5 yard rush by Roberson brought about third and inches. It would be Paris’ turn to convert on third down, taking the handoff and racing up the middle for a 5 yard gain and a new set of downs at the Tulsa 48 yard line. The defense was more than ready for us on first down, Roberson quickly brought down for a gain of only one yard on the play. Lining up under center on second down, Barnes dropped back and tried to connect with McKinney on the play action pass, but the defense didn’t bite on the fact and the pass ended up batted down incomplete, leaving us facing third and 9. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, the third down pass intended for Ryan Conley was way off the mark and sailed over Conley’s head, landing incomplete and bringing out our punt team on fourth and 9. A 10 yard return by Malcolm Crawford on the 35 yard punt gave Tulsa the ball at their 22 yard line.

Coming out passing on first down, Wilson rifled off a pass to Dykes for a four yard gain, before Wilson tried to keep the ball himself on a delayed run, the defense breaking through on a heavy blitz and meeting Wilson in the backfield, tackling him for a four yard loss and leaving Tulsa facing third and 10. Despite lining up in the shotgun, Wilson never had a chance to get a pass off, the blitz forcing him to scramble almost immediately, before eventually being chased down from behind by outside linebacker Al Washington, sacked for a 7 yard loss and bringing out the punt team on fourth and 17 from the 15 yard line. A 20 yard return by Roberson on the 47 yard punt got us back on offense with great field position, starting at the Tulsa 43 yard line.

Beginning the drive on the ground, Roberson received the handoff around the left guard for a 6 yard rush, followed by a three yard rush by Paris to leave third and one. Keeping it on the ground, Paris took the handoff up the middle for a 9 yard gain, picking up the first down at the 25 yard line. Lining up under center on first down, Barnes dropped back and fired off a quick pass to tight end Maurice Martin, good for a 14 yard pickup and a new set of downs at the 11 yard line. Another quick pass to Martin on a comeback route was good for an 8 yard gain, leaving second and two at the three yard line. Handing the ball off to Roberson on second down, he fought his way forward for a two yard gain, leaving third and inches at the one yard line. Roberson would need only one more play to find the end zone, punching it in for a one yard touchdown, his second of the game, to even things back up at 14-14 with 39 seconds left until halftime.

A 21 yard kickoff return by Callahan got Tulsa started from their 23 yard line, 35 seconds left to work with. It would take Tulsa only one play to regain the lead, as a missed tackle on the dump pass to Leak led to an easy 77 yard touchdown reception, giving Tulsa the lead 21-14 with 23 seconds to go in the half.

A touchback on the kickoff gave us the ball at our 25 yard line, only 23 seconds left, but all three timeouts. Lining up in the shotgun, there were no doubts about our intentions. Trying to hit Rhodes up the right sideline, the pass was broken up by the cornerback, leaving second down, 18 seconds left. Going back to Rhodes on second down, he pulled in the pass from Barnes for a 12 yard gain and a first down at the 37 yard line, getting out of bounds to stop the clock with 14 seconds to go. Going the opposite side of the field, Conley was able to come back and pull in a pass from Barnes for 13 more yards and a new set of downs at the Tulsa 49 yard line, our first timeout called with 9 seconds to go. Conley would come through for us again with a 19 yard reception on an out route, brought down at the Tulsa 30 yard line, our second timeout called with just three seconds left in the half. We lined up for a 47 yard field goal, despite the 12 MPH wind blowing in our faces. Unfortunately the attempt by Doug Marcus fell well short, Crawford fielding the kick and returning it out to the 14 yard line before being brought down to bring the half to an end, Tulsa leading 21-14.

Opening up the second half, a 26 yard kickoff return by Roberson gave us the ball at our 27 yard line to start the third quarter. Starting the drive on the ground, Roberson took the handoff up the middle for a 5 yard gain, followed by a 6 yard dash by Paris, picking up a quick first down at the 38. Roberson returned on first down, but was only able to get two yards on the play as the defense was starting to cheat to the run. Running a play action pass on second down, the defense was cheating, but nearly enough, as the pass intended for McKinney was nearly intercepted, bringing up third and 8. Conley would keep us moving forward on third down, pulling in a pass from Barnes for a 10 yard completion and a new set of downs at the Tulsa 49 yard line. Returning to the ground, Roberson got us off and running again with a 5 yard pickup, before Paris fought and clawed his way to a two yard gain, leaving us with third and three. Lining up under center on third down, Barnes tried to find Douglas over the middle, but the pass was broken up by the middle linebacker. Taking our chances with a 12 MPH wind from our backs, we lined up for a miracle 59 yard field goal. Unfortunately, even with the aid of the wind, the kick never had a chance, and Tulsa took over at their 42 yard line.

Tulsa wasted little time in moving the ball on first down, as Wilson found Callahan down the right sideline for a 14 yard gain and a quick first down at our 44 yard line. The drive would end up stalling out there however, as our pass coverage and blitz combined to force a pair of bad throws by Wilson, culminating in a dropped pass by Merritt on third down that left the Golden Hurricane punting the ball away. The 44 yard punt sailed into the end zone for a touchback, starting our next drive from the 20 yard line.

Looking to continue controlling the clock, we started the drive on the ground, Roberson taking full advantage of great blocking as he sprinted his way to a 12 yard gain and a first down at the 32 yard line. Roberson followed that up with a 5 yard rush, before Paris took over with a carry of only two yards to leave us with third and three. Despite the early success, our drive would likewise stall out as Barnes was hit as he threw, the incomplete pass forcing a punt on fourth and three. A 9 yard return by Crawford on the 43 yard punt got Tulsa back on offense from their 27 yard line.

Our defense would win the first battle of this drive, as a heavy blitz left Dykes trapped in the backfield on the delayed handoff, the defense bringing him down immediately for a loss of 5 yards and putting Tulsa in an early hole with second and 15. A lateral to Chris Greene would end up going for a 13 yard gain, followed by a 25 yard rush by Wilson to get the first down at our 40 yard line. Dykes would take back over on first down, only managing to get one yard on the ground, before burning our defense through the air, receiving the screen pass from Barnes and racing up the left sideline for a 39 yard touchdown, giving Tulsa a 28-14 lead with 2:50 left in the third quarter.

A 26 yard kickoff return by Conley got us back in action from our 22 yard line. Handing the ball off on first down, Paris was immediately stood up at the line of scrimmage for no gain. Going into the air on second down, Munoz would get us moving with a reception over the middle, good for a gain of 16 yards and a new set of downs at the 38 yard line. Dante May would keep us moving with an 11 yard reception out of the backfield, moving the chains once more to the 49. The first down pass intended for Rhodes was broken up by the outside linebacker, bringing up second and 10. The defense would again do its job, forcing Barnes to hold on to the ball too long, ending up hit as he threw and the ball landing incomplete just a few yards away. Lining up in the shotgun on third and 10, the pass to Conley was good for a 17 yard completion, saving our drive and picking up the first down at the Tulsa 34 yard line. Douglas would keep us moving with an 11 yard reception over the middle, moving the sticks once more to the 24. Rhodes would keep the positive momentum rolling with a 14 yard pass from Barnes, setting up first and 10 at the 10 yard line. Trying to hit Munoz on a comeback route, the cornerback reacted and batted the ball away incomplete, leaving second down. Another incomplete pass, intended for Martin, brought about third and 10. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Barnes found Conley near the right hash for an 8 yard gain, but it wouldn’t be enough, leaving us facing fourth and two at the two yard line. Not willing to take the chance on the ground, we settled for the points, as we needed any points right now, and lined up for a 19 yard field goal. Even then, we still couldn’t get anything, as the field goal was blocked, Tulsa taking back possession from their 20 yard line with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.

Dykes wasted little time in moving the ball against us with a 15 yard rush and a first down at the 35 yard line, a desperation diving tackle the only thing saving it from being for an 80 yard touchdown. Dykes tried to burn us again on the ground, but he was quickly brought down for no gain to bring up second and 10. That would be the final play of the third quarter as the clock ran out, Tulsa holding a 28-14 lead.

Opening up the fourth quarter, a screen pass to Dykes went for a huge 22 yard gain, giving Tulsa a first down at our 43 yard line. Wilson went over the middle on first down, trying to connect with Lee Nash, but he was unable to hold onto the pass and dropped it incomplete, bringing up another second down. We caught another break as a pass to a wide open Chris Greene was likewise dropped, leaving Tulsa facing third and 10. The defense would come through in the clutch, cornerback Jeremy Thurman sacking Wilson from behind for a 7 yard loss, leaving Tulsa punting on fourth and 17 and preserving our hopes of a comeback. The 51 yard punt landed in the end zone for a touchback, giving us the ball at our 20 yard line.

Coming out in the shotgun to start the drive, Barnes tried to connect with Douglas over the middle, but the pass was broken up to leave second down. Rhodes would come through for us on the second down play, hauling in a 19 yard pass from Barnes before his momentum carried him out of bounds, giving us a first down at the 39 yard line. Another pass to Rhodes would pick up 10 more yards and gave us another set of downs at the 49. The defense wasn’t about to quit, finally sacking Barnes for a 9 yard loss, leaving us with second and 19. Trying to hit Allen on an out route, the pass would be jumped and intercepted by middle linebacker Doug Casey, who returned the interception 27 yards down to our 20 yard line.

Taking over at our 20 yard line after the interception, Tulsa needed just two plays to find the end zone, as a pass over the middle to Greene went for an 11 yard gain, giving the Golden Hurricane first and goal from our 9 yard line, but an option play to the left resulted in a perfectly timed pitch from Wilson to Dykes, who was able to trot his way into the end zone for a 9 yard touchdown, giving Tulsa a 35-14 lead with 6:55 left in the fourth quarter.

The wind-aided kickoff sailed into the back of the end zone, kneeled down for a touchback to give us the ball at our 25 yard line. Now down by three possessions, we had no choice but to air it out from here. Taking a shot deep down the right sideline, the pass intended for Douglas landed incomplete, bringing up second down. Barnes tried to connect with May over the middle on second down, but he led the receiver by a little too much, the ball sailing past May and landing incomplete 10 yards downfield, leaving us with third and 10. Rhodes would get us some positive yards, but the completion on third down only gained 9 yards, leaving fourth and one. Taking the gamble, we lined up to go for it on fourth and one from our 34 yard line. Paris received the fourth down handoff and would get the job done with a gain of 6 yards, giving us new life from our 40 yard line. Trying to hit Munoz over the middle of the field, the pass would end in disaster as Barnes threw his third interception of the game, and Casey intercepted his second pass of the game, the pick returned four yards to give Tulsa possession at their 48 yard line with 5:38 left to play.

Leak got Tulsa moving through the air with a 12 yard reception and a first down at our 40 yard line. After a three yard rush by Dykes, Greene was able to get the first down on an option pitch to the right, moving the chains to our 27 yard line. Dykes would burn us yet again with a 16 yard rush to the left side, setting up a first down at the 11 yard line. Going into the air on first down, Wilson found Green near the left sideline for a 5 yard gain, before the defense answered back by blowing up a handoff to Dykes in the backfield, tackling him for a four yard loss to leave Tulsa facing third and 9 from the 10 yard line. Bringing the house on third down, we forced Wilson to scramble and throw an off balance pass across his body, the throw intended for Crawford landing incomplete at his feet at the goal line, bringing out Tulsa’s field goal unit on fourth down. Our special teams would come through huge on the 27 yard field goal attempt by Brian Wright, as Thurman came barreling through and managing to get a hand in front of the ball and block it backwards, leaving Wright no choice but to dive on top of the ball at the 21 yard line before cornerback Jesse Breedlove could recover it. Either way, we took over possession at our 21 yard line with 4:04 left in the game.

Once again coming out passing on first down, Munoz was able to get us moving with a 12 yard completion and a first down at the 33. Sailing up a pass to Conley on first down, he was able to pull in the ball for a 42 yard gain and a first down at the Tulsa 26 yard line. It would end up getting even sweeter as a facemask penalty called on Tulsa cornerback Gary Rawls during the tackle gave us 13 extra yards, with a first down now at the Tulsa 13 yard line. Allen would pull down a first down pass from Barnes for a 12 yard pickup, setting up first and goal at the one yard line. Paris would take the ball on first down, punching it in for the one yard touchdown to cut Tulsa’s lead to 35-21 with 3:11 left in the game.

With only three minutes left in the game, and Tulsa able to essentially drive on our defense at will, we had no choice but to take a shot at the onside kick. It wasn’t meant to be as Greene recovered the kickoff, and gained a couple yards, before being brought down at our 39 yard line. Tulsa’s offense took over after the onside kick, just 39 yards away from putting this game on ice. Dykes did his best to do just that, rushing for a 10 yard gain on first down, breaking out of three tackles along the way, to leave Tulsa with second and inches. Tulsa abandoned their no-huddle offense, instead now killing the clock. A 5 yard rush by Dykes would pick up the first down at our 23 yard line. Calling our second remaining timeout, we stopped the clock with 2:22 left, but little gain expected. Wilson would finish the game off by himself, faking the handoff to Dykes and then bobbing and weaving his way through our defense for a 23 yard touchdown rush, putting Tulsa up 42-21 with 2:17 left in the game.

A kick into the back of the end zone resulted in a touchback, and we started again from our 25 yard line. There wasn’t much point in continuing to air it out in hopes of a comeback, and pointlessly continue to try we did. Barnes tried to connect with Rhodes on the out route, but he ended up being hit as he threw, the ball landing incomplete. Barnes came back over the middle on second down, trying to connect with Douglas, but the pass was nearly intercepted by the middle linebacker, leaving third and 10. Conley would get us positive yards with a 17 yard reception and a first down at the 42 yard line, followed by a 13 yard completion to May, moving the chains once more to the Tulsa 45. Sailing it long on first down, Munoz was able to get his hands on the pass down at the 5 yard line, but he was unable to hold on and dropped the pass incomplete to bring up second down. Allen would get us some more yards with a 7 yard reception along the sideline, setting up third and three. Johnson was able to come down with the third down pass from Barnes, but it wouldn’t be enough, going for only a gain of two yards to leave fourth and one at the 36 yard line, just 1:15 left on the clock. Raising the white flag of surrender, instead of going for it on fourth and one, we elected to attempt the 53 yard field goal. Even that wouldn’t go right for us. Despite just having enough distance, the kick from Marcus sailed wide left, another drive again ending with no points, and Tulsa taking over at their 36 yard line.

Tulsa would quickly run the final 46 seconds off the clock, as Wilson dropped to a knee on first down. Tulsa got a little controversial at the end, as with 10 seconds left in the game, instead of just simply taking another knee, Wilson handed the ball off to Dykes, who ran up the middle for a ? yard gain and nearly was able to break it loose, finally being tackled at the 44 yard line to end the game and seal the 42-21 win for Tulsa.

With the loss, we fall to 0-2, 0-0 in Mountain West action. With the win, Tulsa opens their year at 1-0, 0-0 in American Athletic Conference play. Up next, we return home to take on Old Dominion. The Monarchs enter the game 0-1, 0-0 in C-USA action. Old Dominion got their season opened up in week two with a 37-10 loss at NC State.

Final Score

:Tulsa: 42, :Utah_State: 21




Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A horrible day by Barnes. The only good he did today, despite going 26-46, was throwing for 345 yards. To book end the good with bad, he also threw three more interceptions, giving his six interceptions thrown in just two games. Rushing, Roberson led the way with 104 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Paris ended with 53 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Receiving, Conley led the way with 125 yards on seven receptions. In all, nine receivers caught a pass today, eight ending with double digit yards, Conley the only one to reach triple digits.

Utah State Defense – Worthless, pathetic, horrible, should be drug out to the street and shot. Take your pick. Gave up 449 yards of offense, gave up touchdown passes of 52, 57, 77 and 39 yards, as well as giving up touchdown runs from 9 and 23 yards out. Absolutely terrible.

Utah State Kicking – A horrible day for Marcus in his first true time game kicking field goals, ending up 0-4 in field goal attempts. Not all were his fault. Two, from 47 and 59 yards out, were from long distances, one kicking into the wind, the other with the wind at his back but still an incredibly long distance. A 19 yard attempt ended up blocked. The only field goal attempt that was truly his fault was the 53 yard kick at the end, that had the distance (thanks to wind at his back) but ended up going wide left. Only positive today, Marcus ended up 3-3 in PATs.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
:Utah_State:	7	7	0	7	21
:Tulsa:	7	14	7	14	42

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
3:02	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	P. Roberson, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 7-0
2:07	:Tulsa:	Touchdown	W. Callahan, 52 yard pass from R. Wilson (B. Wright kick)	TIED 7-7
Second Quarter
8:10	:Tulsa:	Touchdown	T. Merritt, 57 yard pass from R. Wilson (B. Wright kick)	:Tulsa: 14-7
0:39	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	P. Roberson, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	TIED 14-14
0:23	:Tulsa:	Touchdown	M. Leak, 77 yard pass from R. Wilson (B. Wright kick)	:Tulsa: 21-14
Third Quarter
2:50	:Tulsa:	Touchdown	D. Dykes, 39 yard pass from R. Wilson (B. Wright kick)	:Tulsa: 28-14
Fourth Quarter
6:55	:Tulsa:	Touchdown	D. Dykes, 9 yard run (B. Wright kick)	:Tulsa: 35-14
3:11	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	B. Paris, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Tulsa: 35-21
2:17	:Tulsa:	Touchdown	R. Wilson, 23 yard run (B. Wright kick)	:Tulsa: 42-21

Game Stats

Utah State	Stat	Tulsa
21	Score	42
30	First Downs	12
493	Total Offense	449
40 - 148 - 3	Rushes - Yards - TD	25 - 147 - 2
26 - 46 - 0	Comp - Att - TD	11 - 20 - 4
345	Passing Yards	302
1	Times Sacked	2
11 - 17 (64%)	3rd Down Conversion	2 - 7 (28%)
1 - 1 (100%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 0 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
4 - 3 - 0 (75%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	2 - 1 - 0 (50%)
3	Turnovers	0
0	Fumbles Lost	0
3	Intercepted	0
26	Punt Return Yards	19
73	Kick Return Yards	22
592	Total Yards	490
2 – 39.5	Punts - Average	4 - 46.5
0 - 0	Penalties	1 - 13
26:17	Time of Possession	9:43

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Score a Touchdown	25	x3
Pass for 250 Yards	25	x1
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards	50	x1
Pass Completion over 50%	30	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	7	0

Job Security Status

100%