Smooth Pancakes' Coaching Carousel Career

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #1 Notre Dame destroyed Purdue 52-9. #2 Ohio State opened their year by thrashing Kent State 63-21. #3 Alabama edged out Vanderbilt 35-28. #5 North Carolina topped Rice 30-7. The game of the week went to #6 Oklahoma, who bested #17 Tennessee 45-28. #7 Texas A&M ran it up over FCS East 63-14. #8 USC whooped Boston College 48-21. UCLA scored an upset over #10 Washington 24-10. #11 Virginia Tech recovered from week 1 with a 45-10 beat down of Western Michigan. #12 Michigan State whooped Eastern Michigan 51-3.

#13 Georgia Tech squeaked one out over Tulane 17-3. #14 Oregon fought off Wyoming 28-24. #15 LSU escaped Louisiana-Monroe 31-28. #16 TCU pulled away from FCS Midwest 38-20. In a neutral site game, it was Ole Miss knocking off #18 Boise State 28-20. #19 Miami recovered from their opening loss by dismantling Louisiana Tech 42-7. In a second neutral site game, the upsets continued as East Carolina knocked off #20 South Carolina 38-34. #21 Auburn demolished #22 Kansas State 52-7. #23 Arizona beat UTSA 37-17. #24 Florida beat Arkansas 37-13. #25 Illinois fought off FCS Northwest 35-23.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #2 Ohio State opens their year 1-0 (0-0 Big Ten) with a 63-21 win over Kent State. Morsdraconis, West Virginia improves to 1-1 (0-0 Big 12) with a 42-25 win over FCS East. Souljahbill, Southern Miss opens their year 1-0 (0-0 C-USA) with a 27-17 win over FCS Southeast. Jaymo, Arizona State opens their year 1-0 (0-0 Pac-12) with a 63-38 shellacking of Rutgers. LeeSO, #21 Auburn opens 1-0 (0-0 SEC) with a 52-7 dismantling of #22 Kansas State. SCClassof93, #20 South Carolina drops to 1-1 (1-0 SEC) after getting knocked off by East Carolina 38-34. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State opens their year 1-0 (1-0 Sun Belt) with a 38-20 win over Idaho. Florida International drops to 0-2 (0-0 C-USA) with a 42-10 loss to Louisville. Navy opens their year 1-0 (1-0 American) with a 28-17 win over SMU. Tulsa opens their year 1-0 (0-0 American) with a 42-21 win over Utah State.

In Mountain West action, San Diego State beat FCS Northwest 24-17, San Jose State beat Memphis 35-30, #14 Oregon edged out Wyoming 28-24, Ole Miss knocked off #18 Boise State 28-20, FCS Midwest stunned Colorado State 20-17 in overtime, Oregon State doubled up Hawaii 34-17, Washington State held off Nevada 31-24, Missouri escaped New Mexico 38-35 in overtime, Stanford topped UNLV 38-7 and Tulsa beat Utah State 42-21.

Another terrible week for the Mountain West, going a combined 2-8, with the worst loss of the week coming on Colorado State's 20-17 overtime loss to FCS Midwest.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Notre Dame (41 first place votes) remains #1, Ohio State (20 votes) remains #2, Alabama remains #3, Texas remains #4 and North Carolina remains #5. Oklahoma remains #6, Texas A&M remains #7, USC remains #8, Nebraska remains #9 and Virginia Tech climbs one to #10. Michigan State climbs one to #11, Georgia Tech jumps one to #12, Oregon moves up one to #13, TCU jumps two to #14 and LSU remains #15. Washington drops six to #16, Miami climbs two to #17, Auburn jumps three to #18, Arizona leaps four to #19 and Tennessee drops three to #20. UCLA enters the poll at #21, Florida climbs two to #22, Illinois moves up two to #23, Ole Miss enters the poll at #24 and Boise State (184 points) drops seven to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were: South Carolina (from #20) and Kansas State (from #22). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Baylor (162 points) is #26, followed by Northwestern (84), West Virginia (84), Oregon State (58) and Washington State (21) to round out the Top 30.

An early season look at the Heisman race, Ohio State QB Matt Cowan is #1 (LW: #1), Arizona HB Kevin Simpson is #2 (LW: #2), Alabama HB Derek Scott is #3 (LW: #5), Connecticut HB David Ward is #4 (LW: #3) and Notre Dame QB Mike Harper is #5 (LW: NR). Dropping off of the Heisman Watch List this week was Georgia Tech QB Phil Terrell (LW: #4).

Game Three

:Old_Dominion: :@: :Utah_State:



Game Story

--- Returning home after the humiliating loss to Tulsa, it was time for Homecoming as we welcomed Old Dominion to town. There wasn’t too much to be said about the Monarchs, their only game of the season coming on a 37-10 thrashing from NC State. Due to that one game, all of their offensive and defensive rankings were in the 100s, with the exception of their passing offense, which ranked #79, putting up only 189 yards/game. So, for the third straight week, we would essentially be going into the unknown, not enough information about our opponent known due to lack of games played. Looking at the subjective team ratings, we held the advantage in overall rating (81 to 74), but it a bit of a false advantage. We both entered the game with matching 79 rated offenses. Our advantage came on defense, where we out-rated Old Dominion 82-70. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A 24 yard kickoff return by Harvey Lewis gave Old Dominion the ball to start the game at their 23 yard line. It took Old Dominion all of one play to burn the hell out of our defense, as Daniel Whitfield connected with Nate Clark on a screen pass up the left sideline for a huge 53 yard gain and a first down at our 24 yard line. It would take just one more play for the Monarchs to get on the scoreboard as Whitfield found Clark again, this time along the right sideline, who broke a tackle and took it into the end zone for a 24 yard touchdown, giving Old Dominion a 7-0 lead with 8:40 still left in the first quarter.

David Douglas almost answered right back for us, taking the kickoff return up the right sideline, avoiding a pair of tackles and juking his way past the kicker. He almost took it to the house, but got dragged down from behind and limited to an 82 yard kickoff return, giving our offense the ball to start at the Old Dominion 15 yard line. Starting our drive on the ground, Preston Roberson found barely any success on the handoff, quickly brought down for a two yard gain, followed by a rush by Brian Paris that was blown up for no gain, leaving third and 8, our potential to run the ball today suddenly in question. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Jason Barnes tried to throw up a pass to Ryan Conley, but the ball got battled down by a defensive lineman, completely blowing the great opportunity and forced to miserably settle for a field goal. The 30 yard field goal by Doug Marcus just barely squeaked inside the right upright, giving Marcus his first successful field goal of his young collegiate career and cutting Old Dominion’s lead to 7-3 with 7:26 left in the first quarter.

Another 24 yard return by Lewis on the kickoff got Old Dominion back in action from their 22 yard line. Coming out passing, Whitfield found Brett Miller near the right hash, the play limited to only a two yard gain. Whitfield tried to connect with Miller again on the left side, but safety Charles Noble read the pass and made a play on the ball, cutting on the pass for what would have been a guaranteed pick six, if only Noble had actually caught the ball instead of batting it down, leaving the ball in Old Dominion’s hands on third and 8. We caught a huge break as Whitfield’s pass intended again for a wide open Miller was overthrown and incomplete, forcing the Monarchs to punt it away. Even the punt almost ended in disaster, as Roberson muffed the catch, safety Sam Vinson just barely picking up the ball at our 38 before an Old Dominion player could. We would then catch a break as Lewis was flagged for a facemask penalty on the tackle, the 15 free yards setting us up with a first down at the Monarchs 47 yard line.

Roberson started our drive on the ground, only able to pick up two yards as Old Dominion was more than prepared to shut down our run game today. Abandoning the run on second down, Barnes lined up under center for the play, dropping back and rifling a pass to tight end Maurice Martin for a 10 yard gain and a first down at the 35 yard line. Barnes tossed up a pass to Max Rhodes on first down, but the play was broken up by the outside linebacker, bringing up second down. Conley came through for us on second down, pulling in a pass from Barnes for an 11 yard gain, moving the chains down to the 23. Travis Munoz got in on the action on first down, hauling in a pass from Barnes for a pickup of 16 yards, setting us up with first and goal at the 7 yard line. Giving the ground game another chance, Roberson received the handoff on first down, driving his way to a two yard gain, leaving second and goal from the 5. Another rush by Roberson picked up 5 yards, but he was stood up just shy of the goal line, leaving us facing third and goal inside the one yard line. The third time would be the charm for Roberson, as he took the ball from Barnes and punched it in for the one yard touchdown, giving us a 10-7 lead with 3:39 left in the first quarter.

A 19 yard kickoff return by Lewis gave Old Dominion the ball at their 17 yard line for their next drive. Coming out passing, a screen pass to Clark picked up a quick 7 yards, before a reverse option keeper by Whitfield resulted in a 20 yard gain and a first down at the 44 yard line. Jermaine McDonald then proceeded to burn us on the ground, rushing up the middle for a 17 yard carry, moving the chains once more to our 39 yard line. Going back into the air on first down, Whitfield found Marcus White for a four yard gain, before an incomplete pass along the sideline intended for Clark gave our defense a break from Old Dominion’s no-huddle offense, the Monarchs left facing third and 6. Despite our best efforts on the blitz, Whitfield was able to avoid a sack and dump off a pass to Jamaal Johnson for a 6 yard gain to get the first down. Another screen pass to Miller on first down then went for more yardage, as he was able to break out of a tackle on his way to a 15 yard pickup and a new set of downs at our 14 yard line. The defense finally won a minor victory, tackling Sean Pugh in the backfield on the first down handoff for a two yard loss, followed by Whitfield being brought down in the backfield on the QB keeper for a four yard loss, leaving the Monarchs in a third and 16 hole. Bringing the blitz on third down, we were able to force Whitfield to rush his pass, intended for Clark, the ball well off the mark and landing incomplete to bring up fourth and 16. Despite facing fourth and very long from our 20 yard line, the Monarchs were not content to settle for the game-tying field goal, instead lining up to go for it on fourth down. Whitfield heaved up a pass into the back of the end zone, intended for Clark, but Vinson was able to get his body between Clark and the ball and break up the pass, forcing the turnover on downs and giving us the ball at our 20 yard line.

Taking over after the turnover, we gave our run game another chance to open things up, Roberson taking the first down handoff for a four yard gain, before being stuffed for no gain to leave us facing third and 6. Lining up in the shotgun, a quick pass to Conley on an out route would end up going for so much more than a first down, a misplay by the safety allowing Conley to get haul in the pass, put on the jets and get to the sideline, where a downfield block by Munoz took the cornerback out of the play, enabling Conley to sprint down the field all the way to the end zone for a 76 yard touchdown, giving us a 17-7 lead with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.

A 25 yard kickoff return by Josh Ryan got the Monarchs underway from their 24 yard line. McDonald tried to get the drive started on the ground, but penetration by our defense line blew the play up, resulting in a four yard loss to bring up second and 14. Clark was able to make up for the lost yards with an 8 yard reception from Whitfield, leaving third and 6. That would be the final play of the first quarter, the clock running out with our lead sitting at 17-7.

Opening up the second quarter, Old Dominion came out of their huddle with a third and 6 situation, Miller would keep the drive alive with a 14 yard reception and a first down at the 42 yard line. Keeping in the air, Whitfield connected with Ryan for an 8 yard gain, followed by a 5 yard rush by McDonald that moved the chains once more to our 45 yard line. McDonald tried to repeat his success on first down, but was stood up for a gain of only one yard. Bringing the blitz on second down, we were able to disrupt the pass play, Whitfield’s rushed pass intended for Clark nowhere near its intended target, bringing up third and 9. Our defense would fail on third down, giving up a 16 yard pass to Ryan and giving Old Dominion a new set of downs at our 28 yard line. Whitfield kept the air attack going on first down, trying to connect with Johnson over the middle, but he was unable to hold onto the ball, dropping it incomplete. Second down would end up with more burns for our defense, Whitfield getting the ball off before being flattened, the pass complete to Jason Thomas, who broke his way through three different tackles on his way to a 28 yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 17-14 with 7:47 left in the second quarter.

Douglas was unable to repeat his prior success, only managing a 24 yard kickoff return this time, to give us the ball at our 28 yard line. Starting our drive on the ground, Roberson fought his way to a four yard gain, before a blitz by the defense resulted in a two yard loss, leaving us facing third and 8. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Conley kept our drive alive with a 16 yard reception from Barnes, moving the chains to the 45 yard line. Trying to connect with Walter Johnson, the first down pass from Barnes was intercepted by outside linebacker Jon Brown, returned two yards to give Old Dominion back possession at our 47 yard line.

Taking over after the interception, Whitfield went into the air on first down, trying to connect with Johnson, but we would catch a break as Noble came in from behind to break up the pass, leaving second down. The defense would start to build some momentum, as defensive tackle Ernest Sims broke in from the blind side, sacking Whitfield for a 7 yard loss to leave third and 17. Our defense would win this battle, as our zone coverage held out long enough to allow defensive tackle Adam Grant to shed his block and get to Whitfield, sacking him for an 8 yard loss before he could get rid of the ball. The back to back sacks left Old Dominion’s drive stopped in the mud and the Monarchs punting the ball away on fourth and 25. An 11 yard return by Roberson on the 36 yard punt got us back on the field starting from our 36 yard line.

Taking over on offense, we came out passing on first down, Barnes getting the pass into the hands of tight end Jack Long, but he was unable to hold onto the ball, the incomplete pass leaving second down. Rhodes would come through for us on second down, getting open over the middle for a big 23 yard gain and a first down at the Old Dominion 41 yard line. Barnes tried to hit Conley on an out route to the left side of the field, but it was nearly intercepted by the cornerback, bringing up second and 10. Going right back to Conley on second down, it would pay off with a 12 yard reception, moving the chains to the 29. Looking to change things up a little, Barnes handed the ball off to Roberson on first down, the carry going for a three yard pickup, followed by a big 8 yard rush to get the first down at the 18 yard line. Keeping the running game going, Roberson took the ball on first down, picking up 6 yards on the play, before Paris punched it up the middle for a three yard pickup, leaving us with third and one. Roberson would get the third down conversion and then some with a 5 yard rush, setting us up with first and goal from the four yard line. Roberson took the ball on first down, but was quickly brought down for no gain on the play. A second down carry by Roberson picked up two yards, leaving third and goal from the two yard line. Paris came in on third down, getting the job done as he found the tiniest of holes and drove his way into the end zone for a two yard touchdown, extending our lead to 24-14 with 1:05 left until halftime.

A 31 yard kickoff return by Ryan got Old Dominion back on offense from their 31 yard line, just 59 seconds to work with. It was a poor start to the drive for the Monarchs, as the pressure by our front four forced Whitfield to just throw the ball away, bringing up second down. Coming back on second down, Whitfield was able to connect with Clark for a four yard gain, but he went down in bounds, leaving the clock running. Instead of using one of their three timeouts, the Monarchs rushed to the line and quickly snapped the ball, Whitfield initially trying to find a target through the air before taking off running through a gap, breaking his way through three separate tackle attempts before finally being brought down for a 23 yard gain and a first down at our 43 yard line, Old Dominion calling their first timeout with 34 seconds left. Throwing over the middle on first down, Whitfield found Miller cutting across for an 8 yard gain, but Old Dominion was forced to use their second timeout with 30 seconds remaining. Lining up on second and two. Whitfield was forced to scramble almost immediately, but it wouldn’t help, as he was dragged down from behind by defensive end Caleb McBride, sacked for a two yard loss to bring up third and 5. Old Dominion rushed back to the line of scrimmage, holding onto their last timeout, despite the clock still ticking down, currently at 13 seconds. Unbelievably, Whitfield was seemingly sacked for what should have been a 7 yard loss, but he apparently fumbled the ball before hitting the ground. The ball ended up fumbled into an empty part of the field, center Peter Stuckey the closest player to the ball, recovering the fumble for Old Dominion and proceeding to rumble his way to a 14 yard fumble return, giving Old Dominion a first down at our 25 yard line, the Monarchs calling their final timeout with 5 seconds left on the clock. We tried to challenge the fumble, but (because NCAA ’14 is a piece of crap) we weren’t allowed to challenge the play. Despite only 5 seconds left and no timeouts remaining, Old Dominion chose not to go for the 42 yard field goal, instead lining up to go for the touchdown on first down. Whitfield threw up a prayer into the end zone, but cornerback Jesse Breedlove was there to intercept the pass, returning it 12 yards before being brought down at the 12 yard line with no time left on the clock, taking us into halftime with a 24-14 lead.

Opening up the second half, a 22 yard kickoff return by Douglas gave us the ball at our 24 yard line to start the third quarter. Starting the drive on the ground, Roberson took the first down handoff from Barnes for a 6 yard gain, followed by an 8 yard rush and a first down at the 38. Paris took over on first down with a 6 yard carry, before Roberson punched it up the middle for a pickup of four yards, moving the chains to the 48 yard line. Starting to find some steam on the ground, Paris kept us moving with a 6 yard gain, before rumbling his way to a gain of 9 yards and another first down at the Monarchs 37 yard line. Continuing to pound it away, Roberson got back in the action with a 9 yard rush, followed by a three yard carry to move the sticks once more to the 24. With the defense starting to key on the run, Roberson was only able to gain three yards on first down. Running a play action pass on second down, the defense bit hook, line and sinker, allowing Johnson to get open in the flats for a 17 yard reception, giving us first and goal at the four yard line. Handing the ball off on first down, Roberson was only able to pick up one yard on the run, before being brought down for a two yard loss, leaving us facing third and goal from the 5. Lining up under center on third down, Barnes tried to hit Munoz over the middle, but it was broken up, nearly intercepted, by the middle linebacker, leaving us kicking on fourth and goal. The 22 yard field goal by Marcus increased our lead to 27-14 with 4:13 left in the third quarter.

A 21 yard kickoff return by Lewis got Old Dominion started on their drive at their 21 yard line. Coming out passing on first down, a screen pass to Clark went for a 12 yard gain and a quick first down at the 33 yard line. After limiting a first down pass to Miller to just one yard, the Monarchs got a helping hand by our defense, Pugh initially brought down in the backfield for a loss, but a very late flag came out after the play, a facemask penalty on the tackle by outside linebacker Al Washington, giving Old Dominion 15 yards and a new set of downs at the 48 yard line. Going over the middle on first down, Whitfield found Ryan for an 8 yard completion, before throwing deep to Miller for a gain of 20 yards and a first down at our 25 yard line, our defense calling a timeout to try and put the brakes on the Monarchs no-huddle offense. Trying to limit the damage, the defense got to Whitfield on first down, forcing him to dump the pass into the ground to avoid a sack, bringing up second and 10. Feeling the pressure once more, Whitfield tried to scramble on second down, getting back near the line of scrimmage before being brought down by Grant. Though the play officially went for no gain, it was ruled a sack by Grant (his second of the game), leaving Old Dominion lining up on third and 10. Johnson would come through for the Monarchs with an 11 yard reception, getting the first down at our 14 yard line. Going with a hard snap count on first down, it would backfire on the offense, a false start penalty called on the left tackle pushing them back 5 yards, lining up on first and 15. They would keep going backwards and McDonald was brought down for a two yard loss on the carry, setting up second and 17. Keeping the ball on a QB read, Whitfield faked our defense out and picked up 13 yards on the ground to leave third and four. McDonald would try to get the job done on the ground, but was stood up for a gain of only one yard, forcing Old Dominion to settle for a 24 yard field goal by Tony McCarthy, cutting our lead to 27-17 with 1:42 left in the third quarter.

A 25 yard kickoff return by Douglas got us back in action from our 28 yard line, looking to put this game out of reach. Roberson got our drive started on the ground with a 5 yard rush, followed by a gain of two yards to bring up third and three. Taking a shot through the air on third down, the pass intended for Munoz was just broken up by the cornerback, forcing us to punt on fourth down. An 8 yard return by Lewis on the 34 yard punt gave Old Dominion the ball at their 38 yard line. Our defense would come through huge on first down, as middle linebacker Justin Dunn intercepted a pass from Whitfield, returning it 5 yards to give us back possession at the Monarchs 38 yard line.

Lining up after the turnover, Roberson pounded his way up the middle for a 9 yard gain. That would be the final play of the third quarter, our lead standing at 27-17.

Opening up the fourth quarter, we lined up on second and one, Roberson kept us moving with a two yard rush, getting the first down at the 27. A three yard rush by Roberson was followed with an 8 yard dash, moving the chains once more to the 16 yard line. Paris took over on first down, but could only manage a one yard gain, leaving us with second and 9. Running a play action pass on second down, the toss intended for Cedric McKinney was nearly intercepted, the incompletion making it third down. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Barnes tried to hit Douglas over the middle, but it was again broken up, forcing us to settle for another field goal attempt on fourth down. The 32 yard field goal by Marcus was good, increasing our lead to 30-17 with 7:21 left in the game.

A 28 yard kickoff return by Lewis gave Old Dominion back the ball at their 27 yard line. The Monarchs wasted little time in moving this ball this drive, Whitfield launching a deep pass to Miller for a 22 yard gain and a quick first down at the 49 yard line. The defense wasn’t about to just roll over however, as Washington was able to break through unblocked on first down, getting the coverage sack on Whitfield for an 8 yard loss to bring up second down. Whitfield got the pass off on second down, but Butterfingers Johnson bobbled and ultimately dropped the pass, leaving Old Dominion facing third and 18. Whitfield dropped back for a screen pass on third down, but the throw intended for McDonald didn’t arrive, as Whitfield was hit from behind as he threw, the pass spiking into the ground incomplete and bringing out Old Dominion’s punt team on fourth and 18. A muffed catch by Douglas on the 41 yard punt sent the ball ricocheting backwards, Douglas diving on top of the loose ball for a 7 yard loss, leaving our offense stuck starting our drive at our 13 yard line.

Handing the ball off on first down, Paris was only able to pick up three yards on the first down carry, followed by a three yard rush by Johnson to leave third and four. Barnes tried to get a pass off to Martin, but he was hit as he went to throw, the ball landing a couple feet away incomplete and forcing us to punt the ball right back on fourth and four. A four yard return by Lewis on a shanked 30 yard punt gave Old Dominion great field position at our 45 yard line.

Old Dominion started their drive in the air, a quick screen pass to Ryan going for a 20 yard gain and a first down at our 25 yard line. Whitfield tried the same thing on the other side of the field, but Miller was unable to hold onto the pass, dropping it incomplete to bring up second down. A second down pass over the middle to Miller gained 11 yards and a first down at our 11 yard line, our defense calling a second timeout to stop the Monarchs going no-huddle and set up for the first down play. The Monarchs would end up getting back to the end zone on the next play regardless, as Whitfield hit Joe Williams along the sideline with another screen pass, this going taken to the house for an 11 yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 30-24 with 4:54 left in the game.

A 21 yard kickoff return by Douglas got us lined up at our 28 yard line for our next drive. Looking to kill off some clock, we came out running on first down, Paris picking up four yards on the play, followed by a second four yard gain to leave third and two. Paris would get the all-important first down with a two yard rush, moving the chains to the 38 yard line and keeping the clock running with three minutes and counting. Paris found nowhere to run on first down, stood up at the line of scrimmage for no gain. Handing the ball off on second down, Johnson was also stood up for no gain, leaving third and 10, Old Dominion calling their first timeout with 2:16 left in the game. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, the pass intended for Dante May was broken up, forcing us to punt on fourth down. An 11 yard return by Lewis on the 43 yard punt gave Old Dominion the ball at their 30 yard line, 2:03 left on the clock.

Our defense started out with an advantage, as the first down blitz forced Whitfield to throw the ball away to avoid a sack, leaving second down. A quick pass to Clark picked up 5 yards, before a deep pass intended for Ryan was broken up at the last minute by Vinson at our 20 yard line, bringing up the deciding fourth and 5 play with 1:39 left in the game. Our defense would choose its worse moment to screw up, a hard snap count causing Grant to jump the snap offside, the 5 free yards giving Old Dominion a free first down at the 40 yard line and ruining our chance to secure the victory. Despite the screw up, the defense refused to give up, the coverage forcing Whitfield to dance around in the pocket, giving McBride enough time to come in off the defense end slot and sack Whitfield for an 8 yard loss, leaving second and 18, the clock still ticking. Pat Nicholson would get the Monarchs moving forward with a 14 yard reception, before an incomplete pass intended again for Nicholson was thrown off the mark, bringing up another deciding fourth down and four, exactly one minute left in the game. Our defense would utterly blow it, as Clark was able to get open across the middle, hauling in a pass from Whitfield and taking off sprinting for the end zone, only finally tripped up inside the 10 yard line, the play going for a 46 yard gain and giving Old Dominion first and goal from our 8 yard line, the Monarchs calling their second timeout with 53 seconds left. A screen pass to Williams went for a two yard gain, but he was able to get out of bounds to stop the clock, leaving second and goal from the 6 with 47 seconds remaining. A four yard reception by Thomas picked up four yards to leave third and goal from the two. Rushing to the line, Old Dominion quickly snapped the ball, but our defense would make the biggest play of the game, sacking Whitfield for a 7 yard loss, creating fourth and goal at the 9 yard line, Old Dominion calling their final timeout with 22 seconds left on the clock. Lining up on the all-deciding fourth down, the Monarchs would strike a death blow, as Whitfield heaved up a pass to Nicholson, who came down with it in the back of the end zone for a 9 yard touchdown, giving Old Dominion a 31-30 lead with 19 seconds left in the game.

A 24 yard kickoff return by Conley gave our offense the ball at our 26 yard line, just 15 seconds to work with and only one timeout in the bag. Trying to take a shot deep, Barnes was never able to even get the ball off, the defense instantly in his face and sacking him for a 9 yard loss, leaving second and 19 and forcing us to use our only remaining timeout to stop the clock with 12 seconds left. Calling a Hail Mary on second down, Barnes heaved up a pass to Conley, but it was broken up by the defense to leave third and 19, just 6 seconds remaining. Another Hail Mary effort to Munoz was likewise broken up, and with no time left on the clock, that was all she wrote, as Old Dominion stunned us 31-30 and ruined our Homecoming weekend.

With the loss, we drop to 0-3, 0-0 in Mountain West action. With the win, Old Dominion improves to 1-1, 0-0 in C-USA play. Up next, we head back on the road for our final non-conference game of the year, a trip to BYU to play for the Old Wagon Wheel. The Cougars enter the game 1-2 on the year. BYU opened their season with a 55-38 win at Connecticut, before losing 30-3 at Central Florida and 27-24 to Virginia.

Final Score
:Old_Dominion: 31, :Utah_State: 30




Stat(s) of the Game:
Utah State Offense - Another bad day by Barnes, ending 8-21 for 181 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Rushing, Roberson led the way with 103 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries. Paris ended with 46 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. Receiving, Conley was the lead receiver with 115 yards and one touchdown on four catches. In all, we had only five receivers catch a pass today, all five ended in double digit yards, Conley was the only one to catch more than one pass and only one to end in triple digit yards.

Utah State Defense – The good? Two interceptions, 8 sacks, even a forced fumble. The bad? 31 points, 417 yards of total offense and 396 yards of passing given up, as well as giving up two fourth down conversions on the final drive of the game by Old Dominion.

Utah State Kicking – The only bright spot of the day, as Marcus was perfect in the game. He went 3-3 in field goals, with kicks from 30, 22 and 32 yards out, and went 3-3 in PATs.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
:Old_Dominion:	7	7	3	14	31
:Utah_State:	17	7	3	3	30

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
8:40	:Old_Dominion:	Touchdown	N. Clark, 24 yard pass from D. Whitfield (T. McCarthy kick)	:Old_Dominion: 7-0
7:26	:Utah_State:	Field Goal	D. Marcus, 30 yard field goal	:Old_Dominion: 7-3
3:39	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	P. Roberson, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 10-7
0:30	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	R. Conley, 76 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 17-7
Second Quarter
7:47	:Old_Dominion:	Touchdown	J. Thomas, 28 yard pass from D. Whitfield (T. McCarthy kick)	:Utah_State: 17-14
1:05	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	B. Paris, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 24-14
Third Quarter
4:13	:Utah_State:	Field Goal	D. Marcus, 22 yard field goal	:Utah_State: 27-14
1:30	:Old_Dominion:	Field Goal	T. McCarthy, 24 yard field goal	:Utah_State: 27-17
Fourth Quarter
7:21	:Utah_State:	Field Goal	D. Marcus, 32 yard field goal	:Utah_State: 30-17
4:54	:Old_Dominion:	Touchdown	J. Williams, 11 yard pass from D. Whitfield (T. McCarthy kick)	:Utah_State: 30-24
0:19	:Old_Dominion:	Touchdown	P. Nicholson, 9 yard pass from D. Whitfield (T. McCarthy kick)	:Old_Dominion: 31-30

Game Stats

Old Dominion	Stat	Utah State
31	Score	30
18	First Downs	16
417	Total Offense	321
20 - 21 - 0	Rushes - Yards - TD	44 - 140 - 2
29 - 47 - 4	Comp - Att - TD	8 - 21 - 1
396	Passing Yards	181
8	Times Sacked	1
6 - 14 (42%)	3rd Down Conversion	6 - 13 (46%)
2 - 3 (66%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 0 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
4 - 2 - 1 (75%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	5 - 2 - 3 (100%)
2	Turnovers	1
0	Fumbles Lost	0
2	Intercepted	1
23	Punt Return Yards	10
169	Kick Return Yards	195
609	Total Yards	526
3 – 38.7	Punts - Average	3 - 36.0
2 - 20	Penalties	2 - 20
12:20	Time of Possession	23:40

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Score a Touchdown	25	x3
Force a Tunrover	25	x2
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
3+ Sacks	50	x1
Play in an ESPN Classic Game	75	x1
Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards	50	x1
100% Red Zone Efficiency	50	x1
Score 21 or More Points	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, #1 Notre Dame won a neutral site contest over Syracuse 49-28. In the game of the week, #2 Ohio State demolished #10 Virginia Tech 49-17. In the upset of the week that sent shock waves across the nation, Toledo goes into Bryant-Denny Stadium and shocks #3 Alabama 37-34, the Rockets scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, including the game winning 3 yards touchdown pass with 45 seconds left. #21 UCLA knocked off #4 Texas 44-31. #5 North Carolina topped East Carolina 26-6.

#6 Oklahoma routed FCS Southeast 69-10. #7 Texas A&M survived Vanderbilt 41-31. #8 USC took care of business against Washington State 52-26. Fresno State shocked #9 Nebraska 38-31 in double overtime. #11 Michigan State thrashed Wyoming 49-7. #12 Georgia Tech topped Wake Forest 34-7. #13 Oregon whooped Colorado State 35-3. Missouri upset #15 LSU 27-24. #16 Washington topped Stanford 45-27. Mississippi State stunned #18 Auburn 49-17. #19 Arizona handled Nevada 42-24. Arkansas knocked off #20 Tennessee 28-24. #22 Florida doubled up #24 Ole Miss 42-21. Arkansas State shocked #23 Illinois 38-21. Connecticut handed #25 Boise State their second consecutive loss, 31-27.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #2 Ohio State improves to 2-0 (0-0 Big Ten) with a 49-17 thrashing of #10 Virginia Tech. Morsdraconis, West Virginia remains 1-1 (0-0 Big 12) with a bye week. Souljahbill, Southern Miss remains 1-0 (0-0 C-USA) with a bye week. Jaymo, Arizona State remains 1-0 (0-0 Pac-12) with a bye week. LeeSO, #18 Auburn drops to 1-1 (0-1 SEC) with a 49-17 hammering from Mississippi State. SCClassof93, South Carolina improves to 2-1 (2-0 SEC) a 56-28 dismantling of Georgia. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 2-0 (1-0 Sun Belt) with a 38-21 stunning of #23 Illinois. Florida International drops to 0-3 (0-0 C-USA) with a 48-14 loss to Pittsburgh. Navy drops to 1-1 (1-1 American) with a 45-17 loss to Cincinnati. Tulsa drops to 1-1 (0-0 American) with a 41-20 loss to Florida Atlantic.

In Mountain West action, Fresno State shocked #9 Nebraska 38-31 in double overtime, New Mexico beat UTSA 20-17, San Diego State topped Temple 33-24, San Jose State stunned Minnesota 37-17, #11 Michigan State destroyed Wyoming 49-7, #13 Oregon whooped Colorado State 35-3, #19 Arizona topped Nevada 42-24, Connecticut knocked off #25 Boise State 31-27, Colorado beat Hawaii 23-13, Louisiana Tech handled UNLV 51-24 and Old Dominion knocked off Utah State 31-30.

A little better this week, but still awful by the Mountain West. We ended the week 4-7. The best win in conference was Fresno State shocking #9 Nebraska 38-31 in double overtime. Worst loss was #25 Boise State losing to a winless Connecticut.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Ohio State (38 first place votes) jump one to become the new #1, Notre Dame (22 votes) drops one to #2, North Carolina (1 vote) leaps two to #3, Oklahoma climbs two to #4 and Texas A&M jumps two to #5. USC jumps two to #6, Michigan State leaps four to #7, Georgia Tech vaults four to #8, Texas drops five to #9 and Oregon climbs three to #10. TCU climbs three to #11, Alabama plummets nine to #12, Washington jumps three to #13, Miami climbs three to #14 and Virginia Tech drops five to #15. UCLA jumps five to #16, Arizona climbs two to #17, Nebraska falls nine to #18, Florida moves up three to #19 and Baylor enters the poll at #20. LSU drops six to #21, Missouri enters the poll at #22, West Virginia enters the poll at #23, Auburn drops six to #24 and Fresno State (167 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were: Tennessee (from #20), Illinois (from #23), Ole Miss (from #24) and Boise State (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Oregon State (157 votes) is #26, followed by Mississippi State (67), Ole Miss (64), Houston (4) and Toledo (2) to round out the Top 30.

A look at the Heisman race, Ohio State QB Matt Cowan is #1 (LW: #1), Arizona HB Kevin Simpson is #2 (LW: #2), Notre Dame QB Mike Harper is #3 (LW: #5), Mississippi State HB Anthony Hopkins is #4 (LW: NR) and Texas A&M QB Zac Hopkins is #5 (LW: NR). Dropping off of the Heisman Watch List this week was Alabama HB Derek Scott (LW: #3) and Connecticut HB David Ward (LW: #4).

Damn Smooth! Tough luck starting the season.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaymo76

Damn Smooth! Tough luck starting the season.

---

Yeah. :(

Off to a horrible start this year. It's beginning to look like redshirting Adam Powers and putting sophomore Jason Barnes under center was a mistake. I really wanted to keep Powers around for another season, but maybe I should have just kept him as the starter and let him go without using his redshirt year.

It also doesn't help having to deal with all of these damned no-huddle teams. Utah wasn't bad on offense, they just plain whooped us. Tulsa destroyed us because of that damn no-huddle and them racking up touchdown after touchdown from 40+ yards out. And Old Dominion, while we largely controlled and played well, eventually we fell apart at the end against their constant no-huddle offense.

Regardless, it's not looking good. Old Dominion was one of three or four games where I could be considered the favorite and/or expected to win. Right now, if I'm very lucky, I might win 3 games this year, barring any shocking upsets. Powers better be ready to come out whooping ass next season, because next season very well may end up being for my job.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes

Yeah. :(

Off to a horrible start this year. It's beginning to look like redshirting Adam Powers and putting sophomore Jason Barnes under center was a mistake. I really wanted to keep Powers around for another season, but maybe I should have just kept him as the starter and let him go without using his redshirt year.

It also doesn't help having to deal with all of these damned no-huddle teams. Utah wasn't bad on offense, they just plain whooped us. Tulsa destroyed us because of that damn no-huddle and them racking up touchdown after touchdown from 40+ yards out. And Old Dominion, while we largely controlled and played well, eventually we fell apart at the end against their constant no-huddle offense.

Regardless, it's not looking good. Old Dominion was one of three or four games where I could be considered the favorite and/or expected to win. Right now, if I'm very lucky, I might win 3 games this year, barring any shocking upsets. Powers better be ready to come out whooping ass next season, because next season very well may end up being for my job.

---

Yes, the no huddle is a bit ridiculous at times. The one way I have addressed it is setting my gameplan to aggressive and then hot routing my two D's and putting them on as qb spies. Sometimes it works...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaymo76

Yes, the no huddle is a bit ridiculous at times. The one way I have addressed it is setting my gameplan to aggressive and then hot routing my two D's and putting them on as qb spies. Sometimes it works...

---

Yeah, we'll have to see how things play out. Good thing is, there aren't too many no-huddle teams in the Mountain West, maybe one or two. Most, if not all of my no-huddle atrocities last year and this year have largely been limited to the non-conference schedule (namely Tulsa and Old Dominion). So that will help. Now I just need to get Barnes settled the hell down. Currently sitting at 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions through three games. :fp:

Unfortunately, it'll be a few days before the BYU game. I'm still stuck at work right now, I'll be going in for my morning show from 3am (sleeping in an extra hour tonight) until 9am, and have to go back in tomorrow night for night two of high school playoff football. So it'll be sometime Sunday before I could even try to play. With Denver being aired here on Sunday afternoon, it might be Sunday night or Monday before I get around to BYU.

I'm hoping to try and get a game a little later on. If I still have power that is. About to get slammed by a shit ton of severe (and tornado warned) storms in the next 30-60 minutes. Considering we lost power for a good 30 minutes or so back in August when it was just lightly raining(!), I don't exactly have any confidence in our power grid here. So if the power either stays or gets put back on quickly, I might try and squeeze in a game before the Chiefs-Broncos game.

Smooth, get in as many games as you can before Friday. With the ps4 I don't even want to turn on my ps3... Damn you O'bannon et al. for taking away my NCAA next gen!!!!!

:D Well, I should still be good. I'll probably play the hell out of the Xbox One for a couple days, but right now, I'm only getting Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5 and Ryse: Son of Rome to kick off my next-gen game collection. I'm not planning on getting any more games beyond that until at least Black Friday or Cyber Monday, and beyond that, probably not until January or later. So NCAA 14 will still get a lot of play time. Plus I'm gonna try to the pass through (or whatever it's actually called), running my 360 through my Xbox One, so I can easily jump over to NCAA 14 from whatever game I'm playing at the time on my Xbox One. Whether I keep it like that though, will depend on any signal lag going from the 360, through the Xbox One and to the TV.

Alright, I should be good to go. Storms are already two counties to my east, never lost power or internet, despite a brief tornado warning in the southern part of the county, we avoided the tornado threat as it stayed in the counties just south of us. Ended up getting poured on and a good solid blow job from Mother Nature.

So I'll probably be firing up my next game vs. BYU in a little bit here.

I got the BYU game done. Had to split it in half, got the first half in this afternoon, had to leave for 2 1/2 hours for a live remote at work, then finished up the second half this evening. I'll be posting it sometime in the morning tomorrow, after I get all of the weekly recap stuff done for the rest of the NCAA.

Game Four

:Utah_State: :@: :BYU:



Game Story

--- Coming off a last second, heart-breaking loss to Old Dominion on Homecoming weekend, we were left winless as we reached the quarter mark of the season. We were going to have to turn it around fast if we wanted any hopes of saving this season and reaching a bowl game at the end. A loss today would put us squarely behind the eight ball and needing multiple upsets to save things. A win wouldn’t be easy, as it meant achieving victory on the road at a talented BYU squad in the battle for The Old Wagon Wheel. The rankings weren’t going to be much help, as BYU entered ranked in the 100’s for total and rushing offense, as well as total and passing defense. Overall they seemed mediocre in their offensive and defensive stats, but they had huge advantage in head to head offense over us, and that could end up very well being the difference. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A 26 yard kickoff return by Dustin Porter gave BYU the ball at their 26 yard line to start the game. Raishaun Fontaine came out passing on first down, but found little success as his throw sailed out of bounds and incomplete to bring up second down. The Cougars found some minor success on second down as Fontaine connected with John Doty for a three yard gain, leaving third and 7. Forced to throw away the ball on third down to avoid a sack, Fontaine and the BYU offense would trot off the field, the punt team coming out on fourth down. An 18 yard return by Preston Roberson on the 45 yard punt gave us great field position, starting our first drive from our 44 yard line.

Starting our opening drive on the ground, Roberson received the first down handoff and pounded his way to a 7 yard gain. Brian Paris would take the ball on second and three, picking up 6 yards and the first down at the BYU 43 yard line. Roberson came back in, rushing for a pair of two yard gains to leave third and 6. It was nothing but bad news after the second down rush by Roberson, as he didn’t get up after the play. Roberson was diagnosed with a mild concussion, leaving him sidelined for the rest of the game, just two minutes into the contest. That was going to put an immediate dent in our offense so early on. Running a play action pass on third down, third string tight end Cedric McKinney was able to get open on a flag route and pull in the third down pass from Jason Barnes for a huge 25 yard gain and a first down at the 14 yard line. Returning to the ground, Paris took the ball up the gut for a 6 yard gain, before plowing his way around the right tackle for a 5 yard gain, giving us first and goal from the three yard line. Despite being met by a defender at the one yard line, Paris was able to roll forward through the tackle and let momentum carry both players into the end zone for a three yard touchdown run, giving us a 7-0 lead with 5:08 left in the first quarter.

A 29 yard kickoff return by James Fry set the Cougars up at their 26 yard line. William Hodges got BYU started with an 8 yard rush on first down, before a play action pass intended for Erik Parker ended up off the mark and incomplete, bringing up third and two for the Cougars. Going right back to Parker on third down, he was able to pull in the screen pass and shake off one defender, but he would end up stood up right at the first down line. The refs would spot him shy of the first down, forcing BYU to punt on fourth and inches. A booming 59 yard punt by BYU was not returned, as the returner let the punt bounce down at the 10 yard line. Unfortunately for us, the ball did not bounce and roll its way into the end zone, but rather came to a dead stop at the four yard line, where it was downed by the punt team and leaving us buried deep in our territory.

Lining up at our four yard line after the punt, Paris looked to get us moving forward on first down, but would instead go backwards, as a blitz by BYU resulted in a three yard loss, leaving us even more in dire straits, facing second and 13 at our one yard line. Travis Munoz would save us and we would avert disaster as he pulled in the second down pass from Barnes for a 14 yard gain and a first down at the 15 yard line. Paris took the ball on first down for a three yard gain, but would then go backwards, tackled in the backfield for a one yard loss to leave us facing third and 8. Barnes was slammed into from behind as he went to throw on third down, the pass drilling straight into the back of the right tackle and incomplete, forcing our punt team out on fourth down. A 15 yard return by Fry on the 43 yard punt gave BYU the ball at our 45 yard line.

Fontaine would catch our defense sleeping, faking us out with a fake handoff and then keeping the ball himself, racing through a huge hole to the left side of the line and down the field, pushed out of bounds to save the touchdown and limited to a 38 yard gain, giving BYU first and goal at our 7 yard line. It would take Hodges just one play to score the equalizer, bouncing outside the left tackle for a 7 yard touchdown run to tie it up at 7-7 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

Ryan Conley received the kickoff, racing up the right sideline and finding a hole on his way to a 40 yard kickoff return, an ankle tackle all that kept it from going to the house, and getting our offense back in action at our 41 yard line. Paris took the ball on first down for a four yard gain, before a play action pass to McKinney ended up broken up by the cornerback, leaving third and 6. Trying to connect with Max Rhodes over the middle, the pass from Barnes was deflected, and our great field position was squandered as the punt team came out on fourth and 6. The 55 yard punt bounced down at the 5 yard line and into the end zone for a touchback.

Lining up at the 20 yard line after the touchback, Hodges was only able to pick up one yard on the first down carry for BYU. The Cougars would go backwards as a screen pass to Hodges on second down resulted in a 5 yard loss, leaving BYU facing third and 14. That would be the last play as the clock ran out, bringing the first quarter to an end, the score all knotted up at 7-7.

Opening up the second quarter, Fontaine tried to go right back to Hodges on third down, but was hit as he threw, the incomplete pass bringing out the punt team on fourth and 14. A 23 yard return by David Douglas on the 41 yard punt gave us the best field position so far today, lining up at BYU’s 35 yard line.

Lining up on offense from the BYU 35, Paris took the ball on first down for a three yard gain, followed by a gain of 8 yards, picking up the first down at the 24. Another rush by Paris resulted in another three yard gain. Lining up on second and 7, Barnes dropped back from under center and tried to connect with tight end Jack Long, but the pass was broken up at the goal line, leaving third and 7. Coming out in the shotgun on third down, Barnes was able to fire off a pass to fullback Walter Johnson, who pulled in the pass for a 7 yard gain. We would get screwed on the measurement however, as we were left with fourth and inches from the 14 yard line. We came out lining up on offense on fourth down, going with a hard snap count to try and draw the defense offside. It would backfire however as our right guard jumped, the false start penalty pushing us back 5 yards. Forced to settle for three points, the 36 yard field goal by Doug Marcus was good, giving us a 10-7 lead with 6:36 left in the game.

A 35 yard kickoff return by Fry gave BYU the ball from their 34 yard line. Hodges was only able to gain one yard on the first down play, but a facemask penalty on safety Sam Vinson resulted in 15 free yards for the Cougars, giving them a first down at midfield. A screen pass along the left sideline to Hodges went for a 15 yard gain and a first down at our 35 yard line, our defense suddenly unable to stop the Cougars offense. Travis McDonald kept BYU moving with a 7 yard reception, before Hodges got stood up for a two yard loss, leaving BYU facing third and 5. A screen pass to Hodges went for exactly 5 yards, giving BYU a fresh set of downs at our 25 yard line. Fontaine was forced to throw the ball away on first down to avoid a sack. He’d come right back on second down and rifle off a pass to Hodges for a 21 yard gain, giving the Cougars first and goal from our four yard line. Parker took the first down handoff, fighting his way to a one yard gain, before a dropped pass in the end zone by Doty left the Cougars facing third and goal at the three yard line. Our defense would come through in the eleventh hour, as Fontaine chucked up a pass into the corner of the end zone. Despite being outnumbered three to two, middle linebacker Sean Edwards would somehow come down with the ball for the interception, tackled in the end zone for a touchback and giving us the ball at our 20 yard line with 4:08 left in the half.

Starting from our 20 yard line, Paris took the ball to get the drive underway, but was quickly brought down for no gain on the play. Lining up in the shotgun on second down, the pass intended for Douglas got a little too much air under it and sailed over Douglas’ head, leaving third and 10. Conley would come through for us on third down with an 11 yard gain, picking up the first down at the 31 yard line. Lining up under center on first down, Barnes dropped back to pass but never had a chance of getting the ball off, instantly sacked for a 7 yard loss, leaving us with second and 17. Trying to connect with Rhodes on second down, the pass was batted down incomplete, bringing up third and very long. Throwing a bomb down the left sideline, the pass intended for Munoz was incomplete, and we were forced to punt on fourth and 17. Despite a solid punt deep into BYU territory that resulted in a fair catch call, the Cougars would still end up with great field position, as a fair catch interference penalty on cornerback Mike Moses gave BYU 15 free yards and gave them the ball at their 49 yard line.

Taking over after the punt and penalty, Fontaine came out firing with a 6 yard pass to McDonald, before an option play ended in disaster, Fontaine instantly brought down for a loss of four yards. The pass on third and 8, intended for Porter was broken up, and BYU brought out their pun team on fourth down. A touchback on the 49 yard punt got us back in action from our 20 yard line, 1:33 left before halftime.

With limited time, we came out passing on first down to start our drive, but the pass intended for Munoz was nearly intercepted, bringing up a quick second down. The second down pass intended for Conley was also broken up, and we were left facing third and 10. Conley would come through huge for us, pulling in the third down pass from Barnes and taking it for a 25 yard gain and a first down at the 45 yard line. Finally starting to find a groove, Barnes found Dante May for an 11 yard pickup and another first down at the BYU 44. Rhodes was able to get the first down pass in his hands briefly, before three defenders swarmed on him and jarred the ball loose, leaving second down. Going right back to Rhodes on second down, he would haul in the pass from Barnes for a 14 yard gain to move the chains to the BYU 30 yard line, as we called our first timeout with 39 seconds left in the half. Douglas would keep us moving with a 15 yard reception for a first down at the 15 yard line. Rushing to the line, we called a quick play action pass, the defense biting on the fake and allowing Johnson to get open along the left sideline, as he pulled in the pass from Barnes just a fraction of a second before going out of bounds, good for a 10 yard gain to give us first and goal from the 5 yard line, and more importantly, stopping the clock with 29 seconds left. Paris took the handoff on first down, fighting his way forward for a three yard gain to leave second and goal from the two yard line, our second timeout taken with 24 seconds left. Paris would only need one more try to punch it in, muscling his way into the end zone for a two yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 17-7 with 20 seconds left until halftime.

A 23 yard kickoff return by Fry left BYU starting at their 22 yard line, 17 seconds remaining. A quick pass to Hodges netted 8 yards, leaving second and two, Hodges getting out of bounds to leave just 11 seconds on the clock. Despite the blitz, Fontaine was able to get a deep pass off, Daniel Frank going up in the air to pull in the ball for a 39 yard strike and a first down at our 31 yard line, BYU quickly calling their first timeout with 6 seconds left. Heaving one up into the end zone, a game of volleyball broke out as five different players from both teams batted the ball around before it finally landing incomplete out of bounds. That game of volleyball would also further help us, as beside just the incomplete pass, it lasted long enough for the final second to tick off the clock and bring the second quarter to an end without another play, as we headed into halftime with a 17-7 lead.

Opening up the second half, Conley returned the kickoff 26 yards out to our 29 yard line to get the third quarter underway. Paris got our drive started on the ground, but was stood up for no gain on the play. Keeping it on the ground, Paris managed four yards on the play, bringing up third and 6. Barnes dropped back on third down and rifled a pass to Munoz, good for a 16 yard gain and a first down at the 49 yard line. Another rush by Paris again went for no gain, leaving second and 10. Throwing up a pass to Conley on second down, the ball got batted down by the cornerback, setting up another third down. The third down pass from Barnes to Douglas was likewise incomplete, and we were forced to punt on fourth and 10. The 50 yard punt sailed into the end zone for a touchback, giving BYU the ball at their 20 yard line.

Hodges got BYU’s drive started with a two yard rush up the middle, followed by a 10 yard pass from Fontaine to Doty for a first down at the 32 yard line. A screen pass to Hodges on first down went for a four yard gain, followed by a massive 44 yard completion to Doty, who caught the pass near the first down line, got some good blocking, shed three tackles and then dragged a final defender another 5 yards before going down for a first down at our 20 yard line. Returning to the ground game on first down, Hodges took the handoff up the middle for a gain of 9 yards. The Cougars would rediscover the end zone as Fontaine dropped back on second down and threw a pass over the middle to McDonald, good for an 11 yard touchdown to cut our lead to 17-14 with 4:49 left in the third quarter.

A 27 yard kickoff return by Douglas gave us the ball at our 24 yard line for our next drive. The Cougars continued to key on our run game, as Paris was limited to only one yard on the first down rush, leaving second and 9. A pass down the left sideline on second down, intended for Munoz, was just barely batted away by the cornerback, who spun around at the last second and was just able to get a couple fingers on the ball to deflect it away, bringing up third down. A pass over the middle to Conley was completed, but the defender made the play and limited him to just an 8 yard gain, forcing us to punt on fourth and inches from our 34 yard line. A 13 yard return by Fry on the 39 yard punt got BYU back on the field at their 39 yard line.

Lining up on first down, BYU went straight into the air on first down. It would end up being a mistake as the pass over the middle from Fontaine was intercepted by Kevin Moore, who returned it 7 yards to give our offense possession at the BYU 34 yard line.

Taking over after the interception, we also came out passing, Barnes connecting with Aaron Allen for a 12 yard gain and a first down at the 22 yard line. Finally finding some success on the ground, Paris took the first down handoff up the middle for an 8 yard gain, followed by a two yard rush to leave third and inches at the 12 yard line. Despite being forced outside, Paris would manage to just get one yard and pick up the first down at the 11 yard line. A four yard rush by May was followed up with a one yard carry to leave us with third and 5 from the 6 yard line. Trying to thread the needle over the middle, the pass from Barnes to Munoz was broken up at the goal line, forcing us to settle for a field goal on fourth down. The 23 yard field goal by Marcus was good, extending our lead to 20-14 with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

A 26 yard kickoff return by Porter set the Cougars up from their 23 yard line. Opening up the drive in the air, Fontaine found McDonald over the middle for a quick 14 yard gain and a first down at the 37. Rolling out on the play action fake, Fontaine tried to connect with McDonald again in the flats, but the pass was intercepted yet again by Moore, his second of the game, this time returned 37 yards for a touchdown, giving us a 27-14 lead over BYU as the third quarter came to a close.

Opening up the fourth quarter, Fry returned the kickoff 28 yards, starting BYU from their 29 yard line. BYU wasted little time in trying to answer for that score, as Hodges took the handoff to the right side and sprinted up the sideline for a 48 yard rush, finally pushed out of bounds for a first down at our 24 yard line. Going into the air on first down, Fontaine tried to connect with McDonald, but the pass fell incomplete, bringing up second down. Firing off a pass to Doty, the throw from Fontaine was good for a gain of 9 yards, leaving third and one. Lining up on third down, Fontaine would keep the ball on the QB read, rushing for a 14 yard gain to give BYU first and goal from our one yard line. Hodges would punch it in on the first place for a one yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 27-21 with 7:50 left in the game.

A 28 yard kickoff return by Douglas got us lined up at our 25 yard line. Paris took the first down handoff up the middle for a 5 yard gain, followed by another 5 yard gain to leave us with third and inches. Paris was nearly brought down in the backfield, but just managed to get a yard to move the chains at the 36 yard line. May came in on first down, taking the handoff for a 7 yard rush, followed by a two yard gain by Paris to leave us with third and one. Paris received the ball on third down, but found nowhere to run as he was quickly met in the backfield for a one yard loss, bringing out our punt team on fourth and two. A 5 yard return by Fry on the 41 yard punt gave BYU the ball at their 20 yard line, 4:24 left in the game.

Coming out with a screen pass on first down, BYU took advantage of our heavy blitz as Fontaine dumped the ball off to Hodges for a 17 yard gain and a first down at the 37. Handing the ball off on first down, Hodges was immediately swarmed by the blitz for a three yard loss, leaving second and 17. Going into the air on second down, Fontaine found Hodges over the middle for a four yard gain, bringing up a big third and 9 for BYU. Fontaine tried to get the ball off on third down, but the blitz got to him as he threw, and the wounded duck would land harmlessly on the turf to bring out the punt team on fourth down. The punt would land at the 15 yard line and bounced the rest of the way into the end zone, a 62 yard punt in all, for a touchback, 3:12 left in the game.

Paris got our drive off and running on the ground, fighting his way to an 8 yard gain, before being stood up for no gain to leave third and two. Trying to get the first down on the ground, Paris could only pick up one yard on the play, BYU calling their first timeout with 2:13 left in the game. We were forced to punt the ball on fourth and one from our 29 yard line, Fry with a 14 yard return on the 35 yard punt to give BYU the ball at their 49 yard line.

Throwing up a quick pass on an out route, McDonald hauled in the pass from Fontaine for a 15 yard gain before his momentum carried him out of bounds for a first down at our 36 yard line. We challenged the catch, as it appeared he failed to get his foot down in-bounds, but the play stood after the review, as he just got his right foot down before going out. With that, we were left with two timeouts for the final two minutes of the game. Fontaine dropped back to pass on first down, but was forced to scramble due to the pressure from our four guys up front. He didn’t get very far though, sacked by defensive tackle Caleb McBride for a two yard loss to leave second and 12 and the clock still running. Dropping back to pass once more, this time Fontaine would find an open receiver, completing a pass to Porter up the left sideline for a 26 yard gain, giving BYU a first down at our 13 yard line, 56 seconds left on the clock. Still not calling a timeout, Fontaine handed the ball off to Hodges on first down, who took it up the middle for a 7 yard gain, leaving second and three from our 6 yard line, the clock down to 35 seconds and still ticking. Going back into the air on second down, Fontaine threw up a pass to McDonald in the middle of the end zone, a diving interception attempt by Vinson completely removing him from the play and turning the play into a game of catch for McDonald, the pass complete for a 6 yard touchdown, giving BYU a 28-27 lead with 20 seconds left in the game.

A 33 yard kickoff return by Douglas gave our offense the ball at our 32 yard line, 15 seconds remaining and two timeouts in the bag. Going into the air on first down, Barnes connected with Conley along the left sideline for a 7 yard gain, Conley both trying to drive for extra yards as well as get out of bounds. He would accomplish neither and wasted precious seconds, our second timeout taken with just 9 seconds left on the clock. Trying to throw deep to Allen on second and three, the pass ended up landing incomplete at his feet, leaving us with third and three from our 38 yard line, just four seconds left on the clock. The Hail Mary pass from Barnes would be less than stellar, the pass traveling a whole whopping 30 yards before being swatted down by the BYU secondary, clinching the 28-27 victory for the Cougars.

With the loss, we fall to 0-4, 0-0 in Mountain West action. With the win, BYU improves to 2-2. Up next, we get a bye week before returning home to open up conference play with a tough Fresno State team. The Bulldogs enter 1-2, 0-0 in Mountain West action. Fresno State opened the year with a 35-21 loss at #4 USC, before knocking off #17 Nebraska 38-31 in overtime. While ranked #24, the Bulldogs would suffer their second setback of the season, knocked off by Idaho 32-23 heading into our game.

Final Score

:BYU: 28, :Utah_State: 27




Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A meh day for Barnes, ending 13-29 for 174 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions. Rushing, Paris led the way with 78 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns. May finished with 12 yards on three carries. In extremely limited action, Roberson ended with 11 yards on three carries. Receiving, Conley was the go-to guy today with 51 yards on four receptions. In all, eight receivers caught a pass today, all eight ended with double digit yards.

Utah State Defense – Good and bad. The good, three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. The bad, fell apart in the second half and let BYU put up 21 points in the final two quarters.

Utah State Kicking – A perfect day for Marcus, going 2-2 in field goals from 36 and 23 yards out, and went 3-3 in PATs.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
:Utah_State:	7	10	10	0	27
:BYU:	7	0	7	14	28

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:08	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	B. Paris, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 7-0
1:31	:BYU:	Touchdown	W. Hodges, 7 yard run (J. McCarthy kick)	TIED 7-7
Second Quarter
6:36	:Utah_State:	Field Goal	D. Marcus, 36 yard field goal	:Utah_State: 10-7
0:20	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	B. Paris, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 17-7
Third Quarter
4:49	:BYU:	Touchdown	T. McDonald, 11 yard pass from R. Fontaine (J. McCarthy kick)	:Utah_State: 17-14
0:20	:Utah_State:	Field Goal	D. Marcus, 23 yard field goal	:Utah_State: 20-14
0:00	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	K. Moore, returned interception 37 yards (D. Marcus kick)	:Utah_State: 27-14
Fourth Quarter
7:50	:BYU:	Touchdown	W. Hodges, 1 yard run (J. McCarthy kick)	:Utah_State: 27-21
0:20	:BYU:	Touchdown	T. McDonald, 6 yard pass from R. Fontaine (J. McCarthy kick)	:BYU: 28-27

Game Stats

Utah State	Stat	BYU
27	Score	28
15	First Downs	14
268	Total Offense	385
36 - 94 - 2	Rushes - Yards - TD	20 - 172 - 2
13 - 29 - 0	Comp - Att - TD	17 - 30 - 2
174	Passing Yards	213
1	Times Sacked	1
6 - 16 (37%)	3rd Down Conversion	2 - 8 (25%)
0 - 0 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 0 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
4 - 2 - 2 (100%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	5 - 4 - 0 (80%)
0	Turnovers	3
0	Fumbles Lost	0
0	Intercepted	3
40	Punt Return Yards	46
154	Kick Return Yards	165
462	Total Yards	596
6 – 44.2	Punts - Average	5 - 51.2
3 - 35	Penalties	0 - 0
23:22	Time of Possession	12:38

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Score a Touchdown	25	x3
Defensive Touchdown	50	x1
Force a Turnover	25	x3
Play in an ESPN Classic Game	75	x1
Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards	50	x1
100% Red Zone Efficiency	50	x1
Score 21 or More Points	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, #1 Ohio State thumped Minnesota 49-3. Michigan entered South Bend and shocked #2 Notre Dame 31-15. #3 North Carolina topped Flroida State 27-17. South Carolina knocked off #5 Texas A&M 42-30. #6 USC fought off Oregon State 17-13. Northwestern stunned #7 Michigan State 28-27, the Wildcats scoring on a 15 yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the game. #8 Georgia Tech smoked Marshall 42-10.

#9 Texas beat Kansas 45-17. #12 Alabama topped Florida Atlantic 45-10. #13 Washington defeated Illinois 38-28. #14 Miami edged out Louisville 38-35. #15 Virginia Tech beat Wake Forest 42-17. Utah inched past #16 UCLA 22-21, coming back from a 21-0 deficit. California upset #17 Arizona 31-25. #19 Florida defeated Tennessee 35-21. Kentucky shocked #21 LSU 24-6. #24 Auburn beat #22 Missouri 23-7. #23 West Virginia holds off Maryland 31-27.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State improves to 3-0 (1-0 Big Ten) with a 49-3 thrashing of Minnesota. Morsdraconis, #23 West Virginia improves to 2-1 (0-0 Big 12) with a 31-27 win over Maryland. Souljahbill, Southern Miss drops to 1-1 (0-0 C-USA) with a 31-17 loss to Syracuse. Jaymo, Arizona State improves to 2-0 (1-0 Pac-12) with a 38-28 win over Colorado. LeeSO, #24 Auburn improves to 2-1 (1-1 SEC) with a 23-7 win over #22 Missouri. SCClassof93, South Carolina improves to 3-1 (3-0 SEC) a 42-30 upset of #5 Texas A&M. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State drops to 2-1 (1-0 Sun Belt) with a 20-17 overtime loss to Western Michigan. Florida International remains 0-3 (0-0 C-USA) with a bye week. Navy improves to 2-1 (2-1 American) with a 49-10 trashing of Houston. Tulsa drops to 1-2 (0-1 American) with a 47-40 double overtime loss to South Florida.

In Mountain West action, Colorado State edged out UTEP 32-31, Air Force blanked Rutgers 31-0, Nevada topped FCS Midwest 41-6, BYU edged out Utah State 28-27, Indiana beat San Jose State 35-25, New Mexico State won the Rio Grande Rivalry over New Mexico 38-35 in overtime, Louisiana-Monroe knocked off San Diego State 34-26 and Louisiana-Lafayette topped Boise State 34-13.

A bad week for Mountain West teams, going 3-5 as a conference. The best win, if you can call it that, was Colorado State beating a 2-1 UTEP squad. Meanwhile, my how the mighty have fallen. After battling all season for the Mountain Division title, Boise State and Utah State have opened this season a combined 0-7. :fp:

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Ohio State (35 first place votes) remains #1, North Carolina (22 votes) climbs one to #2, Oklahoma (3 votes) climbs one to #3, USC (1 vote) jumps two to #4 and Georgia Tech moves up three to #5. Texas jumps three to #6, Oregon climbs three to #7, TCU moves up three to #8, Alabama climbs three to #9 and Notre Dame drops eight to #10. Washington jumps two to #11, Miami moves up two to #12, Texas A&M falls eight to #13, Virginia Tech moves up one to #14 and Michigan State drops eight to #15. Michigan enters the poll at #16, Nebraska moves up one to #17, Florida climbs one to #18, South Carolina enters the poll at #19 and Baylor remains #20. Northwestern enters the poll at #21, Auburn jumps two to #22, West Virginia remains #23, Fresno State climbs one to #24 and UCLA (249 points) drops nine to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were: Arizona (from #17), LSU (from #21) and Missouri (from #22). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Mississippi State (245 points) is #26, followed by Missouri (189), Oregon State (161), Toledo (149) and Louisiana-Lafayette (116) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Arizona (86), Arizona State (51), NC State (34) and Kansas State (27).

Taking a look at the first Top 25 Media Poll, Ohio State (42 first place votes) is #1, North Carolina (22 votes) is #2, USC (1 vote) is #3, Oklahoma is #4 and Oregon is #5. Georgia Tech is #6, Texas is #7, Notre Dame is #8, Miami is #9 and TCU is #10. Alabama is #11, Texas A&M is #12, Washington is #13, Michigan is #14 and Michigan State is #15. Virginia Tech is #16, Florida is #17, Nebraska is #18, Baylor is #19 and South Carolina is #20. UCLA is #21, Auburn is #22, Northwestern is #23, West Virginia is #24 and Mississippi State (262 points) is #25. Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Fresno State (183 points) is #26, followed by Missouri (181), Oregon State (156), Arizona State (127) and Louisiana-Lafayette (92) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points include Utah (85), Arizona (79), NC State (35) and Toledo (26).

A look at the Heisman race, Alabama QB Aaron Walters is #1 (LW: NR), Ohio State QB Matt Cowan is #2 (LW: #1), Texas A&M QB Zac Hopkins is #3 (LW: #5), Florida QB Brandon Dahl is #4 (LW: NR) and Mississippi State HB Anthony Hopkins is #5 (LW: #4). Dropping off of the Heisman Watch List this week was Arizona HB Kevin Simpson (LW: #2) and Notre Dame QB Mike Harper (LW: #3)

On a bye week, so lets jump into it.

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, the upset of the week goes to Clemson, who knocked off #2 North Carolina 17-14. #3 Oklahoma beat Iowa State 30-18. #4 USC eased past California 38-10. Louisville shocked #5 Georgia Tech 49-42. #6 Texas thrashed #23 West Virginia 45-7. The game of the week went to #15 Michigan State, who upset #7 Oregon 42-25. #8 TCU topped SMU 31-17.

Ole Miss knocked off #9 Alabama 35-16. #11 Washington struggled past Georgia State 23-7. #12 Miami rolled over #17 Nebraska 45-28. #13 Texas A&M topped Arkansas 42-24. #16 Michigan out-slugged #21 Northwestern 45-35. Kentucky knocked off #18 Florida 45-17. #22 Auburn fought off Tennessee 39-34. Idaho went on the road and stunned #24 Fresno State 32-23. #25 UCLA beat Colorado 34-13.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State remains 3-0 (1-0 Big Ten) with a bye week. Morsdraconis, #23 West Virginia drops to 2-2 (0-1 Big 12) with a 45-7 thumping from #6 Texas. Souljahbill, Southern Miss drops to 1-2 (0-0 C-USA) with a stunning 31-28 loss to FCS Northwest. Jaymo, Arizona State improves to 3-0 (1-0 Pac-12) with a 35-21 win over Old Dominion. LeeSO, #22 Auburn improves to 3-1 (2-1 SEC) with a 39-34 win over Tennessee. SCClassof93, #19 South Carolina remains 3-1 (3-0 SEC) a bye week. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State remains 2-1 (1-0 Sun Belt) with a bye week. Florida International drops to 0-4 (0-0 C-USA) with a 31-27 loss to Oklahoma State. Navy improves to 3-1 (3-1 American) with a 27-17 win over Memphis. Tulsa drops to 1-3 (0-2 American) with a 37-0 loss to Temple.

In Mountain West action, Nevada beat Wyoming 42-24, San Diego State topped Colorado State 40-14, San Jose State edged out Air Force 17-10, Hawaii beat New Mexico 35-28 and Idaho knocked off #24 Fresno State 32-23.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Ohio State (38 first place votes) remains #1, Oklahoma (21 votes) climbs one to #2, USC (1 vote) jumps one to #3, Texas moves up two to #4 and TCU (1 vote) jumps three to #5. Notre Dame jumps four to #6, Miami climbs five to #7, Washington moves up three to #8, Michigan State leaps six to #9 and North Carolina drops eight to #10. Texas A&M climbs two to #11, Oregon drops five to #12, Georgia Tech falls eight to #13, Virginia Tech remains #14 and Michigan climbs one to #15. South Carolina climbs three to #16, Baylor jumps three to #17, Louisville enters the poll at #18, Alabama drops ten to #19 and Clemson enters the poll at #20. Auburn climbs one to #21, Nebraska drops five to #22, Ole Miss enters the poll at #23, UCLA climbs one to #24 and Northwestern (161 points) drops four to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Florida (from #18), West Virginia (from #23) and Fresno State (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Oregon State (137 points) is #26, followed by Florida (108), Toledo (94), West Virginia (88) and Central Florida (87) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Louisiana-Lafayette (73), Arizona (9) and Arizona State (1).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, Ohio State (44 first place votes) remains #1, USC (21 votes) climbs one to #2, Oklahoma jumps one to #3, Texas moves up three to #4 and Michigan State leaps ten to #5. Notre Dame climbs two to #6, Miami moves up two to #7, TCU jumps two to #8, Texas A&M climbs three to #9 and North Carolina drops eight to #10. Washington jumps two to #11, Oregon drops seven to #12, Michigan climbs one to #13, Georgia Tech falls eight to #14 and Virginia Tech moves up one to #15. Baylor jumps three to #16, South Carolina climbs three to #17, Louisville enters the poll at #18, Clemson enters the poll at #19 and UCLA moves up one to #20. Alabama plummets ten to #21, Auburn remains #22, Nebraska falls five to #23, Ole Miss enters the poll at #24 and Oregon State (167 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Florida (from #17), Northwestern (from #23), West Virginia (from #24) and Mississippi State (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Florida (163 points) is #26, followed by Northwestern (113), Arizona State (101), Louisiana-Lafayette (101) and Central Florida (67) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include West Virginia (41) and LSU (30).

A look at the Heisman race, Texas A&M QB Zac Hopkins is #1 (LW: #3), USC HB William Mann is #2 (LW: NR), Alabama QB Aaron Walters is #3 (LW: NR), Washington QB Wesley Gross is #4 (LW: NR) and Ohio State QB Matt Cowan is #5 (LW: #2). Dropping off of the Heisman Watch List this week was Florida QB Brandon Dahl (LW: #4) and Mississippi State HB Anthony Hopkins (LW: #5).

Good stuff! Finally caught up with the thread.

31-28 to an FCS team?

Even our virtual team sucks.

:fp:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SCClassof93

Good stuff! Finally caught up with the thread.

---

Appreciate it man. Now I just wish the results of the season were going better right now. :fp:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by souljahbill

31-28 to an FCS team?

Even our virtual team sucks.

:fp:

---

:D I was waiting for your next visit and comment on that game. Yeah, Southern Miss completely shat the bed that game. But hey, at least they have one win so far thsi season. :fp:

Game Five

:Fresno_State: :@: :Utah_State:



Game Story

--- Stuck spinning our tires in the middle of a four game losing streak to open our season, the search for that elusive first victory was not about to get any easier, as we returned home to open up our conference schedule with a visit from Fresno State. While we, at the moment, largely won the head to head statistical rankings battle, that did nothing but continue the trend of recent weeks that saw us enter with a statistical advantage, only to walk out with a loss. Fresno State was superior overall on offense and they had the #31 pass offense (259.7 yards/game) to back it up. Our pass defense (ranked #96, giving up 261.0 yards/game) was going to be put to the test and would have to make some stops. Most importantly, our offense would have to actually get some drives going and put some points up in the second half if we wanted to end our losing streak and stop blowing leads in the second half of the game. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A 24 yard kickoff return by David Rogers gave Fresno State the ball at their 23 yard line. The Bulldogs would waste no time in moving the ball as Robert Brooks pulled in a pass over the middle from Dan Williams, shaking off a tackle and racing down the field for a 45 yard gain, brought down from behind at our 32 yard line for a quick first down. Dropping back from under center on first down, Williams tried to dump of a screen pass to Damian Ramsour, but defensive end Caleb McBride got in the way and deflected the ball incomplete with his body, bringing up second down and putting a brief halt to Fresno State’s no-huddle offense. Derrick Martin received the handoff from the shotgun on second down, but penetration by McBride resulted in a loss of 5 yards on the play, leaving Fresno State in a third and 15 hole. Despite giving up the massive gain on the first play of the game, our defense would end up with a victory early on, as the third down blitz forced Williams to rush his pass intended for Ramsour, the ball not even clearing the line of scrimmage but instead going straight into the butt of the center to leave fourth and 15 from the 37 yard line. Fresno State would line up for a field goal on fourth down, and despite being lined up dead center of the field and having enough power behind the kick, Tariq Bain would shank the 54 yard field goal attempt wide to the left, and we’d take over on offense from our 37 yard line.

Lining up after the missed field goal, we started our first drive of the game with good field position, and looked to take advantage of that, coming straight out of the gates firing. The first down pass from Jason Barnes to Aaron Allen was on the money, but a hit from behind by the outside linebacker turned an 11 yard gain into a dropped pass, and we were left with second down. Trying to hit Travis Munoz over the middle, the pass was broken up by the middle linebacker, and instead of taking advantage of the great field position, we were now just trying to gain any yards this drive. We would finally move the ball forward, but a 9 yard pass to Ryan Conley wouldn’t be enough, and we were forced to punt on fourth and 9. A 5 yard return by Quentin Hayford on the 37 yard punt gave Fresno State the ball at their 22 yard line.

The Bulldogs again wasted no time in coming out swinging, an 11 yard completion from Williams to Andrew Ferguson picking up a quick first down at the 33 yard line. The Bulldogs would find our territory once more on the next play as Williams threw deep over the middle to Terrance Green for a gain of 21 yards, moving the chains to our 45 yard line. A screen pass to Martin netted Fresno State 10 more yards and another first down at our 35 yard line. Going no-huddle on first down, we caught a breather as Williams tried to connect with Martin again, but his pass was off the mark and sailed long, bringing up second down. Despite limiting another screen pass to Martin to just a 10 yard gain, Fresno State would still gain big yards thanks to a roughing the passer penalty against McBride, the 12 yard half the distance to the goal penalty giving Fresno State a first down from our 13 yard line. Middle linebacker Justin Dunn would save a touchdown on first down as he was able to get his hand between the ball and intended receiver Robert Brooks, knocking the pass incomplete to bring up second down. It would all be for naught as Williams connected with Green over the middle for a 13 yard gain, safety Sam Vinson just barely bringing him down shy of the goal line to set up first and goal inside the one yard line. An encroachment penalty on McBride on first down would move the ball a couple inches closer to the goal line. We caught a massive break on first down as a wide open Brooks cut across the middle of the end zone, not a soul defending against him, but the hurried pass from Williams would end up behind Brooks and he was unable to hold onto the ball as he reached behind him to grab it, the dropped pass resulting in second and goal. Faking the handoff on first down, Williams tried to keep the ball himself, but was met in the backfield for a one yard loss, leaving third and goal from the two yard line, our defense just one play away from making one hell of a defensive stand. Handing the ball off to Martin on third down, our defense would walk away with the biggest victory of their young season, tackling Martin for a one yard loss on the play to leave fourth and goal from the three yard line. Despite being pushed up against the wall, facing first and goal just inches from the goal line, our defense would win the battle and force Fresno State to settle for a 20 yard field goal, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with 5:44 left in the first quarter.

A 31 yard kickoff return by Preston Roberson got us back in action from our 30 yard line. Starting on the ground this drive, Barnes handed the ball off to Roberson, a 7 yard gain the result of the play. Another handoff on second down picked up four yards and gave us a first down at the 41 yard line. Brian Paris took over on first down, but was brought down by the collar for a gain of only one yard, leaving second and 9. Dropping back from under center on second down, Barnes tried to connect with tight end Maurice Martin over the middle, but the pass ended up intercepted by middle linebacker Chris Reid, returned 5 yards to our 45 yard line.

Taking over after the interception, Fresno State started this drive on the ground, Martin picking up one yard with the carry, before a dropped pass by Martin over the middle brought up a third and 9 for the Bulldogs. Vinson would save our bacon, as he jumped up to deflect a pass along the sideline intended for Jermaine Fenton out of bounds and incomplete, forcing Fresno State to punt on fourth down, the Bulldogs failing to capitalize on the interception. The 44 yard punt would hit at the 5 yard line and bounce into the end zone for a touchback, giving us the ball at our 20 yard line.

Lining up after the touchback, Roberson got us off and, well, stumbling with a one yard rush on first down, followed by a 5 yard gain to leave third and four. Dropping back from under center on third down, Barnes rifled a pass to David Douglas, who briefly had possession of the ball, before a pair of defense combined to force a dropped pass and our punt team trotted out on fourth and four. A fair catch on the 42 yard punt gave Fresno State the ball at their 31 yard line.

It would take the Bulldogs all of one play to build on their lead, a deep pass down the left sideline completed to Ramsour near the 45 yard line, before he bowled over Vinson and sprinted his way to a 69 yard touchdown, giving Fresno State a 10-0 lead with 2:37 left in the first quarter.

Douglas was only able to manage a 17 yard kickoff return, leaving us starting our next drive from our 17 yard line. Coming out passing on first down, Barnes would thread the needle over the middle to Douglas, the pass good for a 22 yard gain and a quick first down at the 39 yard line. Trying to connect with Allen along the right sideline, the pass would end up broken up to bring up second down. Conley would keep us moving on second down, getting enough separation from the defense to pull in a 15 yard pass from Barnes, putting us in Fresno State territory for the first time today with a first down at the Bulldogs 47 yard line. Continuing with the air attack, the first down pass to Douglas was batted away incomplete, before a deep pass intended for Allen was batted away and nearly intercepted off the ground, leaving us with third and long. Our drive would come to a close as the third down pass intended for Conley was thrown behind him, the ball nearly intercepted by the cornerback to bring out our punt team on fourth and 10. The 47 yard punt would land at the 7 yard line and roll into the end zone for a touchback, giving Fresno State the ball at their 20 yard line.

Fresno State’s drive would at least last longer than one play this time, as good coverage by our secondary, and a penetrating blitz by the line and linebackers forced Williams to throw the ball away on first down, at least giving our defense a minor victory. Martin took the handoff on second down, only able to pick up one yard on the play to set up third and 9. A screen pass to Martin would result in our unraveling, the pass going for a 28 yard gain and a first down at the 49 yard line. Going no-huddle after the play, Fresno State kept our defense backpedaling with a 28 yard completion to Brooks to move the chains once more to our 23. Throwing another screen pass to Martin, he would turn it into a gain of 20 yards, stepping out of bounds at the three yard line to give Fresno State first and goal. Martin would then cap the drive on first down, pulling in a dump pass from Williams and driving into the end zone for a three yard touchdown, giving Fresno State a 17-0 lead with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.

A 26 yard kickoff return by Douglas gave us the ball once more from our 25 yard line. Roberson got our drive started on the ground with a 5 yard rush, followed by a gain of three to leave us facing third and two. That would be the last play of the first quarter, Fresno State leading it 17-0.

Opening up the second quarter, we lined up on third and two from our 33 yard line, Roberson receiving the handoff and barreling up the field for an 8 yard gain, getting us a rare first down at the 41 yard line. Roberson received the ball again on first down, but was quickly stood up at the line of scrimmage, the play resulting in no gain. Running a play action pass on second down, the pass intended for tight end Cedric McKinney was nearly intercepted by the cornerback, leaving us facing third and 10. Going over the middle, Barnes was able to connect with Paris, but the play would result in a gain of just 9 yards, bringing out our punt team once again on fourth and one at midfield. An 8 yard return by Heyford on the 34 yard punt gave Fresno State possession from their 23 yard line.

A quick throw on first down to Fenton picked up a quick 12 yard gain and a first down at the 35 yard line. Going back to Fenton, the pass from Williams on first down was good for a 5 yard pickup, before a third straight pass to a wide open Fenton was dropped, the incompletion leaving third and 5. Throwing a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Martin, it would result in the Bulldogs going backwards as a quick tackle pushed Martin out of bounds for a four yard loss, leaving Fresno State punting on fourth and 9. A 16 yard return by Roberson on the 38 yard punt put our offense back on the field at our 42 yard line.

Roberson received the ball on first down, rushing for a four yard gain, followed by a second four yard rush that left us facing third and two. Leaving the ball in the hands of our halfbacks, Paris took the handoff up the middle for a big 9 yard gain, giving us a first down at the Fresno State 41 yard line, the farthest we had advanced so far. Roberson would keep it going with another four yard rush, before a play action pass to McKinney was completed for a 26 yard gain, setting us up with a first down at the 11 yard line. Returning to the ground, Roberson received the handoff for a four yard gain, followed by a three yard rush to leave us with third and three from the four yard line. Lining up under center on third down, Barnes dropped back three steps and hurled a pass into the end zone, hitting Douglas in stride for a four yard touchdown, cutting Fresno State’s lead to 17-7 with 3:22 left in the second quarter.

A 22 yard kickoff return by Hayford set Fresno State up at their 22 yard line. The Bulldogs would waste little time in moving the ball, as a diving Ramsour pulled in the first down pass from Williams for a huge 36 yard gain and a first down at our 42 yard line. Another deep pass over the middle to Ferguson went for a gain of 28 yards, moving the chains to our 14. The defense would answer back on first down, as a safety blitz resulted in safety Charles Noble breaking through and sacking Williams for an 8 yard loss, bringing up second and 18. Forced to rush his throw to avoid another sack, the pass from Williams intended for Green was nowhere near the receiver, sailing into nothing but a giant patch of green and landing incomplete to leave third and 18. Heaving one deep into the back of the end zone, the pass intended for David Rogers was overthrown and sailed out of bounds, forcing Fresno State to settle for three points. The 39 yard field goal by Bain increased Fresno State’s lead to 20-7 with 2:30 left until halftime.

A touchback on the kickoff set us up from our 25 yard line. Coming out passing on first down, a quick throw to Max Rhodes went for a big gain of 23 yards and gave us a quick first down at the 48 yard line. Continuing through the air, the pass from Barnes to Conley was right on target, but a well timed hit by the outside linebacker knocked the ball loose, leaving second down. Trying to throw deep to Munoz, the pass was underthrown and nearly intercepted by the safety, leaving us with third and 10. Douglas would keep our drive alive, hauling in a pass over the middle from Barnes for a 21 yard gain and moving the chains to the Fresno State 31 yard line. Handing the ball off to Roberson on first down, he rumbled his way to a 7 yard gain, before a play action pass to McKinney was batted away incomplete, leaving us facing third and three. Lining up under center, Barnes rifled a pass to Douglas, but it was nearly intercepted by the outside linebacker before it could even barely cross the line of scrimmage, bring out our field goal unit. The 41 yard field goal by Doug Marcus cleared the crossbar with a couple yards to spare, cutting Fresno State’s lead to 20-10 with 1:28 left in the second quarter.

Fresno State wouldn’t even need to bring out their offense to build their lead back up, as Rogers would take the kickoff one yard deep in his end zone, broke through a pair of defenders and got into open space up the left sideline, taking the kickoff all the way back to the house for a 101 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, increasing Fresno State’s lead to 27-10 with 1:15 left in the half.

Douglas made his best attempt to imitate Rogers, breaking three different tackle attempts and tight-roping his way up the right sideline, but was eventually brought down and limited to a 45 yard kickoff return, setting our offense up at our 44 yard line, just 1:07 left to work with. Barnes tried to connect with Conley on first down, but his pass was woefully underthrown, missing its intended target by over 10 yards short. The second down pass from Barnes, this time intended for Munoz, would not fair much better, the ball coming up short and landing in the middle of a pack of Bulldogs defenders, the attempted interception resulting in an incomplete pass to leave third and 10. Barnes would never even get the ball off on third down, sacked for an 8 yard loss to leave us punting on fourth and 18, the Bulldogs calling their first timeout with 56 seconds left in the second quarter. A 34 yard return by Hayford on the 41 yard punt, punter Eric Allen the last man left to save what would have been guaranteed return for a touchdown, gave Fresno State the ball at our 45 yard line, 43 seconds remaining.

Dropping back to pass on first down, Williams seemed to be covered in lube as two different linemen tried to sack him, only for him to slip out of their grasp, ultimately throwing the ball into the ground 10 yards downfield to bring up second and 10. Our defense would catch a break as a dropped pass by Green left Fresno State with third down and long. Taking a shot deep down the right sideline, the pass intended for Ramsour would not reach its target, the ball intercepted by cornerback Kevin Moore at our 10 yard line and returned 20 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the 30 with 25 seconds remaining.

Going straight into the air on first down, the pass from Barnes hit Rhodes in the hands, but he was unable to hold onto the ball, dropping it incomplete to leave second down, 20 seconds to go. Barnes would find Conley on second down, but he was brought down for a gain of just 9 yards, our first timeout called with 16 seconds remaining. Launching up a pass over the middle, Rhodes would redeem himself with a 26 yard gain and a first down at the Fresno State 35 yard line, our second timeout called with 10 seconds to go. A deep pass to Munoz was completed near the 10 yard line, but Munoz had to come back to grab it, limiting what would have been a touchdown into just a 29 yard gain, giving us first and goal from the 5 yard line, our third and final timeout taken with four seconds left. While a field goal would help, we wanted 7 points. With only four seconds left, it would have to be a very quick pass on first down, one that would absolutely get into the end zone. We would do exactly that as Barnes lined up under center, taking two steps back and throwing a fastball to Douglas on a quick slant route, Douglas catching the pass at the two yard line and diving into the end zone for the 5 yard touchdown, cutting Fresno State’s lead to 27-17 with two seconds left until halftime.

Fresno State take drop to the knee in the end zone to take a touchback on the kickoff, giving them the ball at their 25 yard line. Instead of taking a shot on a Hail Mary, Williams instead handed the ball off to Martin, which was nearly as good a choice, Martin breaking into the secondary before finally being brought down by one of our last defenders for a 16 yard gain, taking us into halftime with Fresno State leading 27-17.

Opening up the second half, a huge 52 yard kickoff return by Douglas gave us the ball at our 47 yard line to start the third quarter. Starting the drive on the ground, Roberson fought his way to a four yard gain, followed by a three yard rush by Paris to set up third and three. Walter Johnson would get us the first down, pulling in a pass from Barnes for gain of 12 yards, moving the chains to the Fresno State 33 yard line. Taking a shot deep at Munoz, the ball never had a chance of reaching its target, three defenders converging to knock the ball down and incomplete. The second down pass intended for Rhodes was likewise knocked down incomplete, leaving us with third and long. Going back to Rhodes on third down, he was able to come down with the pass from Barnes, but it wouldn’t be enough as he was limited to an 8 yard gain, forcing us to settle for a field goal on fourth and two. Unfortunately even that would be a fruitless venture, the 42 yard field goal attempt by Marcus hooked wide left, giving Fresno State the ball at their 25.

Our blitz on first down left the Bulldogs with little to work with, as Williams was laid out right after he released the pass, and Brooks was unable to haul in the wobbly ball, it landing incomplete to get the Bulldogs off to a less than stellar start. That would only last one play, as an 11 yard pass to Brooks was supplemented with a facemask penalty against Noble, the 15 free yards giving Fresno State a first down at our 49 yard line. Our four man pass rush proved to be enough on first down, getting enough penetration to force Williams to throw the ball away. The second down pass would be more successful, complete to Green for a gain of 17 yards and a first down at our 31 yard line. Continuing through the air, Williams connected with Fenton for a three yard gain, followed by a two yard pass to Rogers, leaving third and 5. Our defense would essentially gift the Bulldogs a first down as McBride was flagged for encroachment, resulting in third and inches. Williams would skip the first down and just go straight for the end zone with a QB read, turning the left corner and rushing it in for a 21 yard touchdown, giving Fresno State a 34-17 lead with 5:19 left in the third quarter.

A 54 yard kickoff return up the left sideline by Roberson gave our offense back the ball at our 49 yard line for our next drive. Paris got the drive started with a two yard rush, inching us into Fresno State territory, followed by a 17 yard completion to tight end Jack Long to get the first down at the Bulldogs 32 yard line. Another pass to Long gained 9 yards on the play, the first down coming on a 5 yard rush by Roberson to the Fresno State 19 yard line. Keeping it on the ground, Paris was quickly brought down for just a two yard gain. Heading into the air on second down, Barnes was able to hook up with Conley for a 10 yard pickup, setting up first and goal from the 7 yard line. Roberson headed straight up the middle on first down, fighting his way to a 5 yard gain, leaving second and goal from the two. A two yard rush by Paris would leave us just short, third and goal just inches from the goal line. Roberson would get the job done on third down, punching it in for the one yard touchdown to cut Fresno State’s lead to 34-24 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

A 29 yard kickoff return by Rogers got an extra boost, as a facemask penalty on the tackle by safety Kyle Mitchell added 15 yards to the play, setting Fresno State up with the ball at their 44 yard line. A heavy blitz on first down ended up getting to Williams, as he was hit by McBride from behind, the ball coming out during the sack. However, instead of being ruled a fumble, the refs waved it off as an incomplete pass, and Fresno State retained possession with second down. Another blitz forced a rushed pass by Williams, the second down screen pass intended for Martin ended up overthrown and incomplete, bringing up a big third down. We would catch a break as the pass over the middle intended for Green was broken up, and Fresno State was forced to punt on fourth down. A shanked punt by the Fresno State kicker sailed just 22 yards straight out of bounds, giving us possession at our 34 yard line.

Starting up our drive on the ground, Paris took the first down handoff for a 7 yard gain, followed by a four yard rush that he was just able to get across the line, good for a first down at the 45. Another rush by Paris netted us three yards. Running a play action pass on second down, McKinney was able to get the ball in his hands, but a hit to the back by the cornerback was enough to jar the ball loose and incomplete, leaving third and 7. The third down pass intended for Munoz was nearly intercepted and that would bring another drive to an end with fourth and 7. With no time left on the clock, Hayford would field the 34 yard punt and dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge his way through our entire punt team, returning it all the way for an 83 yard touchdown, giving Fresno State a 41-24 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Opening up the fourth quarter, Douglas returned the kickoff 33 yards to get us lined up from our 30 yard line. Paris started our drive with a pair of four yard rushes, leaving us facing third and two. He would somehow manage to get two yards, clawing his way over top of the body of a defender to just get a first down at the 40 yard line. Trying to launch one deep, Barnes got hit in the back as he threw the ball, the pass sailing into the ground 15 yards downfield for an incomplete pass. A pass down the right sideline intended for Douglas was broken up by the cornerback, and we lined up with third down and long. Trying just to even get a first down, the pass over the middle intended for Munoz was intercepted by middle linebacker Kory Slaughter, who returned it 33 yards before finally being driven out of bounds at our 16 yard line.

Lining up at our 16 yard line after the interception, Williams connected with Green for a four yard reception, followed by a four yard rush by Martin to leave third and two. The Bulldogs would return to the end zone on third down with an 8 yard touchdown pass to Green, giving Fresno State a 48-24 lead with 6:45 left in the game.

A 29 yard kickoff return by Douglas got us back in action from our 29 yard line. Needing a miracle, we went straight into the air on first down, Barnes finding Greg Miller for a 15 yard gain and a first down at the 44 yard line. A pass to Martin over the middle gained us 5 yards, followed by a diving 18 yard grab by Conley, moving the chains to the Fresno State 34 yard line. A pass to Allen gained us 17 yards and another set of downs at the 17. A diving catch by Allen picked up a quick 14 yards and we had first and goal at the three yard line. Roberson took the handoff on first down and plowed his way into the end zone for a three yard touchdown, cutting Fresno State’s lead to 48-31 with 5:19 left in the game.

Going for the onside kick, it wasn’t meant to be as Fenton recovered it for Fresno State at our 43 yard line. The Bulldogs weren’t about to let us back in this one, Williams heaving up a pass to the end zone, dropping it in beyond our safety and into the hands of Rogers at the three yard line, Rogers trotting the rest of the way into the end zone for a one play, 43 yard touchdown, putting Fresno State back up 55-31 with 5:11 left in the game.

A 30 yard kickoff return by Douglas put our offense back on the field at our 30 yard line. Coming out firing again, the pass to Rhodes was broken up to leave second and 10. Conley would get us moving with a 17 yard reception over the middle for a first down at the 47 yard line. The first down pass intended for Rhodes was again broken up, nearly intercepted, leaving us with another second down. The second down pass to Conley ended up sailing long and incomplete, setting up third down. Munoz would come through in the clutch with an 18 yard reception to move the chains to the Fresno State 35 yard line. Conley, despite being sandwiched by two defenders, would come through massively by pulling in a high pass from Barnes for a 33 yard gain, giving us first and goal at the two yard line. Roberson would again need just one play to punch it in for a two yard touchdown, cutting Fresno State’s lead once more to 55-38 with 4:08 remaining.

The onside kick again failed, again recovered by Fenton to give Fresno State the ball at our 40 yard line. The Bulldogs got off to a slow start as the first down pass intended for Green ended up incomplete, bringing up second down. Our blitz got to Williams on second down, forcing him to throw the ball away to avoid a sack, leaving third and 10. The third down pass by Williams again ended up incomplete, as he threw too far in front of Ramsour to complete the pass. The 40 yard punt sailed into the end zone for a touchback, putting us back in action from our 20 yard line with 3:50 to play.

We got the drive started with a 10 yard completion to Rhodes, leaving second and inches at the 30. Going right back to Rhodes on second down, he would move the chains for us with a 9 yard reception to the 39 yard line. Munoz went up high for a very deep pass down the left sideline, but the cornerback and safety were able to jar the ball loose from his hands, the ball landing incomplete to bring up second down. The second down pass intended for Conley ended up getting deflected by the crossing Munoz, and that would leave third down. Launching one deep to Allen, the pass from Barnes ended up intercepted by cornerback James Poland, who returned it straight down the sideline 36 yards, finally brought down at our 14 yard line with 2:55 left in the game.

Taking over at our 14 yard line after the interception, Williams would get the job done himself, keeping the ball on first down on a QB read and rushing it in for a 14 yard touchdown, increasing Fresno State’s lead to 62-38 with 2:51 remaining.

A 38 yard kickoff return by Moore got us back in action from our 32 yard line, this one essentially over. Taking a shot deep, Munoz would this time hold onto the ball after going up over top of the cornerback for it, good for a gain of 32 yards and a first down at the Fresno State 36 yard line. A deep pass down the opposite sideline intended for Conley was broken up at the two yard line, leaving second down. The second down pass over the middle to Long got broken up by the outside linebacker, and we again faced third and long. Trying to hit Rhodes on an out route, the pass from Barnes would end up sailing high and long, landing incomplete out of bounds to leave us with fourth and 10. The fourth down pass over the middle intended for Dante May was broken up by the middle linebacker, and we turned it over on downs at the Fresno State 36 yard line, essentially the icing on the cake of a Fresno State win as the Bulldogs took over with 2:13 to go.

A first down handoff to Martin ended up in a two yard loss from the Bulldogs. Adding insult to injury, Martin took the ball straight up the middle on second down, breaking loose for a 58 yard gain, tackled by his ankles to save the touchdown and give Fresno State first and goal at our 8 yard line, 1:23 remaining, not even bothering to use our three timeouts as we raised the white flag. Thomas Freeman took over in the backfield with a 5 yard rush, before the QB keeper by Williams resulted in a two yard loss, leaving third and goal from the 5. That would be the final play of the game as the Bulldogs let the clock run out without another snap, Fresno State winning in domination fashion, 62-38.

With the loss, we drop to 0-5, 0-1 in Mountain West action. With the win, Fresno State improves to 2-2, 1-0 in Mountain West play. Up next, we head back on the road to take on Hawaii. The Warriors enter the game 1-4, 1-0 in Mountain West action. Hawaii opened their year on a three game losing streak, dropping games to #7 Washington 24-22, Oregon State 34-17 and at Colorado 23-13. The Warriors would finally break into the win column by beating New Mexico 35-28, before falling at #19 Auburn 31-14 heading into our game.

Final Score
:Fresno_State: 62, :Utah_State: 38




Stat(s) of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A bad day for Barnes. Started the game something like 2-15. Ended up going 28-61 (45%) for 441 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Rushing, Roberson led the way with 77 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. Paris had 42 yards on 12 rushes. Receiving, Conley led the way with 111 yards on seven receptions. Douglas ended with 52 yards and both receiving touchdowns on four catches. In total, 11 different receivers caught a pass today, nine ending with double digit yards, Conley the only one to reach triple digits.

Utah State Defense – The good? One lone interception. The bad? 62 points, 421 yards passing, 525 yards of total offense. If we include special teams, 130 punt return yards, 179 kick return yards, 834 total yards, 101 yard kickoff return for a TD and an 83 yard punt return for a TD. 5 of Fresno State's 8 touchdowns came on plays of 20 yards or more.

Utah State Kicking – Perfection was elusive today. Marcus ended 1-2 in field goal attempts, successfully kicking a 41 yard field goal, but hooking a 42 yard kick wide left. He did at least go 5-5 in PATs.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
:Fresno_State:	17	10	14	21	62
:Utah_State:	0	17	7	14	38

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:44	:Fresno_State:	Field Goal	T. Bain, 20 yard field goal	:Fresno_State: 3-0
2:37	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	D. Ramsour, 69 yard pass from D. Williams (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 10-0
0:34	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	D. Martin, 3 yard pass from D. Williams (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 17-0
Second Quarter
3:22	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	D. Douglas, 4 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	:Fresno_State: 17-7
2:30	:Fresno_State:	Field Goal	T. Bain, 39 yard field goal	:Fresno_State: 20-7
1:28	:Utah_State:	Field Goal	D. Marcus, 41 yard field goal	:Fresno_State: 20-10
1:15	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	D. Rogers, returned kickoff 101 yards (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 27-10
0:02	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	D. Douglas, 5 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	:Fresno_State: 27-17
Third Quarter
5:19	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	D. Williams 22 yard run (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 34-17
2:00	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	P. Roberson, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Fresno_State: 34-24
0:00	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	Q. Hayford, returned punt 83 yards (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 41-24
Fourth Quarter
6:45	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	T. Green, 8 yard pass from D. Williams (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 48-24
5:19	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	P. Roberson, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Fresno_State: 48-31
5:11	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	D. Rogers, 43 yard pass from D. Williams (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 55-31
4:08	:Utah_State:	Touchdown	P. Roberson, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	:Fresno_State: 55-38
2:51	:Fresno_State:	Touchdown	D. Williams, 15 yard run (T. Bain kick)	:Fresno_State: 62-38

Game Stats

Fresno State	Stat	Utah State
62	Score	38
16	First Downs	25
525	Total Offense	552
14 - 104 - 2	Rushes - Yards - TD	33 - 111 - 3
23 - 45 - 4	Comp - Att - TD	28 - 61 - 2
421	Passing Yards	441
1	Times Sacked	1
3 - 11 (27%)	3rd Down Conversion	9 - 20 (45%)
0 - 0 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 1 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
6 - 3 - 2 (100%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	5 - 5 - 0 (100%)
1	Turnovers	3
0	Fumbles Lost	0
1	Intercepted	3
130	Punt Return Yards	16
179	Kick Return Yards	351
834	Total Yards	919
4 – 36.3	Punts - Average	6 - 40.0
0 - 0	Penalties	5 - 48
13:52	Time of Possession	22:08

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Score a Touchdown	25	x5
Force a Turnover	25	x1
Pass for 250 Yards	25	x1
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards	50	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	7	0

Job Security Status

100%

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #1 Ohio State out-gunned Cincinnati 52-45 with a 15 yard touchdown pass with 1:18 left in the game. In the game of the week, #2 Oklahoma won the Red River Rivalry over #4 Texas 31-28. #3 USC handled Arizona State 40-21. #5 TCU beat Kansas State 37-17. #6 Notre Dame whooped #10 North Carolina 49-21. #7 Miami defeated Boston College 28-7. Illinois knocked off #9 Michigan State 27-20. #11 Texas A&M dominated Texas State 56-6.

#12 Oregon escaped Utah 27-21. #13 Georgia Tech held off #20 Clemson 26-17. #14 Virginia Tech topped NC State 27-3. Kentucky knocked off #16 South Carolina 38-28. #17 Baylor thrashed Texas Tech 48-17. #18 Louisville beat Virginia 45-31. #21 Auburn beat Hawaii 31-14. #22 Nebraska escaped Rutgers 33-28. #23 Ole Miss topped Louisiana-Lafayette 24-6. #24 UCLA beat California 31-17. And #25 Northwestern held off Purdue 20-13.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State improves to 4-0 (1-0 Big Ten) with a 52-45 win over Cincinnati. Morsdraconis, West Virginia remains 2-2 (0-1 Big 12) with a bye week. Souljahbill, Southern Miss drops to 1-3 (0-0 C-USA) with a 34-7 loss to BYU. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 3-1 (1-1 Pac-12) with a 40-21 loss to #3 USC. LeeSO, #21 Auburn improves to 4-1 (2-1 SEC) with a 31-14 win over Hawaii. SCClassof93, #16 South Carolina drops to 3-2 (3-1 SEC) a 38-28 loss to Kentucky. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 3-1 (1-0 Sun Belt) with a 44-24 upset of Arkansas. Florida International drops to 0-5 (0-1 C-USA) with a 38-35 loss to Rice. Navy improves to 4-1 (3-1 American) with a 34-3 win over Air Force, putting Navy in the driver's seat for the C-I-C Trophy. Tulsa improves to 2-3 (1-2 American) with a 38-35 upset of Central Florida.

In Mountain West action, Fresno State beat Utah State 62-38, Wyoming topped Colorado State 24-21, Boise State beat UNLV 24-14, New Mexico edged FCS Northwest 24-14, #21 Auburn topped Hawaii 31-14, Navy whooped Air Force 34-3 and New Mexico State knocked off San Jose State 20-17.

Looking at undefeated teams left, #20 Clemson, Arizona State, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Louisiana-Lafayette and NC State all lost this week, dropping our number of undefeated teams to 11. #1 Ohio State (4-0), #2 Oklahoma (4-0), #3 USC (6-0), #5 TCU (3-0), #7 Miami (5-0), #15 Michigan (4-0), #17 Baylor (4-0), Army (5-0), Indiana (4-0), Oklahoma State (4-0) and Penn State (5-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 8 teams still looking for their first win: Florida International (0-5), Massachusetts (0-6), Miami University (0-5), SMU (0-5), Tulane (0-5), UNLV (0-4), Utah State (0-5) and UTSA (0-5).

Teams getting their first win this week were: Boise State (24-14 over 0-4 UNLV), Buffalo (20-17 over 2-3 Western Michigan), Wisconsin (38-14 over 1-4 Minnesota) and Wyoming (24-21 over 2-4 Colorado State).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Oklahoma (37 first place votes) jumps one to #1, Ohio State (22 votes) drops one to #2, USC (1 vote) remains #3, TCU (1 vote) climbs one to #4 and Miami jumps two to #5. Notre Dame remains #6, Washington climbs one to #7, Michigan leaps seven to #8, Texas falls five to #9 and Texas A&M climbs one to #10. Baylor jumps six to #11, Oregon remains #12, Georgia Tech remains #13, Virginia Tech remains #14 and North Carolina drops five to #15. Louisville jumps two to #16, Michigan State drops eight to #17, Alabama climbs one to #18, Auburn jumps two to #19 and Nebraska climbs two to #20. Ole Miss climbs two to #21, Illinois enters the poll at #22, UCLA moves up one to #23, Clemson drops four to #24 and Northwestern (216 points) remains #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was South Carolina (from #16). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Oregon State (196 points) is #26, followed by South Carolina (194), Florida (160), Kentucky (133) and Oklahoma State (129) to round out the Top 30. One other team getting points this week is Toledo (92).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, Oklahoma (43 first place votes) jumps two to #1, Ohio State (21 votes) drops one to #2, USC (1 vote) falls one to #3, Miami climbs three to #4 and TCU jumps three to #5. Notre Dame remains #6, Michigan leaps six to #7, Texas A&M climbs one to #8, Washington jumps two to #9 and Texas drops six to #10. Baylor jumps five to #11, Oregon remains #12, Georgia Tech climbs one to #13, Virginia Tech moves up one to #14 and Michigan State drops ten to #15. North Carolina falls six to #16, Louisville moves up one to #17, UCLA jumps two to #18, Alabama rises two to #19 and Auburn climbs two to #20. Illinois enters the poll at #21, Nebraska climbs one to #22, Clemson drops four to #23, Ole Miss remains #24 and Oregon State (288 points) remains #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was South Carolina (from #17). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Florida (248 points) is #26, followed by South Carolina (220), Kentucky (189), Northwestern (184) and Oklahoma State (133) to round out the Top 30.

A look at the Heisman race, Texas A&M QB Zac Hopkins is #1 (LW: #1), USC HB William Mann is #2 (LW: #2), Ohio State QB Matt Cowan is #3 (LW: #5), Louisville QB Jeff Johnston is #4 (LW: NR) and Florida QB Brandon Dahl is #5 (LW: NR). Dropping off of the Heisman Watch List this week were Alabama QB Aaron Walters (LW: #3) and Washington QB Wesley Gross (LW: #4).