Utah State Holds Off Colorado State For Second Straight Win
Oct 22, 2021, 11:17 PM
Derek Wright #8 of the Utah State Aggies hauls in a touchdown pass in front of Marshaun Cameron #26 of the Colorado State Rams during their game at Maverick Stadium October 22, 2021 at in Logan, Utah.(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies picked up a 26-24 win over Colorado State and won after a coaching mess up in the final seconds on Friday night.
Colorado State picked up the first down deep into Utah State territory but rather than spike the ball and bring out the field goal unit. Instead, the Rams rushed the field goal team out and missed a 42-yard attempt in the final seconds.
Logan Bonner completed 17 of his 31 pass attempts for 233 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Elelyon Noa racked up 97 yards on 26 carries. Deven Thompkins hit the century mark once again with 104 receiving yards on just six catches.
STATEment WIN‼️#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/X9NJNoqMqT
— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 23, 2021
Aggies Take Small Lead Into Halftime Break
Both teams punted on their first drive of the game. Then each team threw an interception on their next possession. The first score of the game came early in the second quarter when Logan Bonner found Derek Wright for a 25-yard TD to give the Aggies a 7-0 lead with 14:45 to go in the second.
The Rams answered on the ensuing drive with a four-yard touchdown run by David Bailey. Utah State countered with another TD connection between Bonner and Wright, this time from 38-yards out on fourth down. Bailey tied the game at 14 with his second touchdown run of the night.
The Aggies went up by three with a field goal by Connor Coles. They squib kicked the ball to CSU and recovered it. Utah State couldn’t do much with that advantage and settled for another field goal and took a 20-14 lead into the halftime break.
Telling it like it is, @derekwright_05 is for real‼️#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/USAqcgA8VR
— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 23, 2021
Utah State Holds Off Colorado State In Second Half
Coming out of the locker room, Utah State went up 23-14 with another field goal by Coles. The next two possessions for each team were punts. Then CSU turned the ball over on downs at the USU 36-yard line. The Aggies couldn’t capitalize and punted away.
More points were scored early in the fourth quarter and USU had a 26-17 lead with 5:03 to play after taking four minutes off the clock. Colorado State was in the red zone with over three minutes to play when Todd Centeio found a wide-open Gary Williams for a 13-yard touchdown. That trimmed the Utah State lead to 26-24 with 3:31 to play in the game.
The Aggies were stuffed on third down and was forced to punt the ball away with 57 seconds left. Colorado State went down the field easily. They got the first down and rather than spiking the ball they rushed the field goal unit onto the field. Cayden Camper missed a 42-yard field goal to potentially win the game.
Utah State improved their record to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in Mountain West Conference play. They will be back at Maverik Stadium on Saturday, October 30 at 1 p.m. MT against Hawai’i. The game will be televised on Spectrum Sports and heard on The Zone Sports Network.
