Utah State’s Offense Struggles In 2020 Season Opening Loss To Boise State

BOISE, ID – The Utah State Aggies couldn’t recover from their first half offensive struggles in their 42-13 loss to Boise State in the 2020 season opener.

The Broncos took a 28-0 lead in the first half after the Aggies were only able to get 45 yards of total offense in the first 30 minutes of the game.

Utah State responded in the second half with two unanswered touchdowns by Jaylen Warren but that would end the run for the road team as Boise State scored a touchdown midway through the fourth to extend the lead.

The Aggies finished with 203 yards of total offense, 92 passing, 111 passing. Boise State had 450 yards of total offense, 279 through the air and 171 on the ground.

For Boise State, Hank Bachmeier went 20-for-28 passing for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air and added a rushing TD. George Holani racked up 100 yards on 14 rush attempts and one touchdown.

FINAL

Utah State drops their 2020 season opener.@BroncoSportsFB 42@USUFootball 13#AggiesAllTheWay

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 25, 2020

Jaylen Warren Sparks Offense

Utah State’s offense was much improved in the second half by primarily going to the run game and senior running back Jaylen Warren. He scored back-to-back touchdowns from one and two yards out respectively. The first one was on a productive drive by Utah State’s offense. The second one was after a special teams error when the Boise State punter bounced his punt off the back of his blocker. Utah State recovered in the red zone and Warren punched it in.

Warren finished with 23 carries for 89 yards and two touchdowns.

.@NunLess2 WILL NOT BE DENIED‼️

Tune In: @FS1#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/PTG2zQBIze

— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 25, 2020

Jason Shelley’s Debut

It wasn’t the ideal start for former Ute Jason Shelley in his debut with Utah State as the starting quarterback. On his first drive, he fumbled the ball and had it recovered by Warren. On second down, Shelley threw an incomplete pass and was sacked on third down.

He was replaced for one drive by sophomore QB Andrew Peasley in the second quarter. Shelley returned and did not miss another drive. The former Ute finished his debut with Utah State by going 14-for-27 passing for 92 yards and threw an interception on the last play of the game.

Former Utah and BYU running back Devonta’e Henry-Cole had just 3 carries for 4 yards in his debut for the Aggies.

Utah State dropped to 0-1 on the season. They will host San Diego State on Saturday, Oct. 31 in their home opener. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.