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They came. They saw. They conquered.
The Utah State Aggies, for the third week in a row, scored over 40 points to defeat an opponent. This time, it was against UTSA, 48-17. Offensively this season, the Aggies are averaging 31.3 points a game. But it wasn't just the offense that showed up. Utah State's defense definitely stepped up its game as well, intercepting two balls and holding UTSA to only 299 offensive yards.
USU's second-half woes continue as its defense allowed a field goal in all the first half but gave up two touchdowns in the second half.
Here is how the whole team did by position:
Quarterback: A
Chuckie Keeton threw for over 300 yards for the third time this season. He also threw three touchdowns. Unfortunately he had one interception early on in the game but it wasn't so much a bad pass as it was great defense by UTSA. Overall, Keeton is continuing to be a premier quarterback in the state of Utah.
Running Back: A
Kerwynn Williams was decent, considering the standard people expect him to perform. Williams had a total of 90 yards on 13 carries, including a 68-yard run in the third quarter to set up for a touchdown. Speaking of, Williams had two of those before being pulled in the fourth.
Receivers: A
The receivers made best friends with Keeton on this day, with three of them receiving for touchdowns (Hill, Webb and Bartlett) and 12 different receivers catching the ball. Keeton was very generous passing the ball to his wide-outs, with eight of them receiving for over 20 yards.
Offensive Line: B+
As well as Keeton and Williams did, you'd think I'd give the O-line a higher rating. But I couldn't overlook the hurried passes by Keeton (although completed) and the 90 yards Williams had on the game (considering he was averaging 97.25 yards in the last four games). It might not be much, but it is something to worry about going forward. I said it before and I'll say it again: Protect the quarterback a little better.
Offense: A+
You know you're doing well when you take out your starting quarterback and your starting running back in the fourth quarter to avoid injury. Williams ended the day with a total of 158 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. The Aggies had 522 total yards with 23 first downs to UTSA's 13. They scored 48 points, the sixth time this season they've scored over 30 points.
Defensive Line: A
They held the running game to just 51 yards the entire game. That's less than 13 yards a quarter.. They also put enough pressure on the quarterback to cause bad throws and interceptions.
Linebackers/Secondary: A-
Two interceptions cannot go unseen. One that seemed to be thrown right to Kyler Fackrell and another stolen from the air by Will Davis, the linebackers and secondary had their eye on the ball the entire game. The minus is for the multiple big plays by UTSA that went their way. A 38-yard pass that led to a field goal, a 44-yard pass that led to a rushing touchdown, and a 23-yard touchdown pass in the end zone is enough to get the minus sign.
Defense: A
They held UTSA to a field goal in the first half but two touchdowns in the second. They need to stay consistent throughout. Luckily for them, the offense scored 48 points.
Special Teams: A
They blocked a punt in the first quarter, and then scored a touchdown. They also were 2-2 on field-goal attempts, one from 22 yards and one from 24. This was Nick Diaz by the way, the extra-point kicker.
Overall: A
An overall great performance by the Aggies. On a road game against a 5-2 team, the Aggies took control early and never looked back. The Aggies will host Texas State next Saturday at Romney Stadium.
Alex Rivera is the assistant sports editor of the UVU Review. You can contact him at arivera.2011@hotmail.com or through his Twitter account @A_River_Uh.
