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LOGAN — Zach Vigil spent all week hearing about his little brother Nick, and how the newest Utah State two-way star was lighting up the field on both offense and defense.
But rather than be jealous, he’s just used to it — even offering to join him as a running back-fullback tandem. Aggie coach Matt Wells shut him down quickly, but the offer is still on the table.
After all, the older Vigil knows more than anyone how good his sibling can be.
“Honestly, I’m really happy for Nick. He’s a tremendous player,” Zach Vigil said after Utah State’s 34-16 win over Air Force to open Mountain West play. “I always say he’s the best football player I know. He can help us in a lot of ways.”
Even as Nick Vigil made his first career start at running back, though, the spotlight was on Zach Vigil in the first home game for the Aggies (4-2, 1-0 MWC) in three weeks. The senior from Clearfield, Utah, racked up 22 tackles on Saturday night, the most in a single Football Bowl Subdivision game in 2014 and four shy of Brent Passey’s school record set against New Mexico State in 1999.
Vigil also had four tackles for loss, split a sack and garnered a quarterback hurry as the Aggie defense brought pressure on quarterback Kale Pearson and running back Jacobi Owens from the first drive.
“That first half was huge,” said Vigil, who led a unit that forced four first-half turnovers. “We want to fly around and run to the football, and I think we did that. Except for a few passes and a few broken run plays, I think we did a tremendous job. Our defensive linemen did a great job, and they let us linebackers do what we do.”
The performance caught the attention of Wells, even if it didn’t convince him to play Vigil in the offensive backfield. The second-year head coach keeps saying Zach Vigil is too important at middle linebacker, and his confidence showed on homecoming.
“It was an unbelievable performance when we needed it against an option, run-heavy offense,” Wells said. “They’re one of the top rushing offenses in the country. I thought the things we did up front on the D-line allowed him to be able to make those plays. If he doesn’t, we know we’re in trouble. That’s players making plays, and we know he’s a tremendous player and has been since he started these last three years.
“Everything he means to this program is big. He’s a captain and an inspirational leader who had a great performance out there tonight.”
Vigil’s performance spread throughout the rest of the defense, too. His little brother pulled down his first interception of the year, the second of his career, and linebacker LT Filiaga had a career-high tying 10 tackles and two pass breakups. Even in the secondary, cornerback Jalen Davis forced the first fumble of his career.
Even when Air Force (4-2, 1-2 MWC) faced a short field for a score, Utah State’s defense straightened up and held the Falcons to a field goal. The Aggies only allowed one touchdown, an 8-yard plunge by Shayne Davern with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. Will Conant hit field goals of 27, 34 and 22 yards to account for the rest of the academy’s scoring.
“We weren’t very good in the red zone earlier this year, and that’s something we’ve focused on,” Vigil said. “There was a lot of pressure on them. Our guys then just did a really good job. LT Filiaga made a huge play on the fullback, and our guys made huge plays in coverage.”
But the most important thing the Aggies talked about all week was starting out conference play at 1-0.
Mission accomplished.
“We needed to take it one week at a time,” said wide receiver Hunter Sharp, who had a game-high 164 yards receiving and two touchdowns. “Right now, we’re undefeated (in the Mountain West) and we just hope to continue, to practice hard and keep going.”
