Aggies receive low grades after bad open against So. Utah


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LOGAN — The Aggies struggled in their opener against Southern Utah, and it shows in the game grades.

Offense: F

Ugly. There are other words to describe Utah State's offense, but ugly sums it up perfectly. Utah State finished 1 of 15 on third-down conversions and had 14 punts on the night. Quarterback Chuckie Keeton finished the game 16 for 33 for 110 yards and an interception. He added six rushes for 11 yards, one of the worst performances of his career.

"First-down production was horrible, I'll tell you that right now. We got behind the chains, we had silly stupid penalties. We had some administrative penalties," head coach Matt Wells said after the game. "Had some really really silly penalties. Whether it's immature penalties, lack of experience penalties, or just not being mentally disciplined enough."

This Aggie offense needs to improve drastically if Utah State wants to compete in the Mountain West Conference.

Defense: B

The defense played very well but still had bad mental errors that led to Southern Utah scores. A misplayed ball after the blocked punt gave Southern Utah its only touchdown on the night. Back-to-back pass interference penalties late in the first half set SUU up again for points with a field goal.

The run defense was incredible, holding Southern Utah to 58 yards on 30 carries. As a team, the Aggies had 10 tackles for loss, five sacks and three quarterback hurries. The young secondary for the Aggies performed well, giving up only 111 yards through the air and adding seven pass breakups.

Special teams: C+

The punting was atrocious. The Aggies failed to protect Aaron Dalton on his first punt, which was blocked and eventually led to points for Southern Utah. Additionally, Utah State had penalties wipe out multiple long punt returns by Andrew Rodriguez.

Punt coverage did a good job. Brock Warren did make a 30-yard field goal.

By far the highlight of the night in any phase was Rodriguez. His 88-yard return with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter was the third longest punt return in school history and won the game for Utah State. "I just remember thinking 'we got to make a play' and we were all talking about it on the sideline like 'We just need one touchdown, we just need a score. We need to get one in the end zone,'" Rodriguez said. That is exactly what he was able to do.


Parker Robertson is a graduate of Utah State University, a freelance contributor and an avid fan of sports. Follow him on Twitter @ParkerRob78 Email: ParkerRobertson18@gmail.com

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