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LOGAN — Utah State earned its first-ever win over an ACC program on Saturday night at Romney Stadium, thanks to a standout defensive performance and an emerging wide receiver.
But questions on offense remain, especially with the health of starting quarterback Chuckie Keeton, who left the game early with an unspecified knee injury.
Chuckie Keeton started off right, only missing two targets on the Aggies’ first drive. But one of those misses was a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown by Wake Forest’s Josh Banks, the first such score allowed by Utah State since Kyle Van Noy’s pick-six on Oct. 4, 2013, against BYU. Keeton now has one touchdown with four interceptions in 2014.
Keeton went down at the end of the first half, and Darell Garretson’s first pass attempt of the third quarter went for a 32-yard interception return to Hunter Williams that set up a 5-yard scoring drive for the Demon Deacons. Utah State coach Matt Wells accepted fault for the pick, but Garretson finished with 121 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 11-of-16 passing.
Hunter Sharp had a breakout game at wide receiver, totaling 138 yards on 12 catches — the most receptions for an Aggie wideout since 2002 and the first wide receiver with 10 first-half catches since 2005. JoJo Natson added 130 total yards of offense, including 52 yards on eight carries to lead the ground game.
Zach Vigil had two drops in the backfield and an interception return for a touchdown — in the first quarter alone. B.J. Larsen had a sack and a tackle for loss, including dropping Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford in the third quarter to keep the Deacons out of the end zone and preserve a 36-24 lead going into the final period. In other words, the defense came out after the true freshman signal caller early and often, as defensive coordinator Todd Orlando dialed up an array of blitz packages.
After Keeton’s injury, the defense started the second half by giving up back-to-back touchdowns as Wake Forest pulled within 29-21 (though one of those drives was only 5 yards long). But Larsen came alive late and stuffed the stat sheet with four tackles, a career-high three sacks, three tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries for the Aggies, who held the Deacons to -25 yards on 24 rushes.
Jaron Bentrude’s punt to the Wake Forest 3-yard line was a highlight of an opening quarter that saw 14 combined points, and none by either offense. The senior specialist finished with six punts for 264 yards, a 44-yard average.
JoJo Natson was average in punt return as Wake Forest kicked away from him several times, and Kennedy Williams returned three kicks for 72 yards, but his long return of 30 yards helped light a spark from special teams in the second half.
The Aggies also missed two point-after attempts in the second quarter, including a block with 6:34 left in the half that kept the Aggies ahead 19-7. Nick Diaz then missed a short field goal midway through the fourth quarter that would’ve put the Aggies up 39-24 and would have helped ice the game.
Utah State head coach Matt Wells called the program’s first-ever win over an ACC team “a really good win,” and any result is much better than the alternative. But if Keeton’s injury holds him out for any significant amount of time, the offense — already stagnant in several areas — will need to continue to find additional bodies to step into larger roles.
