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PROVO -- Heartbreak Hotel. It was as simple as that on Friday night in Provo. The Aggies again couldn't hold onto the lead late and let the game fizzle away in a 27-24 loss to rival BYU.
The Aggies led late in the fourth quarter only to see BYU backup quarterback Riley Nelson step in for Jake Heaps and complete the comeback from an 11-point deficit with 2:56 remaining. It was a collapse that Aggie fans have seen all too often, like watching the same movie over and over again expecting that the ending will be different. The loss drops the reeling Aggies to 1-3 on the season.
Here are this week's Game Day Grades:
Quarterback: B-
Chuckie Keeton completed 13 of 25 passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns on the night. He looked settled against a hostile BYU crowd and made several spectacular plays with his feet. Keeton helped the Aggies grab the lead late in the second quarter and maintained his poise throughout much of the game.
Running Backs/Full Backs: B
Robert Turbin led the Aggies in the rushing game once again with 123 yards on nine carries with one touchdown, including 2 catches for 22 yards and another score. Michael Smith had nine carries as well for 85 yards with Kerwynn Williams chipping in 55 yards on 10 carries. The Aggies collected 284 rushing yards on the night, but once again couldn't complete the game. The rushing attack was stagnant in the fourth quarter, especially during the last Aggies offensive possession before the BYU touchdown to take the lead.
Wide Receivers/Tight End: B-
More passes were thrown this week towards the receivers and they made some big completions. Tarren Lloyd led the way with three catches for 24 yards while Kerwynn Williams caught two balls for 25 yards. The Aggies seemed intent on running the football and forced the receivers into a blocking mode.
Offensive Line: B-
The offensive line kept Chuckie Keeton upright for most of the night, but the BYU defense seemed to gain strength as the game went on, including a couple of key tackles for a loss against the USU running backs. The O-line looked pretty good for most of the game and then looked extremely tired late in the fourth quarter.
Overall Offense: B-
The offense was not as prolific as previous games as the Aggies were held to only 24 points on Friday. Utah State racked up 406 yards of offense on the night, but couldn't come up with first down conversions when they really needed them.
Defensive Line: D
The defensive line could not touch either of the BYU quarterbacks. The Cougars are known for their large offensive line and Utah State struggled all night long trying to get to both Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson. Nelson was brought down a couple times because of his decision to run draw plays, but he also had several running plays up the middle for huge gains.
Linebackers: B
Bobby Wagner led the game once again with 11 tackles while Walter McClenton had nine stops with Kyle Gallagher chipping in eight tackles. It's a great stat line, but not a great performance. It looked like the linebackers had to make up for the D-line's deficiencies and as a result it was very wearing on the linebackers. They looked like they were extremely tired during the last mad-dash by BYU.
Defensive Backs: C
The defensive backs did better this week overall but, much like the linebackers, seemed to wear out at the end of the game with BYU's revitalized offense. With Riley Nelson's play-making ability with his legs and his arm, the secondary had to be more aware, which resulted in the secondary having to make more tackles against Nelson. The secondary gave up some big pass plays late, which contributed to the loss.
Overall Defense: C-
The defense overall just seemed like they ran out of steam and couldn't function as an entire unit at the end of the game. They played fairly well against the Cougars early on when Jake Heaps was under center, but it seemed as if they were not expecting Riley Nelson to come into the game and jump start the BYU offense the way he did. They had no answer for him after he came in.
Special Teams: B
It was a much better performance by the special teams this week, with both punter Tyler Bennett and kicker Josh Thompson contributing at their respective positions. The coverage on both kickoffs and returns was good all night long. The only miscue of the night for the special teams? The fake field goal attempt. The pass from Josh Thompson floated on him and BYU was able to break it up which, in hindsight, was the beginning of the meltdown for the Aggies.
Overall Team: C
Three losses in the last minute of a game for the Aggies in a month. No words can explain it more simply than that. College football games are 60 minutes in length. Utah State has shown that they can play 58-59 minutes of games. The Aggies have been a combined total of five minutes away from being 4-0 on the season. But they now stand at 1-3 and at a crossroads for the season. The Aggies were brilliant in spurts and horrifying in other stretches on the night. One has to wonder how long it will take until Utah State can finish a full 60-minute game.
The Aggies have a lot of regrouping and rethinking to do this week. If Utah State wants to go to a bowl game, they need to take their regrouping and rethinking and convert it into action on the field. They get their next shot to win their second game on the season this coming Saturday in Logan as they welcome the Wyoming Cowboys to Romney Stadium.
Email: onlinesports@ksl.com
