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FRESNO, Calif. -- The Aggies lose again. Utah State scored 21 points in the first half and then never again, falling to the Fresno State Bulldogs 31-21. This is beginning to become a nightmare for Aggie-faithful after another loss in a game Utah State should have won. Fresno State played well, especially junior running back Robbie Rouse, but the Aggies had the victory in their grasp and could not hang on. This was the USU season in a nutshell.
OBSERVATION 1: The Aggies still have issues on special teams. Junior Kerwynn Williams muffed the opening kickoff forcing Utah State to begin from their own six yard line (again in the fourth another muff caused the Aggies to start from their own 12 down 10) and later senior Eric Moats had trouble with a field goal snap causing freshman kicker Josh Thompson to miss wide left on a kick that would have put the Aggies up by ten. That being said Williams is a talented return-man. He has amazing speed and the ability to make tacklers miss, teams are scared to punt him the ball and on kickoffs he almost never even sees the ball. Even when he doesn't touch the ball, the Aggies usually get great field position. Not only did Thompson miss a 35-yard field goal but also had a 31-yard attempt blocked to begin the fourth quarter. Freshman kick-off specialist Jacob Haueter attempted his first collegiate field goal from 53-yards out with just over a minute left and hit the crossbar right in the middle. The Aggies left six points on the field due to special teams.
OBSERVATION 2: We've been talking about how talented Chuckie Keeton is all season after he's made play after play with his arm and legs, we will now praise his decision making abilities; when offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin calls an option run he knows Keeton will make the correct choice on whether to keep or pitch the ball. Keeton was pressured by the Bulldogs, but was smart about ball control and threw it away when he had to. Head coach Gary Andersen has put the success of this offense in the hands of the freshman. As has been written several times: as Keeton goes, so goes Utah State. In the first half the Aggies were clicking, big gains on every play. It was more of the same in the second half: the Aggies were able to eat up the clock by running the ball up the middle, short slants to the receivers and quick decisions from Keeton. That was until Coach Baldwin began to call plays not to lose the game instead of win the game. Late in the third quarter, the Aggie offense couldn't seem to find a rhythm and the play calling became predictable. Once that happened the defense could no longer contain Robbie Rouse and Keeton was forced to try and work the ball into tight situations. Keeton needs help from his coaching staff in the form of proper play calling.
OBSERVATION 3: The Utah State defense struggled mightily against Fresno State, but who could blame them? Junior Fresno State running back Robbie Rouse is fast and strong with great field vision. Once he got going (finishing with 140 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown) that opened up passing lanes for sophomore quarterback Derek Carr. Carr shredded the Aggie defense for 248 yards on 23 of 39 passing and threw for two scores. Head coach and defensive coordinator Gary Andersen continues to struggle to find a way to close out games defensively, this was the fourth game in which USU had a lead in the fourth quarter and was unable to put down the hammer. This could be due to the lack of aggressive play-calling from the Aggie offensive coaches forcing the defense to be on the field longer then necessary.
OBSERVATION 4: Utah State has struggled to hold leads and win close games. The players seem to be doing all they can so at what point do Aggie-faithful look at the coaching staff for these losses. It's difficult to say that the Aggie offense and defense aren't playing well (at least well enough to win one of these games) so when do the powers that be look at the coaches? The seat is officially hot in Logan.
Email: onlinesports@ksl.com
