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LOGAN -- It has been a long time coming for the Utah State football program and especially the Aggie fans.
In the Aggies' seniors' final home game, Utah State finally did something they haven't done all season long: win a game after leading going into the fourth quarter, as they knocked off Nevada 21-17, and in the process became bowl eligible for the first time since 1997.
The long 14-year wait is over as the Aggies have now run off four straight wins for the first time since 2000 and have won six games for the first time since 1997.
To put it all in perspective, think about this: the last time Utah State was bowl eligible in 1997, the Utah Jazz were on their way to playing in the first of two NBA Finals against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, Bill Clinton was starting his second term as President of the United States of America, and the number one song at the time was Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart". Yes, it truly has been a long-time coming.
The way things were going after the first half of the game, however, made it look like Aggie fans might have to wait a little bit longer.
USU stumbled out of the gate, missing tackles and blocking assignments en route to an early 10-0 deficit in the first half.
But, it was the Aggies trusty running game that got them back on track. After a huge 53-yard pass play from Adam Kennedy to Eric Moats, Utah State hit paydirt as Kerwynn Williams punched it in from 10 yards out to bring the score to 10-7 going into halftime.
But the tables then turned against Nevada, as starting quarterback Cody Fajardo hurt his ankle while being sacked by Kyle Gallagher and Al Lapuaho midway through the third quarter, forcing Wolf Pack head coach Chris Ault to put in his backup, and former starting quarterback, Tyler Lantrip.
Despite the change at quarterback, the Aggies finally took the lead at 14-7 after Kennedy hit Matt Austin for a 21- yard score with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter. It was USU's first third quarter lead since the Louisiana Tech game on Oct. 22nd.
The backup quarterback bug hit the Aggies again immediately following their touchdown, as Lantrip became the third backup quarterback this season to take the lead from Utah State, with the other two being BYU's Riley Nelson and Louisiana Tech's Colby Cameron. Lantrip connected on a 76-yard pass play to star wide receiver Rishard Matthews to bring the score to 17-14 in favor of Nevada.
That particular scoring drive for the Wolf Pack lasted only 18 seconds, giving the football back to the Aggies with 1:18 remaining on the clock in the third quarter.
After a couple of nice gains by Robert Turbin and Kerwynn Williams that moved Utah State down to the Nevada 34-yard line, head coach Gary Andersen did something nobody expected: he called timeout with two seconds remaining in the quarter instead of letting the time run off the clock.
As mostly everyone inside Romney Stadium and the press box questioned what in the world was going on, Andersen had plan that he knew would shake Nevada.
On the very next play, Kennedy threw to wide receiver Stanley Morrison, who then proceeded to launch a pass back across the field to a wide-open Robert Turbin for the touchdown and the 21-17 lead.
The gamble definitely paid off for Andersen as the touchdown proved to be the game-winning score. Nevada had a chance with 5:14 left in the fourth quarter from the Utah State 11-yard line, but Quinn Garner forced Lantrip to fumble and senior Bobby Wagner recovered at the 12-yard line to put control of the game back in the Aggies hands.
Robert Turbin converted a 4th and 1 with a four yard rush and then Adam Kennedy sealed the deal with a 12-yard rush on 3rd and 10 to push the Aggies over the elusive six-game mark.
Kennedy finished the day 7-of-14 passing for 140 yards and a touchdown with one interception, while also rushing 11 times for 41 yards. Stanley Morrison was perfect on the day passing, going 1-for-1 for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Williams held the top spot for the rushing attack as he had nine carries for 71 yards and one touchdown. Turbin rushed 18 times for 65 yards while Michael Smith had four carries for 28 yards before leaving the game with a hamstring injury.
Matt Austin had two huge receptions in the third quarter, the second leading to a touchdown, as he finished with two catches for 61 yards and a score. Turbin also had two catches for 36 yards and a touchdown while Eric Moats finished with one catch for 53 yards.
Turbin's touchdown gave him 50 for his career, making him only the seventh WAC player ever to reach that plateau.
Defensively, Bobby Wagner led the way with 15 total tackles and a fumble recovery while Kyle Gallagher had 11 tackles with one sack for 10 yards. McKade Brady and Nevin Lawson had 10 and nine tackles, respectively, while Jumanne Robertson and Maurice Alexander had eight tackles apiece. In total, 22 players had at least one tackle for the Aggies, including 15 players with at least three tackles.
The Utah State special teams had a solid performance as they did not turn the ball over, which is something the Aggies have struggled with this season.
Tyler Bennett had six punts for 255 yards, an average of 42.5 yards per punt, including landing two punts inside the 20-yard line and Josh Thompson connected on all three of his extra-point attempts.
Kerwynn Williams and Chuck Jacobs both shared kick returning duties as Williams finished with three returns for 43 yards and Jacobs with one return for 29 yards.
As a team, Utah State finished with only 17 first downs compared to Nevada's 25. The Aggies did, however, beat the Wolf Pack in the rushing game as they outgained Nevada 199-185 in a matchup of two Top-10 ranked run games.
But Nevada hammered Utah State in the passing game with a 315-174 edge, despite losing the passing touchdown battle with a 2-1 decision. In total yards, the Wolf Pack outgained the Aggies 500-373 as Nevada ran 74 plays to Utah State's 58.
One of the big storylines of the game was Nevada's inability to avoid penalties, as they were hit with nine penalties for 64 yards while Utah State was penalized only twice for 20 yards total.
Nevada won the time of possession battle while holding onto the football for 34:37 total game time. The Wolf Pack went 6-of-14 on third down conversion while the Aggies were 5-of-12. However, Utah State was 1-for-1 on fourth down conversion while Nevada was 0-for-1.
The win moves Utah State to 6-5 on the season, including a 4-2 mark in WAC conference play. It is the first victory over Nevada in Logan since 1950 and also their first win over the Wolf Pack overall since a 37-35 victory in 1999. Nevada still leads the all-time series at 17-5, dating back to 1904.
Utah State will finish out the regular season this coming Saturday on the road against New Mexico State in the "Aggie-bowl". Game time is slated for 1:30 p.m.
