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Utah State is as conservative as the state of Utah when it comes to offense. Not to get political, but USU usually tends to have short-yardage plays and "grinding" drives to make it to the other side of the field for a touchdown — or even a field goal.
But when the Aggies faced the UNLV Rebels during homecoming on Saturday night, they decided to show they have some offensive explosions in them.
Each quarter saw a large play for a chunk of yardage by Utah State in what turned out to be a 35-13 victory.
In the first quarter, although there was no scoring, two back-to-back plays helped the Aggies get on the board. Sophomore quarterback Chuckie Keeton passed it to one of his favorite targets for the night, Chuck Jacobs, for a 24-yard gain. It was the first big play of the quarter (on either side of the ball), and it definitely got the crowd on its feet. But when the play was called back for unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Keeton came back with a 21-yard pass to Kelle Bartlett. That set up a second-quarter field goal. These plays, although one was called back, helped Utah State build some momentum early on.
After a terrible punt by UNLV (38 yards to the 50-yard line), USU was in good field position in the second quarter. From one "Chuckie" to another, Keeton passed the ball to Jacobs for a 50-yard touchdown pass, the second of the quarter, to put USU up 17-7. With a little over five minutes left on the clock, USU was trying to put the game out of reach early. This play really started to shift the momentum for USU. The Aggies ended the half with a field goal that put them up 20-7.
USU has had some third-quarter woes in the past, and in this game it was no different. Keeton threw an interception and UNLV ended up with the ball for most of the quarter. Williams, though, had a big play to help with his numbers on the night when he ran the ball for 38 yards. Although it didn't amount to anything (on the field), the players knew at that point that Williams was having a great night and that they could trust him with the ball. They did just that in the fourth.
In the final quarter of the game, Keeton passed the ball to Williams again for a huge 74-yard touchdown. Williams went down the sideline on a screen pass and booked it to the end zone, capping off his amazing night. But the Aggies were not done just yet. Keeton saw another screen-pass opportunity and sent the ball to the quiet receiver of the night, Joe Hill. What looked to be a short pass play turned into a huge 65-yard pass down to the 15-yard line. When Hill was tackled, it appeared as though he hurt his ankle and he stayed down on the field for quite some time. Once medical personnel attended to him, the fans rose on their feet as they were proud to see their fellow Aggie walk off the field on his own. This play set up another Aggie touchdown and also put the nail in the coffin for UNLV.
Utah State ended the night with a victory. Keeton is coming into his own as a quarterback and finished the night with a career-high 402 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, Williams is just having the time of his life on the field, finishing his career night with 260 total offensive yards and a touchdown. This Aggie offense may be able to pull off some future upsets, including next week against BYU's defense.
Alex Rivera is the Assistant Sports Editor of the UVU Review. You can contact him at arivera.2011@hotmail.com or through his Twitter account @A_River_Uh
