Saturday night in Logan did not go according to how Dave Christiansen and his staff drew it up on the white board. In fact, Saturday night in Logan could only be described as “worst case scenario” for the Cowboys. The Pokes were completely dismantled by an angry Utah State team, looking to get a win after three crushing losses to start this season.
The Cowboys took the ball first and marched down the field with relative ease on a seven play 77 yard drive, capped off by a 2 yard touchdown run by quarterback Brett Smith. The two point conversion failed. The following play is one that Utah State would like to have back as USU returner Kenwynn Williams failed to cover a kickoff he thought was going to go through the endzone, but instead was recovered in the endzone by gunner James Caraway. The Pokes missed the PAT but were up early 12-0 before USU had had an offensive possession.
Utah State would respond with a three of scores of their own, a run by running back Robert Turbin, a pair of touchdown pass from Chuckie Keeton. The Pokes would respond as the Pokes went on a five play, 60 yard drive capped off by a 2 yard touchdown run from Brandon Miller. The Pokes would give up 42 unanswered points as the Aggies demolished the Cowboys defense and the offense had to get one dimensional to try to keep the game close. Utah State running back Robert Turbin finished the day with 113 yards rushing. Chuckie Keeton, who was named this week’s WAC player of the week, was 16 of 21 for 228 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Aggies looked unbeatable on the field, as they were coming off three losses that devastated the team, giving up late fourth quarter leads to Auburn, Colorado State, and BYU.
Leading the Pokes was Brett Smith who finished 28 of 46 for 265 yards and one rushing touchdown. Cowboy rushers didn’t have too much success on the ground, running for a combined 142 yards on 28 attempts. Brian Hendricks let tacklers for the Cowboys with 12 tackles, 4 solo. Tashaun Gipson, who was moved to Safety, finished with 11 tackles.
The Pokes will turn their attention to the UNLV Rebels this weekend for Homecoming. The Rebels are suffering from a really horrible season, 1-4 on the season, including a loss to FCS Southern Utah. The Rebels are led by 2nd year head coach Bobby Hauck. The Rebels announced today that JR transfer quarterback Sean Reilly will start for the Rebels in place of Caleb Herring. Rebels are led by running back Tim Cornett who has 281 yards on the season with a pair of touchdowns. The game will start at 12:00pm at War Memorial Stadium.
Go Pokes!