Utah State Rolls Past New Mexico State to Reach Bowl Eligibility
BenD 10/20/2012Utah State steamrolled the Aggies of New Mexico State 41-7, Saturday afternoon in Logan, Utah. Utah State improved to 6-2, and more importantly, became eligible for postseason play. New Mexico State fell to 1-6 on the season.
USU jumped out to a 7-0 lead after Kerwynn Williams took a screen pass 76 yards to pay dirt on the first play from scrimmage. The blue Aggies never looked back from there, taking a 28-0 lead into halftime, and then cruised to the 34-point victory.
Chuckie Keeton led the way for Utah State as he accounted for four of the Aggies’ five touchdowns – two passing, two rushing. Keeton finished with 257 yards passing, including a 49-yard touchdown strike to Chuck Jacobs in addition to the 76-yard screen to Williams. Chuckie also finished with 81 yards on the ground, highlighted by impressive touchdown runs of 9 and 76 yards.
After the game, Keeton expressed the general feeling in the Aggie locker room.
“It’s an amazing feeling, but now that we are eligible we have to keep setting higher goals. Our goals from the beginning of the season were being bowl eligible, winning a bowl and the WAC championship.”
The Utah State defense allowed New Mexico State to move the ball fairly well much to the chagrin of Coach Gary Andersen.
“I thought defensively it was not our best game. The kids take a lot of pride in the way they play defense. They scored seven points, but we’ve got some things to clean up.”
For their perceived shortcomings, they did hold when it really counted, only allowing a single touchdown. Will Davis nabbed USU’s 4th interception of the season in the end zone, preventing one score. Kyler Fackrell contributed to the cause, as well, with a blocked 42-yard field goal attempt in the 2nd quarter.
Utah State will now look ahead to facing new WAC member, Texas-San Antonio, on the road next week. UTSA (5-2) is coming off a 28-point home loss to the San Jose State Spartans.
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