BYU Heads Home With Loss

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LOGAN, Utah -- BYU’s 10-game winning streak over Utah State came to an end Friday in Logan as the Aggies defeated the Cougars 31-16 at Romney Stadium.

The Utah State win marks the program’s first over in-state rival BYU since a 58-56 shootout victory in 1993.

BYU quarterback Jake Heaps threw 27-of-54 for 271 yards. Junior wide receiver McKay Jacobson had 85 yards on eight receptions.

Fueled by big plays, the Aggies took the early momentum of the game and built a 24-3 halftime advantage. USU quarterback Diondre Borel hit wide receiver Xavier Martin over the top for a 79-yard score on Utah State’s second possession for the first score of the game. After BYU got the ball, Aggie corner Chris Randle intercepted a Heaps pass to set up a 34-yard USU field goal for a 10-0 first quarter lead.

Borel scored from one yard out for the Aggies in the second quarter before BYU got on the scoreboard to make the score 17-3. On the ensuing kick off, Utah State’s Kerwynn Williams returned the kick 67 yards to set up an Aggie touchdown just before the half. During the possession, BYU captain Andrew Rich was injured near the goal line, suffering a stinger and upper arm contusion that kept him out the rest of the game.

BYU’s scoring drive was also sparked by a big play when redshirt freshman and Logan native JD Falslev returned the first kickoff return of his career for 34 yards to the BYU 46-yard line. The Cougars went 48 yards on nine plays to set up Mitch Payne’s 23-yard field goal. During the drive, redshirt freshman wide receiver Cody Hoffman converted a third-and-eight play by catching a deflected ball and near interception while already on his back at the 11-yard line.

BYU totaled 144 yards in the first half with Utah State amassing 243. The Aggies converted 7-of-9 third downs in the opening half while BYU was successful on 4-of-10 third-down attempts.

The Cougars picked up some momentum by outgained the Aggies during the third quarter but weren’t able to change the deficit on the scoreboard as both teams scored touchdowns. BYU’s scoring drive covered 75 yards in eight plays with junior running back Bryan Kariya getting in from the 1-yard line. Payne’s point-after conversion tied the senior kicker with Kurt Gunther as BYU’s all-time PAT leader with 162. During the drive freshman tight end Marcus Mathews and junior running back JJ Di Luigi hauled in back-to-back passes of 32 yards to cover most of the yardage.

BYU trailed 31-10 entering the fourth before scoring on a 2-yard run by Di Luigi on the final drive of the game with 31 seconds remaining. Heaps threw five-straight completions on the drive, the last a nine-yard pass to Spencer Hafoka that was moved 15 more yards on an Aggie personal foul penalty.

On defense, Shane Hunter had a game-high 13 tackles while Jadon Wagner and Travis Uale had 10 tackles, apiece. All marks were career highs.

In addition to losing Rich, the team's top tackler, to injury in the first half, the BYU defense played much of the second half without its No. 2 tackler when linebacker Jordan Pendleton left with a knee sprain. The Cougars started the game without three other defensive starters already out with injuries in defensive tackle Romney Fuga, linebacker Jameson Frazier and safety Steven Thomas.

BYU falls to 1-4 on the year with the loss while Utah State goes to 2-3. The Cougars will next face San Diego State at home on homecoming weekend Saturday, Oct. 9.

BYU (1-4) vs. Utah State (2-3)

Date: Oct 01, 2010 Site: Logan, Utah Stadium: Romney

Attendance: 24152

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

BYU................. 0 3 7 6 - 16 Record: (1-4)

Utah State.......... 10 14 7 0 - 31 Record: (2-3)

Scoring Summary:

1st 06:57 USU - Martin, Xavier 79 yd pass from Borel, Diondre (Loveless, B. kick), 2-81 0:45, BY 0 - USU 7

00:27 USU - Loveless, B. 34 yd field goal, 10-36 4:09, BY 0 - USU 10

2nd 06:54 USU - Borel, Diondre 1 yd run (Loveless, B. kick), 12-62 4:35, BY 0 - USU 17

03:28 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 23 yd field goal, 9-48 3:18, BY 3 - USU 17

00:49 USU - Speight, D. 1 yd run (Loveless, B. kick), 7-33 2:28, BY 3 - USU 24

3rd 06:32 USU - Speight, D. 1 yd run (Loveless, B. kick), 12-69 4:38, BY 3 - USU 31

03:44 BY - KARIYA, Bryan 1 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 8-75 2:41, BY 10 - USU 31

4th 00:31 BY - DI LUIGI, JJ 3 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick blockd), 8-66 1:39, BY 16 - USU 31

BYU USU

FIRST DOWNS................... 22 19

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 25-65 59-242

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 270 192

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 55-27-2 13-10-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 80-335 72-434

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-4 2--1

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 6-121 2-87

Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 2-8

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 4-47.8 4-35.0

Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards............... 6-45 12-105

Possession Time............... 26:35 33:25

Third-Down Conversions........ 8 of 18 11 of 18

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 2 0 of 0

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-3 4-4

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 2-15

RUSHING: BYU-DI LUIGI, JJ 12-42; QUEZADA, Joshua 6-20; KARIYA, Bryan 4-5; HEAPS, Jake 3-minus 2. Utah State-Speight, D. 23-91; Borel, Diondre 10-68; Williams, K. 15-51; DeMartino, Joey 5-16; Watkins, Dontel 1-9; Reynolds, T. 1-6; Marshall, R. 1-2; Moats, Eric 1-1; TEAM 2-minus 2.

PASSING: BYU-HEAPS, Jake 27-55-2-270. Utah State-Borel, Diondre 10-13-0-192.

RECEIVING: BYU-JACOBSON, McKay 8-85; HOFFMAN, Cody 6-46; DI LUIGI, JJ 5-62; KARIYA, Bryan 2-8; MATHEWS, Marcus 1-32; MAHINA, Devin 1-21; HAFOKA, Spencer 1-8; QUEZADA, Joshua 1-4; MENDENHALL, Zed 1-2; HOLT, Austin 1-2. Utah State-Watkins, Dontel 3-28; Speight, D. 2-28; Bartlett, K. 2-26; Martin, Xavier 1-79; Williams, K. 1-21; DeMartino, Joey 1-10.

INTERCEPTIONS: BYU-None. Utah State-Coleman, Rajric 1-8; Randle, Chris 1-0.

FUMBLES: BYU-None. Utah State-Borel, Diondre 1-1.

SACKS (UA-A): BYU-None. Utah State-Koskan, Levi 1-0; Johnson, Devin 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): BYU-HUNTER, Shane 3-10; WAGNER, Jadon 6-4; UALE, Travis 5-5; OGLETREE, Brand 4-4; VAN NOY, Kyle 4-3; PENDLETON, Jord 2-5; RICH, Andrew 1-5; PUTNAM, Matt 1-5; LOGAN, Brian 3-2; JORGENSEN, Aust 0-4; STOUT, Zac 1-2; BRADLEY, Brando 1-2; GALEA'I, Jray 2-0; MANUMALEUNA, Ea 1-1; FOOTE, David 1-1; SO'OTO, Vic 0-2; SPEREDON, Jason 1-0; HOFFMAN, Cody 1-0; EASON, Corby 1-0; MARSHALL, Matt 1-0; MEES, Carter 1-0; BRYSON, Thomas 1-0; MENDENHALL, Zek 0-1. Utah State-Wagner, Bobby 2-9; Gallagher, Kyle 3-7; McClenton, W. 5-3; Koskan, Levi 2-3; Byrd, Quinton 4-0; Coleman, Rajric 4-0; Marsh, Curtis 3-1; Doughty, Jake 2-1; Bowden, Alfred 2-1; Dinka-Mba, M. 0-3; Keiaho, Junior 2-0; Sanders, C. 2-0; Garner, Quinn 2-0; Enesi, Sean 1-1; Randle, Chris 1-1; Schrader, Joey 1-1; Johnson, Devin 1-0; Morgan, Cache 0-1; Lawson, Nevin 0-1; Vought, Nick 0-1; Royster, Nathan 0-1; Dabb, Forrest 0-1.