WAC
Game of the Year
Week
12: Utah State at Louisiana Tech (48-41, OT)
Highlights:
The
winner of this one would clinch at least a share of the WAC title. Utah State
came into the game 8-2 and favored by 3 on the road, while Louisiana Tech was
9-1 and ranked #20. This was a strange game. Both teams looked awful at times;
both teams were also impressive at times. Utah State had a huge lead but they
didn’t bury Louisiana Tech. The home team made a huge comeback to force
overtime, but Utah State was able to recover.
The Bulldogs returned
the opening kick back to their 46 but the explosive offense went 3-and-out. On
Utah State’s first offensive play Chuckie Keeton passed to Kerwynn Williams who
went 86 yards for the score to give the Aggies a 7-0 lead.
Louisiana Tech’s second
possession of the game was one of the ugliest of the year. They only returned
the kick to the 13. Then instead of having a 3rd and 1 from the 22,
a personal foul made it 3rd and 12 from the 11. They then burned a
timeout before a false start penalty backed them up to the 6. On 3rd
down Colby Cameron was sacked back at the 3. Utah State returned the punt to
the LT 43.
Now it was Utah State’s
turn to meltdown on offense. They had 1st and goal at the 5, but an
illegal block backed them up to the 20, and an additional personal foul made it
1st and goal from the 35. Keeton completed a pass for 9 yards on 1st
down, was sacked for a loss of 7 on 2nd down, and then ran for 23
yards to the 10 on 3rd down. That gave the Aggies a chance to
salvage something with a chip shot FG. Unfortunately, Nick Diaz missed the
28-yard gimmie and the Aggies got nothing.
LT picked up their
first 1st down of the game on their third possession and then
punted. Utah State then went 86 yards over 16 plays for a TD, taking 6 minutes
off the clock, and making it a 14-0 game going to the 2nd quarter.
On their fourth
possession the Bulldogs finally got something going offensively and got on the
board with a FG early in the 2nd quarter. The Aggies then drove to
the LT 47 before punting. On their fifth possession the Bulldogs moved from
their own 15 to the Utah State 11 where they had a 1st and 10.
But then things got
ugly again. A holding penalty, an incompletion, a delay of game penalty, and 2
more incomplete passes made it 4th and 25 from the 26. Louisiana
Tech lined up for a FG and the kick was blocked. Will Davis returned it 23
yards to the LT 42.
The LT defense held Utah
State to a FG, making the score 17-3 with 3:55 left in the half. On the ensuing
Louisiana Tech possession, the Bulldog offense again moved the ball, this time
driving to the Aggies’ 12. But on 3rd and 6 Cameron was picked off
in the end zone by Davis with just 52 seconds on the clock.
The road team led 17-3
at the half, and the Aggies would receive the 2nd half kickoff. They
drove 78 yards on 5 plays in just 1:36 for a TD to make it 24-3. Utah State had
finally broken it open. It looked like the game might get out of hand when DJ
Banks fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Aggies took over at the 12. But LT’s
defense stepped up again, forcing a FG that made it 27-3.
The Bulldog offense
then went 78 yards in 11 plays for their first TD of the game to cut the
deficit to 27-10. Utah State responded, going 66 yards on 7 plays in less than
3 minutes for a TD to make it 34-10. But now the Louisiana Tech offense was in
a groove. They needed just 4 plays and 1:16 to answer, going 75 yards for a
touchdown to make it 17-34.
LT’s offense was
finally rolling but they now had a new problem: they couldn’t figure out a way
to stop Utah State. The Aggies went 77 yards on their next drive, scoring
another touchdown to make it 41-17. With just a minute to play in the 3rd,
the Bulldogs were basically out of it, even with their explosive offense.
There was really only
one thing that could get Louisiana Tech back in the game at this point. And
they got it. DJ Banks took the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a score. Louisiana
Tech opted to kick the PAT and make it a 17-point game. Utah State still had a
3-score lead as the 3rd quarter came to a close.
Now Louisiana Tech’s
defense came up with a stop, getting the ball back to the offense less than a
minute into the 4th. The Bulldogs went 80 yards on 12 plays in a
little over 3 minutes time to get within 10 points of the Aggies. There was
still 10:54 left.
Utah State had to
answer and they drove into LT territory on their next possession. However,
Keeton fired incomplete on 3rd and 3 from the 48 and they decided to
punt. The punt went into the end zone for a touchback and LT took over with
8:30 still to play.
The Bulldogs were now
rolling on offense and suddenly it felt like they were more than just “in the
game.” They drove inside the Utah State 10 from their own 20, picking up a 1st
and goal at the 7. But Cameron threw incomplete on 1st down and
Kenneth Dixon was thrown for a 4-yard loss on 2nd down. It was now 3rd
and goal from the 11, but this was not a disaster, as the Bulldogs could still
use a FG to make it a 7-point game. However, Cameron made a big mistake, firing
into the end zone on 3rd down and getting picked off by Jake
Doughty. Utah State took over at the 20 with just 4:44 on the clock, still
leading by 10.
For the second time it
looked like Louisiana Tech was done. Kerwynn Williams tried to put the nail in
the coffin on the first play after the change of possession, busting 42 yards
to the Louisiana Tech 38. Utah State really didn’t focus on draining the clock
as much as possible, perhaps thinking that with LT’s explosive offense they
couldn’t afford to be conservative. Louisiana Tech called their first timeout
with 3:28 to play and the Aggies facing 3rd and 6 from the 34.
Keeton then fired incomplete on 3rd down and Utah State decided to
punt. The fair catch was made at the 14 with 3:18 left in the game. Utah State
gained about 20 yards in field position.
This strategy seemed
questionable. Down by 10 late in the game, LT would not be affected by being
close to their own end zone. Considering how dangerous LT’s offense was, 20
yards of field position didn’t seem to matter that much. It might have been
worth it to run on 3rd down to make LT use another timeout, and then
go for it on 4th down to try and put the game away.
Making LT start from
the 14 just didn’t seem like much of an improvement over giving them the ball
at the 34. And on the second play of the LT possession, Cameron hooked up with
Quinton Patton for 52 yards. The Bulldogs went 86 yards on 8 plays in just 1:24
for a TD to make it a 38-41 game with 1:54 on the clock.
Louisiana Tech decided
to kick it deep and the kickoff went for a touchback. Now it was up to Utah
State’s offense to seal the win. Williams picked up 5 yards to the 30 on 1st
down and LT called their 2nd timeout with 1:48 left.
Williams had been a
huge part of Utah State’s success to this point, but he made a huge error on 2nd
down, going out of bounds to stop the clock after a 3-yard gain. On 3rd
and 2 from the 33 Keeton was stopped at the line of scrimmage and LT took their
final timeout with 1:38 left.
After the punt LT took
over at their own 23 with no timeouts and 1:24 on the clock to work with. But
they only needed a field goal. Cameron completed 4 passes for 33 yards and ran
twice for 8 yards, as the Bulldogs moved to the Aggies’ 36 in 6 plays. After a
spike and an incompletion, the Bulldogs faced 4th and 4 from the 36.
Cameron went to Ray Holley and he picked up 21 yards for a 1st down
at the 15. Matt Nelson hit a 32-yard FG as time expired to send the game into
overtime tied at 41-41.
Louisiana Tech won the
coin toss and they of course elected to play defense first. This is what
everyone does because it’s an advantage to know whether a FG is good enough to
win or tie, or if you need a TD. But this might have been the 1 scenario out of
1,000 when it made sense to go on offense first.
The Aggies turned to
Williams on their possession. He ran for 13, made a catch for 8, and then
scored on a 4-yard run to put Utah State back in the lead. Now Louisiana Tech
had to answer. Somehow, Utah State’s defense got a stop. On 4th and
3 from the 18 Ray Holley was stopped for no gain and Utah State had a 48-41
win.
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