Broncos Buck Ags

Article courtesy of Deseret News and Dirk Facer What's nearly as offensive as a conference championship game featuring 1,236 yards of total offense and 104 points? The encore. In their first meeting since a wild Big West Conference title tilt in 2000, Boise State and Utah State once again failed to play much defense. Offense reigned supreme, especially early on, as the Broncos topped the Aggies 63-38 in a contest featuring a combined 974 yards...

"The bottom line is: Too many big plays, too many turnovers and then you just multiply things by 10 if you lose your composure and I felt like we did that as well," said USU coach Mick Dennehy. "We are not a good enough football team to win games unless we play as well as we can — and we do that in spots. We continue to be too inconsistent and unless we're willing to make a commitment to get that squared away, we're going to continue to struggle. That's our challenge right now." Much to the chagrin of the Aggies, the game picked up where the last one (a 66-38 Boise State victory) left off. "It's something I never thought would happen," said linebacker Jesse Busta, who was looking forward to visiting Bronco Stadium again. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think they were going to put 60 points on us again." The Broncos and Aggies combined for 625 yards and 66 points in an entertaining first half best described as offensive. Make that very offensive. Boise State never trailed while building a 42-24 halftime advantage. The Broncos scored on their first three possessions and added a fumble return for another score to maintain a lead over the Aggies. USU's woes were compounded by an inability to make defensive stops on third down — a problem that cost them dearly in a lopsided loss to Iowa a week earlier. Boise State scored on its opening drive by converting on three third-down situations, including one that required 18 yards. An 8-yard touchdown pass from B.J. Rhode to Brock Forsey also came on third down as the Broncos jumped out to a 7-0 lead. USU responded with a 39-yard field goal by Dane Kidman on its initial series to set the tone for an offensive first half. Unfortunately for the Aggies, they couldn't keep up the pace. Thanks to two more third-down successes, Boise State once again reached the end zone. A 67-yard scoring strike from Rhode to Jay Swillie came on third-and-11 as the Broncos made it 14-3. Just over a minute later, USU trailed by 18 when Julius Brown returned an Aggie fumble 38 yards for a touchdown. Three consecutive scoring drives followed — two by USU and one from Boise State — before the game's first punt with 5:30 remaining in the first half. The Aggies scored on a 37-yard pass from Jose Fuentes to Kevin Curtis — a throw that moved the quarterback past Tony Adams as the program's all-time total offense leader — before adding a 6-yard touchdown run by Richard Watson. Between the USU scores, Rhode and Swillie teamed for a 57-yard TD pass as Boise State weathered the storm. Trailing 28-17 after the barrage of scores, the Aggies fumbled the ball away on their next possession and the Broncos made them pay for it. A 5-yard TD run by David M ikell capped a five-play drive from 44 yards out. It also ushered in a busy final 1:41 of the half. By the time the intermission rolled around, USU scored on a 24-yard pass from Fuentes to Gary Coleman and Boise State answered with a 13-yard score from Rhode to Rocky Atkinson. Rhode had completed 13-of-15 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns at the break. In the second half, defense made a token appearance. A scoreless third quarter, however, was followed by more fireworks in the fourth. "We started making some plays in the third quarter and kind of got the team going in the direction we wanted to and got everyone hyped up," said Busta, who was part of a group that did not allow a first down in the third quarter. "And then we missed a couple of plays. They got the momentum back and it was a landslide from there." After cutting the deficit to 42-31 early in the fourth quarter when Ade Jimoh blocked a punt and Jamar Glaspar returned the ball 1-yard for a touchdown, USU watched the game slip away. A pair of interceptions ushered in three consecutive scoring drives by Boise State. A 63-yard TD pass from Rhode to Billy Wingfield; a 40-yard run by Mikell; and a 1-yard plunge by Rhode made it 63-31 with less than nine minutes left to play. The lone retaliatory strike by USU was a 57-yard touchdown pass by Jeff Crosbie to Donta' Candler with 5:38 to go. "(The third quarter) was great from a defensive standpoint, but I think we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit offensively," said Dennehy. "We're just not putting everything together. When our offense is playing well our defense is not. When our defense is playing really well our offense is not." The Aggies (1-4) have a short week ahead of them. They'll face Brigham Young (2-2) Friday night at Romney Stadium. EXTRA POINTS: Richard Watson rushed for a team-high 74 yards in his debut as USU's starting tailback . . . Boise State has won four straight over Utah State and now leads the all-time series 7-4 . . . The Aggies have lost 10 of their past 11 night games . . . USU has lost six consecutive games to Division I-A opponents — including five in-a-row on the road . . . Clearfield High product Jared Aurich is a reserve linebacker for Boise State . . . Attendance was 25,161.