Aggies try to hang in there, but can't
Utah State's Nate Putnam wraps up Nebraska freshman quarterback Joe Dailey in the second half of the Huskers' 24-point win. (Dave Weaver/The Associated Press)
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Staff and Wire Reports
LINCOLN, Neb. -- In the end, a 31-7 loss to No. 23 Nebraska was pretty much the outcome Utah State deserved Saturday.
The way the teams arrived at that score was the interesting part. USU played the Cornhuskers evenly in the first half, yet trailed 15-7 because of a few key plays. And while Nebraska was overwhelming in the second half, the Aggies gave up only 16 more points by making the 'Huskers settle for field goals and recovering a fumble for a touchback.
So as usual for these budget-oriented visits to big-name schools, the Aggies came away encouraged by some aspects of the game, while knowing they were dominated in other areas.
"Our defense took a step forward," said strong safety Mike Rosencrans.
Once the momentum shifted midway through the second quarter, USU was in the familiar position of trying to keep things respectable. Last September's visit to Lincoln was more typical of these matchups: USU trailed 37-7 at halftime and was happy to stay within 44-13.
In Saturday's case, the Aggie offense came out firing. Quarterback Travis Cox completed 10 of his first 11 passes, including a 41-yard touchdown toss to tight end Chris Cooley, and was 13-for-15 in the first quarter. Cox finished 17-for-33, meaning he was 4-for-18 the rest of the day after Nebraska's pass rush took effect.
"We had to see what they came out and did," Nebraska defensive coordinator Bo Pelini said. "Once we saw that, we made our adjustments. We settled down and played good football."
In a stretch that started late in the second quarter, Cox threw 11 incompletions in a
row.
Before that, the Aggies had a chance to add to their 7-6 lead after Kelly Poppinga recovered a fumble at the Nebraska 32. But a trick play just missed being successful, as backup quarterback Matt Crivello was intercepted by Josh Bullocks on a double-pass play. Nebraska did not score on that drive, but cashed in soon afterward after Demorrio Williams sacked Cox and recovered his fumble at the USU 1-yard line.
The 'Huskers scored on the next play and USU's offense was never the same. The Aggies posted only 86 total yards in the second half, with a big chunk of that coming on their final drive.
The only consolation was that even though the 'Huskers finished with 405 total yards and held the ball for 38 minutes, 17 seconds, they scored only one touchdown in the second half.
"If the field goals were touchdowns, I'd feel way worse," said USU coach Mick Dennehy.
"The offense continues to move the ball, but we're having trouble getting touchdowns," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "We've got to be more point-productive at the end of our drives."
#23 Nebraska 31, Utah State 7
Utah St. 7 0 0 0 -- 7
Nebraska 6 9 13 3 -- 31
First Quarter
Neb -- Lord 15 run (kick failed), 5:31
Utah -- Cooley 41 pass from Cox (Hamblin kick), 4:17.
Second Quarter
Neb -- Davies 1 run (run failed), 7:34.
Neb -- FG Dyches 23, 3:23.
Third Quarter
Neb -- Horne 3 run (Dyches kick), 10:43.
Neb -- FG Dyches 20, 8:33.
Neb -- FG Dyches 29, 5:04.
Fourth Quarter
Neb -- FG Dyches 26, 10:38.
A -- 77,284.
Utah Neb
14 .......... First downs .......... 22
23-60 .......... Rushes-yards .......... 64-273
178 .......... Passing .......... 132
17-35-1 .......... Comp-Att-Int .......... 12-17-0
12 .......... Return Yards .......... 58
7-37.1 .......... Punts-Avg. .......... 3-43.7
4-2 .......... Fumbles-Lost .......... 4-2
6-33 .......... Penalties-Yards .......... 5-50
21:43 .......... Time of Possession .......... 38:17
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING -- Utah St., Fiefia 9-60, Cooley 2-15, Cox 12-(minus 15). Nebraska, Lord 20-72, Davis 14-63, Horne 10-50, Dailey 9-47, Ross 8-22, LeFlore 1-21, Davies 1-1, team 1-(minus 3).
PASSING -- Utah St., Cox 17-33-0-178, Tolli 0-1-0-0, Crivello 0-1-1-0. Nebraska, Lord 8-12-0-85, Dailey 4-5-0-47.
RECEIVING -- Utah St., Cooley 6-92, Coleman 4-51, Stephens 2-21, Hicks 2-6, Fiefia 2-0, Stallworth 1-8. Nebraska, Pilkington 5-57, Herian 4-62, Davis 1-7, LeFlore 1-5, Davies 1-1.
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