Utah State wide receiver Siaosi Mariner, left, is pulled down after catching a pass by Air Force defensive back Milton Bugg III in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, at Air Force Academy, Colo. Air Force won 31-7. | David Zalubowski, AP
The Aggies came away with two main emphases after the loss to the Falcons: every goal for this season remains achievable, but that type of showing is completely unacceptable
LOGAN — The Utah State Aggies were not at their best Saturday night in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Not by a long shot.
The result was a 31-7 beatdown at the hands of Air Force.
“Tonight man, they just got the best of us,” junior safety Shaq Bond told 1280 the Zone postgame.
Did they ever.
Air Force dominated in all three phases of the game.
On offense, the Falcons racked up 472 total yards, 448 on the ground.
Three different Falcons rushed for at least 88 yards and a score, led by Timothy Jackson who finished with a game-high 148 yards and a touchdown.
They dominated possession of the ball, holding onto the pigskin for over 45 minutes of the game, 45 minutes and 43 seconds to be exact.
Defensively, Air Force held Utah State to a mere 128 yards of total offense, all but 14 of which came in the passing game.
The Aggies recorded only seven first downs and went just one of nine on third down.
The only place Utah State could be considered the better team was in the turnover battle, where USU was plus-two, with two fumble recoveries and no turnovers.
“We got beat by the better team, no question about it,” Utah State coach Gary Andersen said. “Air Force pretty much dominated both sides of the football and the game. When Air Force is a quality football team, which they are this year, you have to be firing on all cylinders to have a chance. Obviously we were not and we got beaten badly.”
Even with the loss, Utah State’s goals for the season, particularly a Mountain West Conference championship, remain within reach.
That was one of Andersen’s messages to his team following the shellacking.
“Coach A just reminded us of that, and told us to keep our heads up,” Bond said. “Every goal that we set at the beginning of the season is still out there and within reach.”
“That is part of it,” said Andersen. “You have to mention that there is an opportunity to move forward and the goals that they’ve made for themselves (are within reach). They’ve positioned themselves to still be in it with five games left. The margin for error is much less now, but we have a rivalry game next week, followed by four conference games. If you win them all you win your (division). That is the bottom line.”
There was another bottom line for Utah State, though, with a less optimistic slant.
What Utah State did Saturday night was unacceptable.
It wasn’t Aggie football.
“This was not acceptable, not for the staff or anyone on this football team,” Andersen said.
He placed much of the blame on himself and his coaching staff.
“Any time it goes that way in a football game, I look at myself, so put this on me,” he said. “We have to look at ourselves as coaches. We can’t blame it on the kids. You have to put it on us and say we have to do a better job of coaching and adjusting, whatever it might be.”
That is not to say that improvement on the field isn’t a necessity.
“We have to find a way to get things going offensively and that is not just tonight, that is the last month,” said Andersen. “We have to find a way to get something going. Until we do that, it is going to be awful tough to win football games.”
The Aggies’ defense wasn’t without blame either.
“Defensively, they did not play well tonight,” Andersen said. “Defense has had its nights. Tonight was not the night.”
With Utah State set to host rival BYU on Saturday, Nov. 2, one thing is certain — the Aggies must be better.
If Andersen has his way, they will be.
“It is time to answer back and fight,” he said. “This team battled and they are hurting. It is hard to deal with a loss like this, but they’ll fight back.”
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/31Rbv0H
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