LOGAN, Utah, Aug. 30 - Heading into Thursday night's game
against Utah State, Southern Utah Coach Ed Lamb called the Aggies "the hottest
team in the State." USU certainly lived up to that standard, rushing for 277
yards and throwing for 304 more in a 34-3 win over the Thunderbirds.
"I thought they were very well coached, I thought they were
ready, they appeared to be very fast, their speed was a problem for us, their
strength was a problem for us, they blocked us, they knocked us off the ball,"
SUU Coach Ed Lamb observed after the game. "I don't think they threw the ball
in the second half and they probably could have done that the whole game, they
really pushed us around."
The Aggies scored the first three times they touched the
ball, all in the first quarter, to run out to a 21-0 lead, and although
Southern Utah came back to win the second quarter, 3-0, they weren't able to
climb back out of the early hole.
USU, which had the sixth-best rushing attack in the NCAA
Bowl Subdivision last year, hurt the Thunderbirds with the run but early on did
the most damage through the air, taking a 14-0 lead on a pair of long passes.
Utah State put together an 11-play, 97-yard drive on its
first possession, with quarterback Chuckie Keeton finding Chuck Jacobs on a 48-yard
touchdown pass at the 8:51 mark, then less than three minutes later Keeton hit Matt Austin for a 35-yard
touchdown.
A 27-yard Joe Hill run staked USU to a 21-0 lead as time
expired in the first period.
The Thunderbirds didn't record a first down or complete a
pass in the first period when they had just 19 yards of offense, all on the
ground.
The first SUU first down came on a 10-yard Brad Sorensen run
at the 14:52 mark of the second period and that play sparked the Thunderbirds,
who went on to drive to the USU three yard line before the drive stalled and
Southern Utah was forced to settle for a 22-yard Colton Cook field goal. The
Thunderbirds' first completion of the game also came on the drive, an 18-yard
completion from Sorensen to Griff McNabb.
Hill scored on a 19-yard run at the 11:53 mark of the third
period to give the Aggies a 28-3 lead, then went 33 yards on the first play of
the fourth period to make the Aggie advantage 34-3.
Sorensen struggled, particularly early on and finished with
153 yards on 12-of-33 passing with one interception, which came on the final
play of the game on a ball that was tipped high in the air.
"Brad did not play his type of game, he was off of his game
for sure," Lamb noted. "Our receivers did a good job of getting open and Brad
was just not accurate today, it was very frustrating for him."
"They threw different looks at us," Sorensen said. "We were
planning them for more man coverage, they gave us a little more zone than we
expected, but their defensive backs did a good job. They jammed up our guys
good but I thought our receivers played well but their coverage obviously gave
us some problems."
Keeton had an outstanding day, completing 22-of-26 passes
for 304 yards, while Hill finished with 116 yards and a career-high three TDs
on 11 carries.
Keeton "was so dynamic," Lamb said. "He did an outstanding
job as a passer, I think he really elevated his game as a passer tonight. We
knew he could run and we were very concerned about that but he put some balls
on the money down the field too."
NOTES: Tommy Collet, Jr., intercepted a pass in the third
period, his first career interception. Brock Miller had a good night punting
the ball, with nine boots for 411 yards, a 45.7 yard-per-kick average.
First-year starters Namari Flentroy, Rickey Clark and Zak Browning did well in their first games as starters.
Flentroy and Clark co-led the team with ?13 tackles each and Browning finished
with 12 while Collet had a career-high 10.
-- SUU --
