If anybody thought the Utah State Aggies were going to lay down and die just because the game happened to be played in 85,000-seat Oklahoma Memorial Stadium against the heavily-favored No. 7 Sooners in what amounted to a payout for Utah State, they had another thing coming.
The Aggies lost 31-24, but what they gained from their surprising performance meant almost as much as the game itself and had little to do with the improvements the school may be able to make on its facilities once the check has cleared.
And though Aggie head coach Gary Andersen is not one for moral victories, you would have to be one heck of a moron to think that he wasn’t pleased with his team’s fight.
“Its a great college football game as you look back at it. The first thing I would say is, this football team is hurt by this loss and we had an opportunity to come in here, and late in the fourth quarter we didn’t make a couple plays, to win the game,” Andersen said.
Left for dead in the first half down 21-0 after Aggie quarterback Diondre Borel threw several interceptions--much in the same manner as the fall camp scrimmages--the third quarter proved a different story for Utah State.
“The first interception, when they drove down and scored, he made a break on the ball and it was just a great play by him just sitting on it and it came down. It changed the game a little bit because it gave them a little bit of momentum in the beginning,” Borel said.
The Aggies climbed back into the game in the third with a Peter Caldwell field goal from 40 yards and later had a 4-yard plunge from running back Michael Smith to cut the Sooners’ lead to 21-10.
Then Borel--who had 341 yards on the day and two touchdowns to go with three untimely interceptions--reared back and led the Aggies on a drive that culminated in a 42-yard pass for a touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Dontel Watkins, a JUCO transfer.
The Sooners soon responded, however, with a 63-yard scamper by running back DeMarco Murray, a Las Vegas native who was a thorn in Utah State’s side all evening.
Murray finished with 218 yards on 35 carries and had two touchdowns. With the score at 28-17 Oklahoma tacked on a field goal in the latter stages of the third quarter for a 31-17 lead.
A Borel touchdown pass to junior wideout Xavier Martin, this time from 31 yards, closed the Sooner lead to seven, but the Aggies could get no closer.
Despite a big game from Borel--and from Watkins, who had 91 yards receiving to go with Martin’s 60--Utah State walked out of Norman with a loss in one sense of the word.
“…You know, I believe in everybody and whoever is out there to catch the ball. Those guys have a lot of speed. They’re both downfield threats and they made big plays -- on the deep ball to Xavier (Martin) and the corner route to Dontel (Watkins),” Borel said.
Oklahoma was poised to score in the waning moments of the game with the ball at the Aggie three-yard line, but in a gesture of sportsmanship and with a few seconds on the game clock, Sooner quarterback Landry Jones took a knee.
It was a tough day for the Aggie run defense, as linebackers watched Murray gallop into their territory all day long. Junior linebacker Kyle Gallagher had 11 tackles and senior captain Bobby Wagner had eight stops.
That said, Gallagher was optimistic about the Aggie defense heading into next week’s game at Idaho State in the home opener at Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium.
“We focused on our defensive line getting a lot of pressure this year and same with linebackers and it seemed to work out so far. I feel like the defensive line has improved so much and I’m able to roam free a lot more,” Gallagher said.
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