Ron Lopez threw three touchdown passes and Roger Grant rushed for 205 yards, leading Utah State to a 46-14 Big West Conference victory Saturday over New Mexico State.
After Grant began the scoring with a 16-yard run, Lopez had two touchdown passes in the first quarter as Utah State (5-6, 5-2) jumped to a 19-0 lead. Lopez threw for scores of 13 yards to Sean Hampton and 44 yards to Tracey Jenkins.Jimmy Mitchell scored on a 1-yard run near the end of the first quarter to keep New Mexico State (2-9, 2-5) close at 19-7.
Utah State opened the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run from Lopez. Only 25 seconds later, Ron Edwards intercepted a Charles Puleri pass and returned it 8 yards for a touchdown that gave Utah State a 33-7 lead.
Mitchell answered for New Mexico State with his second 1-yard scoring run before Lopez closed the half with his third touchdown pass. The 54-yard completion to Jenkins gave Utah State a 40-14 halftime lead.
Lopez was nine of 13 for 190 yards with one interception, while Jenkins finished with four catches for 124 yards. Grant gained his 205 yards on 25 attempts.
The victory was the fourth straight for Utah State since its coach, Chuck Shelton, announced he was resigning. In a postgame interview Shelton indicated he hopes his career isn't over.
"I'm going to coach if I possibly can. I don't know if I'll have that chance but I think I will."
He was pleased with his team's performance. "We had some breaks. I think we played awfully well and awfully hard . . . Our defense played well."
Regarding the Aggies' late-season surge, Shelton said it was a scheduling factor as much as anything else. "We just don't have any room to slip," he said, regarding the way Utah State schedules tough non-conference games.
Doug Beach connected on field goals of 43 and 22 yards in the third quarter to account for Utah State's only second-half points.
Brian Pizula scored for New Mexico State on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Puleri completed 26 of 39 passes for 324 yards to lead New Mexico State, which managed only 21 yards rushing.