Defense was to be the showpiece of Utah State's football team this season. An inconsistent offense prone to turnovers that left the defense on the field too long was often a problem through the first five games.
Saturday, to start the second half of the Aggie season - the half the Aggies insist will take them to the Las Vegas Bowl - the defense took things into its own hands. Slow offense? No matter. The defense scored almost enough to win.Against a Kansas State team that stood third nationally in positive turnover margin (+1.75 a game), Utah State blocked (Michael Coe) and recovered (Israel Byrd) a punt on the Wildcats' first drive to set up a USU touchdown (Abu Wilson), recovered a KSU fumble (Byrd) to set off another USU scoring drive (Sean Jones field goal), made six sacks worth -45 yards, held K-State 1-for-12 on third-down conversions and picked off four passes.
Two interceptions were consecutively returned 50+ yards for TDs. Two others were returned 15 and 29 yards deep into K-State territory as the Wildcats tried to rally in the fourth quarter.
Utah State's defensive gem became a 28-16 win, its first against a nonleague opponent in five years. It left the Aggies 2-4 for the season, KSU 3-2.
It meant USU seniors didn't have to go winless for their careers outside of Big West play. "We were doing it a lot for the seniors," said sophomore defensive end David Balls.
"That's how our defense is supposed to be, week in and week out," said junior linebacker Jermaine Younger.
Younger made 13 tackles, two for a loss, broke up one pass and intercepted two others, one for a 59-yard touchdown return that immediately followed the 50-yard interception-return TD by Balls that made K-State change quarterbacks at 7:24 of the third quarter.
Balls' pick came when Robert Batch popped quarterback Jason Smargiasso. Balls was blocked on his right side, but his left side was free, and his left hand was down near his left knee, where the ball hit. He scooped it in one-handed and was "off to the races. The boosters had to kick in," Balls said. "I'm pretty quick, but I didn't know if I had the distance in me."
"This defense is great. I love it," said Younger of the now-we-blitz, now-we-don't concoction that forced KSU into audibiling nearly every play.
"The defense did a great job of disguising things, making it look like we were coming when we weren't and making it look like we weren't coming when we were," said Kansas-born Charlie Weatherbie, who won for the second time in his head-coaching career.
Still, it took a late interception by Paul Gustafson and a heady fourth-quarter play by senior punter Doug Beach to truly convince the Wildcats to go back to Kansas empty-handed.
In the third quarter, Aggie long snapper Brooks Phillips suffered an anterior-cruciate knee injury that will shelve him for the season. It's the second long snapper they've lost for the season, center Warren Bowers going out in the preseason. It left tight end Greg Thompson to come in and snap cold.
He did fine the first punt snap, but on the second, the ball went too high for Beach to pull down and left him chasing the ball at the Aggie 2-yard line. He picked it up and dove into the end zone for a safety, avoiding giving KSU the ball for a sure touchdown, trading two points for seven or eight and making the score 28-16 rather than 28-21 or even 28-22 with 8:59 left.