Earlier in the week, Utah State senior placekicker Sean Jones said he'd like nothing better than to beat Pacific with a field goal on the last play of the game to show up Tiger coach Chuck Shelton, who only let Jones kick from impossible distances during Shelton's years as Aggie coach.
"I had no idea I was so clairvoyant," said Jones after kicking a last-USU-play, 41-yard field goal that gave the Ags a 38-35 win over Shelton's Pacific Saturday to end both teams' seasons.But Jones also found out he was wrong on one count. When he got on the field, he'd expected to see Shelton and think of him as a man who hurt his career. Instead, he saw a man who gave him a Div. I scholarship. "I don't have any bad words for him," Jones said.
They shook hands, and Shelton congratulated Jones, who tied the Utah State single-season record for field goals with his 18th.
But Aggie coach Charlie Weatherbie couldn't get Shelton to shake his hand, so he called Shelton a name and Shelton called him the same name back.
The game was tied four times, but USU never trailed.
With the victory and a loss by San Jose State, 5-6 USU finishes tied with the 7-4 Spartans for second in the Big West Conference with 4-2 records. The Aggies missed a field goal by a foot last week at Reno to allow Nevada to win the conference in a 48-47 game. That field goal and Saturday's win would have given USU the title and bowl berth.
Utah State junior linebacker Jermaine Younger returned a blocked field goal 30 yards for a touchdown on Pacific's first possession of the game, but soon after, USU lost quarterback Anthony Calvillo (shoulder stinger) for the first half, defensive tackle Joe Jacobs (neck) for the game and defensive back Donald Toomer for most of the game. Toomer played sparingly the second half with a hip pointer. Jacobs was taken to a hospital for X-rays but is OK. Tight end Aubrey Thompson did not play because of a kidney bruise, and running back Abu Wilson didn't start because of illness. Tight end Greg Thompson hurt a shoulder in the first half and missed the rest of the game.
Since backup QB Greg Angelovic was also the third-string tight end and Greg Thompson was the long snapper, the Aggies had to drastically alter their personnel and game plan.
But Angelovic, who hadn't played since Game 4, led them to a 28-21 halftime lead, scoring their fourth TD on a 6-yard run. Utah State was up 28-14 with :55 left in the half, when UOP's NCAA-record-setting duo, Troy Kopp and Aaron Turner, hooked up for a 7-yard TD pass, their second of the half.
Pressed to duty, Wilson carried 26 times for 106 yards and two TDs, helping neutralize Pacific's other NCAA record-holder, Ryan Benjamin, who ran 23 times for 239 yards and two touchdowns and had 402 all-purpose yards.
Calvillo returned in the second half and threw a third-and-20 play-action scoring pass to Michael Lee in the third quarter to put the Aggies up 35-28.
Benjamin's 3-yard run with 1:05 left in the third tied it 35-35.
Pacific had a chance to lead twice with about eight minutes left when it attempted a 29-yard field goal. It missed, but USU was offside, bringing up a 25-yard attempt that also failed.
A pass breakup by Younger made the Tigers punt, and USU got the ball with 3:51 to play on its 31. The Ags rammed Wilson down the Tigers' throats on six straight running plays, helping to eat the clock. Still, they were third-and-13 at the 35 with :45 to play. But No. 4 tight end Paul Trette caught a deflected pass for 12 yards to set up Jones' kick with :18 left.
The snap was high, but holder Doug Beach, Shelton's field goal kicker the last couple of years, brought it down in time. "The kick was the easiest part," said Jones. "Doug made a tremendous hold. He said he thought (the snap) was going to me."