All week ex-Idaho coach John L. Smith questioned aloud whether his Utah State team had the intestinal fortitude to hang with the Vandals, whose heart he knew was strong.
"That's exactly what I wondered," Smith affirmed, "and at halftime, I told them the team with the most character will win." He told the Aggies that, in the Vandal locker room, they were saying they were a second-half team and that inconsistent USU wouldn't have staying power."Today we answered that question," said Aggie running back Abu Wilson, who scored two second-half touchdowns out of a new full-house backfield despite getting only 10 carries and 21 yards because freshman Demario Brown ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns in his second start. "We showed the heart of a champion. We expect to go on and win the championship.".
USU's 35-28 win - Wilson's 2-yard run with 4:24 left being the difference thanks to a David Gill sack that kept the Vandals from rallying late - upped the Aggies to 3-0 in the Big West, 5-4 overall. Nevada is 2-1, Idaho and North Texas 1-1. USU has two home games left: North Texas, Nevada.
"It's huge," Gill said. "We've got two more left; then we're going to Las Vegas (Bowl)."
On a Saturday homecoming afternoon in Romney Stadium, where the air was chilly and the turf slick, USU led 21-14 at halftime, but Idaho used an interception and recovery of a pooched kickoff to score two third-quarter TDs in 12 seconds to lead 28-21. It won the quarter (202 total-offense yards to 51) and appeared en route to another second-half domination like the one it used last week to upset Nevada.
But as the third quarter ended, Ag defensive end Danilo Robinson clocked Vandal Joel Thomas into a fumble that recovered by USU's Ben Crosland (Robinson got official credit that he disputed). That touched off a fourth quarter of pure heart. USU used another fumble recovery (Robinson) to tie 28-28 (Wilson 1-yard run at 8:48) and a diving third-and-8 play by Nakia Jenkins (159 yards receiving) from Matt Sauk to set up Wilson's game-winner.
Wilson has 39 career touchdowns, one short of the Ag record.
"I knew we had to come back. I knew we could," said Sauk, who scrambled for 51 yards and three first downs.
Said Robinson, "He (Smith) built that heart (at Idaho). But this team developed a lot of character today. We turned that corner - almost. Better not go too far," he said.
Sauk was crunched to the turf by Ryan Phillips for a second-degree shoulder separation in his throwing arm. Doctor Marlowe Goble - who dried the field pregame with downdrafts of his helicopter - said Sauk will be out two to three weeks. Sauk said he'll play next week.
"Put your money on Sauk," said Smith, who never questioned Sauk's heart or toughness.
Sauk ended with 241 yards in the air and two interceptions, no scores. Patrick Mullins was 1-for-1 for 26 yards to Jenkins to put the Ags on the Idaho 14 one play prior to Wilson's winner.
"We grew as a football team today," said Smith. "I can't say enough about them. We overcame our dumbness (turnovers, the lost kickoff)."
Smith, welling with tears, felt "Joy and sadness for those guys. I mean, you've got to feel for those guys. We put a lot of time in with them (six years). I'm happy for us - let's move on; I'm glad we're at home next week."
The Ags ran for 217 yards (Brown had 120 and all three TDs in the first half) against the NCAA's No. 21 rush defense. The NCAA's No. 2 pass offense piled up 419 yards and four TDs vs. USU. The fourth was a double-reverse 32-yard wide-receiver pass to Antonio Wilson (eight catches, 206 yards, three scores) for the 28-21 lead.
Yet Aggie pass defense made the win possible. Smith said he key was many QB pressures on Fien, No. 11/NCAA in pass efficiency (27-for-53-387, two interceptions, 3 TDs). The Ags had just one sack but 10 tackles-for-loss and hurried Fien into countless incompletions.
"My head is still ringing. There were a couple of big hits," Fien said.
"He started throwing the ball real quick," said Robinson. "He started falling away."
Brown now has six TDs in two starts. He lost footing his first few runs but then stayed upright better than anyone else, making sharp cuts on his scoring runs of 8, 19 and 7 yards. In the second half, he said Idaho's ends pinched him inside, but he also blamed himself for "messing up."
Wilson had no trouble being ready despite few plays. "Once you get down inside the 5, if you don't put it in the end zone, you answer to your teammates. There's only one option," he said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Big West standings
Conf. Overall
Team W L W L
Utah St. 3 0 5 4
Nevada 2 1 5 3
Idaho 1 1 3 4
N. Texas 1 1 3 5
Boise St. 0 2 1 7
N. Mexico St. 0 2 1 7
Saturday's games
Nevada 40, North Texas 13
New Mexico St. 52, So. Utah 21
Utah State 35, Idaho 28