TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Sometimes temporary bouts with amnesia are called "brain freezes" or "senior moments." Utah State suffered through one or the other in its 48-17 loss to the University of Alabama on Saturday night.
Utah State coach Mick Dennehy reminded his Aggies the night before their season opener to not wait until midway through the second quarter to realize they had the talent to play with Alabama. By halftime, the thought had slipped their minds.
Aside from a pair of four-minute hiccups, the Aggies were living up to Dennehy's charge.
The Aggies allowed 10 points in the first four minutes of the game, while offensively they managed just 17 yards. At the start of the second half, the Aggies allowed 17 unanswered points.
"We made two real, real huge mistakes in the second half early that gave them two easy touchdowns, and it made it real, real difficult for us to come back," Dennehy said.
The Aggies (0-1) fought back from the 10-0 deficit and trimmed the lead to 17-10 at the half. Travis Cox hit freshman Kevin Robinson with a 35-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, and right before the half, Ben Chaet drilled a 44-yard field goal — a career long.
"It was a very positive experience. We thought we were in the game going into halftime," Cox said. "We were very confident and couldn't wait to get back to the game."
Utah State had the momentum at the half, but it was quickly deflated with a pair of Alabama plays — one defensively and one offensively.
First, after Utah State had a long reverse play called back due to penalty, Alabama's Simeon Castille intercepted a tipped ball and raced 31 yards for the touchdown.
Second, after Utah State was forced to punt, Tide quarterback Brodie Croyle hit Kevin Brown with a 57-yard touchdown pass on Alabama's first offensive play of the half.
"Defensively, toward the end of the second quarter, we got a little pressure," Alabama coach Mike Shula said. "I think that resulted in some field position, getting them to punt a little bit, and helped us score some points in the second half."
In a matter of minutes, the Tide turned a close game into a rout.
"Obviously, for us to beat an SEC team, we'd have to do things right all the time," Dennehy said. "It's a funny game. You've got to make plays when you have the opportunity to make them."
Utah State managed just 103 yards total offense in the second half, while Alabama had 280 yards.
Forbes scored the first touchdown of his career midway through the third quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Cox to cut the lead to 34-17.
"We didn't feel like we were out of it," Cox said.
The Tide scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
"I think they wore us down a little bit late in the third quarter and a little bit in the fourth," Dennehy said.
Cox completed 16-of-27 passes for 162 yards, but both of his interceptions led to Alabama scores. Leon Jackson III completed 1-of-4 passes for 43 yards, and Matt Crivello played but didn't attempt a pass.
Robinson and Tony Pennyman had five catches each for 58 and 43 yards, respectively, while Forbes had 28 yards on 11 carries.
Besides Croyle throwing for more than 200 yards, Alabama running backs Kenneth Darby and Ray Hudson rushed for 111 yards each, while Tim Castille had 45 more. In all, the Tide compiled 460 yards total offense (255 rushing) to Utah State's 266.
Alabama scored on its first two possessions of the game. The first was a 28-yard field goal by Brian Bostick. The second followed the first of two Cox interceptions, when Croyle hit Clint Johnston with a 19-yard touchdown. The TD pass seemed to jump-start Croyle, who completed 16-of-22 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns.
Utah State opens Sun Belt Conference play next Saturday when it is host to Idaho at 6 p.m. at Romney Stadium.
GAME NOTES: Alabama's 48 points is the most given up by Utah State in a season opener since giving up 49 points at Arizona in 1992 . . . The crowd of 82,033 was the third-largest crowd to see a Utah State game in person . . . Cox's two touchdown passes mark the fifth time in his career he's thrown for at least two touchdowns in a game.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com