SALT LAKE CITY — Everything was laid out perfectly for a signature Heisman moment for Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.
After what had been a thrilling back-and-forth affair against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, played Friday night at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Utah State Aggies trailed by 3 points, 38-35, with a minute remaining in their 2019 season opener.
The Aggies had been the beneficiaries of many a standout performance in the game, especially from junior linebacker David Woodward, who finished with a career-high 24 tackles, but also from transfers Siaosi Mariner (eight receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown), Jaylen Warren (19 carries, 141 yards and a score), Caleb Repp (five catches for 59 yards) and Nick Heninger (four tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack).
Love himself was excellent as well, and he finished the contest with 416 yards passing and three touchdowns.
And with possession of the ball and a minute remaining, everything pointed to him.
If Love could come through for Utah State and lead a game-winning drive down the field, all the hype, preseason honors and candy hearts would be validated, in the first game of that season at that.
With 17 seconds remaining, Love and Utah State came up short. After leading the Aggies down the field, Love was intercepted by Wake Forest’s Justin Strnad.
It was Love’s third interception of the night, and the turnover sealed the 38-35 win for Wake Forest over Utah State.
“In some ways I don’t feel like we deserved to win this game,” Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson said afterward. “I don’t think we played well. Our kids had a lot of stick-to-it-ness and made some plays at the end. Really gutty performance.”
That descriptor could be used for both teams, in a game that saw 1,175 yards of total offense and eight lead changes.
Thanks to a hot start by Love and Mariner in particular, with Gerold Bright (nine carries for 37 yards and a touchdown, as well as four receptions for 30 yards) contributing, Utah State was the better team in the first half and took a 21-17 lead into the break.
The Aggies’ young and inexperienced offensive line was particularly proficient, with Clawson noting that Love went practically untouched through the first two quarters.
“We have to find a way to get pressure on him,” Clawson said. “We can’t let him just sit back there.”
The second half saw the teams swap leads five times, as Wake Forest scored first out of the break.
After Warren, a transfer from Snow College, rushed for a 4-yard score early in the fourth quarter, Utah State took a 35-31 lead that looked as though it would hold up.
That even remained true after Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Newman found receiver Sage Surratt for a 70-yard reception that took the Demon Deacons down to the Aggies’ 1-yard line.
It was there that the Utah State defensive front held firm, with defensive linemen Devon Anderson, Fua Leilua and Christopher ‘Unga, as well as linebackers Woodward and Kevin Meitzenheimer combining to stymie back-to-back-to-back rushing attempts by Wake Forest running back Cade Carney.
On fourth down, however, Newman found receiver Kendall Hinton in the end zone to lift the Demon Deacons into the lead one final time.
“If you can’t get a yard running you don’t deserve to win,” Clawson said. “Then we lost yardage. Kendall Hinton made a great play in the back of the end zone and really that was a miracle win for us. (Jamie Newman) did it today against a very good team.”
Following that score, the Aggies and Love had their Heisman-worthy chance, only to have victory snatched from them, although for much of the potential game-winning drive it seemed they would come away with the win.
Starting at their own 25 yard line, Love quickly marched the Aggies down the field.
Aided in part by a timely targeting penalty against the Demon Deacons drawn by Repp, the junior signal caller got the Aggies all the way down to the Wake Forest 31-yard line, within the range of placekicker Dominik Eberle.
It was there that Strnad ended the Aggies’ hopes.
The loss marked the third consecutive season-opening loss for Utah State, all at the hands of Power Five opponents. It also prevented the Aggies from securing their first win over a Power Five team since 2014, when they defeated Wake Forest 36-24 in Logan.