Both Cooper Legas and McCae Hillstead saw time at quarterback Saturday night for Utah State in the Aggies’ 45-10 loss at home to Boise State.
And both signal callers were knocked out of the game with injuries.
Per USU head coach Blake Anderson postgame, the exact seriousness of both players’ injuries isn’t known at this time, but Legas, who suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter, could not have reentered the game.
“Hopefully he can recover quickly,” Anderson said. “I don’t know to what degree (the injury was), but he could not have gone back in and thrown the ball effectively.”
Hillstead, meanwhile, re-injured the ankle that he injured earlier this season at San Diego State, an injury that had cast doubt on whether or not he would play again this season.
“It is the same ankle that we’ve dealt with in the past,” Anderson said. “Got rolled up again.”
Legas was injured deep in Boise State territory, on an Aggie drive that had made it all the way to the BSU 2-yard line. It was there that Legas scrambled to try to pass for a touchdown but was tackled as he attempted to throw the ball.
Later in that same drive, USU wide receiver Terrell Vaughn threw an interception in the end zone on a trick play, adding insult to injury.
Hillstead, meanwhile, suffered his injury at the end of the third quarter when we was sacked, one of nine sacks on the night for Boise State’s defense.
The two quarterbacks weren’t the only Aggies beat up against the Broncos, either. Anderson noted that multiple Aggies were banged up over the course of the game.
“We had guys all across the field going down tonight,” he said. “It was a physical game.”
One that Utah State was not capable of playing in for much of the night.
“It seemed like every time you turn around, somebody had gone down,” Anderson said. “One of our three running backs, quarterbacks and several guys on defense, so the short week is going to be critical, trying to get guys back as healthy as we can.”