Utah State football is reeling, and relief hasn’t come yet.
Losers of five straight entering Saturday’s game against New Mexico, the Aggies were in desperate need of a win that didn’t come.
Utah State lost to New Mexico 50-45, with late game mistakes proving too costly to overcome.
Here are three takeaways from the Aggies’ latest loss:
Mistakes are one thing, but the Aggies messed up at the worst times against New Mexico
No football team is ever miscue free. Even the best teams mess up week after week, and Utah State isn’t a good team right now so mistakes come early and often for the Aggies.
Against the Lobos, though, in a game Utah State legitimately had an opportunity to win, the mistakes came at the worst possible time.
For instance, early in the second quarter USU led 17-0 and had things rolling offensively, defensively and on special teams. Utah State appeared to be the much better team and on its way to a palate-cleansing blowout win.
That all ended in a hurry, though, when punt returner Kahanu Davis muffed a punt, giving New Mexico possession deep in USU territory.
That mistake sapped all momentum Utah State had at that point, and New Mexico quickly cut the Aggie lead to 17-15 on subsequent offensive possessions.
That wasn’t the only major mistake that changed the game, though, and the most egregious of those miscues came late in the fourth quarter.
First, the Aggies took possession of the ball with just under four minutes remaining, clinging to a 45-43 lead. All USU need to do was get a couple of first downs and victory would be theirs.
Instead, the Aggies failed to execute any sort of effective offense — concerning given the team had scored 45 points and finished the game with 503 yards of offense — and failed to get a first down, which resulted in a QB sneak attempt on fourth down on the Utah State 34 yard line.
That try failed, giving New Mexico possession — and shortly after that the lead.
Then, with just over a minute remaining, USU had possession of the ball with a chance to drive for a game-winning touchdown, but that drive ended short too, via an interception thrown by quarterback Spencer Petras.
At times Saturday, Utah State showed the mental toughness it had lacked in previous losses. The Aggies staved off multiple rally attempts by New Mexico. When it really mattered, though, with the game on the line, they made game-deciding mistakes and are losers once again.
Is there a fix for the Utah State defense? Or a band-aid? Something?
The numbers are staggering.
Utah State surrendered 552 yards of offense to New Mexico, nearly equal yards on the ground (280) and through the air (272). The Aggies failed miserably at containing the Lobos on third down, as New Mexico finished the game 10-of-15 on the money down.
The Aggies let four different New Mexico players average 5-plus yards per carry on a combined 45 rushing attempts, and UNM averaged 16 yards per completion and 7-plus yards per offensive play.
Even with three interceptions thrown by quarterback Devon Dampier, New Mexico was nothing short of elite offensively, a perfect 6-for-6 in the red zone.
None of this is new for the Aggies, of course. Utah State’s defense hasn’t been able to stop — or really even limit — any opponent this season, aside from FCS foe Robert Morris.
Throw in injuries to numerous starters — the latest being a season-ending injury to starting middle linebacker Clyde Washington — and expecting the Aggies to be good defensively is almost akin to insanity.
But is there a fix of any kind that could generate even slight improvement?
If there is an answer to that question, USU hasn’t found it yet. Young players are getting plenty of playing time now thanks to the injuries, but it really hasn’t mattered who suits up defensively for Utah State.
The Aggies simply don’t have the personnel available to compete with other teams right now, even a team like New Mexico that is more on the level with Utah State than a lot of the Aggies’ earlier opponents.
And though the schedule is considerably lighter in the second half of the season, there doesn’t seem to be any short term fix to Utah State’s defensive struggles. More and more, it feels like a years-long rebuild is needed.
Frustration is growing for the Aggies
You could see it written all over Nate Dreiling’s face after the game.
Linebacker John Ross Maye’s too, as well as running back Rahsul Faison’s.
The continued losses, continued mistakes and continued shortfalls by Utah State are really starting to wear on the Aggies.
It was one thing when USU was losing to teams like USC and Utah, or even Boise State and UNLV. Sure, USU wanted to win those games, but the opposition was simply better, more talented.
But the loss to New Mexico was, Dreiling said, a game Utah State needed to win, had to win in order to have anything close to the season that it wanted, and it was a winnable game against a similar opponent.
Victory didn’t happen for the Aggies, though.
Utah State coaches and players continue to profess that they aren’t going to give up on the season, that they haven’t given up yet despite a barrage of challenges, both before the season and now throughout it.
But they are human and the continued losing is starting wearing on them, visibly so now. Faison noted that the team isn’t pointing fingers, that everyone needs to be better and can be better.
But losing is beginning to have a real toll.