Heartbreak is the only way to describe what should’ve been Utah State’s biggest win of the year.
The Aggies have struggled on the road all season, but for the first time this year they had an away opponent on the ropes late Saturday night in Las Vegas.
But Utah State couldn’t finish off the UNLV Rebels, as the Aggies missed two walk-off field goals. One came at the end of regulation and the other came in the first overtime period.
Instead, Utah State fell 29-26 to UNLV in double overtime. A win would’ve given the Aggies thier first road win and bowl eligibility.
“Certainly disappointed that we didn’t win the game,” Utah State head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “We had plenty of chances. Thought our team played resiliently. They played hard, they played tough, they were unified, and disappointed that we didn’t win.”
By far the most disastrous part of the Aggies’ loss was their special teams. It was an unusual night for placekicker Tanner Rinker, who entered Saturday a perfect 10-for-10 on field goal attempts this season.
But Rinker missed three field goals and a PAT in the loss, and the special teams also poorly executed a fake field goal attempt in the second quarter.
Overall, Utah State left 10 points on the board due to its special teams failures.
“I’m not sure why they struggled,” Mendenhall said. “We’ve kicked the ball really accurately in field goals and extra points throughout the year, so I certainly didn’t see that coming.
“We had multiple chances from the beginning of the game all the way to the very end, and we earned those chances. We prepared our team and put our team in position to execute in the special teams. That unit particularly didn’t have the consistency or the outcome we wanted there.”
Meanwhile, the Aggie defense did everything it could to give Utah State a chance against the statistical top offense in the Mountain West Conference.
Prior to Saturday, UNLV’s offense was averaging 37.4 points per game. The Aggies held the Rebels to just 10 points in the first half and 23 total in regulation.
Even the 29-point mark at the end of double overtime is a season low for the UNLV offense.
Linebacker John Miller led Utah State with 11 tackles, two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup. Brevin Hamblin and Bronson Olevao Jr. added 10 tackles each, and Olevao also had an interception.
“I feel like we had a lot of energy coming into this game,” Miller said. “We really wanted to prove something, especially on the road. We have not done too well on the road, so we wanted to change that stigma of us kind of going on the road and losing.”
In the Rebels’ first offensive drive of the fourth quarter, Utah State held them to a three-and-out. On the next drive UNLV got to the red zone with help from two 15-yard penalties but was held to just a field goal to tie it 23-23.
The Aggie offense then marched down thanks largely to some big runs from Bryson Barnes but missed the walk-off field goal.
The Utah State defense continued to give it a chance to win as it held UNLV scoreless in its first drive of overtime, but the Aggies couldn’t convert as Rinker missed another walk-off field goal.
“Our defense gave us multiple chances to win and limited the points really well at halftime and made critical play after critical play after critical play throughout the game,” Mendenhall said.
“That set us up to win the game and have plenty of chances. I was really impressed and pleased with what they did.”
It was a mixed bag offensively for Utah State in the loss. It started strong with two touchdowns in its opening three drives for a 13-3 lead but started to slow down after that.
The Aggies didn’t reach the end zone again until Barnes broke away for a 58-yard run in the fourth quarter. He ended the night with 256 yards and one touchdown in the air on a 50% completion percentage, and added 113 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
A scary moment came right after the Barnes touchdown run as safety Titan Saxton went down on a collision to the head on the ensuing kickoff. Both teams circled around him on the field before he was taken off on a stretcher.
Mendenhall said they didn’t have any updates on Saxton, but he did leave the field giving thumbs up to the crowd.
“It’s difficult anytime you see someone you love get hurt,” said Mendenhall. “No different for a coach. It plays out maybe more than a public forum as it did today, but it’s very challenging and it’s challenging for his teammates also.
“We’re forced in this profession when significant things happen, you have to then move on and you have to move on really fast.”
The Aggies were on the precipice of bowl eligibility, but now have just two more chances to earn the necessary sixth win. They’ll have to earn it either on the road against Fresno State or at home against Boise State.