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Show i i \- } 4 Aug. 31,2007 1 •1 J 1 • ( ' ! t • • ; i '• ;! • i1 * 3 J A TALE OF TWO HALVES Gomel: VSU16, UNLV23 Four quarters to win What a difference a year makes. After finishing last season near the bottom of most NCAA defensive ratings, the Aggies came out with something to prove against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. For two quarters, the defensive squad that returned all 11 starters from last year did just that. In the opening two quarters of play, the defense clearly put the past benind them and made a statement that they are much improved. In the opening half, UNLV amassed a whopping 49 yards on offense and the Aggie defense looked like they could not be beat. Of those 49 yards, only two came from the arm of Rebel play caller Travis Dixon. UNLV's only score came on a 48 yard field goal after an Aaron Lesue fumble. The Rebels were 0-6 on third downconversions and were seemingly confused by Utah State's defensive schemes. Utah State was able to record two sacks and clearly had the Rebel offense reeling. Unfortunately in football there are four quarters. UNLV came out in the second half and showed by their offensive play a sudden look of confidence and poise that was non-existent in the first half. USU Head Coach Brent Guy said, "We were doing some stuff (in the first half) that was hurting their passing game on the outside and with some of our front stuff. I think they did a good job of checking it and letting (Dixon) run the ball inside." It may have been the water at halftime, or perhaps adjustments from the coaching staff, but the freshman signal caller came out ready to play. When Guy talks about Dixon checking and changing plays, he couldn't be any more on. Watching the game from the sideline you could see a look in his eyes that he was in complete control and showed xcellent field vision. If he wasn't running for a first down he was checking at the offensive ine and hitting open receivers for big plays. UNLV Head Coach Mike Sanford, who you will recall, comes from the Urban Meyer coaching tree, attributes Dixon's change of play due to his competitiveness and offense adjustments. "I think he's a competitor," Sanford said. "He wanted to win you know, and along the way we did some things and made some adjustments." Aggie linebacker Jake Hutton, who recorded eight tackles and one sack, feels hat the defense just made mistakes and got out executed. "I don't know if it was so much of them changing, they executed a little better and we just made mistakes," he said. In the second half, the Aggie defense gave up 265 yards total offense, including 139 yards through the air and 126 on the ground. Although for the game the Rebels only converted on 3 of 14 third down conversions, it was the big plays that changed he game. "We did great on third downs defensively, but we gave up some big plays in critical situations and that's when UNLV got the major'ty of its yards," Guy said. The main play that comes to mind was •vhen there were less than three minutes left n the game and UNLV had the ball on the Aggie 36-yard line. With third and five the Aggies needed a stop to force UNLV to kick long field goal or try for it on fourth down. Dixon completed a six-yard pass to Ryan Wolfe and essentially ended the game for he Aggies. "Obviously it's disappointing; we need 0 come up with big plays like that," Hutton aid. Although the defense struggled at times 1 the second half and did give up some big lays, some Aggie fans should take solace n the fact that it was an improvement from ast year. Unfortunately, the road ahead does not get any easier and Guy needs to use this ame as a learning tool and the players need o take the positive and use it as motivation or the rest of the year. 5am Bryner is a sen/or majoring in business management. Comments can e sent to him sam.bryner® • aggiemail.usu.edu TOP: LEON JACKSON III (7) roles to his left and dumps a pass to wide reciever Otis Nelson (14) over a UNLV defender. Jackson started the game for the Aggies Thursday night, finishing 13 of 19 for 137 yards. PATRICK ODEN photo SENIOR TAILBACK AARON LESUE ( I ) fumbles the ball as center Ryan Tonnemacher makes a block. Lesue carried the ball 13 times for 33 yards. He also scored the first Utah State touchdown. PATRICK ODEN photo Aggies come out strong, but drop a close one after lackluster second half By SAMMY HISLOP sports editor In the beginning there was fire, determination, and a lot of hope. In the end, it was another loss and a frustrated attempt at a fresh start. After leading by as many as seven, the Utah State Aggies lost 23-16 Thursday night to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels. With UNLV kicking off after a touchdown with 1:02 remaining in the game, the Aggies had a final opportunity to come back and tie or take the lead. Unfortunately, kick returner/wide receiver Kevin Robinson (who was one of USU's most lethal threats throughout the game) lost the ball on the return as he tried to jump over UNLV defenders to gain extra yardage. The Rebels recovered, and that was that. "I've said this from the first time I got here: We just need to learn how to win," said Aggie linebacker Jake Hutton, who finished with six tackles. "Teams like Boise State, when it's on the line they make big plays and win. That's what we've got to do, just bear down and win." With the new NCAA rule of pushing kickoffs from the 35 yard line back to the 30, it looked as though Robinson wouldn't even get a final opportunity to recieve the ball. That's because of a 10-yard penalty on the Aggie defense after Rebel kicker Aguayo converted the team's extra point. "I feel even worse because of the last play," said Robinson, who collected 216 yards off of punt and kickoff returns. "You try to make a play and stuff happens. It didn't go my way this time." Added Guy: "We gotta have them kicking that ball off from the 30.1 had confidence at that time even. I told the guys I did not have a speech prepared. I still believed down to the end that we could still win the football game. The bottom line is we turned over the ball at critical junctures." With a touchdown scored by Aggie tailback Aaron Lesue early in the second quarter, USU kicker Peter Caldwell put in a 38-yard field goal to give the Ags a 10-3 lead at the half. But UNLV adjusted in the second half— thanks in large part to that new kickoff rule. Rebel kick returner Gerold Rodriquez took USU's opening kick of the second half 48 yards, all the way up to midfield. Dixon followed that up by completing a 21-yard pass to Casey Flair. By the end of that drive, UNLV had a field goal and a four-point hole. Robinson followed suit on the next kickoff, gaining 45 yards. USU's offense gained only 24 yards on that drive, turning the ball over on downs. Even though the Rebels were pushed back 15 yards on their following drive because of a personal foul, they still made every opportunity count. On a second down from their own 45, Dixon kept the ball and busted through a USU hole for a 45-yard scamper to the USU 10. To the credit of the Aggies, the Rebels still only got a field goal out of it, but whittled the Aggie lead to one. Forcing USU to punt, the Rebels made contact with the end zone for the first time on the night in their next march downfield, which began at their own 20. A Dixon pass to wideout Ryan Wolfe for 35 yards and another to Aaron Straiten for 26 more set up a 15-yard run by Dixon for a touchdown and the lead. Robinson only took the following kick 23 yards, and USU went four-and-out. Dixon fumbled on the next drive, giving USU the ball at the Rebel 34. After two short passes by Jackson and a 15-yard facemask penalty, the Aggies quickly found themselves on the Rebel 11. Jackson eventually quarterback sneaked for a touchdown. Ulinksi then missed the point after. Although Rodriguez then did it again with the next kick return as lie ran 35 yards to put UNLV at its own 46, the Aggie defense held strong and allowed only five yards before UNLV punted and landed the ball on the USU one-yard line. The Aggies gained two yards on three plays. Jackson put up a 41-yard punt from the back of the end zone, and UNLV ended up with the ball on the Aggie 36. Four plays into the Rebel drive, UNLV running back Frank Summers took the ball 11 yards for the game-winning score. Even with the loss, Guy still remained positive in outlook of the upcoming games. "I think we're gonna be a team that grinds it out and have a defense that doesn't give up big plays," Guy said. The Aggies travel to Laramie, Wyo., next Saturday to take on another Mountain West opponent in the Wyoming Cowboys. •samueUusIop@aggiemail,usu,eiiu |