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Show StatesmanSports Page 6 Monday, Oct. 3, 2011 USU football continues to struggle BY TYLER HUSKINSON assistant sports editor PROVO, Utah - Closing out teams has plagued the Utah State football team, in two games this season, and it plagued them against in-state foe BYU Friday in front of a national audience. The Aggies seemed to have a 24-20 lead locked up late into the fourth quarter, but former USU quarterback Riley Nelson, who took over for sophomore quarterback Jake Heaps in the third quarter, led BYU on the game-winning drive, capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass that was tipped by Aggie junior corner back Will Davis and caught by sophomore tight end Marcus Mathews. USU had a last-chance effort down the field, but the ball fell incomplete to give the Cougars the 27-24 victory. "Obviously another heartbreaking loss," said junior running back Robert Turbin, who finished the game with 123 yards on the ground. "We just have to find a way to win these games. We get teams on the ropes, we play well for three and a half quarters, and then for some reason we can't make plays at the end." The three-point loss to BYU is the third of four games the Aggies have lost by a touchdown or less, and the third of four games in which the Aggies have lost in the last few seconds of the game. "I wouldn't say it's physical, but I wouldn't say it's psychological either," Turbin said. "We just don't make the plays when they are there." USU dropped it's season opener to Auburn, 42-38. Running back Michael Dyer took the ball in from one yard out to get the go-ahead score for Auburn, after the Tigers recovered an onside kick away from USU. The Aggies gave up a 21-13 lead to Colorado State late in the fourth quarter. USU forced the Rams to punt with 2; 17 to play, but senior wide receiver Eric Moats muffed a punt and Colorado State recovered the ball on the USU 15-yard line and eventually tied the game at 21-all, with less than a minute to play. The Aggies failed a twopoint conversion in the second overtime to give the Rams a 35-34 victory. USU led BYU, 24-13, with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game after Josh Thompson chipped in a field' goal from 21 yards out. Nelson drove the Cougars the length of the field and found Cody Hoffman in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown pass. USU had several opportunities to put the game well out of reach for BYU, but the Aggie offense sputtered, again, with the game on the line. "We get a big play with the fumble recovery, then we can't get the first down, and that's on me," Turbin said. "Then we come back and pin them at the four-yard line but then can't make a play. We get one play where we got the QB scrambling, and he throws up a prayer, and they make the catch and we don't make the play again. We just don't make plays when we need to." The "prayer" Turbin referred to in the post-game interviews was a 40-yard bomb from Nelson to wide receiver McKay Jacobsen which set up the go-ahead score for BYU. Aggie junior linebacker Bojay Filimoeaetu was in pursuit of Nelson on the play, but the former Aggie was able to elude Filimoeatu to JUNIOR R U N N I N G BACK ROBERT T U R B I N runs downfield against BYU. The junior racked up 123 rushing yards, but didn't get as many rushes as usual during the game. CODY GOCHNOUR photo make the pass. "We just have to make one play," Turbin said. "Someone has to make one play, and we just couldn't do it. We have to learn how to make plays in these types of situations." Head coach Gary Andersen said he believes the effort and desire from his players is there to finish games and make the plays. "All I can do is look in their eyes and look at their want," he said. "Maybe their pressing a little too hard. They want to be that guy. We had that one play with the throw down the field; and I see the kids straining and effort being made. There was no one on the field that didn't want to make the play down the field." - ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu Volleyballfalls to NMSU, 3-0, drops to 2-2 in BY CURTIS LUNDSTROM staff writer Freshman outside hitter Rachel Orr had a big night Saturday for the Utah State volleyball team, but the Aggies came up empty handed as they fell to New Mexico State University in straight sets, 3-0. Orr tied her career high in kills, recording 14 kills to lead the team, and fell just shy of a double-double, finishing with eight digs. "Rachel played very well," said head coach Grayson DuBose. "She came right out and was hitting the ball real hard, hitting the seams. — did a fabulous job." Orr is originally from Thatcher, Ariz., which is roughly three hours from the New Mexico State campus. "It was fun because her family was there," Dubose said. "It was fun to watch." Freshman outside hitter Meredith Hays Ied-tfe«»Aggies of New Mexico State, finishing with 10 kills. New Mexico State also got a strong performance from senior middle hitter Kelsey Brennan, who finished right behind Hays, with nine kills. New Mexico State jumped out to the early lead, as Brennan had little trouble getting the ball past the USU defense. Utah State slowly whittled ,the lead down and actually took the lead at 23-22, but after New Mexico State got a kill and a service ace, a , USU .error gave New Mexico State the first set win, by a score of 25-23. "We had chances, and they were a little bit better at the end than we were," DuBose said. "Under duress we have to be able to respond a little bit better." And respond they did, after falling behind again early in the second set. With New Mexico State leading 19-12, Utah State went on a 7-0 run to level the set at 19-all. Sophomore middle blocker Nicole GneitingTheurer made a couple of key plays on both sides of the ball to get USU back in the game. Hays and Brennan then led New Mexico State on a 6-3 run, and Utah State came up just short, again, dropping the set 25-22. "1 think part of it is our maturity," DuBose said. "We've got some young kids out there that are trying to figure it out. Our freshman are getting pretty good, and that's encouraging." Senior Ail-American Liz McArthur had 10 kills on the night, and red-shirt freshman Paige Neves finished with 30 assists and 10 digs. After pulling out the first two sets, New Mexico State had little trouble with Utah State in the third set. The Aggies of NMSU raced to a 4-1 lead and steadily increased it from there. New Mexico State had three service aces in the set, and sophomore middle blocker Desiree Scott recorded three of her six kills, as NMSU cruised to the 25-18 set win, finishing the match in three sets. DuBose was hopeful that the team will improve quickly. "I think experience teaches how to get better," DuBose said. "The game teaches the game. In this case, they'll learn and get better by playing. By being in those pressure situations." DuBose said he felt the team served well during the match, but just couldn't finish out the sets. "Our energy level was pretty WAC good," DuBose said. "We got fired up — put pressure on them. We served well. That I thought we did very well." USU had two service aces on the night, and DuBose felt the team's serving gave it an edge in the rallies. With the loss Utah State drops to 7-10 on the season, and 2-2 in WAC play. Utah State faces another road test Friday, Oct. 7, as it travels to Idaho to take on the Vandals of Idaho University. The match is scheduled for 8 p.m. The Aggies will be back in action at the Spectrum Oct. 13 as they host the Bulldogs of Fresno State. First serve is 7 p.m. -curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu. edu Rodeo club finishes fall season at UVU, men shine MEGAN BODILY staff writer a number of events he participates in. Jace Austin brings in points every rodeo and continues to be a staple for the USU Rodeo Team. After a frustrating fall season the women's team finally broke through to the final round this weekend. "It is three or four weeks into the rodeo season, and it takes a few weeks to get into the swing of things," said Kate Clissold, rodeo club president. "You tune up every week and look to improve every week." Three Aggie women reached the short go, most notably Lacy Larsen.In goattying Larsen returned to the final round, placmg sixth in the average, good enough to collect much needed points. Larsen was the lone Aggie woman to return in the hometown rodeo and continues to work hard to accumulate points for the team. "We ended on a positive. We sent a lot of men and three women to the short go — it was an improvement over the last week for sure," Clissold said. Struggling with consistency and focus at the home rodeo two weekends ago, the USU rodeo USU's Rodeo team wrapped up the fall semester season with a rodeo at Utah Valley University, over the weekend, on a positive note. Looking to go out with a bang, the Aggies finally put up numbers and gained much-needed points. The men's team went into the rodeo at second place — a spot it has maintained for most of the season — and the women's team went in at sixth place. Most notable in regional standings, accounting for all rodeos, from the men's team were brothers Kyler and Jace Austin. The brothers are leading the tie down roping with Jace Austin sitting in first and Kyler Austin second. In team roping, the duo sits seventh and eighth, respectively, in points. Jace Austin is the current leader in the steer wrestling, going into the weekend, and is also sitting first in the men's all around point, which combines a single competitor's points from men's team looked to rebound from the disappointment. Relieved of the pressure of performing in front of the hometown crowd, the men's team returned to its top form of past rodeos, not dwelling on the past. Aggie team roper Jake "Sunshine" Wanner and Weber State University partner Taylor Christensen pulled through to place second in the average. After slipping a leg on a fast steer in the first round, Wanner and Christensen ended up going into the second round sitting at fifth. The second round was a better draw and Wanner roped the two heels cleanly. After a season of ups and downs, Wanner reflects on this fall semester with mixed feelings. Wanner looks forward to the break between fall and spring semesters, to work on consistency and roping as many steers as he can. "This season hasn't been the greatest," Wanner said. "We had a hard time putting runs together." Though the season has not been as fulfilling as he wanted, Wanner said he's happy to go out with a point placing and looks to continue the success into spring semester. One Aggie who struggled this weekend was saddle bronc rider Ken Lym. Lym currently sits atop the saddle bronc regional standings but bucked off both horses this weekend. Being the only rough stock rider from Utah State, Lym represents the team well, always trying his hardest to post points. Although it didn't happen for him this weekend. Going into the six-month break, the rodeo team will focus on putting runs together as a team and making it to the short round more often. Placing in the top six in the short round is rewarded with points that help the team in regional placing as well as individual rankings. "We all have our goals that we are going to work on and start out stronger this spring," Clissold said. The Rodeo team returns to action the first weekend in March, with a rodeo at Weber State University. - mega.bodi@aggiemaiiusu.edu OFrom Page 4 NOW O?€N! GREEN CANYON FARMS CORN MAZE m<tfe Monday-Thursday 5-11 pm Fri 5-12 am Sat 2-12 am Adults (age 12 & up) $6 Kids (age 3-11) $4 2850 North 200 East North Logan (turn east at Quality Auto) www.greencanyoncornmie.com HAUHTEP WEEKEUPS STARTBI&SEPT30 AHPffl OCTOBER F5R $1 MCRE. r — , 435-770-7547 $1 OFF each admission up to 2 people with coupon not to be oombfcud tvfth other offlm. Good thru 10/31/2011 ! • . i«H " ^ ^ " ••• H' i Soccer defeats SLCC, BYU-I at home midfiekT The Aggies played again Saturday on Chuck and Gloria Bell field against BYU-Idaho. It was a slow start for Utah State, scoring just one goal in the first half before coming back to score six more goals in the second half to take a 7-0 victory. The Aggies broke out of their rough start with a goal in the 25th minute. Carlson took a left-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box, which curled right just inside of the goal. "The game was very exciting and dynamic," Carlson said. "It was a team effort to win this game." USU fullback Tyson Kelley got a through ball up the middle and was able to score on a 1-v-l situation. "After a good halftime motivational speech by our coach, we came out in the second half and played like a different team," Leonard said. "We stepped harder to close down BYU-I attackers, and finished our opportunities on goal when we were presented with them." Five minutes later, inside midfielder Jordan Butterfield scored on a penalty kick to give USU a 3-0 advantage. "We came out really slow against BYU-I and were fortunate to be up 1-0 by the break," Butterfield said. "During halftime, coach Morgan really got us fired up to play a lot sharper in the second half." The scoring onslaught continued for the Aggies when inside midfielder Billy Harlow ended a string of several solid passes with a hard strike to the right corner of the net in the 60th minute. Outside midfielder Jared Pace added to the goal total for USU in the 73rd minute, and forward Hayden Monsen scored in the 80th minute off a pass from Harlow. Kevin Young scored the * final goal of the game off a through ball from James Moughamian. - macaelivie@aggiemail.usu. edu |