OCR Text |
Show Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012 StatesmanSports Page 9 P3 U 7 L A -- I- Au t Not sure about how to students' attention? 2 1- A d expan— 9• I your business rikl.ea A and get The Utah Statesman We'll help you unscramble your advertising ideas Call 797-1743 or visit www.utahstatesman.com UtahStatesman Th4! In Commemoration of Dr. Stephen R. Covey's 80' Birthday SPECIAL DEAN'S CONVOCATION Stephen M.R. Covey kte UTAH STATE KICKER NICK DIAZ attempts one of his three field goal tries while sophomore Jaron Bentrude holds during the 41 -7 win over New Mexico State in Romney Stadium on Saturday. Diaz made a 53 and 48-yarder, but was blocked from 44 yards away. Diaz was also a perfect 5-5 in point-after attempts. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo FOOTBALL: Bowl eligible From page 8 play defense. They scored seven points, but we've got some things to clean up." The USU football team is out to prove that it's better than its 1-5 all-time bowl record indicates, and the Aggies are doing it on both sides of the ball. On defense, the Aggies are ranked in the top 21 in the country in four different statistical categories: Sacks per game (4th), scoring defense (7th), rushing defense (13th) and total defense (21). While the defense has bent at times, it rarely breaks. In fact, the only thing the defense hasn't done this season is score points itself. On the season, the defense is holding opponents to a 32.86 percent conversion rate on third down — ranked 21st in the country — and are 11th nationally, having given up points on 16 of 25 opponent drives inside the redzone. Against New Mexico State, USU allowed 321 yards of total offense — a yard below its season average — and forced two turnovers. Senior cornerback Will Davis picked up his first career interception to end an NMSU scoring threat and was one broken NMSU Utah State 0 0 7 0 —7 14 14 10 3 — 41 First Quarter USU — Kerwynn Williams 76 pass from Chuckie Keeton (Nick Diaz kick) 14:38. USU — Chuck Jacobs 49 pass from Keeton (Diaz kick) 6:26. Second Quarter USU — Keeton 76 run (Diaz kick) 14:37. USU — Williams 3 run (Diaz kick) :39. Third Quarter USU — Diaz 53 field goal 10:48. NMSU — Austin Franklin 6 pass from Andrew Manley (Marcus Johnson kick) 8:15. USU — Keeton 9 run (Diaz kick) 1:01. Fourth Quarter USU — Diaz 48 field goal 12:13. NMSU USU First downs 21 20 Total Net Yards 321 516 Rushes-yards 34-132 36-256 tackle away from going the distance to score. "It was long overdue," Davis said of the interception. "Since Colorado State, fans would tweet me, 'I feel it this time,' and I couldn't get it, but today it felt great for me and I know it felt great to the fans. I thank God for this opportunity and this time I definitely took advantage of it. When I got it I just went. I didn't know where I was going I was just running." Offensively, the Aggies rank in the top 50 in the country in four categories: passing efficiency (26th), passing offense (47th), rushing offense (46th), and total offense (47th). Sophomore quarterback Chuckie Keeton was named America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for his performance against New Mexico State. Keeton accounted for four touchdowns — two on the ground and two through the air — while racking up 338 all-purpose yards en route to the win. A balanced offensive attack resulted in four different Aggies accumulating at least 39 yards rushing. Devonte Glover-Wright and Kelvin Lee finished with 39 and 46 yards respectively, while Keeton and Kerwynn Williams each finished with more than 80 yards on the ground. Williams added 94 yards receiving, and Chuck Jacobs also finished with 94 yards through the air as the Aggie offense ran past the New Mexico State defense — sometimes without them knowing, as was the case on Keeton's 76-yard scamper in the first quarter. "It was funny," Keeton said. "They were playing man and I was reading the defensive end and I knew they weren't keying in on me as much as Kerwynn, and as soon as I started running I saw the corner stay locked on with Travis Reynolds and I ran behind him. The corner kind of paved the way. I was just happy to get into the end zone." What it all adds up to is the Aggies are 6-2 and bowl eligible, and it's only October. For the second time in as many seasons, Aggie nation is guaranteed to see its team playing into December. Wednesday, October 24, 2012 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m. Orson A. Christensen Auditorium (BUS 215) open to the public JON M. HUNTSMAN SCHOOL Of BUSINESS UtahStateUn iversity huntsman.usu.edu – curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu Twitter: @curtislundstrom Passing 189 260 Punt Returns 0-0 3-16 Kickoff Returns 3-47 2-49 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-35 Comp-Att-Int 20-38-1 17-27-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 3-23 3-19 Punts 6-44 3-36 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0 Penalties-Yards 1-15 8-76 Time of Poss. 33:42 26:18 Individual Statistics RUSHING — New Mexico State, G. Morrison 19-96, T. Colwell 5-31, A. Franklin 3-16, A. Manley 7-m11. Utah State, K. Williams 13-82, C. Keeton 7-81, K. Lee 5-46, D. GloverWright 5-39, J. Hill 4-17, C. Harrison 1-m8. PASSING — New Mexico State, A. Manley 19-37-1-177, T. Colwell 1-10-12. Utah State, C. Keeton 16-26-2257, C. Harrison 1-1-0-3. RECEIVING — New Mexico State, A. Franklin 8-84, G. Morrison 4-28, T. Walls 3-37, K. Bateman 3-21, J. Matthews 1-12, J. Brown 1-7. Utah State, C. Jacobs 4-94, K. Bartlett 4-18, K. Williams 3-94, T. Reynolds 2-25, C. Webb 2-25, T. Van Leeuwen 1-3, M. Austin 1-1. MISSED FIELD GOALS — New Mexico State, T. Stampler 42 (blocked). Utah State, N. Diaz 44 (blocked). .01frifLI rc'dketiow, Exclusively @ dinief `4 . 930 N Main Logan |