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Logan • Not in their wildest dreams — not the Utah State coaches, not the Aggie players and certainly not the 22,509 fans who jammed into the construction zone known as Maverik Stadium — did anyone see this coming.
No. 21 Boise State rolled into Friday night's game at Utah State with 17 wins in 20 games under second-year coach Bryan Harsin. The Broncos hadn't lost in Logan since 1997, about the time the youngest players on the two teams were being born. Boise had beaten Idaho State, Virginia, Hawaii and Colorado State by 180 points — 48 more than the Aggies scored in their first five games.
But it happened.
Holy Merlin Olsen, it happened.
Utah State forced eight turnovers, Boise State trailed 45-10 at halftime and Aggie fans stormed the field after a 52-26 victory gave Utah State control of the championship race in the Mountain West Conference's strongest division. The Aggies are 4-2 overall but 3-0 in league play. If they win out, they're in the Mountain West title game on Dec. 5.
"It's huge," coach Matt Wells said moments after Utah State avenged a 50-19 loss at Boise last season. "I'll make no bones about it. We've been saying, out of respect for Boise, that the road to the Mountain West championship goes through them. Until someone knocks them off, the throne is theirs."
The dominating victory, Wells said, "isn't the championship. But it puts us in the driver's seat. We'll control our own destiny and that will be a challenge — a challenge our guys will readily accept."
Utah State's defense turned the game in the Aggies' favor during an incredible nine-possession stretch that started late in the first quarter and ended moments into the third. Boise State turned the ball over eight times in less than 18 minutes. Utah State scored 35 points off those mistakes.
"The ball bounces funny sometimes," Harsin said, "and the ball bounced out of our hands, and some of the tips went the other way."
Utah State turned three turnovers into 21 points in the final 85 seconds of the first half to bury the Broncos.
Nick Vigil's fumble recovery led to Kent Myers' 39-yard touchdown run and Bryant Hayes' fumble recovery occurred one play before Myers' 21-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Sharp.
The coup de grace came on the final play of the half, when Marwin Evans intercepted a pass by Boise freshman Brett Rypien and raced 90 yards for a touchdown as time expired.
"To have a swing like that," Harsin said, "was tough. That was a tough one."
Not counting Evans' interception return, Utah State had to drive only 11, 16, 46 and 21 yards for touchdowns during Boise's turnover festival.
"It was crazy," Myers said. "I just kept getting the ball back with a short field. We wanted to seize those opportunities and hurry up and score. This is a team that puts a lot of points on the board. As soon as we got a turnover, we knew we needed to run it in."
Said Harsin: "Give Utah State credit. They played well. It's a tough place to play and coach Wells had his team prepared. Turnovers are the key ingredient in any game. We've been on the other side of that turnover battle before. But we didn't win that battle tonight."
Twitter: @sluhm —
Bucking the Broncos
• Utah State defeats an Associated Press Top-25 team at home for the first time since 1991 with a 52-26 win over Boise State.
• The Broncos allow 50 points in regulation for the first time since a 55-51 victory over New Mexico State on Nov. 7, 1998.
• Utah State's 45-10 lead was Boise State's biggest halftime deficit since it trailed Louisiana Tech, 42-0, on Oct. 3, 1998.