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Fort Collins, Colo • Gut wrenching, heart-breaking, disappointing — any negative reaction you can think of was used by the Aggies to describe their 16-13 loss to Colorado State on Saturday.

The Aggies (4-3, 1-1) could have controlled their own destiny in the Mountain division with a win. Instead, they left Hughes Stadium with a painful loss and an unsure offense after quarterback Darell Garretson exited the game early in the third quarter.

Garretson, the sophomore who ignited the Aggies to wins over BYU and Air Force after Chuckie Keeton was sidelined with a knee injury, suffered an injury to his right wrist. He left the field with his arm in a sling and ice on his wrist.

Utah State coach Matt Wells said he is unsure how long Garretson will be sidelined, but doesn't expect him back for the Aggies' game against UNLV next week.

Even without Garretson and an offense that had trouble moving the ball after the first quarter, the Aggies had chances to take a victory, thanks to another standout defensive performance.

But it, too, wavered in the end with CSU's Jared Roberts making two field goals from 46 yards in the fourth quarter to win the game.

Roberts' last field goal came as time expired and was the culmination of a drive that started on Colorado State's 12-yard line with 58 seconds remaining.

CSU's Dee Hart rushed for 17 yards, and quarterback Garrett Grayson connected with Rashard Higgins for a 46-yard gain to set up the field goal attempt with four seconds remaining.

The Aggies called timeout twice, and the Rams (6-1, 2-1) were flagged for a false start, none of which rattled Roberts, who nailed the field goal.

Many of the sold-out crowd of 32,546 rushed the field as the Aggies slowly made their way to the locker room.

Wells said he thought at worst the Aggies were headed for overtime.

"It pulls your guts out, and you hate it for the kids," he said. "You just hate it, but credit to them for making the kick. It was a heck of a kick."

Even though the defense gave up the two big plays on the final drive, the Aggie defenders could hardly be blamed for the loss.

USU sacked Grayson eight times, one shy of what the Rams have given up in their previous six games combined, and didn't allow him to complete a pass in the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, the offense struggled from the beginning. Garretson was not as accurate in his passing as he was in the two previous games, while the run game was ineffective, save for a 59-yard touchdown run in the first quarter by Joe Hill.

The Aggies were just 2 of 12 on third down conversions and ran 50 plays to CSU's 71, both areas that doomed the Aggies.

"It was a heartbreaker," Hill said. "We just weren't consistent enough in the run game tonight. We could have taken care of things at the end, and we didn't."

Now it's up to Boise State to take care of things. The Broncos (5-2, 3-1) are in the driver's seat after beating the Rams earlier in the season. USU visits Boise State on Nov. 29 in a game that could still be the divisional showdown.

First concern, though, for the Aggies is getting over this loss and finding some offensive answers.

lwodraska@sltrib.com Twitter: @lyawodraska —

Colorado State 16,Utah State 13

Utah St. 10 0 0 3 — 13

Colorado St. 7 3 0 6 — 16

First Quarter

CSU • Hart 1 run (Roberts kick), 13:40.

USU • Hill 59 run (Diaz kick), 9:57.

USU • FG Diaz 25, 4:22.

Second Quarter

CSU • FG Roberts 52, 4:50.

Fourth Quarter

USU • FG Diaz 32, 14:20.

CSU • FG Roberts 46, 1:50.

CSU • FG Roberts 46, :00.

Attendance • 32,546.

USU CSU

First downs 11 19

Rushes-yards 19-100 39-75

Passing 160 243

Comp-Att-Int 19-31-1 20-32-0

Return Yards 11 19

Punts-Avg. 7-42.6 7-43.7

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-45 11-116

Time of Possession 24:15 35:45

Individual Statistics

Rushing • Utah St., Hill 9-64, Hunt 2-26, Harrison 1-15, Sharp 2-5, Natson 1-2, Hall 1-1, N.Vigil 1-0, Robinson 1-(minus 4), Patterson 1-(minus 9). Colorado St., Hart 12-60, Jarrells 11-38, Oden Jr. 3-2, Hansley 1-0, Grayson 12-(minus 25).

Passing • Utah St., Garretson 14-19-1-132, Harrison 5-12-0-28.

Colorado St., Grayson 20-31-0-243, Lovett 0-1-0-0.

Receiving • Utah St., Natson 6-28, Butler 5-46, Sharp 2-33, Robinson 2-24, Weichers 2-16, Suite 1-7, Hill 1-6. Colorado St., Higgins 10-187, Walker 3-9, Hansley 2-8, Hart 1-9, White 1-9, Lovett 1-8, X.Williams 1-8, Jarrells 1-5.