This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah State's offense struggled when it mattered most during Utah's 24-14 victory over the Aggies on Friday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
At halftime in the 112th game of the long-running rivalry, USU and the Utes were tied at 14.
Utah State had the momentum after a touchdown before halftime, and received the second-half kickoff. The Aggies were positioned to put pressure on heavily-favored Utah.
Instead, the Utah State offense came to a halt. It went three-and-out on all three of its third-quarter possessions. USU held the ball for only 4 minutes and 19 seconds.
"Basically the offense went nonexistent in the third quarter," Aggies coach Matt Wells said.
The Aggies' first drive of the second half was a wasted opportunity.
Quarterback Chuckie Keeton ran for four yards on first down before passing to Zach Van Leeuwen for five. But on third-and-one, running back LaJuan Hunt was stopped for no gain and Wells decided to punt.
The Utes responded with a 69-yard touchdown drive and never trailed over the final 1 1/2 quarters.
Was Wells tempted to go on fourth down?
"Yeah," he said, "but it was a bad spot on the field early in the game."
In the end, Utah State dropped to 1-1 this season heading into next Saturday's game against Washington.
"I'm proud of the kids," Wells said. "They fought their tails off right down to the end. … That's a really good team. [Utah] is going to win a lot of games in the Pac-12."
Utah State's offense in the first half looked little like it did in the season opener against Southern Utah.
In the 12-9 win over the Thunderbirds, the Aggies did not score an offensive touchdown. They gained only 250 yards and went 1-for-15 on third down.
Not so against the Utes.
Utah State rallied from 7-0 and 14-7 deficits to tie the game. By intermission, the Aggies had gained 187 yards and were 5-for-8 on third down.
After a slow start, which included a roughing the passer penalty on Utah that left him limping, Keeton completed 11 of 17 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Trailing 7-0, Utah State tied the game on the third play of the second quarter when Keeton beat a blitz and found Hunt alone in the end zone.
Keeton saved the best for last, however.
After Utah grabbed a 14-7 lead, the Aggies gained possession at their own 24-yard line with 1:49 left in the half. Keeton accounted for 68 of 76 yards on a nine-play drive.
Oddly, his biggest play might have been an incompletion.
On second and one at the Utah 24, a bad snap sailed over Keeton's head. But he raced back, picked the ball up near midfield, rolled away from the pursuing defenders and threw it away.
On the next play, Keeton kept the ball after a play fake and gained 10 yards. He followed with a perfect strike to Van Leeuwen, a redshirt freshman from Timpview High, for a 15-yard score.
The touchdown pass to Van Leeuwen was the 60th of his career, tying Keeton with Jose Fuentes for first place on Utah State's all-time list.
Keeton "played his butt off," Wells said.
Said Keeton: "Just a tough loss to swallow. But we did a lot of good things, especially coming from last week, at least on the offensive side of the ball. … I see everything going uphill from here. I'm excited to see what this team is about to do."
Twitter:@sluhm —
Aggies offense in their first two games
Opponent Rush Pass Total 3rd down Pts
Southern Utah 140 110 250 1-15 12
Utah 117 256 373 7-14 14