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Logan • Utah State is bowl-eligible and probably won't know its destination for at least another week.
Whenever the invitation comes, however, coach Matt Wells vows the Aggies will be ready to bounce back from Saturday's 51-28 loss to BYU. The defeat snapped Utah State's 14-game home winning streak.
"We still have something to play for," Wells said. "It's a chance to win four straight bowl games and these seniors know that. I hate that we couldn't send them out as winners here at Maverik Stadium, but they had a heck of a run. We have to rally the troops and play well in the bowl game. That's something that is important to us, no matter where we go."
Utah State lost four of its last six games to finish 6-6. Various projections have the Aggies ticketed for any one of five games, including the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the Cactus Bowl, the Armed Forces Bowl, the Hawaii Bowl or the Arizona Bowl.
Senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton simply wants another chance. His fumble that BYU returned for a touchdown on the final play of the first half gave the Cougars a 24-21 lead and turned the game in their favor. Keeton also struggled in the second half, when he completed only seven of 22 passes for 93 yards.
He promised to lead by example during Utah State's bowl preparations.
"I take more blame than anything else," he said. "I know I was the reason why we didn't do as well as we wanted. I know everybody is going to say no, but that's the truth. That's something I'll have to live with. That's something I'll have to make up for. We only have one game left, hopefully, but they are going to see a pit bull whenever they come into this facility."
Asked about Utah State's struggles on offense in the second half, Keeton said, "They really didn't make too many big adjustments. It was really more what we were doing. There were a lot of balls I could have thrown better. Other than that, we need to execute a little better. … It's been a pretty similar story throughout the season. We kind of killed ourselves a little bit."
Utah State finished with more total yards than BYU, 445-358. The Aggies also had more first downs (23-15). But BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum threw four touchdown passes, including a 72-yarder to Mitch Mathews on a blown coverage late in the second quarter that allowed the Cougars to cut into a 21-10 deficit.
"I felt like we were very inconsistent throughout the season," linebacker Nick Vigil said. "We gave up far too many points and let the team down. We have to get things figured out before the bowl game."
Twitter: @sluhm —
Aggies' outlook
P Utah State finishes the season 6-6 after a 51-28 loss to BYU.
• The Aggies are bowl-eligible but don't yet know where they will play.
• It will be the Aggies' fifth consecutive postseason appearance.