This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Boise, Idaho • As the skies darkened outside Albertsons Stadium, Utah State coach Matt Wells sat with two of his 21 seniors, Brandon Swindall and David Moala, at Tuesday's Famous Potato Bowl post-game press conference.
Akron had defeated the Aggies, 23-21, to snap Utah State's three-game postseason winning streak. The Zips celebrated on the field, providing background noise for the USU media session.
Moala, a 290-pound nose tackle, had tears in his eyes. His college football career ended — unsuccessfully — 20 minutes earlier.
Utah State concluded a once-promising season with its fifth loss in the final seven games.
Overcoming a series of critical first-half mistakes, Utah State's Chuckie Keeton passed a two-yard touchdown to Swindall with 1:12 remaining to narrow Akron's lead to 23-20.
A holding penalty on the extra point added intrigue to Brock Warren's attempt, but he knocked it through and Utah State still had a chance. But Jake Thompson's onside kick attempt bounced quickly and smoothly into the hands of Akron's DeAndre Scott.
"… You've got to make plays to win games at the end," Wells said. "We didn't do that. We didn't do that early enough and we didn't do that late — all the way down to the onside kick. We don't even give ourselves a chance to recover it.
"Those are individual things that can be learned throughout the season, if they're willing to be learned because, at the end of the day, it all comes down to attitude and effort from an individual standpoint."
In retrospect, Utah State's season went from successful to disappointing because of three close losses to New Mexico (14-13), Air Force (35-28) and, finally, Akron.
"You're going to remember a couple of disappointing games back-to-back in November," Wells said. "And then this last one, obviously. You always remember the last one."
In all three losses, the Aggies had the look of the better team.
In all three cases, the Lobos, Falcons and Zips made fewer mistakes and the biggest plays.
As a result, Utah State finished below .500 for the first time since 2010.
"That's where you've got to reach up and where leadership kicks in — the will to win," Wells said. "… Somebody has to make a play. It's not always at the end of the game. That's what I think we're having a hard time with. Sometimes those plays are early and sometimes those plays are late. I think that held true" against Akron.
Wells, too, became a bit emotional when asked about moving forward without seniors like quarterback Chuckie Keeton, linebacker Kyler Fackrell, receiver Hunter Sharp, Swindall and Moala.
"I'll always remember the kids," he said. "… I'm going to have another year. I'm going to have other years and I had my time [playing] as a Utah State Aggie. But it's all about the players. That's what you go away with.
"You remember the 21 seniors as individuals and you remember them collectively. You remember a big win over Boise State — a tremendous win for our program — and some other wins we haven't had for a while, [like] Fresno."
Utah State opens the 2016 season against Weber State on Sept. 1 at renovated Maverik Stadium. The Aggies play non-Mountain West Conference games at USC on Sept. 10 and against Arkansas State on Sept. 17.
"There's some disappointment," Wells said. "But there are things to be happy about and to build on as we move forward. The guys that will be back on Jan. 10 will absolutely move forward.
"We'll tighten the reins and … make sure how we do things that will make us better. At the end of the day, we've done something the last five years that Utah State has never done before and that's continue the bowl streak."
Twitter: @sluhm —
USU in review
• Akron defeated Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, 23-21.
• Utah State had a three-game postseason winning streak snapped.
• The Aggies lose 21 seniors off a team that finished 6-7.