This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Logan • It's going to be an emotional week at Utah State, especially for seniors like defensive end Ricky Ali'ifua.
The Aggies play long-time rival BYU on Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
For the Utah State, which has dropped seven of its last eight, the 86th game in the series with the Cougars offers one final chance at redeeming a lost season.
USU is 3-8 after last week's excruciating 38-37 loss at Nevada, which wiped out a late 13-point deficit and scored the game-winning touchdown on fourth down with five seconds remaining.
"Quite frankly," Ali'ifua said, "we didn't play consistently enough to win that game. We didn't execute consistently enough. That's the biggest thing that you have to realize when you lose a game in the manner which we did."
Ali'ifua had a season-high six tackles at Nevada, including a sack. He knows the Aggie defense will have to play its best against BYU, which averages 30.2 points and 411 yards per game.
"This is a great BYU team," Ali'ifua said. "Their offense is, in my opinion, really good. They have a lot of talent over there. … Overall, if we want to win this game, we're going to have to dominate on the defensive side. We will not win this game if we do not do that."
Can the Aggies bounce back after the devastating loss to Nevada?
"Absolutely," he said. "If the effort wasn't there, the game wouldn't have been as close as it was. The last few games wouldn't have been as close as they were, if our effort wasn't there. That speaks volumes of the kind of guys that are in this program. …
"Has the season gone the way we wanted it to or we imagined it would? Not by any means. But with that being said, the guys in this program, they're stand-up guys. I have no doubt that we're going to play our hearts out, like we do every game."
Wells praises Rodriguez
The key play against Nevada came with seven minutes remaining.
Utah State owned a 37-24 lead and forced a punt. But the ball slipped through senior Andrew Rodriguez's fingers and bounced into the end zone, where the Wolf Pack recovered.
"He's been excellent all year," said coach Matt Wells. "He hadn't muffled or bobbled one all year. He had been spot-on — against the wind or with the wind — and he's caught balls knuckle-balling."
A former walk-on, Rodriguez stationed himself at the 25-yard line to receive the critical punt. He drifted back to the "12 or 13" before mishandling it, Wells said, so criticism of Rodriguez for trying to field the punt too close to the Aggie goal line is unwarranted.
"He gives everything he has for this program and has since he's been here," Wells said. "… He's obviously not trying to do that."
Briefly
Junior quarterback Kent Myers needs 182 yards of total offense to reach 6,000 in his career. Only six other players in school history have accounted for 6,000 yards. … Utah State's two-deep lists Brock Carmen, Anthony Williams, Alex Huerta and Derek Larsen as the starting linebackers. But Wells said, "We're pretty banged up there." Carmen and Williams are "playing hurt" and backup Chase Christiansen has a broken hand. Huerta recently missed a week "for a concussion," according to Wells, and former starter Leki Uasike probably won't play against BYU because of "neck issues." … Pointing out that the Cougars have lost four games by a total of eight points, Wells said, "They are that close to being in the College Football Playoff discussion."
Twitter: @sluhm —
Utah State at BYU
P Saturday, 8:15 p.m.
TV • ESPNU