When the Utah State defense held on at the end of the first half, keeping Hawaii out of the end zone, it wasn’t a one-time thing.
That drive marked the seventh time in the previous six quarters of play that opponents had moved into the red zone, inside the Utah State 20, before the Aggies stiffened up.
None of those seven occasions resulted in its foes’ scoring a point — much less a touchdown.
“When you go down in there, we consider the red zone to be our home,” Utah State safety Dallin Leavitt said. “So when an intruder comes into your home, that’s when you find out who you really are.”
The closest Hawaii would come again to the red zone was a third-quarter drive that ended on downs at the Aggies 28-yard line.
Breakups are easy to do
Aggies cornerback Jalen Davis had a sterling performance in his final game at Maverik Stadium.
The senior had a total of four pass breakups to his credit, a career high for Davis in one game, and he also got to Hawaii quarterback Dru Brown for a sack only four minutes into the game.
Davis was named midseason All-American first team by The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports.
Run sets up throw
Quarterback Kent Myers, who started the first seven games of the year, also used his legs to set up a 49-yard touchdown pass to Braelon Roberts. Two plays before the TD strike, Myers broke out of the pocket for 25-yard gain.
Myers’ touchdown throw was the 39th scoring pass in his Utah State career, tying him for fourth all time with Brent Snyder (1987-88).
Rare miss
A rarity this season occurred when placekicker Dominik Eberle just missed a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter of Saturday’s game. That was only the second errant try on the season for the sophomore, who later connected on a 20-yard try and is now 15 of 17 for the current campaign.