Logan • Utah State coach Blake Anderson had a message about endurance for his team this week.
“They’re going to be twitchy early. They’re going to be flashy and explosive early,” the USU coach said of the Colorado State Rams. “But keep hitting them in the mouth.”
It took a little while, but the Aggies seemed to get that message while rallying to a 44-24 win Saturday.
USU quarterback Cooper Legas threw four scores and the Aggies pulled away from Colorado State in the second half.
“Our toughness, our conditioning, just the way we do things is going to show up,” Anderson said. “If they could just hang on and not give up on the process, the process would start to take hold.”
Anderson will hope that’s the story of the Aggies’ season. USU has now won back-to-back games after starting the season 1-3.
Colorado State built a 17-0 lead before the Aggies rallied to tie it at halftime. Early in the third, the Aggies (3-3, 1-1 Mountain West) scored two touchdowns in just under two minutes to seal it.
Legas threw a 76-yard scoring pass to Terrell Vaughn on the drive’s third play following the second-half kickoff for a one-touchdown lead. On Colorado State’s ensuing drive, the Aggies forced the Rams to go three-and-out and allowed minus-4 yards to force a punt. Legas — again on the drive’s third play — completed a 51-yard scoring pass to Jalen Royals.
Legas finished 19 for 29 for 387 yards overcoming a pair of interceptions. Davon Booth ran for 141 yards on 14 carries and scored twice.
“I don’t want them to be satisfied,” Anderson said. “I went them to keep working.”
The Rams built a 17-0 lead within the first six minutes when after a field goal, Tory Horton returned a punt 79 yards for a 10-0 advantage. The Rams intercepted Utah State on the Aggies’ ensuing drive and that led to Vann Schield’s 22-yard scoring run with 9:34 left in the first quarter.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi finished 26-of-57 (45.6%) passing for 225 yards with three interceptions.