Photo courtesy of Utah State Athletics
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sports Network) -
IDAHO: For the third time this season the Vandals were held to a touchdown or less as they bowed to Texas State on Saturday, 38-7, in WAC action on the road. Losers of six of their seven games so far this season, the Vandals were victimized by an aggressive Texas State running attack that accounted for 337 yards, the opposition coming up with 519 yards of offense altogether against a slumping Idaho defense that is now ranked 112th in the country with 38.0 ppg allowed. Quarterback Dominique Blackman converted 15-of-28 passes for 161 yards, was sacked once and had a pass intercepted, while James Baker scored the only points of the outing for the Vandals with a three-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. The Vandals head to Ruston this weekend to challenge the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in WAC action. Idaho hosted the Bulldogs last season and bowed in a 24-11 decision, the second straight loss in the series for the Vandals who trail, 5-2.
LOUISIANA TECH: A failed PAT that was returned the other way for two points early in the meeting with nationally-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday night came back to haunt the Bulldogs as the team bowed in a wild 59-57 final in Shreveport. The makeup for the season opener that was postponed due to potential weather issues, the contest at Independence Stadium had a little bit of everything in one of the most electric offensive tilts in recent memory. Louisiana Tech, nationally ranked for the first time in more than a decade, scored all of its points in the final 35 minutes of the contest after trailing 27-0 in the second quarter. Colby Cameron converted 44-of-58 passes for a career-best 450 yards and five touchdowns, four of those scores going to Quinton Patton who set career highs with 21 receptions for 233 yards, his receptions total tying for the single-game school record as well. Tech rattled off 101 offensive plays, leading to 615 yards of total offense in the setback. The Bulldogs, once more outside of the national rankings this week, are back home again this coming weekend as they host the Idaho Vandals in WAC action. LaTech owns a 5-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Vandals, thanks in part to a 24-11 win in Moscow last season.
NEW MEXICO STATE: Losers of five of their last six games after opening the season with a 49-19 victory over Sacramento State at home in Las Cruces the Aggies, who were off this past week, hit the road this coming weekend to tangle with the Utah State Aggies in WAC action in Logan, Utah. NMSU trails in the all-time series, 32-7, losing two straight and four of the last five encounters. Last season, USU posted a 24-21 win in Las Cruces which is where New Mexico State last won in the series three years ago in a 20-17 final. Against programs from the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Aggies have lost eight in a row dating back to last season. The most recent victory over an FBS foe was a 48-45 decision versus Fresno State at home on Nov. 12, 2011. The last road win in FBS play for NMSU was a 42-28 final at New Mexico on Oct. 1, 2011.
SAN JOSE STATE: Heading into last weekend against Utah State, the Spartans ranked second in the nation in sacks with 4.40 per game. What San Jose State was not prepared for was having the tables turned on them as the Aggies set a school record with an astounding 13 sacks in a 49-27 decision in California. Quarterback David Fales set a school record for completions with 38 on 50 attempts, leading to 467 yards and three touchdowns, but at the same time he was taken down on 13 occasions behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 102 yards. Noel Grigsby caught 11 passes for 181 yards and two scores, making him the school's all-time leader in receiving yards with 2,288, but the pressure mounting on Fales prevented the SJSU offense from keeping up with USU in the conference opener for both programs. San Jose State, which had a four-game win streak snapped with the loss, also came up empty in sacks for the first time this season. The Spartans make their way to the Lone Star State this coming weekend as they clash with first-time foe and fellow WAC member, Texas-San Antonio at the Alamodome.
TEXAS STATE: The Bobcats opened with consecutive touchdowns against slumping Idaho in their first WAC outing on Saturday and then closed with 24 straight points en route to a lopsided 38-7 final in San Marcos. Texas State recorded four touchdowns on the ground as it generated a hefty 337 yards on 47 attempts, while quarterback Shaun Rutherford completed 14-of-19 passes for 182 yards and another score in the romp as the team evened its 2012 record at 3-3. Defensively, the Bobcats limited Idaho to just 15 first downs and 315 yards of total offense on a mere 58 snaps, all of which limited the visitors to barely 24 minutes of ball possession. The Bobcats take a break from the action this week, their first bye of the 2012 campaign, and will be back on the field on Oct. 27 at San Jose State.
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO: Winners of five straight games to begin the 2012 campaign, the Roadrunners were dealt their first defeat of the season on Saturday in a 34-14 loss at Rice. The UTSA offense sputtered as it generated just 239 yards and controlled the action for less than 24 minutes on the day as a result. Quarterback Eric Soza, who was shaken up and had to be taken out for a series due to a right leg injury, finished just 10-of-23 for 113 yards and a touchdown, a 36-yard scoring pass to David Glasco II in the third quarter. Glasco also scored on a two-point conversion for the visitors, while kicker Kristian Stern knocked through field goals of 20 and 35 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively. The Roadrunners contend against their second conference foe this weekend as they tangle with the San Jose State Spartans at home in San Antonio.
UTAH STATE: Defense was the name of the game for the Aggies on Saturday as the team dealt out a school-record 13 sacks in a 49-27 victory over San Jose State in Western Athletic Conference play at Spartan Stadium. Kyler Fackrell, Nevin Lawson, Jordan Nielsen and Connor Williams all notched a pair of sacks in the outing, the team sending SJSU back for 102 yards in losses on all those quarterback takedowns. While the defense was doing its job for the Aggies, Kerwynn Williams and Chuckie Keeton were handling the offense for USU as the former ran for 176 yards and scored three times on the ground, and the latter converted 26-of-35 passes for 273 yards and three scores as well. Winning six straight conference games dating back to last season and 10 of the last 13 games overall, the Aggies are enjoying their most successful run in four decades since they also posted 10 wins in 13 tries between the 1972-73 campaigns. Next up for these Aggies is a meeting at home against the Aggies of New Mexico State, another program from the Western Athletic Conference. According to Utah State records, this weekend's hosts have won two in a row and four of the last five matchups versus NMSU.