Madison, Wis. • It started so promising.
Utah State held a 10-0 first-half lead and was keeping No. 9 Wisconsin’s offense in check. However, the Badgers scored 31 unanswered points in a span of 9 minutes, 2 seconds to open the floodgates, going on to record a 59-10 victory at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday night.
“I was proud of those kids,” Utah State coach Matt Wells said. “First half basically went toe to toe and we’re in the game. What happened in the third quarter, short field, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. And honestly, I think some of the youth set in and we started playing like we were young in some spots. Talented, but young. You’ve got to respond better at that point in the game, and that’s the bottom line.”
After Utah State stopped Wisconsin on its first four drives, the Badgers tallied points on their next five possessions. Wisconsin had 24 points off turnovers on the night.
Utah State (0-1) surrendered 107 yards to Wisconsin (1-0) in the first half, but the Badgers finished with 478 yards offense compared to 22 for the Aggies.
“We just need to work on just keeping our intensity up when the going gets tough and facing adversity,” Utah State running back LaJaun Hunt said. “We’re going to face adversity throughout the whole season and I feel like against them we didn’t handle it so well.
“We came out hard, flying around fast and playing fast, but we couldn’t handle adversity well.”
Utah State’s defense amped it up on Wisconsin’s first drive of the game as cornerback Jalen Davis and linebacker Maika Magalei registered sacks to force a punt.
The Aggies got their offense going in the second possession. Utah State worked into Wisconsin territory before a reverse for Jordan Nathan gained 19 yards to the Badgers 9. The Aggies had a third-and-goal at the 3, but a false start pushed them back and Utah State settled for a 25-yard field goal from Dominik Eberle to make it 3-0.
On Wisconsin’s next drive, quarterback Alex Hornibrook never got his hands on the ball and Utah State linebacker Suli Tamaivena scooped up the loose ball on the turf and raced 13 yards to the Wisconsin 16. Two plays later, Hunt took a handoff, bounced his way through the middle of the defense and found the end zone from 12 yards out for a 10-0 advantage.
Wisconsin’s offense didn’t get into Utah State territory until midway through the second quarter. The Badgers converted on five third downs and capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by Bradrick Shaw with 1:12 remaining in the first half.
“It gave them momentum,” Wells said. “They stole the momentum back right there when they convert those third downs. Got the crowd into it, and got them right back in the game.”
Wisconsin ran 19 plays for 29 yards in its first four drives. On its touchdown drive, the Badgers went 15 plays for 79 yards.
Not looking to be conservative, Utah State went to the air on the first play of its drive. Myers threw a short pass that went off the hands of freshman tight end Carson Terrell and into the hands of linebacker T.J. Edwards, who returned it to the Utah State 18. The Aggies’ defense kept Wisconsin out of the end zone as Rafael Gaglianone nailed a 29-yard field goal to tie the game right before halftime.
Wisconsin opened the second half with a four-play, 72-yard drive with Hornibrook hitting tight end Troy Fumagalli for a 23-yard touchdown. That gave Wisconsin its first lead at 17-10. The Badgers scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter.
On Utah State’s best second-half drive, it got down the Wisconsin 8. On third-and-five, Myers was intercepted by Joe Ferguson, who took the ball 99 yards for a touchdown.
Myers finished 25-for-41 for 213 yards and three interceptions. Utah State had 86 yards rushing.
Wells felt he saw his young players grow up on Friday, and is hoping that growth continues.
“The improvement we’re going to demand and we’re going to look for over the next few weeks, hopefully it will set us in the right track to be able to compete in the Mountain West,” Wells said.
