by Daniel Olsen | It was a tale of two halves as Utah State trailed 16-3 at halftime, yet they came back to defeat the Washington State Cougars 17-16 for their PAC-12 home opener. In a defensive performance that merited National Defensive Player of the Week honors, Asher Cunningham helped the Aggies rally back for a critical victory that brought the team back to a 2-4 record and 1-1 in conference play.

“I’m proud of my guys,” Cunningham said. “I liked how I did my part, but they did their part too. We played complementary football and that’s how you win games.”

The game started with field goals as Utah State split theirs while the first three Washington State scores went through the uprights. Leo Pulalasi then converted on Washington State’s only touchdown of the night with a 54-yard rush.

While touchdowns were hard to come by, they came in part by favorable field position caused by defensive plays. A fumble recovery by Bronson Olevao led to the first Aggie touchdown of the night, and the go ahead score in the fourth quarter was also thanks to a fumble recovery. Those defensive plays allowed the offense a perfect opportunity to give the ball to their highest contributors. Eli Wood caught a touchdown which is something he has done in every game but one this season. Javen Jacobs punched in the second rushing touchdown of the season. The Aggie defense seemed to know 20 points is the threshold for this offense, so they did everything they could to put the Aggies in a position to win and succeeded.

“This is a tough football game,” Coach Mendenhall said. “The momentum swung 15-20 times in that game. The execution and the penalties on both sides were chaotic. Our second half was much more precise with critical plays at critical times which is what you need to win football times. We fought from beginning to end. It wasn’t perfect but it was gritty and tough and it was a victory. There is plenty to correct, but I am not for a second going to take anything away from how we fought back.”

Coach Mendenhall joined the team in the penalty party as he got his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of his coaching career.

“Sometimes grownups need to learn discipline too,” Coach Mendenhall said. “I just asked how that could not be pass interference and I told him I think he missed the call. By the letter of the law I was wrong. I don’t curse very much and I didn’t at that time but I was trying to get his attention because I thought he missed the call. I would have felt terrible if we had lost the game”

The only other time Bronco had been penalized in his career was against Florida State when he was coaching at BYU. That was 17 years ago in 2009. Utah State had eight penalties for 87 yards, but Washington state had 13 for over 100 yards and the penalties proved to be costly on both sides.

“A couple field goals don’t bother me,” Coach Mendenhall said. “I don’t want any points but a couple field goals rather than 16 would have been fine. The personal foul after we stopped them led to a touchdown. In the second half there was some movement but the players and assistant coaches took over. Everyone, particularly players, were taking accountability. That is the most powerful thing that happens. I rarely curse. I did it twice and it got their attention.”

The bye week is coming at the right time as Bronco let out a Hallelujah. Utah State will get this week off while every other team but Boise State plays this week. The Aggies will next get the opportunity to play at Texas State on October 24th.

All images courtesy Joe Oliver.