2011 games of the year: Utah State versus BYU

Brigham Young 27, Utah State 24              Box Score | Recap

Behind two Riley Nelson 4th quarter touchdown passes, BYU broke rival Utah State's heart winning 27-24 in Provo, Utah.

After taking the opening kickoff for a touchback, Utah State started with perfection on offense. On play number one, Robert Turbin took the ball and went 80-yards past the BYU defense and gave the Aggies a 7-0 lead with only :14 played in the game.

BYU got the ball after the kickoff and needed to respond to the Aggie opening score. With Jake Heaps at quarterback, the Cougars went on a long drive that got the ball all the way to the USU 3-yard line before stalling. Justin Sorenson came on and made a 23-yard field goal cutting the Aggie lead to 7-3 with 8:09 left in the first quarter.

The BYU kickoff coverage team came up big and forced Utah State to start their next drive on their own 14-yard line. After a penalty, the Aggies were unable to get a first down. The subsequent punt went 41 yards but a 7-yard return gave the Cougars great field position at the Utah State 47-yard line.

Making sure to take advantage of great field position, Heaps took the Cougars on a 10-play, 47-yard drive that Heaps finished off himself with a 1-yard touchdown run. The extra point gave BYU the leas at 10-7 with 1:47 left in the first quarter. The Cougars kicked the ball out of bounds on the following kickoffs giving Utah State the ball on their own 40-yard line. Aggies went 3-and-out again and boomed the ball into the end zone.

BYU started their drive just as the first quarter ended with BYU in the lead 10-3.

The BYU drive stalled resulting in a string of three punts with Utah State ending up with the ball on their own 22-yard line. Behind a balanced attack, the Aggies went on their first real drive of the game going 78 yards in 13 plays with Chuckie Keeton finding Eric Moats for a 13-yard touchdown pass to take the lead back for Utah State at 14-10 with 4:02 left in the half.

Heaps responded with a 10-play, 62-yard drive to cut the lead to 1-point following Sorenson's 29-yard field goal. After Utah State downed the football, the score was 14-13 in favor of the Aggies at the half.

The offense of BYU sputtered in their first drive of the second half only gaining a single yard before punting the ball to USU. The Aggies were pinned at their own 11-yard line but Keeton and company went all 89 yards to extend the Utah State lead to 21-13 with 8:37 left in the third quarter.

Both teams traded punts before BYU got the ball again at their own 34-yard line with Riley Nelson taking over at quarterback. Nelson immediately drove the Cougars to the USU 30-yard line before stalling. Sorenson attempted a 47-yard field goal but was unsuccessful allowing the Aggies to keep their 8-point lead in the game.

Utah State looked to finish off the Cougars and were at the BYU 27-yard line with a 1st-and-10 as the third quarter expired. Utah State moved as far as the BYU 4-yard line before the Cougar defense came up big forcing a 21-yard field goal that Thompson made to extend the lead to 24-13 with only 12:43 left in the game.

After an out-of-bounds kick by USU, the Cougars got good field position on their own 40-yard line. Nelson moved the Cougars 80 yards in only 2:38 with a 24-yard touchdown pass cutting the Utah State lead to 24-20 with still over 10:00 left in the game.

Utah State responded with a drive that took the ball to the BYU 30-yard line facing a 4th-and-8. The Aggies went for it and failed giving the ball back to the very hot BYU offense. Nelson again made quick work of the Utah State defense and faced a 3rd-and-2 at the USU 26-yard. Nelson gave the ball to JJ Di Luigi who fumbled the ball with only 3:53 left in the game.

Using two of their time outs and a stout defense, BYU got the ball back on their 4-yard line with 2:36 left in the game. Highlighted by a 40-yard pass that got the ball to the USU 26-yard line, Nelson faced a 1st-and-10 at the USU 13-yard line with only :15 left in the game. Nelson then hit Marcus Mathews for a 13-yard touchdown pass. Following the successful extra point, BYU was in the lead 27-24 with only :11 left in the game.

The Aggies were only able to get one play off that was unsuccessful giving BYU that 27-24 win in the rivalry game.