Oct. 4, 2013

Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State football lost to Brigham Young, 31-14, Friday night at a chilly, sold out Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium.

The loss leveled the Aggies' season record at 3-3. BYU improved to 3-2 with the win, and retained possession of The Old Wagon Wheel, the traveling trophy between USU and BYU. The Cougars now lead the overall series, 46-34-3. Friday's loss also snapped Utah State's nine-game home winning streak, which was its longest home winning streak since 1963, as well as breaking its six-game home winning mark against in-state opponents.

The Aggies totalled 397 yards total offense with 186 rushing and 211 passing, while the Cougars collected 438 yards of total offense with 278 through the air and 160 on the ground.

Junior quarterback Craig Harrison was 18-of-41 passing for 185 yards with one touchdown, coming on in place of fellow junior quarterback Chuckie Keeton in the first quarter after Keeton went down with a knee injury and never returned. Keeton was 4-of-10 passing for 26 yards and a touchdown, adding three rushes for 17 yards before the injury.

Senior running back Joey DeMartino rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries, while Harrison rushed for 38 yards on six carries and freshman running back Kennedy Williams amassed a season-high 37 yards on six rushes.

The senior duo of wide receiver Travis Reynolds and tight end D.J. Tialavea each had four receptions, with Reynolds totalling 47 yards and Tialavea tallying 21 yards. Junior tight end Keegan Andersen matched Reynolds with 47 yards on three catches.

Senior linebacker Jake Doughty registered a team-high 14 tackles, while sophomore linebacker Kyler Fackrell tallied a new career-high with 13 stops. Doughty logged 2.5 tackles for loss, while Fackrell recorded a pair of tackles for loss. Junior linebacker Zach Vigil notched 11 tackles and forced a first-quarter fumble to set up USU's first touchdown of the night.

The Cougars were led by Taysom Hill's 17-of-31 passing for 278 yards with three touchdowns, all to Mitch Mathews, who finished with five catches for 112 yards. Jamaal Williams totalled 79 yards rushing on 14 carries. Uani 'Unga led BYU's defense with a game-high 16 stops, while Robertson Daniel added 10 tackles.

BYU started its scoring on the first play from scrimmage, as Kyle Van Noy jumped in the middle of a Keeton pass and snared it and returned it 17 yards to the end zone for an early 7-0 Cougar lead.

The Aggie defense generated a score two series later, with Zach Vigil forcing a Hill fumble after a scamper and junior safety Brian Suite recovered at the BYU 10. Three plays later Keeton threw a 7-yard pass to senior wide receiver Travis Van Leeuwen, and sophomore placekicker Nick Diaz hit the extra point to tie the score at 7-7 with 10:48 on the first quarter clock.

On the Cougars' next possession, Hill led the charge down the field with a 14-play, 67-yard drive ending with a Justin Sorensen 27-yard field goal with 7:04 to go in the first frame.

BYU added to its lead with a 30-yard touchdown toss from Hill to Mathews, the first of their three touchdown connections on the night, for a 17-7 Cougar lead at the 10:30 mark of the second quarter, which remained the score into halftime.

Hill and Matthews connected with two more touchdowns in the third quarter, first on a 6-yarder with 12:06 to go and again on a 43-yard strike with 5:52 on the third quarter clock for a 31-7 Cougar lead and capping BYU's scoring.

The Aggies added an 8-yard touchdown toss from Harrison to junior wide receiver Ronald Butler with 1:34 left in the game to conclude the scoring at 31-14.

Utah State returns to Mountain West Conference action by playing an old Western Athletic Conference opponent with Boise State on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. (MT) in a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network.

For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the "Buy Tickets" tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball or on facebook at Utah State Football, as well as on instagram at instagram.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics, on facebook at Utah State University Athletics or on instagram at instagram.com/USUAthletics.