Aug 29, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -
UTAH STATE FOOTBALL
Final Notes vs. Utah (8/29/13 - Salt Lake City, Utah)
TEAM NOTES
* Utah State played Utah for the 111th time in series history, which is the oldest rivalry in school history and the USU-UU series is tied for the 12th-most played series in the nation at the FBS level and tied for the 22nd-most played series in college football.
* Thursday's loss snapped a three-game road streak for the Aggies, as USU is now 7-3 in its last 10 road games dating back to the 2011 season.
* USU is 16-4 in its last 20 games and the four losses during those 20 games has been by a combined seven points as it lost to Ohio (24-23) in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and at No. 22 Wisconsin (16-14) and at BYU (6-3) in 2012.
* Utah's first quarter touchdown was the first allowed by Utah State in the first quarter in its last 17 games dating back to Nov. 19, 2011 at Idaho.
* Sophomore TE Jefferson Court caught his first career pass in the first quarter.
* Utah's 14 first quarter points are the most scored against USU since Nov. 11, 2011 when San Jose State scored 20 first quarter points against USU.
* Utah State's 11-point first quarter deficit is its largest since trailing Nevada, 10-0, at the end of the first quarter on Nov. 26, 2011.
* Utah State has now led at the half in 15 of its last 16 games dating back to the 2011 season and was 11-1 during the 2012 season when leading at the half.
* Utah State's defense ranked eighth nationally in 2012 as its forced 5.08 three-and-outs per game. In the first-half, USU's defense forced three three-and-outs, while forcing one in the second half for a total of four three-and-outs.
* The last three USU head coaches have opened their Aggie tenures at Utah.
PLAYER NOTES
* Utah State players who made their first career start tonight include sophomore WR Bruce Natson, junior DE B.J. Larsen, and senior CB Tay Glover-Wright.
* Junior PK Nick Diaz's 26-yard FG in the first quarter now makes him 9-of-12 for his career on field goals, including 3-of-4 from 20-29 yards.
* Sophomore WR Brandon Swindall recorded his first career TDs in the second quarter and is the first Aggie with multiple TD receptions in the same game since Matt Austin had two TD receptions at New Mexico State on Dec. 3, 2011. He also has career-highs in both receptions (3) and receiving yards (23).
* Junior QB Chuckie Keeton now ranks third all-time with 40 career TD passes. Keeton also has moved into eighth all-time in USU history with 412 completions. With his 314 passing yards he now has 13 career 200-yard passing games, and his sixth career 300-yard games, with four in the last six games dating back to 2012.
* Junior QB Chuckie Keeton moved up to eighth all-time on the USU career-passing list, now with 4,887 yards, passing Travis Cox (2001-04) with 4,722.
* Junior QB Chuckie Keeton had career-highs in both completions (31) and attempts (40).
* Junior QB Chuckie Keeton's 15-yard TD run in the third quarter is his 13th career TD run.
* Senior WR Travis Van Leeuwen had a career-high 91 receiving yards in the first half and tied his career-high with four receptions, finishing with a career-high five catches for 107 yards for his first 100-yard receiving outing.
* Van Leeuwen becomes the first Aggie player with 100 yards in a game since running back Kerrywn Williams had 125 yards at Louisiana Tech last season. Van Leeuwen is the first wide receiver with 100-yard receiving since Matt Austin with 124 yards vs. Texas State a year ago.
* Sophomore WR Bruce Natson tied his career-high with four first-half receptions, finishing with a career-high nine receptions for a career-high 83 yards.
* Junior RB Joe Hill had a career-high 18 rushes for 75 yards, his second-highest output behind his 116 yards in last year's season-opener with 116 yards against Southern Utah. Hill also ended with a career-high seven receptions for 39 total yards, all in the first half.
* Sophomore LB Kyler Fackrell had one sack in the game and now has four sacks in his career.
* Senior LB Jake Doughty posted a game-high 16 tackles, his second-highest of his career and his fifth game with double-digit stops.
* Senior S Maurice Alexander posted 1.5 sacks and now has 4.5 sacks in his career. He also had a career-high 11 stops on the night.
* Junior LB Zach Vigil posted 0.5 sack and now has 6.0 sacks in his career. He also forced his second career fumble. Vigil ended with 10 tackles, tying his career-high for the sixth-time.
* Senior CB Tay Glover-Wright recovered his first career fumble.
* Junior PK Nick Diaz made two field goals in a game for the second-straight game and fifth time in his last six games.
* Junior P Jaron Bentrude had a career-long 41-yard punt in the second quarter and a career-high five punts in the game.
