Recap | Final Stats

BOISE, Idaho -

TEAM NOTES
* Utah State is now 4-7 all-time in bowl games, including a 1-3 record in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. With the loss, USU had its three-game bowl winning streak snapped as it played in a school-record fifth-straight bowl game this season.
* Utah State is now 9-3 all-time against current members of the M id-American Conference, including a 3-2 bowl record.
* Utah State is now 6-15 all-time in games played in December.
* With the loss, Utah State finished the season with a 6-7 record, marking the first time it has had a losing season since 2010 (4-8).
* Utah State had won 20 straight games with a 100-yard rusher prior to today's loss. In fact, the last time USU lost a game with a 100-yard rusher was in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to Ohio (24-23).
* Utah State was 6-0 under Wells following a bye or multiple weeks off prior to today's loss. USU is also 3-3 this year and 11-4 under Wells following a loss as it has now lost back-to-back games for just the fourth time in its last 61 games.
* Utah State finished the season 1-5 in day games and is now 8-6 in day games under Wells.
* Utah State is now 2-5 this season and 3-12 under head coach Matt Wells when trailing after the first quarter, 2-6 this year and 4-12 under Wells when trailing at the half, and 2-7 this year and 2-13 under Wells when trailing after the third quarter.
* With its second-quarter interception, Utah State has now forced 22 turnovers this year, including 10 interceptions. Overall, USU has now forced at least one turnover in 41 of its last 50 games and 99 turnovers in its last 50 games, while recording 46 interceptions in its last 37 games, including at least one interception in 22 of its last 37 games.
* Utah State was held scoreless in the first quarter for the sixth time this year. It is also the first time in its last six bowl games that USU was held scoreless in the first quarter of a bowl game (1997 vs. Cincinnati).
* Captains were senior LB Kyler Fackrell, senior QB Chuckie Keeton, senior DE Jordan Nielsen and senior WR Brandon Swindall.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER NOTES
* Junior RB Devante Mays had a career-long 61-yard run in the second quarter, which is the longest rush from scrimmage by a Utah State player this season and the longest rush by an Akron opponent this season. Mays had 124 rushing yards on 12 carries for his third 100-yard rushing game of the season. It is just the second time this year that an opponent has rushed for 100-plus yards against Akron. Those 124 rushing yards also rank as the 11th-most in Famous Idaho Potato Bowl history.
* Senior QB Chuckie Keeton threw his fourth touchdown pass of the season and the 62nd of his career in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard pass. Keeton's 62 career touchdown passes are a school record. * Senior QB Chuckie Keeton had 108 yards of total offense and moved ahead of Jose Fuentes (8,791 - 2000-02) as he now holds the school record for total offense in a career with 8,803 yards.
* Sophomore QB Kent Myers had two touchdown passes of nine and 19 yards for his fourth multi-touchdown passing game of the season and the fifth of his career. Overall, Myers now has 16 touchdown passes this year and 21 in his career.
* Senior WR Brandon Swindall tied his career high with two touchdown receptions from nine and two yards, giving him three touchdown receptions this season and nine in his career. For Swindall, it is the second time in his career he has caught two touchdown passes in a game.
* Senior WR Hunter Sharp caught his ninth touchdown pass of the season and the 16th of his career on a 19-yard reception in the third quarter. Overall, Sharp's nine touchdown receptions this year are tied with Kevin Curtis (2002) for the ninth-most in a single-season in school history, while his 16 career touchdown receptions are also tied for the ninth-most in school history along with Rod Moore (1988-91) and Mike O'Shea (1966-68).
* Senior WR Hunter Sharp had 11 receptions in the game and finished his career with 137 receptions to rank ninth all-time in school history, while his 71 receptions this season ranks seventh all-time at USU. For Sharp, it is the second time this year and fourth time in his career he has recorded double-digit receptions. Sharp also finished his career with 1,770 career receiving yards to rank 14th all-time in school history.
* Junior TE Wyatt Houston had four receptions to tie his career high for the fourth time.
* Freshman TE Dax Raymond tied his career-high with one reception, while also tying his career-long reception of 22 yards.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER NOTES
* Sophomore CB Jalen Davis intercepted his third pass of the season and the fifth of his career, both of which are team-highs.
* Senior LB Kyler Fackrell had 1.5 tackles for loss, giving him 15.0 tackles for loss this season and 36.0 in his career.
* Senior LB Torrey Green had 1.0 tackles for loss, giving him 11.5 tackles for loss this season and 18.5 in his career. Green also had his first career pass breakup in the third quarter.
* Senior NG David Moala had 0.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, giving him 4.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss this season, and 5.0 sacks 14.0 tackles for loss in his career. Moala also tied his career-high with eight tackles and one pass breakup, giving him two pass breakups this year and in his career.
* Junior LB Nick Vigil had 1.0 tackles for loss, giving him 13.5 tackles for loss this year and 38.5 in his career. With his season-low four tackles, Vigil now has 324 career tackles to rank 13th all-time in school history, while his 144 tackles this season ranks eighth all-time at USU for a single-season.
* Senior DE Jordan Nielsen had 1.0 tackles for loss, giving him 5.5 tackles for loss this year and 22.5 in his career.
* Senior CB Bryant Hayes had his first pass breakup of the year and now has six in his career.
* Junior CB Jentz Painter made his first career start. He also recorded 0.5 sacks and now has 1.5 sacks in his career.
* Senior SS Marwin Evans recorded his fifth pass breakup of the season and his career in the third quarter. Evans also had 0.5 tackles for loss, giving him 10.0 tackles for loss this season and in his career.
* Senior CB Tyler Floyd had one pass breakup, giving him three pass breakups this year and four in his career.

SPECIAL TEAM PLAYER NOTES
* Redshirt freshman P Aaron Dalton had a career-long and Famous Idaho Potato Bowl-record 69-yard punt in the first quarter. He also had two punts downed inside the 5-yard line and another downed at the 15-yard line, giving him 27 punts this year downed inside the 20-yard line, including nine downed inside the 10-yard line.
* Sophomore RB LaJuan Hunt tied his career high with two kickoff returns for a career-best 55 yards, including a career-long 33-yard return.