Box Score USU Post-Game Notes (PDF) | Final Game Stats (PDF)


LARAMIE, Wyo. – Junior running back Darwin Thompson rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns as Utah State held on for a 24-16 victory over Wyoming in annual Bridger's Battle on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium.
 
Sophomore wide receiver Savon Scarver added a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as the Aggies (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) won their sixth straight game and became bowl eligible for the seventh time in the last eight years.
 
With the victory, Utah State matched its best start since the 1974 campaign, when that team also started the year by winning six of its first seven games.
 
The Aggies also took back possession of the traveling trophy, the Bridger Rifle, a .50 caliber Rocky Mountain Hawken rifle, for the series between USU and Wyoming, which had won two straight in the series.
 
Reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week, sophomore quarterback Jordan Love, completed just 12-of-28 passes for 53 yards and an interception as Utah State's offense struggled on the day, gaining just 194 total yards.
 
Fortunately for the Aggies, the defense was more than up to the challenge against Wyoming (2-6, 0-4).
 
The Cowboys gained 331 yards of total offense on the day, but turned it over twice – an interception by senior safety/linebacker Jontrell Rocquemore and fumble recovery by senior defensive end Adewale Adeoye.
 
David Woodward led the Aggies with a game- and career-high-tying 16 tackles – he also had 16 stops in the season opener at then-No. 11 Michigan State. The sophomore linebacker also had a forced fumble and pass breakup near the goal line.
 
Senior linebacker Chase Christiansen added 14 stops, including 1.0 tackles for loss, and one pass breakup for Utah State. It marked just the second time in his career he has recorded double-digit tackles.
 
Utah State scored on just the third play of the game, a 56-yard touchdown run by Thompson that gave the Aggies a 7-0 lead.
 
The two teams then traded field goals the rest of the half. Wyoming's Cooper Rothe kicked a 27-yard field goal and Utah State junior placekicker Dominik Eberle booted a 45-yarder as the Aggies took a 10-3 lead into halftime.
 
Utah State opened the second half on defense, but wasted little time getting the ball back to the offense. Rocquemore intercepted a pass by Wyoming's Tyler Vander Waal on the Cowboys' first play of the drive, returning it to 20 yards to the Cowboys' 3-yard line. One play later, Thompson had his second rushing touchdown of the day to give the visitors a 17-3 lead.
 
After Rothe kicked his second field goal of the day, this time from 47 yards out, Scarver returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, making it 24-6 with 4:11 left in the third. It was Scarver's second kickoff return for a TD this year and the third of his career.
 
Those were the final points the Aggies would score on the day as the Cowboys narrowed the margin on a 53-yard touchdown run by Nico Evans with 2:37 left in the third quarter and another field goal by Rothe, a 21-yarder with 5:32 left.
 
That's as close as Wyoming would get, though, as Utah State's defense made sure to preserve the win.
 
 UP NEXT
 
Utah State returns home to take on New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 27, on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. The game is slated to kick off at 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on Facebook.
 
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.