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PROVO, Utah – Sophomore quarterback Jordan Love accounted for five total touchdowns and Utah State's defense scored its third touchdown of the season as the Aggies dominated in-state rival BYU from the get-go, beating the Cougars 45-20 on Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
 
Love completed 18-of-28 passes for 165 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes for Utah State (4-1, 1-0 Mountain West), which scored the first 21 points of the night and never looked back. The native of Bakersfield, Calif., scored on a 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter that gave the Aggies a 42-13 lead.
 
With the win, Utah State retained possession of The Old Wagon Wheel – the traveling trophy between the two schools. The Wheel became part of the rivalry in 1948.
 
Love threw touchdown passes of 2, 6, 6 and 4 yards, respectively, to help Utah State win back-to-back games against BYU (3-3) for the first time in 44 years. The 25-point margin of victory is the largest by the Aggies in series history – fifth-largest win overall by USU – since 1968.
 
Senior wide receiver Ron'quavion Tarver caught two of Love's touchdown passes, while fellow senior wide receiver Jalen Greene and junior running back Gerold Bright each caught one. Greene led the Aggies, who finished with 388 total yards, with a career-best five catches for 53 yards.
 
Junior running back Darwin Thompson led all rushers in the game with 109 yards – tying his career high in the process – on 17 carries. Bright added 61 yards on 14 carries as Utah State tallied 223 yards on the ground as a team.
 
BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum was 27-of-46 for 270 yards and two touchdowns, to go along with an interception. The pick was one of three turnovers the Aggies forced on the night. One of Mangum's favorite targets on the night was Talon Shumway, who caught five passes for a game-best 110 yards.
 
Utah State's defense limited the Cougars to just 39 yards rushing (2.4 yards per carry).
 
Junior defensive end Tipa Galeai set the tone early for the Aggies. BYU had the ball fourth-and-1 at the Utah State 39-yard line and elected to go for it. Galeai foiled the Cougars' plans by intercepting Mangum's pass and returning it 56 yards to the house, giving the Aggies a 7-0 lead with 7:35 to go in the first quarter.
 
After the defense forced BYU to go three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the Aggies took over on their own 29 following a punt and drove to the Cougars' 2-yard line, where they faced their own fourth-down situation.
 
Utah State went for it and the decision paid off as Love threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Bright, making it 14-0 with 1:50 remaining in the first.
 
On BYU's next series, sophomore linebacker David Woodward forced a fumble by Dallin Holker that senior linebacker Chase Christiansen recovered just before it bounced out of bounds.
 
The offense cashed in on the takeaway when Love connected with Tarver for a 6-yard touchdown pass to give the visitors a commanding 21-0 lead. BYU finally got on the board with 4:52 remaining in the second quarter, but missed a 43-yard field goal wide right as time expired on the half.
 
Utah State opened the second half with the ball and marched 81 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Love to Greene to help the Aggies open a 28-7 lead.
 
Junior placekicker Dominik Eberle capped the scoring for Utah State in the fourth quarter when he drilled a 47-yard field goal to give the visitors their largest lead of the night, 45-13.
 
Woodward and sophomore cornerback Ja'Marcus Ingram led the Aggies with six tackles apiece, while Ingram added a career-best three pass breakups. Senior safety/linebacker Jontrell Rocquemore added four tackles, including the game's only sack as part of his 2.0 tackles for loss. On the sack of Mangum, Rocquemore forced a fumble and then recovered it.
 
UP NEXT
 
Utah State will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 13, when it welcomes UNLV to town for the Aggies' annual Homecoming Game. 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.