Notes | Quotes | Game Stats (PDF)

LOGAN, Utah – Sophomore quarterback Jordan Love passed for 236 yards and two touchdowns, and junior running back Darwin Thompson rushed for a career-high 107 yards and a touchdown as Utah State cruised to a 73-12 victory over Tennessee Tech on Thursday night on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
 
Love completed 21-of-26 passes before heading to the bench in the third quarter. He threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Savon Scarver and a 2-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Aaren Vaughns. Love also added a 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
 
A week after Scarver returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, the Aggies (2-1) again found the end zone on special teams. This time, sophomore wide receiver Jordan Nathan returned a punt 59 yards for a score, giving Utah State a 45-6 lead at the break.
 
Utah State finished with 611 yards of total offense, including 320 on the ground and six rushing touchdowns. It is just the 12th time in school history the Aggies have eclipsed the 600-yard plateau and first time they have ever scored 60 points in back-to-back games. The 73 points are the most since USU scored 70 against Weber State on Sept. 14, 2013.
 
Defensively, the Aggies limited the Golden Eagles (0-3), a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team from Cookeville, Tenn., to just 227 yards of total offense. Tennessee Tech, which averaged 3.4 yards per play, managed just 12 first downs on the night and was 1-of-15 on third-down conversions.
 
All 12 of Tennessee Tech's points came off the foot of placekicker Nick Madonia, who was 4-for-5 on the night. He was good from 54, 20, 23 and 45 yards, but missed a 42-yarder in the third quarter.
 
Utah State placekicker Dominik Eberle made his only field goal of the night, a 34-yarder in the first quarter, and was 7-for-7 on extra points.
 
For the second consecutive week, Utah State's defense racked up 12.0 tackles for loss. Junior defensive end Fua Leilua led the way with 3.5 tackles for loss as 11 different Aggies recorded at least a half TFL. Sophomore safety Chase Nelson had a team- and career-high six tackles, including 1.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks.
 
Senior linebacker Ofa Latu recovered the Aggies' only fumble of the game, returning it 25 yards to Tennessee Tech's 1-yard line, while senior safety Gaje Ferguson intercepted a pass by Golden Eagles quarterback Bailey Fisher in the first half.
 
Eleven different Aggies rushed the ball at least once, averaging 7.6 yards per carry. Junior running back Gerold Bright had the most carries with 13 for 55 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore running back Morian Walker Jr. had 18 yards on five carries, but scored twice from one yard out. Sophomore running back Tre Miller had a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and senior running back Justen Hervey rushed three times for 52 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown run in the fourth.
 
Senior wide receiver Ron'quavion Tarver led Utah State with five catches for 30 yards.
 
UP NEXT
 
Utah State will conclude its three-game homestand on Saturday, Sept. 22, when it opens the Mountain West portion of its schedule against Air Force (1-1, 0-0 MW). The game is slated to kick off at 8:15 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2.
 
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.