LOGAN, Utah – Connor Coles kicked four field goals, Logan Bonner threw a pair of first-half touchdowns and Utah State survived a frenetic finish in a 26-24 Homecoming victory over Colorado State on Friday night on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
 
Coles' fourth field goal of the night, a 34-yarder with 5:03 to go in the game, gave the Aggies (5-2, 3-1 Mountain West) a 26-17 lead.
 
The Rams did not go away, though. Colorado State (3-4, 2-1 MW) needed just five plays to march 73 yards to paydirt, capped by a 13-yard touchdown from Todd Centeio pass to Gary Williams, cutting the deficit to 26-24 with 3:31 left.
 
Utah State had the opportunity to run the clock out, but after gaining one first down, the Rams forced the Aggies to punt the ball back to them.
 
Colorado State took over on its own 15-yard line and following three straight completions from Centeio, the Rams were on the Aggies' 39-yard line. On third-and-10 from the 39, Centeio completed a 15-yard pass to Ty McCullouch and it appeared as if CSU was going to ruin Utah State's Homecoming.
 
After some confusion by the Rams, Colorado State eventually got its special teams unit onto the field and hurriedly lined up for a game-winning 42-yard field goal attempt. Fortunately for the Aggies, Cayden Camper's kick sailed wide left, sending the Utah State sideline into a frenzy.
 
With the victory, Utah State moved into a first-place tie in the Mountain Division with Air Force, but the Aggies hold the tiebreaker against the Falcons based on their 49-45 victory at Air Force earlier this season.
 
Coles a career-best four field goals from 45, 30, 42 and 34 yards, respectively. The grad senior placekicker from Bozeman, Montana, also made both of his extra points for a career-high 14 points in the game.
 
Bonner was 17-of-31 for 233 yards and the two touchdowns – both to senior wide receiver Derek Wright. The grad junior quarterback also threw one interception and was sacked a season-high eight times.
 
Wright finished with those two catches for 63 yards, while fellow senior wide receiver Deven Thompkins led all receivers in the game with six receptions for 104 yards – his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season and his career.
 
David Bailey rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries for the Rams, who have lost three straight to the Aggies.
 
Colorado State, which had a season-high 13 tackles for loss, outgained Utah State 472-344. Grad senior safety Shaq Bond led the Aggies with 11 tackles, while junior outside linebacker Ajani Carter intercepted his second pass of the season and junior cornerback Michael Anyanwu had five tackles, forced a fumble and recovered a pooch kick by the Aggies that led to a Coles field goal.
 
Following a scoreless first quarter, both offenses came alive in the second.
 
Bonner threw touchdown passes of 25 and 38 yards, respectively, to give the Aggies leads of 7-0 and 14-7, respectively.
 
The Rams answered each Utah State touchdown with a TD of their own. Both came courtesy of Bailey, who scored on runs of 4 and 2 yards to knot it at 14-apiece with 5:11 remaining in the half.
 
Coles gave the Aggies the lead back for good when he drilled a 45-yard field goal to make it 17-14 with 1:30 to go.

On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore placekicker Elliott Nimrod pooched it toward the Utah State sideline. Colorado State failed to jump on the loose pigskin and Anyanwu recovered it for the Aggies on the Rams' 24-yard line.

Utah State cashed in five plays later when Coles made good on a 30-yard field goal to give the Aggies a 20-14 lead at the break.

With the win, Utah State improved to 56-33-2 all-time in Homecoming games, including a 10-5-1 record against Colorado State.

UP NEXT  

Utah State is back at Maverik Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m., as the Aggies host MW West Division-foe Hawai'i.
  
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