LOGAN, Utah – Wyoming's one-two ground punch of Titus Swen and Xazavian Valladay proved too much for Utah State as the running back duo helped spoil the Aggies' Senior Night.
 
Swen rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns, Valladay added 145 yards of his own on the ground, and the Cowboys beat the Aggies 44-17 on Saturday night on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
 
Wyoming (6-5, 2-5 Mountain West) put an end to Utah State's five-game winning streak, finishing with 604 yards of total offense, including 380 on the ground. The Aggies (8-3, 5-2) managed just 362 yards of offense, including a season-low 181 through the air.
 
"Wyoming is a good running team," said Utah State grad senior defensive end Nick Heninger. "That is their bread and butter. The team that usually wins is the team that makes the least number of mistakes, and tonight, the Cowboys made the least number of mistakes and they were able to capitalize on it. We just have to come back, and we don't have to do anything special, we already know the recipe that works.
 
"We've been going off of that recipe and getting wins, so we just need to get one degree better and eliminate the mistakes, keep good guys and do our job – do your one-eleventh. I don't need to do Savon Scarver's job on kickoff return, I don't need to do the quarterback's job like Logan Bonner. I just need to do my job and each one of my teammates will do the same, and we will be fine."
 
With the loss, the Aggies fell into a three-way tie for first place with Air Force and Boise State in the West Division of the MW standings. A win over New Mexico next week, coupled with a Boise State loss at San Diego State, would send Utah State to the Mountain West Championship game for the first time since 2013.
 
"I'm disappointed for our team because I wanted us to be able to control our destiny to the very end, and now we're going to need some help," said first-year Utah State head coach Blake Anderson. "But, if you took a poll, heck, you guys figured we were only going to win about five games when the season started. I don't think anybody saw us being an eight-win team and we're going to find a way to get to nine, and hopefully, get to 10. We're not done. This is going to hurt, and it's supposed to, but we don't have a whole lot of time to think about it. I told them when they come back in the building tomorrow, it's time to move on. We've got to go on the road on a short week against a team that's going to scrap and claw."
 
Grad junior quarterback Logan Bonner was 19-of-40 passing for 181 yards and two touchdowns – a 10-yarder to grad senior wide receiver Brandon Bowling and 41-yarder to senior wide receiver Deven Thompkins.
 
Bowling finished with six catches for 60 yards, while Thompkins caught five passes for 67 yards.
 
"The team fought until the very end," Bowling said. "The score got out of hand, but we knew that if we could just go down there and get a score, then we might be able to make something happen. We just couldn't execute on offense and Wyoming did a really good job.
 
"We will watch the film tomorrow and learn from it, then come back Tuesday ready to work and get ready to beat New Mexico. That's the only thing we can do and the only thing we can control right now, is going 1-0 next week and beat New Mexico."
 
Thompkins has now caught 82 passes for 1,508 yards on the year and ranks second all-time in school history in single-season receiving yards and is tied for fourth all-time in receptions with Nakia Jenkins (1996). He is 24 yards shy of breaking Kevin Curtis' school record of 1,531 yards receiving set in 2001.
 
The Cowboys scored their first touchdown of the night after the Aggies turned it over on downs on Wyoming's 36-yard line. After Bowling's touchdown tied it at 7-apiece, Cameron Stone returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, giving the visitors a 14-7 lead.
 
Utah State answered right back when Thompkins hauled in his acrobatic 41-yard TD, making it 14-all late in the first quarter.
 
Wyoming regained the lead for good on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Levi Williams to Joshua Cobbs. The two teams traded field goals before the half, including a 36-yarder by Utah State grad senior placekicker Connor Coles, as the Cowboys went into the break leading 24-17.
 
Utah State began the second half with the ball and drove into Wyoming territory, where the drive stalled at the 25-yard line. Coles lined up for another field goal try to cut into the visitor's lead, but the snap was high and the Cowboys recovered at their own 44.
 
Two plays later, Swen scored on a 43-yard touchdown run to essentially put the game out of reach.
 
Graduate junior RB Calvin Tyler Jr. led the Aggies in rushing with 109 yards on 18 carries.
 
Defensively, grad senior inside linebacker Justin Rice and grad junior safety Hunter Reynolds led Utah State with 10 stops apiece, while Wyoming's Chad Muma led all tacklers in the game with 17 tackles.

USU grad senior safety Shaq Bond had eight tackles, an interception near the goal line and a forced fumble. Heninger had nine tackles on the night.
 
UP NEXT  
 
Utah State concludes the regular season on the road as the Aggies travel to the Land of Enchantment for the second time this month, taking on New Mexico (3-8, 1-6) on Friday, Nov. 26, at University Stadium in Albuquerque. The game, which will be televised on Fox Sports 1, is slated to kick off at 11 a.m.
 
For more information on the Utah State football program, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUFootball, on Facebook at USUFootball and on Instagram at USUFootball.
 
-USU-