LOGAN, Utah – Defending Mountain West champion Utah State kept its hopes alive of repeating with a 34-27 Homecoming victory over Air Force on Saturday night on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
 
Junior quarterback Cooper Legas passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score as the Aggies snapped a four-game losing streak. It was their first victory since Aug. 27.
 
Legas completed 18 of his 23 pass attempts, as well as rushed for 76 yards on 13 carries. His 32-yard touchdown run with 7:00 remaining in the game gave Utah State (2-4, 1-1 Mountain West) a 34-24 lead.
 
Air Force (4-2, 1-2 MW) cut it to 34-27 with 1:42 to after Matthew Dapore drilled a 51-yard field goal. The Falcons attempted an onside kick, but senior wide receiver Justin McGriff recovered it for Utah State, which improved to 57-33-2 all-time in Homecoming games.
 
Legas and the Aggies finished with 414 yards of total offense, including 199 on the ground. Grad senior running back Calvin Tyler Jr. led Utah State with 109 yards rushing on 19 carries. He scored on a 21-yard touchdown run to give the hosts a 20-17 lead late in the third quarter.
 
Defensively, Utah State limited Air Force to 359 yards of total offense, including 264 on the ground on 55 carries.
 
USU senior cornerback Ajani Carter had seven tackles, an interception and forced fumble, while senior inside linebacker AJ Vongphachanh and junior inside linebacker MJ Tafisi had 13 stops apiece. Grad senior cornerback Andre Grayson also had seven tackles and he recovered Carter's forced fumble.
 
Air Force quarterback Haaziq Daniels passed for 95 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 34 yards and a score. Brad Roberts led the Falcons in rushing with 136 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries.
 
Daniels' 40-yard touchdown pass to Amari Terry put Air Force in front 24-20 with 13:33 left in the game, but USU scored the next 14 points to rally for the win.
 
The Aggies went back in front for good, 34-27, on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Legas to Vaughn with 10:15 to go.
 
The Aggies scored on their first three possessions of the game, including a 31-yard touchdown pass from Legas to graduate senior wide receiver Brian Cobbs that gave Utah State a 7-0 lead with 9:29 remaining in the first quarter.
 
Cobbs finished with 136 yards on eight catches, while Vaughn caught four passes for 52 yards.
 
Air Force tied it at 7-all on a 1-yard touchdown run by Roberts, but grad senior placekicker Connor Coles regained the lead for Utah State courtesy of a 30-yard field goal with 1:18 left in the first.
 
The Falcons grabbed their first lead of the night when Daniels scored from a yard out on a quarterback keeper on fourth down, making it 14-10 with 7:02 remaining in the half.
 
Another 30-yard field goal from Coles pulled the Aggies to within 14-13 with 2:41 to go in the half. It appeared as if Utah State might tack on more points before right intermission after the defense forced the Falcons to punt with a little more than a minute remaining in the second quarter.
 
The Aggies took over the ball on their own 43-yard line and moved it to the Falcons' 41, but that's as far as they would get as a Legas pass was intercepted by Air Force's Jayden Goodwin at the 4-yard line.
 
NEXT GAME
 
The Aggies open a two-game road swing when they head to Fort Collins, Colorado, to take on Colorado State on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Canvas Stadium. The is slated to kick off at 5 p.m. and will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
 
NEXT HOME GAME
 
Utah State returns to Maverik Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 5, when the Aggies take on New Mexico at 1:30 p.m. The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network. Tickets can be purchased here.
 
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-