BOISE, Idaho – The final score does not always tell the full story.

Sure, Utah State lost 42-23 in its regular-season finale at Boise State in front of 31,402 fans Friday at Albertsons Stadium, but the Aggies were only down five with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

Following a 41-yard pass from junior quarterback Cooper Legas to senior wide receiver Justin McGriff, Utah State had it first-and-10 at Boise State's 15-yard line only down 28-23. A 4-yard run on first down by grad senior running back Calvin Tyler Jr. moved the ball to the 11, but that's as close as the Aggies would get the rest of the way.

An incomplete pass on second down, followed by a loss of three yards on a quarterback keeper on third down, had Utah State facing a fourth-and-9 play with 1:33 to go.

One play later, the drive ended when Legas was intercepted by Boise State's Gabe Hunter, giving the ball to the Broncos at their own 10 with 1:28 remaining.

The Broncos (9-3, 8-0 Mountain West) then proceeded to score two touchdowns within a span of 38 seconds on a 91-yard run by quarterback Taylen Green and a 48-yard interception return by Seyi Oladipo.

Green accounted for five total touchdowns as he also completed 14-of-23 passes for 220 yards and four TDs.

Legas was 23-of-40 for 306 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His favorite target on the day was junior wide receiver Terrell Vaugh, who caught a career-high eight passes for a career-best 148 yards, including a career-long 75-yard touchdown that pulled Utah State to within 28-17 with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Vaughn also rushed for a career-high 22 yards on a career-best four carries. The 5-foot-7, 170-pound native of Oxnard, California, scored on a 3-yard run for his first-career rushing touchdown at the end of the first half, sending the Aggies (6-6, 5-3) into the locker room trailing 21-7.

A 22-yard field goal by grad senior placekicker Connor Coles with 10:22 left in the third made it 21-10. After Vaughn pulled Utah State to within 11 with his second TD of the day, Tyler scored on an 8-yard run to make it 28-23 with 7:59 left in the fourth. The Aggies attempted a two-point conversion, but were unsuccessful.

Tyler rushed for 65 yards on 18 carries to give him 1,043 yards in his career, becoming just the 16th player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.

Vaughn finished with a career-best 214 all-purpose yards – the most by an Aggie since Deven Thompkins had 242 at New Mexico State last season.

Utah State finished with 468 yards of total offense – 40 more than Boise State – and had nine more first downs (24-15). The Aggies also possessed the ball for more than 34 minutes on the day.

Defensively, Utah State was paced by grad senior safety Hunter Reynolds, who had 10 tackles, while senior inside linebacker AJ Vongphachanh had seven tackles. Junior defensive end Byron Vaughns added six tackles, including a career-best 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks.

NEXT GAME 

Bowl eligible for the second-consecutive year, Utah State now awaits its postseason fate.

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-