Losing last week forfeited Utah State’s opportunity to control its own destiny in the Mountain division.
“Yeah, I’m OK,” Bonner said with a smirk. Though both quarterback injuries weren’t directly caused by protection issues, Anderson has said throughout the season that his team’s protection needs to improve.Īnderson said postgame Friday that he doesn’t believe Bonner’s injury is a serious one, but he couldn’t say the same about Peasley.īonner didn’t dance around with his response when asked how he was feeling after the game and about his availability for the championship contest. Peasley also ended up leaving the game late in the fourth quarter when he fell awkwardly on his shoulder after running for a first down. Once again Friday, Peasley’s services were needed as Bonner jumped on a loose football at the end of the third quarter and came up favoring his ribs.īefore that, Bonner had taken a fair amount of shots from New Mexico pass rushers. On multiple occasions, Andrew Peasley has had to step in while Bonner has been tended to on the sidelines. The junior quarterback has taken his fair share of hits this season. “He was going to force (us) to connect on the deep ones, and luckily we did or it could’ve been a much different game.” Bonner is going to be feeling this season when he’s older “(New Mexico defensive coordinator) Rocky Long is good at what he does defensively and (we knew) he was going to make it extremely hard for (us) to run the ball and play ball control offense. “We lived off the big play and we knew we would have to,” Anderson said. Though the New Mexico secondary isn’t among the best in the Mountain West, the deep-play success Friday afternoon gave Utah State some offensive momentum that was in short supply after the Wyoming defeat. In the first half alone, Bonner tossed touchdowns passes of 27, 39, 36 and 76 yards.
It took little time, however, for the Aggies to revive their downfield attack against the Lobos. Here are three takeaways from Friday’s division-clinching victory: Downfield passing attack makes a returnīig plays have become somewhat of a trademark identity of the 2021 Utah State offense but were nowhere to be found last week against Wyoming.Īside from a 41-yard touchdown catch by Thompkins, the longest completion allowed by the Cowboys went for 17 yards. The game will take place in Carson, California, on Dec. 21-ranked Aztecs, who are appearing in their first Mountain West title game since they won it in 2016. The Aggies have scored themselves a bonus game to play the No. Thompkins finished the regular season with 87 catches for 1,543 yards and nine touchdowns. Though he recorded just five catches for 35 yards, Deven Thompkins’ outing was enough for the senior to set the Utah State single season receiving yardage record. The fifth touchdown strike gave the quarterback 32 scores on the season, which tied Jordan Love’s Utah State record for the most touchdowns thrown in a single season.īut Bonner wasn’t the only one who etched his name into the record books on Friday. Quarterback Logan Bonner bounced back from a rough game against the Cowboys, throwing for 312 yards and five touchdown passes.
Highlights, key plays and photos from Utah State’s 35-10 win over New Mexico