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USU whips Vandals in coach's 'finest win' By
Doug Layne
The Aggies, 11-point underdogs Saturday, remain perfect in Big West conference play with a 31-14 victory over the Idaho Vandals in Romney Stadium. "The finest win I've been involved with," USU Coach Mick Dennehy said. The Aggie offense began to click early and often as Jose Fuentes threw for a career best of more than 400 yards and two touchdowns. That was the most by a USU quarterback since Anthony Calvillo threw for 472 yards against BYU in 1993. "We had confidence once we got rolling. We played smarter," Fuentes said. "We pick it up and put it together." Wide receiver Aaron Jones accounted for 232 of those yards. Jones was just l1 yards shy of having the most yards by a receiver in a single game. Kevin Alexander holds the record with 243 yards. Emmett White rushed for 129 yards and had an additional 84 receiving yards. "Those two kids had a big day," Tom Cable, the head coach of the Vandals, said. After a scoreless first quarter, the Aggies found themselves down early at the start of the second. The Vandals used four plays and drove the ball 87 yards as Willie Alderson went up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown run. The Aggies struck right back and marched down the field, but settled for a field goal by Brad Bohn as he became the all-time leading scorer for the Aggies. Then the Aggie defense that has struggled throughout the season came up with a huge play as sophomore line backer Jesse Busta picked off a pass at the 37-yard line by John Welsh. Utah State, using just over one minute and four plays, took the lead for the first time and for good as Jones caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Fuentes, putting the Aggies up by three points. Then the Aggie defense held the Vandals and they were forced to punt. USU drove the ball 56-yard and took seven plays to score on a 4-yard run by White, who struggled early in the game. "Emmett was scared when he came off the field, but he came back and performed like I knew he could," Dennehy said. The Aggie offense used a couple of big plays in the second half to
put the game out of reach. "We felt we had a chance to make a big play if they pressured us, and we did," Dennehy said. "It was great getting the touchdown," Fuentes said. The Aggie offense scored once more in the fourth period of play as Fuentes threw a 74-yard touchdown strike to White. USU finished the game with 569 yards, the eighth best in school history.
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