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Logan • It's truly unfamiliar territory for Utah State football. Playing the role of heavy favorite that is.
But on Saturday, when given the opportunity against Idaho State, the Aggies played it to near perfection, following up its stirring season-opening performance against national power Oklahoma with a drama free win over a team they were supposed to have an easy time with.
By defeating the Bengals 38-17 before 18,347 at Romney Stadium, USU proved for at least a week that its close call against the Sooners was no fluke.
Indeed, the Aggies did almost whatever they wanted against Idaho State, scoring 38 consecutive points after surrendering an early field goal and resting their starters for all of the fourth quarter. The only hitch of the night proved to be the play of the second team, which gave up two late Bengal touchdowns to make the score closer than the game actually was.
"I thought we played well at times, but our execution isn't where it needs to be," Utah State head coach Gary Andersen said. "The overall play of the defense was very good. I thought they executed for the most part, and I thought Diondre [Borel], was solid."
Borel, USU's star senior quarterback, was much more than solid. He followed up last week's eye-opening performance against the Sooners by eclipsing the 5,000 yard career passing mark early in second quarter. He's just the seventh quarterback in Aggie history to do so.
Against ISU, Borel looked like the seasoned veteran he is, completing 21-26 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown. Two of those incompletions came when his wide receivers dropped the ball in wide open situations.
"It seems like every game Diondre gets a record," Andersen said. "That kid deserves everything he gets. He's a great player."
With the win, Utah State evens its record at 1-1, with a huge game next week against Fresno State looming. The Aggies were able to enter the win column with 542 yards of total offense. More than that, the running game, absent last weekend against Oklahoma, showed up in a big way as USU chewed up 275 yards on the ground, with Michael Smith running for 86 yards and a touchdown to lead the way.
Behind an offensive line that had no problems opening holes for the backfield, the Aggies complemented its passing game with a balance that wasn't present last week. And play calling became easier as a result.
"We knew that we had to do better on the ground than we did last week," senior running back Derrvin Speight said. "We couldn't come in a rush for just 80 yards. Our coaches challenged us to run for 300 yards. The offensive line was able to open up holes and creases and we were able to run through them and get some yardage."
Defensively, Utah State dominated, holding the Bengals under 300 yards for the game and never letting ISU, which scored 32 points in its season-opener, get into anything resembling a rhythm when it had the football.
As was the case last week, the Aggies stuffed Idaho State's running game, and the play of USU's cornerbacks, especially Curtis Marsh, enabled the defense to commit an extra man to the line of scrimmage.
"We knew they had some talent in the backfield," Utah State junior linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "The running backs weren't as good as the Oklahoma backs, but they were still good enough to make you pay for mistakes. I thought we did a good job on them today."
tjones@sltrib.com On twitter @tonyaggieville
Highlights First win for Aggies
R Utah State scores 38 consecutive points after surrendering an opening field goal.
• The Aggies roll up 542 yards of total offense.
• USU wins its first game of the season.