PROVO, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – We don’t know when the next battle for the Old Wagon Wheel will take place, if at all. But we do know the coveted trophy is staying in Provo for the foreseeable future.
Jaren Hall threw three touchdown passes as BYU improved to 4-1 on the season with a 38-26 victory over Utah State Thursday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Hall, who favored his right shoulder after a late hit near the end of the third quarter, has thrown for at least 250 yards in nine consecutive games. Kody Epps finished with 86 yards and a touchdown on five catches. Christopher Brooks ran for 90 yards and a score on 11 carries.
BYU (4-1) beat Utah State for the third straight time in the Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel.
“Tough game,” said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. “I am excited we got the win. Give a lot of credit to Utah State. I thought Blake Anderson and his staff had their guys ready to play. They did some different things that we weren’t expecting, especially on the offensive side, but I thought they played really well on defense too. We could definitely play better ourselves.”
Cooper Legas threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns while adding 54 yards and another score on the ground to lead the Aggies. Legas, who filled in for injured starter Logan Bonner, also threw a pair of interceptions. Calvin Tyler, Jr. added 104 yards on 18 carries.
The Aggies (1-4, 0-1 MW) lost their fourth straight game and fell to 6-65 all-time versus AP Top 25 teams.
BYU now holds a 51-37-3 advantage of Utah State in this rivalry which dates back to 1922. But with BYU moving to the Big 12 Conference next year, no future games are currently on the schedule.
BYU wide receiver Gunner Romney made his much anticipated season debut after missing the first four games with an injury, and had four catches for 51 yards.
“I am super rusty for sure, but I’m just glad to be out there playing again,” Romney said. “That’s what first games are for, to see what I can improve on, shake off the rust and be ready to go for next week.”
“That’s a brother right there,” Epps said about Romney. “That’s a dude that I love to death, and I’m gonna love him for the rest of my life. As a true friend, as a true brother, to have him back on the field and see him make that first catch was epic. I know he’s been waiting for a while. I’ve been wanting to for him, and the team has been waiting for him, so it was pretty sick to see that.”
Utah State took a 7-0 lead after Legas capped the Aggies’ opening drive with a 7-yard run. Things were on the verge of unraveling for Utah State after that early score.
BYU covered 65 yards in two plays — a 34 yard catch by Gunner Romney and 31-yard catch-and-run by Keanu Hill — to even the score. Then, Max Tooley reeled in a tipped pass from Legas and returned it 32 yards to give the Cougars their first lead at 14-7.
That was Tooley’s second pick-6 of the year, which leads the nation.
“Since I started playing football, every time the ball lands in my hands, the mentality is to score, whether it’s offense or defense,” Tooley said. “These days, I only get defensive opportunities, but it was the same sort of situation. I just needed to score and do what I had to do.”
Utah State bounced back and shut down BYU’s offense after its initial drive. The Cougars went three-and-out on three consecutive possessions, opening the door for the Aggies to retake a 17-14 lead on a 14-yard catch by Brian Cobbs. BYU lost a total of nine yards on those three drives.
The Cougars found some life on offense again in the third quarter. Ethan Erickson snagged a high pass for a go-ahead 14-yard score to cap off BYU’s opening second-half drive. Then, on the Cougars’ next drive, Kody Epps caught three straight passes — culminating in an 8-yard score that extended BYU’s lead to 31-20.
BYU averaged 9.0 yards on 22 third quarter plays after totaling only 107 yards on 19 plays during the first half.
The Cougars finally got their running game going in the fourth quarter. Brooks scored on an 18-yard run to cap off six straight running plays and give BYU a 38-20 lead.
Jake Oldroyd missed two more field goals for the Cougars as his struggles continued.
“We still have a lot of belief in Jake,{” Sitake said. “Maybe it’s just that end zone, I have no idea. But we’ll get it fixed. No one’s harder on himself than he is, so right now he’s not happy, but I’m trying to get him to be happy, because we won the game. We still believe in his skills. I thought he kicked off really well, so we just got to keep building.”
Turnovers continued to be a problem for the Aggies. An interception return gave BYU its first lead early in the first quarter while a red zone fumble only a few seconds into the second quarter killed a potential scoring drive.
Utah State next hosts Air Force on October 8th, while BYU takes on Notre Dame in Las Vegas a week from Saturday.
“Notre Dame, they’re always tough,” Tooley said. “We haven’t really looked too much into them. We were focused on Utah State all the way this week. But they’re a tough team. They’re always one of the best in the country, regardless of what people may say. We know they’re going to come to play. They’re going to be physical. It’s going to be a big game.”