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Aggies turn seven turnovers into win over Cougars

Posted at 12:38 PM, Sep 30, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-30 14:38:17-04

Utah State forced seven BYU turnovers as the Aggies rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat the Cougars 40-24 on Friday night. Jalen Davis led the way with three interception, and he returned two of those for touchdowns.

“That was an awesome team win,” said Utah State head coach Matt Wells. “I’m happy for that locker room, this was a long time coming. That’s a tremendous win and I know how much it means to our fans and alumni. It’s a rivalry win and it’s a great feeling for a lot of Aggies.”

Utah State took the lead on their first drive of the game when Kent Myers connected with Dax Raymond on a 32-yard touchdown pass.

BYU answered back with 21 straight points. Micah Hannemann returned an interception 46-yards for a touchdown, then Beau Hoge threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Bracken El-Bakri and a 40-yard touchdown pass to Beau Tanner to give the Cougars a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.

But then everything went wrong for BYU, and right for Utah State. The Aggies scored 26 straight points, starting with the first pick-six from Davis. Utah State turned another BYU turnover into another touchdown when Myers threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Ron’quavion Tarver.

Hoge left the game late in the second quarter with an injury and did not return, leaving BYU to play third-string quarterback Koy Detmer Jr. and Austin Kafentzis at quarterback the rest of the game.

Myers threw two touchdowns and ran for another in the fourth quarter to give the Aggies a 33-21 lead.

Davis capped the scoring with his second pick-six, setting a new school record for interceptions returned for a touchdown.