3 takeaways from the Aggies’ back-breaking loss to Temple

Talk about a gut punch for Utah State.
The Aggies, fresh off a competitive loss at home against Utah, jumped out to a 14-0 lead over Temple on Saturday only to fall apart in the second half and lose to the Owls 45-29.
Now 1-3 on the season — with the only win coming at home against Robert Morris — the Aggies consistently got in their own way in Philadelphia in all three phases of the game.
Throw in a strong outing by the Owls, who were winless before the game, and it added up to disaster for Utah State.
Here are three takeaways from the Aggies’ latest setback, nothing less than a back-breaker against Temple.
When Utah State has been at its best defensively in recent years, the Aggies have been a disruptive defense; i.e. getting into the opposition’s backfield for tackles for loss and sacks, as well as causing turnovers and penalties by the opposing offense.
None of that existed for Utah State against Temple. Instead, the Aggies let Temple do whatever it wanted on offense, particularly in the second half when the Owls outscored USU 28-8.
Utah State finished the game with only four tackles for loss, and they weren’t particularly damaging tackles either, combining for just eight negative yards.
Utah State had only one sack on the day — courtesy of defensive tackle Miguel Jackson. The Aggies’ edge rushers couldn’t get anywhere close to Temple quarterback Evan Simon for most of the game and finished with only four quarterback hurries.
When Utah State did manage to pressure Simon, he made made them pay with well-executed wheel routes, screen passes and the like.
No Aggie defensive end finished with more than three tackles (Lawrence Falatea led the way), and outside of a trio of plays by Blaine Spires, Utah State didn’t get much of anything out of its edge rushers.
That proved especially problematic in the second half as USU could not set the edge on the defense, which allowed Temple to get outside again and again on the ground, be it Terrez Worthy or Antwain Littleton II.
It wasn’t just about the lack of negative plays, though.
Temple came into the game with an FBS-worst 11 turnovers, and the Aggies were unable to force a single one.
There were a few close calls, balls that fell just out of arms reach or a fumble that rolled out of bounds, but in a game wherein Utah State desperately needed to force turnovers, the Aggies failed to muster any.
They lost the turnover battle to boot with a late interception thrown by quarterback Spencer Petras, who could’ve been picked off multiple other times during the game.
Then there were the penalties.
Utah State actually did fairly well by its own standards, committing only six in the games, but Temple was better there too, with only five.
All told, anything and everything that could be considered disruptive failed to manifest itself in Utah State’s favor.
For as bad as the end result was — and it was bad — there were good things done by the Aggies.
The offense in particular had a fairly good day, though it left way too many points on the board, with multiple empty red zone trips.
The USU offensive line specifically was a bright spot. With the O-line opening up holes, running back Rahsul Faison rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown on 5.5 yards per carry, and backup running back Herschel Turner added 32 yards and a touchdown on 5.3 yards per carry.
Most of the yards came up because the Aggie O-line bottled up defense linemen and linebackers and let Faison and Turner take on Owl defensive backs, matchups that frequently went in Utah State’s favor.
The run game all but died in the second half, though, but not because of its own struggles — much more because Utah State couldn’t stop Temple on defense and the Aggies quickly fell behind by two or more scores.
Want more proof that USU’s O-line may be one of its better units this season?
Petras isn’t what you would call a mobile quarterback, but he was sacked only twice, one of which came after he held on to the ball for way too long and brought the ball down before attempting to bring it back up to throw.
For most the day, Petras had plenty of time in the pocket, which enabled him to throw for a career-best 293 yards.
Saturday’s special teams performance was kind of a microcosm for the Aggies’ season thus far.
On the one hand, punter Ryan Marks genuinely had a brilliant performance. In the first half, the Aggies dominated the game in no small part because Marks’ punts enable USU to dominate the field position battle.
Marks had three punts down inside the 20-yard line, and on each of the ensuring Temple offensive possessions, Utah State’s defense looked great.
Additionally, the Aggies’ kick return coverage continues to be good, and outside of a big return by Worthy, Temple’s kick and punt returners were a non-factor.
And yet, place kicker Elliott Nimrod missed badly on a 29-yard field goal attempt early in the third quarter at a time when Utah State was desperate for points and momentum.
Even worse, an onside kick attempt in the fourth quarter went nowhere, not even close to the necessary 10 yards down the field. Even worse than that, the onside try set Temple up for an easy late touchdown at a time when the Aggies still had a little hope of making a comeback.
Interim head coach Nate Dreiling said after the game that the Aggies were great in the non-pressure moments and horrible in the key ones. That is exactly how special teams played out for Utah State against Temple.
When the Aggies desperately need points, a return or a stop, they didn’t get it. When they weren’t in desperate need of something, they looked great.