In a battle of a pair of highly regarded group-of-five programs, Utah State was dominant in a 52-13 win over North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.
Utah State turned an intriguing group-of-five matchup on the opening day of bowl season into a quick rout as they dominated North Texas 52-13 in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
An early injury to Mason Fine prevented North Texas from keeping up with the potent Utah State offense as the Aggies used a 24-0 second quarter to turn the game into a blowout
Utah State’s sophomore QB Jordan Love wasn’t efficient, with the Aggies looking for homerun ball after homerun ball, but he threw for 361 yards on his 21-of-43 completions, connecting on four touchdown passes of of 72, 37, 67, and 13 yards. He added a rushing touchdown for good measure as well.
He wasted little time getting the party started, connecting with Aaren Vaughns for a 72-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the game to give the Aggies the early 7-0 advantage.
North Texas answered back with a DeAndre Torrey touchdown run, but the talented sophomore running back was mostly held in check, rushing for just 35 yards on 14 carries.
The Aggies went on a 31-0 run from there to take a 38-7 lead into the locker room, rendering the second half mostly an exercise in futility for North Texas.
Seth Littrell may have uncovered his QB-of-the-future in the second half, though. While Mason Fine will be back in Denton for his senior year in 2019, freshman QB Kason Martin showed some moxie in the second half, completing 7-of-12 passes for 111 yards, including a perfectly thrown 75-yard touchdown bomb on the first play of the third quarter.
Utah State rallied together despite the departure of head coach Matt Wells as well as most of the coaching staff that rendered them to only four on-field coaches for the game. The win pushed the Aggies to 11-2 on the season, which tied the school record for most wins in a single-season.
Here are three takeaways from Utah State’s win over North Texas: