USU whacked by Idaho in league debut

MOSCOW, Idaho — When Utah State football coach Brent Guy saw what unfolded in the first 30 minutes of the Aggies' 27-13 loss to the University of Idaho Saturday, he didn't know what he was seeing.

He was certain, however, that it wasn't the same team that beat UNLV, of the Mountain West Conference, last week.

While the offense sputtered, the defense allowed a touchdown in each of the first two quarters and the Aggies didn'trecover in their inaugural Western Athletic Conference game.

"I'm disappointed that we didn't improve as a team," he said. "All the things that won for us a week ago we gave back up today."

Idaho's Rolly Lumbala, who rushed for a team-high 73 yards, scored on a 1-yard run and 12-yard catch late in the first quarter and second quarters, respectively, and the once winless Vandals (1-4) built the 14-0 lead.

Idaho quarterback Steven Wichman, who threw for just 112 yards in a 24-0 loss to Hawaii last week, completed his first 13 passes, including 12-for-12 for 159 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone.

"We came out, and we weren't ready," Guy said. "They marched right down on us."

Defensively, the Aggies played well in allowing a season-low 339 yards. Utah State forced three turnovers, all of which came inside its own territory.

"Definitely, you're disappointed anytime you get a loss, but especially in a loss like this when we came out in the first half and didn't play," Utah State linebacker Matt Wiser said.

Along with holding the Vandals to just 339 total yards, the Aggies had only five penalties (seven fewer than last week) and tallied a season-high 293 yards, but it was the little things like costly turnovers (three) and failing to make crucial stops on defense that hurt.

The Vandals converted 10 of 15 third-down situations, many of which were five yards or more.

"When you're going into a game that's the position you want to get them in is third-and-long," Wiser said.

The Aggies scored on their first possession of the second half as quarterback Leon Jackson III engineered an 11-play, 77-yard drive to cut the lead to 14-7 with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Robinson.

"The only time we really looked like the football team we have was in the third quarter," Guy said. "They knew they had to make plays to get back in it."

Three drives later, Chris Forbes scored on a 51-yard touchdown run on the first play following an Idaho fumble.