From Deseret News archives:
Utah State pounded by Idaho
But Aggies finally manage to score an offensive touchdown
But the result of the game was no different than the first four.
With 11:10 left in the first quarter in the Aggies' 41-21 loss to the University of Idaho Saturday, running back Marcus Cross scored Utah State's first offensive touchdown of the year on a 4-yard run. Three minutes later — following an Idaho fumble — the Aggies scored again to take a two-touchdown lead.
It was just the start Utah State coach Brent Guy was looking for, but the outcome didn't reflect the start.
"I think that was the best we've ever started a football game," he said. "That was so encouraging — the first quarter."
The two quick scores would be all the Aggies (0-5, 0-1) would get until freshman quarterback Riley Nelson, who made his college debut with 8:35 left in the game, led the Aggies to a touchdown with 1:58 left in the game.
In the meantime, the Vandals (2-3, 1-0) reeled off 41 unanswered points to pick up the victory in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
"It was a good win for us," Idaho coach Dennis Erickson said. "I thought the guys showed a lot of character when we were down. We fought back and did some good things."
Before taking control, the Vandals had to weather the Aggies' fast start, and in particular the start of quarterback Leon Jackson III.
Jackson completed his first seven passes, including 5 for 5 on the Aggies' opening drive.
On the next drive, following an Idaho fumble on the kickoff, Jackson completed two more passes, with the latter going for a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Bohm to build the 14-0 lead.
The TD toss was Jackson's first of the year, and his first since Game 6 of last year against Boise State.
With the Aggies leading 14-10, Jackson drove the Aggies to the Idaho seven with two minutes left in the half, and threw a 98-yard interception return for a Vandal touchdown. Instead of possibly leading 21-10 at the half, the Aggies trailed 17-14.
"The minute we did (lost focus), we let them get that one play. From there we could never really recover," Guy said. " ... It didn't totally deflate us because it was still a three-point game."
Jackson was brilliant in the first quarter, completing 7 of 8 for 67 yards, while guiding the Aggies to 95 total yards.
The second quarter wasn't too bad either as he completed 5 of 9 passes for 29 yards, but the interception return for a touchdown — the fifth interception return for a touchdown he's allowed this year — appeared to break his confidence.
