In a game that nearly everyone predicted would end in a Utah State loss, the Aggies came out and proved that their being in the Mountain West title game was no fluke.

They made a statement, and it was a big one.

Facing The 11-win, 19th ranked, West Division winner San Diego State Aztecs, Utah State put on a show on Saturday afternoon, winning the program’s first Mountain West championship.

While they had fallen behind in many of their games this season, the Aggies did no such thing this time around. After a scoreless opening 15 minutes, Utah State took the lead via a five-yard Logan Bonner touchdown pass to Derek Wright six minutes into the second frame.

 

They made the score 14-0 just four minutes later when Calvin Tyler Jr. broke across the goal line from one yard out after breaking multiple tackles on the play before. The Aztecs converted a field goal to make the score 14-3 going into the halftime break.

Determined to put the game away in the second half, Logan Bonnet found a wide-open Brandon Bowling down the middle of the field for a 58-yard score just as the second half was getting underway.

Now leading 21-3, Utah State kept their foot on the pedal. On the next possession, an Aztec punt was blocked and the ball traveled out of the back of the endzone, resulting in a safety and a 23-3 lead.

After a San Diego State field goal cut the lead to 17, Bowling caught a second touchdown pass from Bonner, this time an 18-yard score, that put the Aggies up 29-6 near the end of the third quarter after the PAT was blocked. The score was set up by an Aztec fumble on a punt return.

 

Another San Diego State fumble set up a Utah State field goal early in the fourth quarter, and the Aggies made the score 39-6 when Bonner found Justin McGriff for a nine-yard scoring strike just three minutes later.

After the Aztecs scored a consolation touchdown, the Aggies added a final score when Calvin Tyler Jr. found a hole but fumbled the ball forward at the two-yard line. Jordan Nathan pounced on it in the endzone, giving the Aggies a 46-13 lead and the final cruel blow to San Diego State’s title hopes.

Closing out the blowout upset win, the Aggies celebrated as the 2021 Mountain West Conference champions. 

 

After being doubted the entire year, the USU Athletics Twitter page had to get in on the fun.

Offensive showcase

Playing statistically what was one of the countries’ top defenses, the Aggies offense tore it to pieces.

Utah State racked up 363 yards of total offense in the game while scoring 46 points, the most points scored on the Aztecs all season.

Quarterback Logan Bonner completed 29-of-42 passes for 318 yards, adding four touchdowns and an interception to take home the game’s offensive MVP honors.

Safety Byron Vaughns was also named the defensive MVP of the game.

Records broken

There were a lot of records broken in the game on Saturday.

Logan Bonner’s four scoring throws set a new Mountain West title game record, and his 36 touchdown passes this season are now a new school record. With 3,560 passing yards on the season, he is also just eight yards shy of breaking another single-season school record. 

Utah State even recorded the first safety in the nine-year history of the Mountain West title game, while the 46 points scored and the 33 point margin of victory are also new championship game records.

 

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Spencer Rodak
Spencer has always been passionate about sports, growing up playing and following various sports. He ran cross country in high school and began his journey in sports media in 2017 as a journalism intern at The Spectrum & Daily News. Since then, his work has been published in numerous outlets including Deseret News, Standard-Examiner, St. George News, Southern Utah Now, SUU's Thunderground, SB Nation's RSL Soapbox, FanSided's Venom Strikes, fan-insider.com, The Spurs Web, and Iron County Today. Spencer is the founder of Stadium Sportzz and both the Sportzz with Spencer and Mountain States Sports Report podcasts. His experience extends to public address announcing, having first served as the PA announcer for Southern Utah University soccer in 2017 and as a high school sports PA announcer. He is now entering his fourth year as a PA announcer at Utah Tech University, where he also occasionally takes on the role of in-game emcee. Spencer's versatility also extends to radio, where at The Fan Sports Network he produced high school and Utah Tech athletics broadcasts, hosted the weekly Region 9 Football Tailgate Show, and appeared daily on The Drive. Now working towards completing his Bachelor's degree in Media Studies, Spencer was recently named the Sports Director at Utah Tech University's 91.3 The Blaze for the 2024-25 year. He will host a weekly show and serve as a play-by-play broadcaster, continuing his dedication to sports journalism and broadcasting. When he isn’t talking, writing about, or watching sports, Spencer enjoys traveling and spending time with his amazing wife.

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