Jalen Royals Finds End Zone As Utah State Fights Against Air Force

LOGAN, Utah – Despite trailing 39-7 when the drive started, McCae Hillstead put together Utah State’s best-looking drive of the night before finding Jalen Royals for his second touchdown pass of the night.

The Aggies are in Colorado Springs, CO to open Mountain West play against the Air Force Falcons on Friday, September 15.

RELATED: Hillstead Connects With Terrell Vaughn For First Utah State Touchdown

MCCAE FOOTBALL!@mccaehillstead with the dart to @RoyalsJalen!

📺 @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/Jcf8SaCtfs

— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 16, 2023

Hillstead finished a 10-play, 79-yard drive by hitting Royals on a comeback route for each player’s second touchdown of the season. The freshman QB from Skyridge HS completed 5-of-7 passes on the drive. Royals has three catches for 40 yards in the game.

Utah State trails Air Force 39-14 with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

RELATED: McCae Hillstead In At Quarterback For Utah State In Second Quarter

Aggie Depth Report

• DT Hale Motu’apuaka and TE Broc Lane each returned against Idaho State
• Both players were on limited snap counts. Anderson joked that they had to take both guys’ helmets and pads away to keep them off the field in the second half.
• Anderson confirmed that sophomore linebacker Max Alford will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered against Iowa
• In the weekly press conference, Anderson said the kicker William Testa and running back Robert Briggs are a little sore. Their availability against Air Force will be determined later in the week.

RELATED: Handling Adversity Gives Utah State Chance To Get Better

Following The Aggies With KSL Sports Zone

Utah State opened its Mountain West schedule against the Air Force Falcons on Friday, September 15. USU defeated Air Force 34-27 last year at Maverik Stadium. The Falcons hold a 6-5 advantage in the all-time series.

Utah State football games are found on KSL Sports Zone with Scott Garrard and former Aggie quarterback Kevin White (1988-89) on the call.

KSL Sports coverage of Utah State University Athletics can be found here. 

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