Poor Effort, Turnovers Cost Utah State Chance At Road Win

Oct 23, 2023, 10:51 AM | Updated: Oct 31, 2023, 10:52 am

Digital Producer

LOGAN, Utah – If McCae Hillstead earned Utah State’s starting quarterback job because of his ability to protect the football, he did a poor job of showing it against San Jose State. The freshman quarterback wasn’t alone as USU took a step back after showing signs of improvement in recent weeks.

Utah State (3-5, 1-3) looked disjointed in a 42-21 loss to the Spartans (3-5, 2-2) on Saturday, October 21.

“I didn’t feel like we did anything well,” Aggie head coach Blake Anderson said following the loss. “I don’t think we played well in any phase. (We) never really made a game of it.”

Final from San Jose pic.twitter.com/eKkIALzr5i

— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 22, 2023

“They were more physical than us,” Anderson continued. “They owned the line of scrimmage against our offense and owned the line of scrimmage against our defensive front.

In his first game back since missing two weeks with a concussion, the SJSU pass rush hurried and harassed Hillstead into a pair of interceptions and several questionable decisions in the Aggies loss. The freshman QB completed less than 60 percent of his passes with the Aggie offense combining for a season-low 264 yards. USU finished with 16 first downs in the game.

It wasn’t all bad for the former Skyridge Falcon. Hillstead connected on several deep passes throughout the game and showed an ability to extend plays with his feet by moving around the pocket. The positives likely won’t outweigh the negatives when Anderson, Hillstead, and company reconvene during the bye week to watch film.

With the Aggies most recent performance, Anderson said the bye could not have come at a better time.

“We’re beat up and we need it. We’re beat up physically, beat up mentally… Next week is going to be about trying to find ourselves a little bit and letting these guys heal up physically.”

Following The Aggies With KSL Sports Zone

Utah State (3-5, 1-3) enjoys its first and only bye of the season this week. USU’s next game will be against San Diego State on Saturday, November 4. Kickoff time for this game has not been announced.

USU 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.