Posted by bambi2godzilla on 9/2/2007, 1:20 pm August 30, 2007 LOGAN, Utah - In what began as a hot bed of excitement turned into cold disappointment as Utah State was defeated by visiting UNLV, 23-16, Thursday night at Romney Stadium in the Aggies' home and season opener. Frank Summers' 11-yard run with 1:02 to play and Sergio Aguayo's PAT gave UNLV its first road win dating back to 2004. With kickoff game-time at 91 degrees, USU's hottest game since 2003, the Aggies jumped out to a 10-3 lead in their first home season-opener since 2002. Thursday was not only USU's first non-Saturday game since 2004, but the August 30 start was the Aggies' earliest season-opener since 2003 and the earliest home-opener since the year before. Senior running back Aaron Lesue scored his first career TD as an Aggie on a two-yard plunge with 13:08 left in the second quarter and freshman kicker Chris Ulinski drilled the PAT for his first USU point. After a 45-yard punt return by senior Kevin Robinson gave the Aggies the ball at the UNLV 21 with one second left, freshman kicker Peter Caldwell split the uprights from 38-yards out as time expired to send the Aggies into the locker room with a 10-3 lead. Temperature at kickoff was a scorching 91 degrees, USU's hottest game since Sept. 13, 2003 at Arizona State when it was 100. UNLV tacked on a pair of Aguayo field goals from 30 and 22 yards, respectively, to pull the Rebels within, 10-9 through three quarters. Quarterback Travis Dixon, a redshirt freshman making his Rebel debut, had a 15-yard scamper to put UNLV ahead, 16-10. The Aggies countered with a one-yard TD dive by senior signal-caller Leon Jackson III, his first in two seasons, but Ulinski's PAT was wide right, leaving the score tied at 16-all, setting up UNLV's game winner. USU had 234 yards (137 passing, 97 rushing) of total offense, while UNLV had 314 yards (173 rushing, 141 passing). Freshman Curtis Marsh led USU with 50 rushing yards on 13 carries, while Lesue had 33 yards and the TD. Jackson started the game six-of-seven passing and ended 13-of-19 for 137 yards. The USU punting duties were also handled by Jackson, who had seven punts for a 47.4 average with a long of 60. Robinson had a team-high five receptions for 62 yards and six kick off returns for 166 yards. Dixon led UNLV with 129 rushing yards and 141 passing yards on 12-of-20 passing. Defensively, senior safety Antonio Taylor, who led USU in tackles last season picked up right where he left off, leading the team in tackles with 10, as well as a pass break up. Sophomore linebacker Paul Igboeli, last season's WAC Freshman of the Year added eight stops, while junior linebacker Jake Hutton made a successful return to the Aggie lineup with six tackles, including a sack.
63.249.102.18
Aggies Topped By Rebels, 23-16, In Season-Opener Thursday
USU Suffers Defeat In First Home Opener Since 2002
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