There generally aren’t many positives that come out of a 59-10 loss, but Utah State was able to cite a few after Friday’s blowout at the hands of Wisconsin.
One was the performance of USU’s newly-assembled offensive line.
Left tackle Roman Andrus, left guard Moroni Iniquez, center Quin Ficklin, right guard Rob Castaneda and right tackle Sean Taylor all had something in common: It was the first Utah State start for all of the linemen.
“Right after the game, I thought they played pretty well. Then, after reviewing the tape, I still stand on that,” Aggie coach Matt Wells said Monday. “When you look at it, all five of them didn’t play a snap for us last year; two of them (Andrus and Ficklin) didn’t even play O-line last year.”
“I think that the work that’s been done over the offseason and spring ball, you can say that it’s on the track right now,” he added.
The unit allowed only one sack to a Wisconsin defense that returned a majority of its starters from 2016.
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Aggies unhappy about targeting call
An ejection due to a targeting penalty on Utah State cornerback Jalen Davis kept the senior out of the game for the second half of Friday night’s game against Wisconsin.
When Davis exited the contest, the visiting Aggies had a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. The Badgers scored 59 straight points over the remainder of the night for a 59-10 victory.
Wells said he thought the defense reasonably held together in the second period after the ejection, but wasn’t happy that the player with the team’s most starting experience was given the heave-ho.
“Basically, the [Wisconsin] kid lowered his body based the ball being thrown low and inside. It was helmet-to-helmet, I don’t think there’s any question,” Wells said.
“There wasn’t thrusting, there wasn’t a crown. Yes, I would’ve liked to see the ejection taken off, but I understand the penalty,” he added. “And I think targeting, even though it went against us this time, I think it’s been good for our game.”
Davis has started in all 37 games he’s played during his Utah State career. Because the targeting penalty took place in the first half, Davis was required to sit out the second half, but will be available to play this week against Idaho State.
Lindsey questionable for Idaho State
During the oft-replayed 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by Wisconsin’s Joe Ferguson late in Friday’s contest, Utah State running back Tonny Lindsey Jr. was the player lying motionless near the line of scrimmage.
Wells said that the playing status of Lindsey, who suffered a shoulder injury, will be determined later.
Sophomore tight end Dax Raymond was one injured starter who missed the entire game as senior Damian Hobbs took his place.
“Those are game-time decisions and day-to-day, they’re in the same boat this week,” Wells said. “Tonny will be out for a little while. If it’s season-ending, we’ll talk about it, but he’ll be out for a couple of weeks here.”
Lindsey finished the game with 28 yards on six carries while starting running back LaJuan Hunt totaled 27 yards on seven attempts. In 2016, Lindsey finished with a team-high 856 yards on the ground.