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It has been said everyone has 15 minutes of glory.
Unfortunately for Utah State, opposing football teams’ allotments have come in the fourth quarter.
The Aggies, who face Hawaii tonight at Aloha Stadium, are 2-5 overall and 0-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. But in each of their losses, the Aggies had leads in the fourth quarter.
Against defending national champion Auburn, the Aggies were ahead 38-28 with less than 3 minutes to play. But Auburn scored two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 30 seconds left.
The Aggies’ 21-13 lead with 4:56 left evaporated when Colorado State scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 42 seconds to go. CSU then won it in overtime.
Against in-state rival Brigham Young, the Aggies built a 24-13 lead with 12:43 remaining. But BYU rallied, with Riley Nelson completing the go-ahead scoring pass with 11 seconds to go.
Also, Fresno State scored the final 17 points and Louisiana Tech had a 10-0 fourth quarter in comeback victories over the Aggies.
"We let a lot of them slip away," Utah State running back Robert Turbin said. "It’s definitely heart-breaking when you know you’re a better team than your record shows. For some reason, we can’t get it done in the fourth quarter. We’re going to work to get better."
The Aggies average 120.57 yards per quarter over the first three quarters, but 81.4 yards in the fourth quarter.
"It’s been definitely challenging," linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "The team has definitely stayed positive through everything. We know we have games left to play. The main thing, for us, is to stay positive."
The Aggies do not use the Hawaii exemption that allows them to play a 13th game. With five games remaining, they need to go 4-1 to meet the bowl-eligible minimum of a 6-6 record.
"We can still end our season 7-5," Turbin said. "That’s our focus right now."
The Warriors, who will be playing at home for the fourth time, are 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the WAC. They need to win two of their final five games for a winning record and accompanying automatic berth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. Four of those games are at home.
Utah State is "a good all-around team," said UH quarterback Bryant Moniz, who needs 81 yards to become the third Warrior with 10,000 career passing yards. "It’s going to be a tough one for us. It might be another close one."
In last week’s 16-14 victory at Idaho, the Warriors scored one touchdown, a 2-yard pass from Moniz to Billy Ray Stutzmann.
"We didn’t put up a lot of points," Moniz said, "but we had a lot of yards (353) and we moved the ball. We have to finish. We have to get seven (points) instead of three."
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