Who says the Aggies don't know how to win?

If you'd won three games in a row, you'd jump into a
massive dogpile with a bunch of other dudes too!

In a game that was frighteningly similar to the last game between the Vandals and Aggies in the Kibbie Dome, Saturday's shootout had all the back and forth action that we've seen before. And just like we've seen before in that situation, Utah State came out victorious behind a game for the ages from Robert Turbin.

Amazingly, for as many times as the Aggies looked like they were about to let this game slip away, they never once trailed in regulation. And when I talk about all the times it looked like the game was about to slip away, I mean that these turnovers are going to bite this team in the ass sooner or later. But to have come back and still made the plays they needed to in order to pull out this win speaks to how far this team has progressed in the last month.

That knack for losing close games in the final minutes that USU seemed addicted to in September and the early part of October has shifted into a killer instinct that is carrying the Aggies all the way to a .500 record in late November and one game away from bowl eligibility.

Adam Kennedy was stellar again, completing 13-of-18 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He also has shown to have pretty much flawless judgement on when to take off and run on the ground to make plays when nothing is open downfield. Not to say he has wheels or anything, but he's not bad on his feet, and his 39 yards on the ground today show it.

Robert Turbin... Holy hell! He racked 208 yards and three touchdowns as part of a game when he became USU's all-time leading scorer. Oh, and he's only a junior BTW.

Matt Austin is unreal, and I am not sure this game is even a game still in the 4th quarter if he doesn't go down with an injury. He's really seemed to emerge with Kennedy under center though, mainly because Dave Baldwin seems to be much more willing to take shots downfield with AFK playing. At least that was mostly the case... But we're about to get to that right after I gush about McKade Brady...

McKade Brady is a bad ass. He's been an absolute godsend in the defensive backfield, and his 16 tackles today could only be described as "Wagneresque".

Now onto Dave Baldwin...

Dave, you were $#!T today. Outside of you finally "getting it" on the whole "just give it to No. 6" thing (and you weren't even perfect on that), just about every other baffling quality about how you run your offense had its moment in the spotlight tonight. I don't want to go too deep into rehashing old complaints, but there was a lot more of the "take Robert Turbin out on 3rd and short" business tonight. There was also essentially no use of the running backs running routes out of the backfield, with one catch by Kerwynn Williams being the only thing on the stat sheet about that. Then there was the complete shutdown of Adam Kennedy after the pick-six in the third quarter which I cannot understand for the life of me.

See, Kennedy was basically in "killin it" mode for the bulk of the game. Then in the middle of the third quarter, Tarren Lloyd's desire to not mercilessly railroad an official had him pulling up on his route (at least that's what it looked like) and trying to reach out and still make the catch. This resulted in the ball getting picked and taken to the house. It sucked, and it was pretty much a fluke.

Then on Kennedy's next attempt he hit Stanley Morrison for a 63-yard touchdown. From that point on, Kennedy only had four more pass attempts in a quarter and a half of regulation football. Coincidentally, the USU offense only scored one more touchdown in regulation.

So what the hell Dave?? At this point, after three years here and 10 games this season, you still haven't realized that when you stretch the field by letting your very-capable quarterbacks throw downfield that you hit on some pretty big plays? And on top of that open up your run game more? Have you not realized that you have four legitimate star-caliber receivers in Austin, Morrison, Chuck Jacobs and Travis Van Leeuwen (who I'm nominating for "most under-utilized player on the roster" award)?

We've come a long way together, and you've put a lot of trust in Adam Kennedy. He's done essentially nothing to betray that trust, yet you completely took the ball out of his hands almost all of the second half. This game should have been over halfway through the 4th quarter, but you went all Dave Baldwin on us and we had to pull a miracle or two to make it happen. My frustration with you had subsided a bit after the last couple weeks, but it's pretty solidly back now.

Baldwin rant over...

Regardless, the team is back to .500. They've dug out of one hell of a hole and now stand just one game away from bowl eligibility. The Aggies can reach that goal Saturday against Nevada in what will most likely be a very desolate and barren day at Romney Stadium with it being Thanksgiving weekend and all.

Either way, I'm gonna resurrect the hashtag and say #FillRomney!!!

Player of the Game: Robert Turbin