Study Hall: Fresno State 24, Utah State 17

Confused? Visit the Advanced Stats glossary here. Or just skip to the words. I won't be offended. (Okay, I'll only be a little offended.)

From Tuesday's Numerical:

Darell Garretson and Craig Harrison completed just 16 of 35 passes for 253 yards and two picks and were sacked eight times, and Utah State averaged just 4.1 yards per play for the game as a whole.

The Aggies were able to stay in the game thanks to both their ability to make stops and Fresno State's ability to falter before the goal line. The Bulldogs made a whopping 10 trips inside Utah State's 40-yard line but turned the ball over twice (in one instance, USU returned a fumble the length of the field for a touchdown), punted once, and turned the ball over on downs three times. Thanks to the fumble return touchdown, USU bought time for its offense to get rolling; but USU was able to score only twice in six trips inside Fresno's 40, missing a field goal, turning the ball over twice, and faltering on fourth down once.

Utah State did not do very well on passing downs ... but the Aggies were twice as bad on standard downs. Took a turnovers miracle to keep this game winnable.