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PHILADELPHIA — Utah State expected to come out of their nonconference schedule with an even record and halt a losing streak in the process.
But Temple had other plans.
The Aggies (1-3) lost 45-29 to the Owls (1-3) on Saturday afternoon on the road. It marked Temple's first win of the season, and Utah State's third consecutive loss.
"It's an embarrassing loss," Aggies interim coach Nate Dreiling said. "We expect more of ourselves, and that starts with me."
Starting quarterback Spencer Petras returned for Utah State after missing the last two games due to injury. He went 26-of-44 for 293 yards and a touchdowns with an interception.
Running back Rahsul Faison had his second consecutive game with at least 100 rushing yards, and finished with 148 yards and a touchdown. Faison had 130 of his total rushing yards in the first half alone, but couldn't get going in the same way after that. Dreiling said Temple had a lot to do with it.
"I think it was more so we just couldn't stop them on defense and we had to go so pass-happy," Dreiling said.
Utah State's kicking resulted in poor field position for Temple early in the game, and helped the Aggies rack up their total yardage. But the Aggies ended with 479 yards of total offense, just 28 more than Temple.
The Aggies held the lead for more than half the game, but couldn't sustain it.
Faison started the game's scoring on a 4-yard touchdown in opening minutes of the second quarter. Later, Jalen Royals caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Petras for a 14-0 lead.
The Owls started their comeback from there, though. Antonio Jones scored on a 32-yard run, then Evan Simon threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Antwain Littleton to tie the game.
Faison's 20-yard touchdown run gave Utah State a 21-14 lead; but a few seconds before halftime, Maddux Trujillo made a 64-yard field goal.
Temple flipped the momentum from that point on. Dante Wright turned on the jets with a 91-yard touchdown reception in the biggest play of the game.
"That was an extremely disappointing play," Dreiling said.
To start the fourth, Simon threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Evert, and then his 2-yard touchdown pass to Peter Clarke gave the Owls a 38-21 lead.
Utah State answered with Petras throwing a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jack Hestera and also completed a 2-point conversion. Simon rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with less than four minutes remaining in the game, marking a 45-29 Temple lead.
Faison said the game's momentum changed in the second half.
"They came out and they just wanted it more in the second half," Faison said. "We didn't want it as bad."
Dreiling took the blame for the loss and said he has to get his players more prepared, particular in what he described as "critical moments."
"Our critical moments right now, we look very bad," Dreiling said. "When it's not a critical moment, we look very good. So it's how can we get that across the whole game."
Faison acknowledged that pressure moments are an issue for the Aggies right now.
"We have to do a better job under pressure and when the moments matter," Faison said. "I mean, they matter all 60 minutes; but in clutch moments, have to be able to pull together and have faith in one another that everyone's going to do their job and play as hard as we can and good thing will happen."
Despite the losing streak, cornerback D.J. Graham said there is still plenty of belief in the locker room.
"It's just a little adversity," Graham said. "But we all believe in each other and we all have each other's backs."
