- Vanderbilt defeated Utah State with an explosive offense, scoring on eight possessions.
- Quarterback Diego Pavia threw for 321 yards and five touchdowns, rushing for another.
- Utah State's defense struggled, while their offense scored 35 points despite injuries.
NASHVILLE — Utah State forced a three-and-out on Vanderbilt's first offensive possession of the game, allowing only 4 yards on the drive. The Commodores proceeded to score on each of their next eight possessions, punching in six touchdowns and connecting on two field goals.
It was quarterback Diego Pavia that picked apart the Aggies secondary all afternoon, throwing for 321 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for another 79 yards and a touchdown. The five touchdown passes marked a career high for Pavia.
The veteran quarterback has lit up the box score all year for Vanderbilt, leading an offense that averaged 47.5 points per game coming into Saturday's matchup, putting them fourth in the country in that category. He's the leading passer and rusher for the Commodores on the season, in addition to Saturday's game.
"We knew coming into the game that Vanderbilt — we were very impressed with their quarterback, we were very impressed with their offensive scheme," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We thought that was going to be a formidable challenge."
The Aggies defense was better against the Vanderbilt run game, allowing just over 6 yards per carry to players not named Pavia. The pass defense, however, was exposed by Pavia and the receiver corps, with seven different receivers pulling in a pass.
"It's just guys on the back end, our DB room, just not executing at the end of the day. You've got to win your one on ones," safety Noah Avinger said. "That's the biggest thing that we preach on our team. (Vanderbilt) won majority of them, and we weren't able to make plays on them today."
Part of the issue for the Aggies was the pass pressure, or rather lack thereof. The Utah State defensive line was only able to force one quarterback hurry and one sack on the day.
"As we focused and committed numbers to the run game, and working to have some semblance of control of that game, we struggled, not only in sacking their quarterback, which most everyone does," Mendenhall said. "But our coverage just wasn't tight enough, it wasn't clean enough, it wasn't effective enough."
Utah State has been without starting safety Ike Larsen through this point of the season, after he was suspended by the team before the season started. Larsen's absence has certainly not helped the Aggies' secondary.
The lone defensive highlight for the Aggies came early in the fourth quarter when Avinger intercepted Pavia in the end zone to snap the Vanderbilt scoring streak.
Utah State's offense did what they could to keep pace — and even led 14-7 early in the game after two costly fourth down Vanderbilt penalties led to an Aggies touchdown. They were ultimately able to put up 35 points against the Commodores defense, which is well above any other of Vanderbilt's opponents to this point in the year.
"We have a formidable scheme offensively," Mendenhall said. "We have good weapons, we have excellent coaches, we have good football players, and we're building momentum. (We) will continue to work and build. … But I think everyone can sense the direction and what's happening there, which I'm really encouraged by."
After facing two top-20 teams in the first five games of the season, Utah State will enter the bye week before playing only conference games the rest of the way.
The off week could not come at a better time for the Aggies, as they have experienced significant injuries to their offense, including multiple to their offensive line and to starting quarterback Bryson Barnes, who left the game against Vanderbilt in the second half with an undisclosed injury.
The bye week also provides Utah State with an extra week to prepare for their remaining opponents and a chance to make a conference run. While facing two formidable SEC teams in the nonconference schedule certainly took its toll, it also may have prepared the Aggies in a way that playing lesser competition could not.
"Every week's an opportunity to get better as a team. We have gotten top 20 opponents, so what more can you ask for as a team to play those teams?" Avinger said. "Just preparing, learning from our mistakes, doing what we did good, learning from that and make it even better. Just the execution of all that and just stacking each game on and on is building the confidence."
