2014 New Mexico Bowl DVD

Utah State Aggies UTEP Miners

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Nick Vigil ran for a touchdown and also combined with his brother to make 16 tackles as Utah State shut down UTEP 21-6 Saturday in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl.

Utah State (10-4) won a bowl game for the third straight year.

UTEP (7-6) is 0-6 in postseason play since winning the 1967 Sun Bowl.

The Aggies have one of the top-ranked defenses in the nation. Linebackers Nick and Zach Vigil helped prevent the Miners from putting together consistent drives, with Zach making nine stops.

Kent Myers threw for 68 yards and rushed for 70 and a touchdown for Utah State. Nick Vigil scored on a 3-yard run for a 14-3 lead early in the third quarter.

UTEP's Aaron Jones ran for 88 yards, but was held to only 3.5 yards per carry because of the strong Aggies line.

Utah State put the finishing touches on a double-digit-win season by defeating UTEP 21-6 in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Saturday at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Let's take a glance at how it went down:

How the game was won: Utah State won this game with its defense. The Aggies held UTEP to 275 total offensive yards and held sophomore UTEP running back Aaron Jones to just 88 yards and 3.5 yards per carry. Jones was averaging 112 rushing yards per game coming into the bowl. The Aggies were fantastic on third downs -- UTEP converted only five of 20 chances -- and held UTEP to just 3.9 yards per play. Zach Vigil and Nick Vigil combined for 16 tackles, and Brian Suite led the team with 10.

Game ball goes to: True freshman quarterback Kent Myers. The Aggies' fourth quarterback this season guided Utah State to a 5-1 mark in his time as a starter. He started the game with a nice touchdown run, and though he was knocked out briefly after taking a big hit, he returned to direct the Aggies to 14 more points. He finished with 70 rushing yards and a touchdown, and 68 passing yards.

What it means: The Aggies, who were making their fourth consecutive bowl appearance, won their third straight bowl game. More importantly, Utah State secured the second 10-win season in school history (the first came in 2012). A tip of the cap to coach Matt Wells and the job he did this season, as this team had to survive the loss of three quarterbacks to season-ending injuries and navigate the season's home stretch with Myers. Even when Myers was knocked out briefly Saturday after a sack (shown below), Ronald Butler came in and broke off a 61-yard run to get the Aggies in field goal range before the half.

Best play: Utah State's first touchdown was an impressive one, with good play design and great execution. The Aggies had three receivers to the right side of the formation, motioned a running back in that direction and Myers made a quick fake in that direction, sending a pack of UTEP defenders to the wide side of the field. Myers kept the ball, sprinted upfield, made a nice move to make a defender miss, and sprinted 48 yards for a touchdown to give Utah State a lead it would never relinquish.



Utah State football DVD list

UTEP football DVD list

NFL football DVDs / NCAA college football DVDs / NBA basketball DVDs / Major League Baseball DVDs / NFL Europe DVDs / XFL football DVDs / Super Bowl DVDs / NFL draft DVDs / Canadian football CFL DVDs / USFL football DVDs / Arena football AFL DVDs / World Leage WLAF football DVDs / Japanese baseball DVDs / NCAA college basketball DVDs / NHL hockey DVDs / Olympics hockey DVDs / Sumo wrestling DVDs / contact