THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Utah State 73,
Tennessee Tech 12
UTAH STATE 73, TENNESSEE TECH 12
LOGAN, Utah - Nick Madonia nailed a career-high four field goals and narrowly missed a fifth Thursday night as the Tennessee Tech football team wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule at Utah State, falling 73-12 to the Aggies.
Against the Football Bowl Subdivision team, the Golden Eagles saw some flashes with a couple of crucial defensive stops, then got a couple of big offensive plays. However, Tech (0-3) just could not find pay dirt when it came to the end zone.
An Aggie fumble on the first offensive play of the contest gave the Golden Eagles great field position at the Utah State, but Tech was held to no gain, setting up a 54-yard kick from Madonia, the second-longest in school history and Tech’s longest since Madonia made a school-record 57-yarder against Tennessee State in 2016.
Madonia picked up his second midway through the second stanza as Tech completed a 10-play, 72-yard drive. The Golden Eagles reached the Utah State 1, but the Aggies kept Tech out of the end zone, prompting a 20-yard kick from Madonia.
His third came in the second drive of the third quarter. Luke Ward engineered a 10-play, 69-yard drive as Tech was held to the Utah State 6. Madonia’s kick was true from 23 yards out.
The kickoff from Haidar Zaidan was returned 15 yards, but Marcus McMeans forced the fumble, then Zaidan recovered it, giving the Golden Eagles another offensive series. But the offense was pushed back, leading to another Madonia attempt, this time 42 yards. However, the kick sailed to the right.
He added his fourth of the night with 2:02 remaining in the contest though, nailing a 45-yarder to close out Tech’s scoring.
Utah State (2-1) rolled up 621 yards of offense, including 330 rushing and 291 passing yards.
Tech put together 227 yards, 152 rushing and 75 passing. Bailey Fisher was 5-for-14 for 61 yards, while Luke Ward led the rushers with nine carries for 52 yards. Andrew Goldsmith caught two passes for 29 yards to lead the receivers.
USU quarterback Jordan Love threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-26 passing, while Darwin Thompson rushed for 107 yards and a score on six carries. Morian Walker Jr. ran for two touchdowns on five carries.