Aggies Get First Bowl Win Since 2018
After being canceled in 2020 the inaugural Jimmy Kimmel Bowl finally kicked off Saturday night. The game, named after the ABC late-night talk show host, featured much of the silliness you would expect from Kimmel. That included a vomiting camel. Yes, you read that right. However, like most of the bowl games so far in 2021, there was some good football. Let’s break it down as Utah State wins the LA Bowl 24-13.
Rough Start For USU
The Beavers came out hot, scoring less than a minute into the game. Jesiah Irish capped a three-play, 71-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown giving Oregon State the early lead. However, the Aggies couldn’t get anything going with an interception and a punt.
On their third series starting quarterback Logan Bonner injured his knee. In addition backup, Andrew Peasley was out due to an injury. That forced third-string Cooper Legas into the game. How did that work out? In the first play from scrimmage, he hit Deven Thompkins on a 62 yard strike evening the game at seven.
Legas ✈️ DT @cooperlegas for 6️⃣! pic.twitter.com/mQJqPl7NTK
— USU Football (@USUFootball) December 19, 2021
The amazing thing is Legas checked off at the line of scrimmage. If you read our game preview we said Thompkins was the player to watch for Utah State. He certainly lived up to the hype hauling in six passes for 115 yards and one touchdown.
Following an OSU field goal Utah State took it 85 yards with Calvin Tyler Jr. taking it the last 15. In a bit of irony Tyler transferred from Oregon State to Utah State this season. The Aggies led it 14-10 at the half.
A Strong Finish
The Aggies dominated the second half outscoring the Beavers 10-3. Turnovers and penalties were the undoing for OSU. In the game, they were flagged 13 times for 91 yards. In addition, many of those were personal fouls coming after they’d made a great defensive play. Even though they outgained USU 415-383 the miscues proved too much to overcome.
An Unlikely Hero
Coming into the LA Bowl, Legas hadn’t thrown a pass the entire season. In fact, his only appearance on the stat sheet was one rush for minus 4 yards. That came in a 35-10 win over New Mexico on November 26th. He was so unknown the ABC announcers didn’t know how to pronounce his name.
Playing against a pretty good Oregon State defense the sophomore completed 11 of 20 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. You see it all the time in bowl games where a little-known player steps in and leads his team to victory. Legas’ play is a big reason why Utah State wins the LA Bowl 24-13.
Late Night Hilarity
As mentioned earlier there was some pretty good football played in the LA Bowl. However one thing’s going to be remembered from this game, and it has nothing to do with what happened on the field. Using some of his late-night humor Kimmel offered the ABC broadcast team a specialty sandwich he created. He also played clarinet with the Oregon State band. Furthermore, there was actor Matt Damon’s face on the urinal pucks, part of their “ongoing rivalry.”
At the end of the day if you search for LA Bowl what’s going to come up is “Jimmy Kamel.” A mascot race was held in which the Kamel won. The late-night talk show host promised it would vomit, and that’s exactly what happened.
Jimmy Kamel for the win! 🤮😂 @LABowlGame @USUFootball @BeaverFootball #JimmyKimmelLABowl pic.twitter.com/d2aTfsnSUJ
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) December 19, 2021
Reportedly this had to be done outside as the SoFi Stadium crew wouldn’t let Jimmy Kamel do his thing inside. Honestly, this looked more like something from the NFL’s Nickelodeon telecasts. However, having Kimmel involved probably brought more eyes to the telecast than would have otherwise.
Now getting back to football let’s talk about both teams as they head into 2022.
Looking Ahead
Utah State wraps up 2021 with an 11-3 record. That ties the school record for most wins in a season which they accomplished in both 2018 and 2012. In addition, it completes a remarkable turnaround under coach Blake Anderson. In his first year in Logan, the former Arkansas State headman led the school to ten more wins that 2020 when they went 1-5. Thompkins is a senior but many of their top players including Legas return. More than likely Utah State will be near the top of the Mountain West pre-season rankings.
On the other side of the ball, Oregon State ends the year at 7-6. Coming into the game as a six and half point favorite it’s no doubt a disappointing loss. Johnathan Smith’s club started the year 5-2 but faltered down the stretch losing four of their last six. Quarterback Chance Nolan and the Pac-12’s leading rusher B.J. Baylor return. That gives the Beavers a great starting spot for next season.
Again Utah State wins the LA Bowl 24-13. Thanks for checking out our recap here at Last Word On College Football. As a reminder, we have coverage of every game leading up to the national championship on January 10th.
