Texas Tech football: Matt Wells’ best games as Utah State head coach

No. 4: Beating rival BYU in 2014

College football is special because of the rivalries, many of which involve trophies.  For instance, Tech and Texas compete for the Chancellor’s Spurs and the Red Raiders and TCU have resumed playing for the Saddle Trophy.

When Utah State plays in-state rival BYU, the winner is awarded the Old Wagon Wheel.  And in 2014, Matt Wells’ team claimed that trophy with a dominant 35-20 road win.

On the strength of a 21-point second quarter, USU handed the No. 18 Cougars their first loss of the year.  Many point to the fact that at the end of the first half, BYU star QB Taysom Hill broke his left leg and was lost for the season as the turning point in this game.

But Utah State was also playing its backup QB, Darell Garreston, who threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns.  In all, USU put up 457 yards of total offense and had a 16-minute advantage in time of possession.

Entering the game as 20-point underdogs, the Aggies found the endzone on their final four possessions of the first half after their first two drives ended with a fumble and a punt.  In the second half, USU put up only one touchdown but the defense allowed just two BYU field goals.

Though Kingsbury struggled against most Big 12 teams while at Tech, he actually had some decent success in rivalry games.  He managed to become the first Texas Tech head coach to win back-to-back games in Austin beating the Longhorns in both 2015 and 2017.  What’s more, he beat TCU three times (2013, 2016, and 2018).

Wells had similar success against BYU, which is impressive given the disparity in the prestige of the programs.  Going 3-3 against his team’s in-state rival, Tech’s new leader demonstrated that he is able to get his team ready for the highly-charged atmosphere that makes rivalry games so special.