Things could hardly have turned out worse for the Utah State football team on Saturday.

Playing on the road in Philadelphia against a Temple team widely considered one of the worst at the FBS level, the Aggies fell flat. They were outnumbered, outworked, and outgunned. They were inferior in schemes and execution. They were better at almost everything, especially when it mattered most.

Despite jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead, despite leading at halftime, despite totaling 479 yards on offense, despite Rahsul Faison rushing for 148 yards and scoring a touchdown, and despite quarterback Spencer Petras rushing for a new career-high 293 yards in his return from injury, Utah State lost by a wide margin to a Temple team that was winless before the game.

The final score was 45-29 in Temple’s favor, but that doesn’t accurately reflect how brutal and devastating this loss was.

For a Utah State team that sees itself as a threat in the Mountain West Conference this season, for a university that is seriously considering joining the newly formed Pac-12 (which, once it is finally formed, will be considered the best non-power conference in the country), the loss to the Owls was embarrassing.

Certainly because of the final score and the score, but also because of the Aggies’ inability to capitalize on many advantages.

And Utah State knows that.

“It’s an embarrassing loss,” said interim coach Nate Dreiling.

The Aggies expected to beat Temple, cornerback DJ Graham said, and they ended up falling far short of their expectations.

“It’s tough,” Graham said. “It’s going to last a long time.”

Dreiling took full blame for the loss, which now leaves Utah State 1-3 heading into its first week off. As USU’s defensive coordinator, Dreiling was particularly upset that the Aggies’ defense gave up 45 points to Temple.

“We scored 29 points. That should be enough to win a football game,” Dreiling said. “We’re just not there yet.”

The Aggies actually started the game well. Even better than good.

Faison seemed unstoppable at the start, playing in front of his family and friends who made the short trip from Pottstown, Pa. The senior running back tore up the Owls’ defense time and time again in the first quarter, and it looked like the Aggies might just run every single ball and come away with an easy win.

But perhaps that was a sign of things to come: Due to a series of errors and poor execution, USU was unable to match Faison’s performance until late in the first quarter. But a touchdown before the end of the period and another early in the second quarter put the Aggies up by two points and they seemed poised to run away with the victory.

However, that was about the time when the good things for USU began to fade.

Temple then scored 14 straight points to tie the game. The Aggies scored another touchdown before the end of the first half, but Temple kicker Maddux Trujillo made a 55-yard field goal just before halftime that gave a taste of what was to come.

Essentially, the second half was a story of USU’s inability to score points in the crucial moments – on offense, defense or special teams – while Temple ran play after play in the crucial moments.

In the second half, the Aggies repeatedly faltered at the most inopportune moments.

After Temple scored a touchdown with a 91-yard pass midway through the third quarter to take the lead, USU’s offense responded with a five-play, nine-yard drive.

With the need to contain Temple’s offense, Utah State’s defense allowed the Owls to complete a nine-play, 82-yard touchdown drive.

After Temple scored a touchdown, the USU offense needed a point to stay in the game, but lost four yards in three plays and had to punt again.

That was the second half in a nutshell.

Whenever Utah State had a chance to make a game-winning play, it didn’t take it. Whenever Temple had the same opportunity, it took it.

“We have to do better under pressure and in the moments that matter,” Faison said. “I mean, they’re important every 60 minutes, but in the moments that matter, we have to stick together and have faith in each other, trust that everyone is doing their job, play as hard as they can, and then good things will happen.”

“We have the talent. We want it. At the end of the day, we just have to want it more than the other team.”

Dreiling probably put it best.

“We look very bad in our critical moments right now,” he said. “When it’s not a critical moment, we look very good. So how can we keep this up throughout the game?”

Dreiling doesn’t have an answer to that question at the moment. He’s being honest. If he did know an answer, USU would leave Philadelphia with a 2-2 record or maybe even better.

“I don’t know, but I take the blame for it,” Dreiling said. “I’ve got to make these guys better in these situations. … We have all the talent in the world to win these games. I just have to make sure our guys believe in themselves, believe in the scheme and, more importantly, trust their teammates.”

“Until we get there, there are going to be guys looking over at the ball trying to make a play when it’s not their turn, and that’s why we give up things.”

Optimism remains, albeit subdued.

The Aggie offense played well for much of the game. The O-line and running game appear more than capable – Dreiling said Faison is one of the best backs in the MW, if not the country.

Petras didn’t blow anyone away in his return, but USU has playmakers, and he was able to get most of them the ball. Seven different USU players caught passes, and Petras’ ability to spread the ball all over the field should make it difficult for any team to handle the passing attack.

USU’s defense also had good moments, especially early on, and while Dreiling admitted he sounds like a broken record at this point, he really believes a few fixed details here and there will lead to a jump in performance on that side of the ball.

Most importantly, the Aggies are 0-0 in Mountain West play, so a conference championship win remains possible, even if it doesn’t look likely right now.

“We’re disappointed with the start (of the season), so we’re just going to roll up our sleeves and keep working,” Dreiling said.

Utah State also needs to find a way to move on from the sad loss to Temple, even though that loss was as devastating as one could experience.

“It’s going to stay with us for a long time,” Graham said. “It’s going to hurt a lot. … But we have to keep going. If we keep that in our minds, we’re not going to be able to focus on Boise. So we have to put this game behind us and just be ready for Boise. It’s that simple.

“It hurts. It’s definitely not the result we wanted, but we have to put it behind us. It’s in the past and we have to let the past be in the past.”

Dreiling added: “We can go one of two ways. We can sulk and be relegated for the season or we can get even closer (as a team), put our backs against the wall and start swinging again.

“The best part is that they’re such a resilient group. They’re ready to work. They’re ready to go. We just need to get these guys back in the confidence.”

Utah State needs to hurry. Boise State will wait on October 5th.