Out of almost nowhere Utah State has joined the DIAA final eight.

Utah State defeated Washington 31-24 in Seattle over the weekend, and it was a win that might not have looked so likely a week before.

“We played Utah Valley University last week and we didn’t play well,” said USU Head Coach Oisin Tong. “UVU did a great job of shutting us down, and we knew we had to get back to basics and play our regular style of rugby.”

And so they did. Utah State has a very strong forward pack and they use those forwards to crash up the middle repeatedly. Dedication to playing a vertical game eventually opens up the space, “and then we like the spread it wide as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Tong. “And that’s what we did. Once we get rolling we’re tough to stop.”

Washington started well and had a good game plan, but the Utah State players were too strong and athletic.

“Washington did a great job of containing us early, especially when we got too fancy with the ball,” said Tong. “And they started really well and we could have capitulated a little bit. But the guys did a great job of keeping their heads and sticking to the plan.”

They needed to keep their focus at the end, when a Utah State player dove for a kicked ball, and caught an accidental blow to the head that looked very serious. The ambulance and first responders came, and took him to a local hospital - turns out he’s fine, said Tonga - but the delay was about an hour, and then the final minutes of the game had to be played.

“The guys showed a lot of mental strength holding on at that point,” said Tong.

Leading the way for Utah State were forward Konisi Hoseah, Marty Johnson, Zach Root, and Kenton McPeak, while in the backs, outside center Riley Clark scored two tries and was brilliant in his overall play.

So now it’s on to the quarterfinals/semifinal weekend at UC Davis, where Davis, Sacramento State, and Arkansas await. For Utah State, it’s another venture into the unknown. But it’s an unknown situation for everyone else, too.