Auburn in recovery mode, and it works

You just knew a quote like this was going to come out of a Week 1 matchup like Utah State at Auburn.

“If felt like we were stronger than them. I felt like we were faster than them.”

Of course. After all, Utah State came into Saturday having lost 43 consecutive games on the road against teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25. Beyond being ranked No. 23, Auburn is defending national champion.

So who said it?

Auburn Coach Gene Chizik?

Nope.

Auburn running back Mike Dyer, last season’s Bowl Championship Series title-game MVP?

Negative.

Cam Newton analyzing by cellphone?

Not him, either.

The quote came from Utah State Coach Gary Andersen after his team’s gut-wrenching 42-38 loss to Auburn in one of the weekend’s unexpectedly wild season openers.

Andersen might have added, “And we were better than them,” had the Aggies not given up two touchdowns in the final 2 minutes 7 seconds to allow the Tigers to escape.

Instead, he was left with “I felt like they made plays when they had to, and we didn’t.”

The first big one for Auburn was a 15-yard touchdown pass from Barrett Trotter to Philip Lutzenkirchen that cut the Tigers’ deficit to 38-35.

The second was on the play that followed the point-after, an onside kick. Chris Brooks bounced the ball high and receiver Emory Blake jumped to haul it in about 12 yards downfield before any Aggie could so much as touch it.

“It unfolded pretty much exactly the way you draw it up,” Chizik said.

The Tigers’ ability to rally — recall last season’s comeback after they were down 24 points against Alabama — has left Auburn with the nation’s longest winning streak, 15 games.

As for Utah State, the Aggies are streaking too. They’ve lost 14 consecutive season openers and 11 in a row to Southeastern Conference opponents.

But they also earned some respect. “We were wrong for thinking coming in that they might be a cupcake team,” Lutzenkirchen said. “They really ran it down our throat.... We got lucky with this one.”

Heisman helper

Chattanooga’s program isn’t anything close to a national powerhouse, but there’s no doubt that it helps produce Heisman Trophy winners. The last three in a row, in fact.

Chattanooga was torched by Auburn and Newton, 62-24, last season, Alabama and Mark Ingram, 45-0, in 2009, and Oklahoma and Sam Bradford, 57-2, in 2008.

Therefore, best keep an eye on Nebraska and quarterback Taylor Martinez, who completed 11 of 22 passes for 116 yards and ran 19 times for 135 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-7 win over the Mocs.

Chattanooga Coach Russ Huesman could see it coming, saying in the days leading up to the game: “Knowing we had Nebraska on the schedule and seeing him, I thought, ‘Are you kidding me? We’re playing another Heisman candidate!’”

Prophetic words

Virginia Tech running back David Wilson had a quick retort for his position coach last week when told he would get the ball on the first play of the Hokies’ season opener.

“I told him I didn’t have to hear the second play because I was taking it to the grid,” Wilson said.

“But I didn’t think it would really happen.”

It did. Wilson burst 20 yards into the end zone on his way to a 162-yard rushing day in his first game as Virginia Tech’s starting tailback, sparking the Hokies to a 66-13 win over Appalachian (N.C.) State.

Optimistic view

Indiana State Coach Trent Miles seemed quite pleased after his team’s game against Penn State.

“They’ll have that for the rest of their lives,” he said of his team’s playing before some 96,000 fans at Happy Valley. “And [the school got] paid to do it, too. That makes everyone happy. That’s a win-win.”

No coach, that’s a win-win-loss.

Indiana State had a memorable experience and earned just shy of $500,000. But it lost the game — oh yeah, that! — 41-7.

mike.hiserman@latimes.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.