- Utah State defeated UTEP 28-16 in their season opener under coach Bronco Mendenhall.
- The Aggies' balanced offense and strong defense led to their first win.
- Coach Mendenhall praised the team's effort and the electric home field atmosphere.
LOGAN — It wasn't the strong, decisive finish the Aggies were hoping for, but they'll gladly take the end result.
Utah State played turnover free football, swarmed to the ball well defensively and the end result was a season-opening 28-16 victory over UTEP in front of an announced crowd of 16,448 Saturday evening at Maverik Stadium.
Indeed, it was a pretty solid start to the Bronco Mendenhall era for the Aggies, who have now won 16 of their last 17 home openers.
"It was a really gratifying day," Mendenhall said. "I'm really fortunate to be the coach at Utah State. The stadium was electric and with the HURD, our alumni and just the community members, it was really a home field advantage.
"I felt lucky to be the coach tonight. I'm super proud of the young men that I'm coaching and of them battling and persevering and showing resiliency from beginning to end. Ultimately, that's what winning college football games takes. With our first game, a new program, new players, there's a lot that goes into that, and I was really excited about the effort."
The Aggies got off to a relatively strong start as they scored on four of their six possessions of the first half, plus were rock solid on defense. USU got explosive first-half touchdowns from running back Miles Davis and tight end Broc Lane, plus a pair of field goals from Tanner Rinker, and took a 20-10 lead into the locker room.
The hosts racked up 274 yards of total offense in the opening half and were balanced. Quarterback Bryson Barnes completed 15 of 19 passes for 186 yards, highlighted by a 52-yard scoring pass to a wide, wide open Lane with 1:56 remaining in the second quarter to give the Aggies a 20-7 advantage.
USU's rushing attack was powered by Davis, a BYU transfer who busted off a 58-yard scamper to paydirt while tightroping down the east sideline in the waning seconds of the opening quarter. That explosive play gave the Aggies the lead for good at 10-7.
"I want to just thank my O-line for that and thank our offensive coordinator, coach (Kevin) McGiven, for even just calling that play," Davis said. "That's really it."
Rinker, a junior college transfer, fared well in his first game at the Division I level as he split the uprights on first-half field goals of 49 and 28 yards. The junior's first field goal ensured the Aggies would score on their first possession of the season, and his second extended their lead to 13-7 midway through the second quarter.
USU's first half defensive performance was highlighted by a big interception by back-up cornerback Noah Flores — the second of his career — with 13:28 remaining in the second quarter and the hosts nursing a 10-7 advantage.
"I thought one of the critical plays of the game (was) early on, Dylan Tucker goes down, one of our corners, and Noah Flores comes in," Mendenhall said. "A lot of times offenses test a new corner right away and, man, he played the ball beautifully, intercepts it. And it didn't surprise anyone on the team because he practices so diligently."
The Aggies bounced back nicely after giving up a 34-yard scoring strike from former USC and Boise State signal caller Malachi Nelson to Kenny Odom, who got behind a USU defensive back, giving the visitors their only lead of the contest at 7-6 with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter.
UTEP's only other points of the opening half was courtesy of a 42-yard field goal by Carlos Arreola with just two seconds remaining in the half. A gusty fourth-down conversion in USU territory helped allow the visitors to score before halftime.
It was an ideal start to the third quarter for the Aggies, who limited the Miners to a pair of first downs on their opening drive and then quickly proceeded to take a three-score advantage. USU, which was aided by a pair of 15-yard penalties by UTEP on the same play, extended its lead to 28-10 on a well drawn up 12-yard QB keeper by Barnes, followed by an acrobatic two-point conversion run by Anthony Garcia.
"Normally as you begin, sometimes special teams is a little loose, but I thought we did a really nice job there," Mendenhall said. "I thought our two-point conversion out of our swinging gate, also a special teams play, was a critical play for the margin and helped us manage the game down the (stretch)."
It was tough sledding for both teams offensively the remainder of the game, which the exception of one series for the Miners spanning the third and fourth quarters. UTEP took advantage of a third-down roughing the passer penalty and scored on a 2-yard run by Ashten Emory on the ensuing play to pare its deficit to 28-16 with 13:48 remaining in the contest. The visitors were unsuccessful on their two-point conversion pass.
The Miners punted six times after halftime and the Aggies five. UTEP only mustered up 98 total yards in the second half — 284 in the game — which was still 16 more second-half yards than USU. The Aggies finished with 356 total yards in the contest. The Miners ended up converting on just 4 of 15 third downs in the contest, while the Aggies struggled with a third-down conversion clip of 2 for 12.
"(I credit that defensive performance) to our preparation, coach (Nick) Howell," Mendenhall said. "We just did a really nice job of preparing our team. We've been together a long time — 20-something years — and there's no one who works harder. His staff, all of my former players, they just did a nice job of having that side of the ball ready."
Indeed, USU was able to keep UTEP at bay in the second half, notwithstanding its offensive struggles, because of the way the defense performed.
"The biggest thing is playing complimentary football," said cornerback Noah Avinger, who racked up a game-high 11 tackles, including eight of the solo variety, and was rock solid in coverage. "When the offense needs us, we go out there and perform. When the defense needs the offense, they go out there and perform. That's all it was. We went out there, did our job assignments and played together as a team."
