Plenty to build on for Utah State in win over Air Force

A breakthrough offensive performance, coupled with some big defensive plays, was a recipe for success for Utah State's football team in its Mountain West opener.

USU scored touchdowns on seven of its 11 full possessions, won the turnover battle, 3-0, and earned a 49-30 victory over Air Force in front of an announced crowd of 17,124 late Saturday evening at Maverik Stadium.

"Lots to build from, lots to grow from and it's always more fun and, I think, a lot of times more effective to do that when you've had success," USU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said during Monday's press conference. "And so I really like this team, I like their mindset and I like their commitment and I like their unity."

Quarterback Bryson Barnes headlined a gratifying offensive performance for the Aggies, who accumulated a season-best 473 yards of total offense and averaged an impressive 8.4 yards per play against a AFA program that has led the Mountain West in total defense in each of the last five seasons. And it was a balanced attack for USU, which finished with season-best tallies is passing yards (287) and rushing yards (186).

"(With) coach (Kevin) McGiven and our offensive staff, it's just become more clear about the resources we have, what fits us best, what fits Bryson best and how best to manage the game," said Mendenhall, whose team never trailed against the Falcons, led by double digits the entire second half and went off for 35 points after halftime. "Now every opponent is slightly different, but that doesn't mean the offensive identity drastically changes weekend and week out, so I think just the biggest takeaway is the clarity we're gaining on the style of play and the roles that our players have, and the way the ball is distributed and how is probably the biggest takeaway."

Barnes became only the second Aggie in program history to run for three and throw for two touchdowns in a game. The former Milford High star completed a very efficient 17 of 22 passes for a career-high 287 yards and a pair of scores — both to wide receiver Braden Pegan — plus found paydirt on runs of 7, 11 and 7 yards.

"I'm super happy for him," Pegan said of Barnes during Monday's presser. "He's a great leader. He commands the offense very well. He's very well spoken, so it's easy for us to understand where he's coming from, but, yeah, he's been doing good and I think he's just going to keep on getting better."

For his efforts, Barnes, who has yet to throw an interception this season, was selected as the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week. Barnes currently ranks first in the conference in yards per completion (13.51) and total TDs (nine), second in rushing TDs (four) and passing TDs (five) and third in total offense (252.7 yards per game).

Indeed, Barnes has developed into a legitimate dual-threat quarterback, but maybe even more importantly has been exactly the kind of leader Mendenhall envisioned.

"Yeah, Bryson reflects stability for the team that was coming back, but also for the new players coming in," Mendenhall said. "He's been a very strong voice as to what kind of program he would like to have, what it's like to be here in Logan. He's not afraid to speak his mind. He's a very strong leader. He's no-nonsense, he's completely committed, he's tough and he aligns just perfectly with everything I'd like to have in a quarterback. And so, he's really been an anchor of stability in the transition, not only between coaches, but new players coming in, and in the way he's leading and the way he's playing is really helping our team."

Barnes has seemingly developed some good chemistry with both Pegan, a UCLA transfer, and Brady Body, a Texas Tech transfer. Pegan was a monster against the Falcons as he accounted for career-best tallies in receptions (seven), receiving yards (147) and TDs (two). The two touchdowns went for 54 and 38 yards. Meanwhile, Boyd has contributed with 159 yards on 10 receptions during the past two games.

"It was fun," Pegan said of his career game. "You know, I credit it to my teammates helping me out during practice, helping me get better every day. So, yeah, it's been fun. The offense has been getting better and better every week, and it's exciting."

Tailback Javen Jacobs showcased his versatility by rushing for 71 yards — highlighted by an exclamation point of a 52-yard scoring scamper with 1:20 remaining in the contest — and chipping in with 36 yards receiving. Fellow running back Miles Davis and Barnes teamed up for 88 yards on the ground, and signal caller/wideout Anthony Garcia came through with an impressive 17-yard TD.

USU's defensive performance was more uneven as AFA racked 445 total yards on 84 plays. The Aggies gave up four explosive plays — passes of 36, 32 and 29 yards, plus a 49-yard rush — but also swarmed to the ball pretty well and got interceptions from defensive backs and Noah Avinger and D'Angelo Mayes — both New Mexico transfers — and a fumble recovery from Minor League baseball player-turned linebacker William Holmes. Of the Aggies' 103 tackles, 76 were assisted, suggesting how well they flew around to the ball.

"I think they played hard and I think they played well for the majority of the game," Mendenhall said. "Air Force was at 10 points for a long time. I don't remember right off hand at the end of the third quarter what the score was. There were two scores (by Air Force) in the fourth quarter and, really, those came just quite frankly on us managing the game and not anticipating possibly having that type of lead and then what it might look like in defending that lead. So, most of our preparation was on traditional type of Air Force plays, and so I really was encouraged. I like the way we played a lot., and then there were some protection of lead and then end of game things that we could have (executed) better in the fourth quarter."

Leading the defensive charge for USU was standout linebacker John Miller, who produced a career-high 16 tackles and had one of his team's two sacks. No. 20 is atop the Mountain West leaderboard in sacks (4.0) and is second in tackles (33).

"It's great to know as a D-lineman that you have behind you someone that has your back," USU defensive tackle Carson Tujague said of Miller during Monday's presser. "We're not perfect. As a D-line, you make mistakes here and there, and when you have a player like John Miller who's able to maybe correct those mistakes for us and have our back, it means a lot. He's a great leader off the field, too, helping us to be more accountable."

Holmes came through with a career-best 13 tackles for USU, which also got career-high tackle tallies from defensive end Tyree Morris (10) and Tujague (nine). Avinger chipped in with nine tackles and he ranks eighth in the MW in tackles (8.09 per game), while teammate and safety Brevin Hamblin ranks 10th (7.67 pg).

"I think we can be way more assignment sound," Tujague said when asked what about Saturday's defensive effort his team can build on. "As of right now, I think we play with a lot of effort and high energy. We're all trying to get to the ball as fast as we can, but I think we just need to tweak some of our assignments here and there, and we should be pretty good."

Another big bright spot for the Aggies from their MW opener was they only lost 16 yards on five penalties — a statistic that typically looms even larger against a ball control opponent like Air Force. USU was penalized 11 times in each of its first two outings.

"We had a significant number in the first two weeks and, again, there's different types and categories I put those into," Mendenhall said. "There's penalties of aggression, which I'm not going to say I promote, but I'd rather have those and then draw back from. And then there's the concentration penalties, pre-snap or post snap that are totally controllable and sometimes get in the way. And so simply just by addressing it with a two-game sample size, we showed improvement. My hope is that it will continue. It will be a continued point of emphasis."

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