- Utah State defeated McNeese 48-7, improving to 3-1 under coach Mendenhall.
- Aggie QB Bryson Barnes excelled with 421 yards and five touchdowns in three quarters.
- USU's defense limited McNeese to 239 yards, showcasing strong performances from Tujague and Olevao.
LOGAN — Head coach Bronco Mendenhall was insistent his Aggies would not overlook their FCS opponent and he certainly was a man of his word.
Utah State made a couple of mistakes in the first half, but still stormed out to a 34-7 lead through 30 minutes of action and rolled to a 48-7 victory over McNeese in a non-conference football game on Saturday evening at Maverik Stadium. The Aggies racked up a whopping 421 yards of total offense in the opening half and limited the Cowboys to 106 — 51 of them on one play.
"Yeah, our team prepared really well this week," Mendenhall said. "Once we got into the locker room, they're talking about Tuesday already. They know the process now of what it takes to develop a football team and to be the most prepared team regardless of opponent. They're learning the process and what that takes every single week. Their preparation was exceptional and it was great from Tuesday all the way through, including the walkthrough today, which was long and fast and fierce. The preparation is unrelenting, and it shows."
It was another memorable outing for Aggie quarterback Bryson Barnes, who produced a career-high 421 yards of total offense in just three quarters of action and accounted for five touchdowns for the second straight week. Barnes completed 19 of 27 passes for a career-high 293 yards and three TDs, vs. one interception, and chipped in with a season-high 128 yards on 13 rushing attempts.
"Our quarterback, Bryson, the resolve, the physicality, the decision making, the toughness, he's the leader of our team and our team is taking on his identity," Mendenhall said.
"It didn't feel like I had that much production this game," Barnes said. "There were some things that I left out there that I'm a little frustrated about. I'm excited to get into the tape, talk with coach (Kevin) McGiven and coach (Matt) Johns to see where I can get better. I think I could have gotten out even sooner in the game had I been making some better decisions. I'm super grateful to be in this position. There are a lot of things that went well."
Barnes and the Aggies (3-1) were certainly clicking on that side of the ball throughout the evening, but especially during the middle two quarters as they produced touchdowns on five consecutive possessions. USU racked up 627 total yards — a balanced 293 through the air and an impressive 334 yards on 47 rushing attempts — and averaged 8.4 yards per play. The Aggies averaged 8.4 per play in last Saturday's 49-30 victory over Air Force, as well.
"Our front dominated the whole game and one thing I talked to them about is playing at our level and not playing down to their level," Barnes said. "We set the standard of how we want to play football. I'm not sure what the final number was, but we had 300-plus yards of rushing. When you're doing that, kudos to those guys up front and creating movement, creating gaps, running backs hitting it hard. There are a lot of things that go into my production, and it's all about what those dudes are doing up front, so hats off to them."
Meanwhile, USU performed just as well on the defensive side of the ball as it limited McNeese (1-3) to 239 total yards and 3.5 yards a play. And it started in the trenches as defensive linemen Carson Tujague and Tyree Morris teamed up for 20 tackles — a career-best 11 for Tujague, who contributed with nine last week against the Falcons. This helped allow linebackers William Holmes and Bronson Olevao Jr. to team up for 16 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss.
"I'm super proud of the way our defense played," Olevao said. "I want to give a special shout-out to our defensive line and our back end. I'm super proud of them and I couldn't have done things without them. I played well, but it comes from the preparation for this week. We wanted to hone in on our preparation and on being a dominant defense. There were a couple plays left out there that are stinging a bit, maybe one or two drives. But overall, I'm proud of the way we played, the total effort and tenacity."
McNeese's first five series ended on punts, as did three of its next four full possessions. The Cowboys turned the ball over on downs their final two times with the ball, and Olevao came through with fourth-down sacks on both occasions. No. 14 teamed up with cornerback Noah Flores on his second sack.
"Honestly, the coaches put us in the best positions on game day, and we trust it," Olevao answered when asked how much it means to him to earn the trust of his coaches in those fourth-down situations. "Going back to the preparation throughout the week, we build up that confidence. We have Tuesday practices, our work dayand throughout the week we just gain that confidence. The coaches build that confidence on our specific game plan and how we attack their offense. For me, personally being able to execute those blitzes or execute those plays in those big moments, I can't totally take all the credit. The defensive line ate up their offensive line and I was able to come off free, so I'm super proud of them."
It was nearly as ideal start for the Aggies as they got the ball first and promptly marched 74-plus yards in 15 plays. Running back Javen Jacobs fumbled the ball into the end zone while reaching it out in an attempt to break the plain of the goal line. It appeared the ground may have caused the fumble, but the officials upheld their initial decision upon further review.
The Aggies turned the ball over again early in the second quarter as Barnes was picked off for the first time this season. USU only had one turnover in its first three games.
Otherwise, it was a dynamic opening half on offense for the Aggies, who found paydirt on five of their eight series. USU's second possession was capped off by a 45-yard scoring pass from Barnes to a wide open Kahanu Davis. Utah State was unsuccessful on an ensuing two-point conversion pass.
The Aggies struck again less than two minutes later on a phenomenal play by wide receiver Brady Body, who snared a short pass from Barnes, deftly spun away from a defensive back and was off to the races for a 53-yard TD with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
USU's advantage ballooned to 20-0 midway through the second quarter on a 30-yard scamper by tailback Miles Davis, who used his substantial speed to get to the edge.
The Cowboys momentarily quelled the Aggies' momentum on a 20-yard TD pass to a wide open Jonathan Harris with 5:54 left in the half. The scoring pass occurred three plays after Miami transfer Tre'Vonte Citizen busted off a 51-yard run. McNeese only mustered up 58 yards on its other 39 rushing attempts as the four USU sacks for 28 yards certainly contributed to that.
Utah State quickly bounced back, though, as it found paydirt twice in the final two minutes of the half — the first TD on a 3-yard run by Barnes and the second on a 1-yard plunge by Jacobs. Barnes gave the Cowboys fits with his feet during those two possessions and rushed for 101 yards in the first half alone, and even lowered the boom on a defender or two on multiple occasions.
There would be no wild second-half comeback for the Cowboys, who went 3 and out to begin the third quarter and promptly gave up a touchdown a few minutes later. McNeese stacked the box on a fourth-and-inches play by USU, and Barnes was ready as he rolled to his left, cut inside on a defender and sprinted 21 yards to the end zone.
The Aggies also found paydirt on their second drive of the quarter as Barnes connected with Boyd, who burned his defender on a fade in the southeast corner of the end zone from 9 yards out. Jacob Conover orchestrated the offense the rest of the game for the hosts.
"We're playing complementary football, or we did at a high level tonight and we put a strong performance together," Mendenhall said. "I was really encouraged and pleased with how our team handled tonight. We played really physical defensively, lots of critical plays being made. Offensively, when you can run the ball for 300-something yards and you can throw it for almost the same amount, that's a real challenge defensively."
Davis nearly matched Barnes with a season-best 118 yards rushing — the first time the Aggies have had a pair of players exceed the century mark since 2023. USU averaged 7.1 yards per rushing attempt. Additionally, Davis caught five passes for 39 yards as he continues to be a viable threat in that regard.
Braden Pegan paced USU in receiving yards with 95, followed by Boyd with 84. Pegan gained 50 of those yards on a well-executed deep ball from Barnes in the third quarter.
The Aggies scored at least 48 points in back-to-back games for the first time since the Mountain West championship season of 2021.
"There hasn't been a team that we have played yet that, when we are clicking on all cylinders, has stopped us," Barnes said. "When we get the ball rolling and when I'm making good decisions and taking care of the football, it's going to put our offense in a good position to score and move the ball down the field. As long as I can make good decisions, I trust in my line and trust in the ball carriers and trust in the guys that are going to be catching the ball, and it's my job to make sure we're getting the ball in their hands, then let them go down and do the work. It's really going to come down to my decision making and I feel like that's been the biggest part about it."
Conversely, it was a rough evening for the Cowboys, who haven't beaten an FBS opponent since 2013.
"We did not play very good and they are a very good football team, so that's not a good combination," McNeese head coach Matt Viator said. "We didn't start out very well on offense. Defensively, we hung around for a little while, but we couldn't get a lot going offensively early in the game. We kept giving the ball back and they have a really talented football team. We've got to go back to the drawing board, but we certainly didn't play as good as we needed to."
