LOGAN, Utah — Junior quarterback
Bryson Barnes again came off the bench and ignited the Aggie offense as Utah State scored 41 unanswered points to post a dominant 41-20 win over San Diego State on Saturday afternoon at Maverik Stadium
Barnes set a school record for rushing yards by a quarterback, leading the Aggies with 193 yards on 15 carries with one touchdown. As a team, Utah State rushed for over 300 yards for the second consecutive game, their first time doing so since 2011 against New Mexico State and against Ohio in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
In the first quarter, it was San Diego State who took command of the game, taking the game's first drive 64 yards deep into Utah State territory. The Aggies buckled down in the red zone, however, as junior cornerback DJ Graham II stopped a fourth-down attempt from the Aztecs within USU's 5-yard line to halt the drive. With Utah State's offense struggling to find an early groove, both teams traded short possessions before SDSU managed a 35-yard field goal from Gabriel Plascencia on the final play of the opening quarter.
The score remained 3-0 well into the second period as neither offense was able to consistently move the ball. The Aztecs eventually broke the barrier on the end zones, capitalizing on an interception as Marquez Cooper scored from 14 yards out to put SDSU up, 10-0. After stopping the Aggies on fourth down, San Diego State extended its lead with a 30-yard field goal from Plascencia.
Following an injury to graduate quarterback
Spencer Petras, Barnes entered the contest and the contrast in styles proved a confounding situation for the Aztec defense. After SDSU's kickoff went out of bounds to set up USU with good field possession, the Aggies went 65 yards in three plays, also aided by a 15-yard pass interference penalty on SDSU. Barnes capped the drive with a 19–yard rushing touchdown to put the Aggies on the board.
After the defense forced a quick punt from San Diego State, Barnes and the Aggie offense scored just before halftime, taking only 1:31 to go 65 yards in eight plays with Barnes finding sophomore wide receiver
Grant Page for the 8-yard score to give the Aggies a 14-13 lead entering halftime.
Utah State's momentum persisted beyond intermission as USU scored on the opening drive of the third quarter. Barnes found graduate senior tight end
Josh Sterzer for a 10-yard touchdown to finish off an eight-play 75-yard drive.
The Aggie defense continued to contain the Aztec offense as SDSU never ventured beyond Utah State's 46-yard line during the third quarter. USU broke the game open near the start of the fourth quarter, finishing off a nine-play, 80-yard drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters with Barnes again finding Page for a six-yard score to go up 27-13. After several Aztec penalties thwarted SDSU's ensuing drive, Barnes broke free on Utah State's first play of the drive for a 63-yard gain, ultimately setting up graduate senior wide receiver
Kyrese White for a five-yard touchdown run to go up 34-13.
Utah State's defense forced another failed fourth-down attempt from San Diego State as both sophomore linebacker
Bronson Olevao Jr. and junior linebacker
Cole Joyce combined to stop the Aztecs. USU again broke free on the first play of the next drive as Barnes found White for a 45-yard pass down the right sideline. Deep inside Aztec territory, the Aggies went for it on 4th-and-1 with Barnes converting the attempt on a QB sneak. Freshman running back
Herschel Turner finished off the drive on the next play, scoring on a 1-yard plunge to make it 41 straight points from Utah State. With the game well in hand, SDSU would score on their final drive to arrive at the final score of 41-20.
In addition to his school-record 193 rushing yards, Barnes added 139 yards on 13-of-15 passing and a season-high three touchdowns. Turner and senior running back
Rahsul Faison each added 52 yards on 12 and nine carries, respectively. With his 52 yards, Faison eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season, becoming the 16th running back in school history to do so. Sophomore running back
Derrick Jameson added 30 yards on eight carries, while White finished with the one carry for a 5-yard TD.
White also led the Aggies in receiving, finishing with 67 yards on six catches. Page also recorded six receptions for a career-high 55 yards and scored his first two touchdowns of his career. Sterzer added two catches for 24 yards with one touchdown, and junior wide receiver
Otto Tia also added two receptions for 11 yards. Junior wide receiver
Jack Hestera and Turner both added one catch for six and three yards, respectively.
The Utah State defense had a career day as multiple Aggies recorded career-highs in tackles. Junior linebacker
Jadon Pearson (10), senior defensive end
Cian Slone (9), junior defensive end
Lawrence Falatea (6) and redshirst freshman cornerback
Noah Flores (6) set new career-highs, while graduate senior cornerback
Jaiden Francois tied his career-high with nine tackles. Pearson tied for the team lead in tackles alongside senior safety
Jordan Vincent, who recorded his eighth double-digit tackle game this season.
The Aggies recorded 13 tackles for loss as a team, their most since finishing with 14 against Memphis in the 2022 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. Falatea led the team with a career-high 2.5 TFLs, while Joyce and Flores each recorded 2.0, both of which are career highs. Junior defensive end
Marlin Dean added a career-high 1.5 sacks, the first of his career. Francois and Graham II both had one TFL, and Pearson, Olevao Jr. and sophomore defensive tackle
Isaiah Bruce each recorded 0.5 TFLs. Dean led the Aggies with 1.5 sacks on the night, while Joyce also recorded one. Slone, Falatea and Bruce finished with 0.5 sacks each.
Utah State rushed for 322 yards as a team, marking the second-straight game in which the Aggies eclipsed 300 yards rushing. USU totaled 488 yards of offense to SDSU's 412 total yards. The Aggies were a perfect 6-for-6 in red zone attempts and converted 7-of-13 third downs. USU was only penalized four times, their lowest amount this season, for 55 yards while San Diego State received 12 flags for 101 yards of penalties.
Fall Schedule
Utah State concludes the regular season at Colorado State on Friday, Nov. 29, at 1:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
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