LOGAN, Utah — In a pivotal matchup both for Mountain West positioning and bowl eligibility, Utah State football came through with a thrilling 30-25 victory over San José State to celebrate Homecoming on Friday night at Maverik Stadium.
 
Neither side led by more than a single possession throughout a contest that included five lead changes. After the Spartans reclaimed the lead in the fourth quarter, graduate quarterback Bryson Barnes engineered a pair of scoring drives in the final six minutes of the game with junior placekicker Tanner Rinker capping both with 45- and 44-yard field goals to put the Aggies up 30-25.
 
A raucous crowd of 22,710 fans at Maverik Stadium helped force three false starts on the Spartans' final drive before junior safety Brevin Hamblin batted away a Hail Mary pass in the end zone to preserve the Aggie victory.
 
Barnes finished with a career-high 326 yards on 22-of-31 passing, his second career 300-yard passing game and first as an Aggie, with one touchdown. Barnes also led USU with 54 yards rushing plus one touchdown on 16 attempts. It is Barnes' fourth game this season with at least one passing and rushing touchdown, tying him for the most by any player in the nation.
 
Rinker went a perfect 3-for-3 on his field goal attempts, also converting from 31 yards out to end the first half and set a career-high. He finished the game with a career-high 12 points scored.
 
Defense dominated the first half following scoring drives on both teams' opening possessions. The Spartans struck first, though the Aggie defense stiffened to force the visitors into a 37-yard field goal by Denis Lynch. Utah State's offense responded with a 14-play, 75-yard drive to find the end zone. The Aggies converted a 4th-and-4 from SJSU's 38-yardline as Barnes found junior running back Javen Jacobs for a 30-yard catch-and-run, setting up junior wide receiver Braden Pegan for a 2-yard TD run on a jet sweep to put USU ahead.
 
San José State threatened to score again on their next possession before the Aggie defense again rose up in their own territory, this time forcing a turnover on downs as Hamblin and graduate defensive tackle Gabriel Iniguez Jr. led the team on stuffing a run for no gain at USU's 21-yard line. While USU was unable to capitalize offensively, the defense continued to bow up in Aggie territory. Senior cornerback Noah Avinger forced a fumble on SJSU's next possession and junior linebacker Bronson Olevao Jr. recovered and returned it 20 yards. USU forced two punts from the Spartans in the second quarter before San José State finally found the end zone via a 15-yard TD pass from Walker Eget to Lamar Radcliffe with 59 seconds left in the half. A failed PAT, however, put the Spartans ahead by only two at 9-7.
 
In the final minute, the Aggie offense found its rhythm, going 62 yards in eight plays to set up Rinker's first field goal of the night, a 31-yarder to send USU into halftime with a 10-9 lead.
 
Utah State maintained its rhythm offensively to open the second half as Barnes rolled left and threw deep back across the field, finding sophomore quarterback Anthony Garcia wide open for a 74-yard touchdown. With the TD reception, Garcia became the first Aggie since Steve Smith in 1976 to record a receiving, rushing and passing TD in the same season. Garcia is one of only six players in the nation to do so this year and the only one in the MW.
 
The Spartan offense also found its way in the second half as Steve Chavez-Soto scored on a 66-yard run to trim USU's lead to 17-16. The Aggies responded immediately, however, as Barnes led the offense on a 10-play, 75-yard TD drive to re-extend the lead back to eight points. After a Spartan face mask penalty gave the Aggies a first down, Barnes found Pegan for 37-yard pass down to the 11-yard line. Several plays later, Barnes finished off the drive with a 2-yard TD plunge. A 35-yard FG by SJSU's Lynch trimmed the Aggie lead to 24-19 entering the fourth quarter.
 
San Jose State then retook the lead on their first possession of the fourth quarter on a 45-yard TD pass from Eget to Leland Smith. The Aggie defense prevented the 2-point conversion, however, to hold SJSU's lead to a single point at 25-24.
 
Getting the ball with 11:48 remaining, Barnes and the Aggie offense both moved the ball and bled the clock, going 48 yards in 11 plays and draining 5:39 off the clock. USU converted a pair of third-downs on the drive to leapfrog back in front on Rinker's 45-yard field goal with 6:09 remaining.
 
San José State moved the ball near midfield on their next possession before a big hit by senior safety Ike Larsen on third down forced the Spartans into a 4th-and-1. Graduate linebacker John Miller darted through the line to disrupt a running play and Hamblin cleaned up the tackle to force SJSU's second turnover-on-downs of the game.
 
On USU's ensuing drive, a 14-yard scamper by graduate running back Miles Davis set Rinker up for a 44-yard field goal to extend Utah State's lead to 30-25 with 1:53 remaining. On San José State's final drive, the Spartans converted one fourth down to reach Hail Mary range despite also drawing three false start penalties. On the final play of the game, a cluster of Aggies surrounded multiple Spartan targets in the end zone with Hamblin ultimately knocking the ball out of reach to preserve the 30-25 victory.
 
Pegan led the Aggies in receiving with 93 yards on a career-high-tying seven receptions. Garcia recorded his first 100-yard receiving game of his career, finishing with 121 yards on three catches with one TD. Garcia also threw once, completing the pass to Barnes for five yards, and rushed once for 10 yards. Graduate tight end Broc Lane added 15 yards on four receptions while graduate wide receiver Brady Boyd and Jacobs each finished with three catches for 48 and 41 yards, respectively. Graduate tight end Josh Sterzer finished with two catches for eight yards.
 
M. Davis finished second on the team with 50 yards on 10 rushing attempts while Jacobs added 11 yards on seven carries. Boyd finished with one carry for four yards while freshman running back Noah White added one yard on one carry. Pegan finished with two yards on two carries with one TD.
 
Olevao Jr. led the Aggie defense with a career-high 14 tackles, his first career game with double-digit tackles, plus a fumble recovery. Hamblin and Miller each finished with nine tackles and one pass breakup. Sophomore cornerback D'Angelo Mayes and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Carson Tujague each added six tackles while senior safety Bryson Taylor and Larsen each added five tackles. Taylor also led USU with three PBUs and Larsen added a two, both tying career-highs. Taylor also tied sophomore linebacker Mataira Brown for the team lead with 0.5 tackles-for-loss each. Avinger tied his career-high with two PBUs in addition to a forced fumble, USU's first of the season. 
 
Up Next
Utah State football (4-3, 2-1 MW) heads southward to take on New Mexico (3-3, 0-2 MW) on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m. (MT). The game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
 
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