LOGAN, Utah — Utah State football fell to Boise State, 25-24, in the team's regular season finale on Friday afternoon at Maverik Stadium.
The Aggies jumped out to a multiple-possession lead in the first half. Utah State took the opening kickoff and immediately drove 75 yards in seven plays. Graduate quarterback
Bryson Barnes broke off a 27-yard run on the first play from scrimmage before senior running back
Miles Davis got loose on a 19-yard run to the one-yard line, setting up a one-yard TD run by Barnes to open the scoring.
Boise State responded with a drive into USU's red zone before being forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Colton Boomer. A three-and-out then gave BSU a short field, which the Broncos capitalized on for a 11-yard TD pass from Max Cutforth to Matt Wagner.
The Aggies needed only three plays to respond as a 22-yard run by Barnes preceded a 56-yard TD scamper by junior running back
Javen Jacobs to put Utah State back in front, 14-10. After exchanging punts, the USU defense stood strong after BSU drove into the redzone, forcing a turnover on downs to deliver the ball back to the offense. Another first-half Bronco drive ended in a missed 43-yard field goal.
With opportunities to take advantage, the Aggie offense put together a nine-play, 74-yard drive, extended by a targeting call on Boise State on a third down. M. Davis finished off the drive with an 11-yard TD run to make it 21-10. On the final drive of the half, the Broncos made it to the edge of the red zone before settling for a 32-yard field goal by Boomer to trim USU's lead to 21-13 entering halftime.
Neither side threatened to score on the first few possessions of the third quarter until USU engineered a 10-play drive that reached the red zone before resulting in a 37-yard field goal by junior kicker
Tanner Rinker. On BSU's second play of the ensuing drive, Cutforth found Quinton Down for a 66-yard TD pass, though the following 2-point attempt failed, making it 24-19 in favor of Utah State.
The Aggies again drove deep into Bronco territory before a fourth-down attempt in the red zone resulted in a turnover on downs. The Utah State defense bowed up in their own territory to force a Bronco punt on the following drive but the Aggies were unable to build on the lead. Junior safety
Brevin Hamblin forced a fumble on BSU's next possession with senior cornerback
Noah Avinger recovering the ball to preserve the lead. Again, however, Boise State's defense answered with a stop and on their ensuing possession, BSU took the lead via a six-yard run by Dylan Riley. The 2-point attempt was no good,however, leaving USU trailing only 25-24. Sacks and penalties then thwarted Utah State's last two attempts to build a comeback drive as the Broncos held on for the win.
Barnes led USU with 184 yards on 13-of-31 passing, also adding 89 yards rushing on 18 attempts with one touchdown. Jacobs posted a team-high 92 yards on five carries with one TD while M. Davis finished with 36 yards on eight carries with one TD. Freshman running back
Noah White added one carry for eight yards.
Sophomore quarterback
Anthony Garcia posted a team-high 54 yards receiving on two catches. Jacobs added a team-high four receptions for 53 yards. Junior wide receiver
Braden Pegan and senior wide receiver
Brady Boyd each added two catches for 27 and 15 yards, respectively. Senior wide receiver
Kahanu Davis, graduate tight end
Josh Sterzer and M. Davis each added one reception for 22, nine and four yards, respectively.
Defensively, Utah State had four players record at least 10 tackles for the first time since 2019 against Wyoming. Hamblin and graduate linebacker
John Miller led USU with 14 tackles apiece while Avinger and senior safety
Ike Larsen both added 11 tackles. Avinger also added a sack and a team-high 2.5 tackles-for-loss while Hamblin and freshman linebacker
Chris Joe both finished with 0.5 sacks.
Up Next
Utah State football (6-6, 4-4 MW) awaits their bowl fate, to be announced following the completion of conference championships next week.
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