LOGAN, Utah — From the opening minutes, there was no doubt.
Utah State scored early and often, on offense and defense, and shut out Nevada in the first half en route to a dominant 51-14 win on Saturday night at Maverik Stadium. The Aggies scored on their first five possessions of the game, racking up 335 yards of total offense in the first half while holding the Wolf Pack to only 47 yards, including -1 yards passing.
Graduate quarterback
Bryson Barnes threw for 288 yards on 20-of-27 passing with a season-high-tying three touchdowns in less than three quarters of work. Graduate quarterback
Jacob Conover came on for the final 22 minutes to throw for 89 yards on 4-8 passing.
Barnes also led the Aggies with 40 yards rushing on nine carries while graduate running back
Miles Davis rushed for 33 yards and a career-high-tying two touchdowns on 11 attempts. Freshman running back
Noah White added nine carries for 33 yards. Conover added two carries for six yards and sophomore quarterback
Anthony Garcia recorded two carries for six yards. Junior wide receiver
Braden Pegan, sophomore quarterback
CJ Tiller, freshmen running backs
Nehemiah Washington and
Ravian Larry, and junior running back
Javen Jacobs each had one carry for 11, nine, six, two and one yards, respectively. The Aggies had 10 different players record a rushing attempt for the first time since 2018 against New Mexico State.
Graduate wide receiver
Brady Boyd led the Aggies with a career-high 117 yards receiving on five catches with a career-high-tying two touchdowns. Jacobs added seven catches for a team-high 63 yards, setting career-highs with both. White also set career-highs with three catches for 65 yards. Pegan added three catches for 56 yards. Garcia recorded three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown, becoming the only player in the nation with multiple passing and multiple receiving touchdowns this season. Graduate tight end
Broc Lane recorded one catch for five yards. Sophomore tight end
Kache Kaio and freshman wide receiver
Ty Olsen each recorded their first career catches for six and 14 yards, respectively.
Defensively, junior safety
Brevin Hamblin led the Aggies with eight tackles, adding one sack, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, and a fumble recovery and also returned USU's first interception for a touchdown since
Jaiden Francois against Colorado State last season. Sophomore linebacker
Mataira Brown also recorded his first career interception. Graduate linebacker
John Miller added seven tackles and a forced fumble while senior cornerback
Noah Avinger also added seven tackles.
The Aggies recorded four sacks with junior defensive tackle
Tyree Morris leading the way with 1.5 sacks, also tying Hamblin for the team lead with 1.5 TFLs. Graduate defensive tackle
Gabriel Iniguez Jr. added 0.5 sacks while both sophomore linebacker
Tymere Burton and freshman linebacker
Dakota Howell recorded their first career sacks with 0.5 each. Burton and redshirt freshman safety
Gio Kafentzis also registered their first career pass break ups. Sophomore cornerback
Noah Flores also added a PBU.
Utah State outgained Nevada, 522-242, in total yardage for the game, including a 377-122 edge in passing yards. The Aggies held the ball for a season-high 32:22, the team's highest time of possession since 2023 against Colorado State.
The dominance began early, as the Aggies took the opening kickoff and scored on their fourth play from scrimmage as Barnes found Boyd deep for a 53-yard touchdown pass. Utah State's defense forced a three-and-out on Nevada's next possession, returning the ball to the offense who steadily moved down the field on an eight-play, 69-yard scoring drive with Davis finding the end zone from three yards out.
The Aggie defense again stood tall, forcing another three-and-out. Utah State's offense again moved deep into Wolf Pack territory before stalling the red zone, leading to a 32-yard field goal by junior kicker
Tanner Rinker. On Nevada's ensuing possession, the defense broke the game fully open as Hamblin intercepted a pass over the middle, snagging the ball at the line of scrimmage and returning it 38 yards for a pick-six to put USU up 24-0.
After forcing another three-and-out to end the first quarter, Utah State opened the second frame with a 10-play drive leading to a 44-yard field goal by Rinker. Instead of a three-and-out, Brown set up the Aggie offense on the plus side of the field with an interception at Nevada's 39-yard line. Barnes paid the field position off several plays later, finding Garcia in the left corner of the end zone for a 15-yard passing TD. The Aggies extended the lead up to 41-0 seconds before halftime after Davis capped off a drive that began in Nevada territory with a one-yard TD plunge on a direct snap.
Utah State remained in control out of halftime, halting Nevada's drive after their first first-down of the game before the Aggie offense went 76 yards across seven plays with Barnes recording his third TD of the day on a 21-yard pass to Boyd to make it 48-0.
With the game well in hand, Nevada managed a pair of touchdowns throws, one in the third quarter and one in the fourth. The Wolf Pack also managed to block a punt, setting up the offense inside the 15-yard line. The Aggie defense, however, held firm as Miller forced a fumble on a QB scramble which was recovered by Hamblin, thwarting the opportunity. Conover also led the Aggie offense on a six-play, 67-yard drive in the final quarter, ending in a 21-yard Rinker field goal to make it 51-14. Rinker finished the game with a career-high 15 points going a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points and 3-for-3 on field goals and is one of six kickers in the nation perfect on at least 10 field goals this season (10-for-10).
Up Next
Utah State football (5-4, 3-2 MW) heads to Las Vegas to take on UNLV on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. (MT). The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
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