LOGAN, Utah — Graduate QB
Bryson Barnes accounted for a career-high 421 yards of total offense and five touchdowns to lead Utah State to a resounding 48-7 non-conference home win against McNeese on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Maverik Stadium.
Barnes threw for a season-high 293 yards on 19-of-27 passing with a season-high three touchdowns and one interception, and rushed for a season-high 128 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in three quarters of action. Graduate QB
Jacob Conover played the fourth quarter.
Utah State finished the game with 627 yards of total offense, the 15th-most in school history, as its 334 rushing yards are its most since 2023.
Graduate RB
Miles Davis rushed for a season-high 118 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown and added five receptions for 39 yards as he posted 157 all-purpose yards. Graduate WR
Brady Boyd had a career-high two touchdown catches from 53 and nine yards as he finished the game with four receptions for 84 yards. Junior WR
Braden Pegan added three receptions for 95 yards.
Defensively, Utah State held McNeese to 239 yards of total offense, the lowest by a USU opponent since New Mexico had 186 total yards in 2021. McNeese's seven points are the fewest by an Aggie opponent since Stony Brook scored seven points in 2019. USU forced a punt on McNeese's first five possessions, including three 3-and-outs.
After Utah State's first drive ended at the 1-yard line following a fumble, Barnes connected with senior WR
Kahanu Davis for a 45-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. After forcing the second-straight 3-and-out from McNeese to open the game, Barnes again went deep, this time finding Boyd for a 53-yard touchdown to go up, 13-0.
Utah State's third touchdown of the half came courtesy of a 30-yard run from
Miles Davis to put USU up 20-0. McNeese found the end zone on their next possession to break up the shutout with Jake Strong finding Jonathan Harris for a 20-yard touchdown.
In the final six minutes of the half, Utah State displayed excellent clock management as it scored a pair of touchdowns. The Aggies first went 75 yards across 10 plays with Barnes capping the drive with a 3-yard touchdown plunge with 1:33 remaining. The Aggie defense then forced their fourth three-and-out to give the offense the ball back with little over a minute remaining. This time junior RB
Javen Jacobs scored from one yard out to send the Aggies into halftime up, 34-7.
Following another three-and-out from the Aggie defense to start the second half, Barnes scored his first rushing touchdown in the game on a 21-yard run. On its next series, Barnes connected with Pegan on a 50-yard pass and then threw a 9-yard touchdown to Boyd to put USU up 48-7.
In the final quarter, Utah State forced a pair of turnovers-on-downs to close out the win.
Redshirt freshman DT
Carson Tujague led the Aggies with a career-high 11 tackles, while junior ILB
Bronson Olevao Jr. tied his career-high with nine tackles and tied his career-high with 1.5 sacks. Sophomore OLB
William Holmes had career-highs with 2.0 sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss as part of his seven stops. Senior CB
Noah Avinger tied his career-high with two pass breakups.
The Aggie defense forced a season-high 4.0 sacks in the contest.
Up Next
Utah State football (3-1, 1-0 MW) heads on the road to wrap up non-conference play at No. 20 Vanderbilt (4-0, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 10:45 a.m. (MT). The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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