Bryson Barnes took a moment to gather his thoughts.
Not because the question he was asked was a particularly difficult or unusual one — he was asked how he would define a successful season for Utah State in 2025 — but because the Aggie quarterback wanted to be clear with his response.
When he did answer, Barnes was almost forceful.
The short answer?
The Aggies want to win a lot in their first year under Bronco Mendenhall. More than almost anyone outside the program would expect.
The long answer?
“Man. The thing about our program, and this goes for everything we do here, is we set high expectations. Extreme expectations,” Barnes said. “It’s not just, ‘You know what, we’re hoping to make a bowl game.’ It’s not, ‘We’re hoping to get an eight-win season.’ At the end of this season, we are looking to win the Mountain West championship and nothing less.”
If the Aggies pull that off, the 2025 season would go down in history as just as magical as the 2021 campaign, if not more so. Few would see it coming. And it would potentially put Utah State in position to make it to the College Football Playoff.
Mendenhall, unsurprisingly, wouldn’t go so far as Barnes did when asked the same question. The veteran head coach has his preferred talking points and he uses them.
“Maximizing potential and the resources we have. I always feel great when we can do that,” Mendenhall said. “That’s always led to wins. But really, the wins haven’t been the focus. So we drive every single day to become what we’re capable of.
“We’re not there yet, but the players know that focus, really, it handles so much. The process, not the outcome. The process, not the outcome. The process, not the outcome. The process, not the outcome,” he continued. “That’s just where we grind and we grind and we just kind of keep chipping away, and each one of us in the program becomes more and more and more. Ultimately, and usually sooner rather than later, the wins have followed.”
Still, Mendenhall did concede that he likes the growth he’s seen from his team.
“Our guys are working hard,” he said. “We’re becoming a physical, hard-working, tough, resilient, high-effort football team. ... Really like my team. I like their urgency, I like their effort, I like their willingness. I like their hope. I like their belief. I like their camaraderie. I like their unity. Eventually, we’ll play really good football. How fast? Could be game one, but it might not. But the track and the trajectory we’re on, I feel really good about.”
Can the Aggies win big in Mendenhall’s first season? What sort of team does Utah State have this year?
Let’s take a look.
An experienced offense, just not proven together
Utah State has a lot of experienced players on the offensive side of the ball, in terms of time spent playing college football.
Many of those players haven’t been highly productive in their careers, though, and few have played together, be it at Utah State or elsewhere. That isn’t too surprising given the amount of newcomers brought in after Mendenhall took over, plus the growing importance of NIL in the sport. There is a lot of potential, though, if unrealized.
Leading the way is Barnes, the former University of Utah quarterback who will be the full-time starter for the first time in his six-year career.
Barnes has had flashes of greatness in his collegiate career, both at Utah and at Utah State, and the Mountain West Network tabbed him as a top-five QB in conference during the summer.
Will he be that though? Is there another level for Barnes to reach as a player?
Barnes’ development will determine what kind of season the Aggies have offensively. He is a dual-threat QB, the ideal for a Mendenhall offense, but his accuracy and arm strength have left something to be desired at times in his career.
What’s more, he hasn’t completed a pass in a game to any of his current receivers, though he has played with tight ends Broc Lane and Josh Sterzer.
Mendenhall is optimistic.
“I’m excited about our receivers,” he said. “I think again, not chemistry yet — from what’s demonstrated on game day between Bryson and them — but I watch him every day."
Those receivers Mendenhall mentioned? They include expected starters in Braden Pegan (a UCLA transfer), Brady Boyd (a Texas Tech transfer) and Demick Starling (a Western Kentucky transfer). None have been highly productive at their previous stops, but all have been regularly praised throughout fall camp. And all have been a part of college football for at least a couple of years now.
“While they’re new (to Utah State), they’re also seasoned in terms of coming from other places,” Mendenhall said. “And they’re older, not younger.”
At tight end, Lane and Sterzer are a rare example of returning security for USU. Both have been around a long time and are proven players. If they remain healthy — a big if given their careers — they could serve as the ultimate safety valve for Barnes.
“They are known, experienced and really good football players,” Mendenhall said.
Utah State is most proven, though, at running back, with New Mexico transfer Javen Jacobs and BYU transfer Miles Davis forming a potentially potent 1-2 punch. Behind them is something of a question, with Derrick Jameson and Noah White leading the way. Even so, running back might be the most talented position on offense at Utah State right now.
The biggest unknown might be the offensive line, but only because it has little chemistry playing together. Trey Andersen and George Maile are both back, and Tavo Motu’apuaka is healthy after an injury-marred season a year ago. Then there is Purdue transfer Jimmy Liston and BYU transfer Jake Eichhorn. Those five should be the regular starters and in theory are a good group.
“Super excited about these guys and the way that they’ve developed,” Barnes said. “Bringing in coach (Mario) Acitelli, I love the way he does things. And the players really bought into the way he teaches. I feel like you just watch them get better each and every day, each and every practice.”
Depth is a concern, though not a major one.
“I always feel and am shooting to have seven (game-ready O-linemen),” Mendenhall said. “Anytime we have eight, you feel great about the chance for your depth in the season. That’s eight ready to play game, game-ready, especially in week one. And I think we’re right about at that mark.
“You look for your original five and how well they’re playing and the chemistry you can generate with them. Then you look for a sixth that could possibly play multiple positions, if that’s center and guard, or if that’s guard and tackle. That gives you lots of different flexibility. If you add a quality seventh, then you sleep really well at night. If you happen to have a bonus of eight, you need an alarm clock to wake up. And so we’re somewhere in there.”
A new-look defense
As much as Barnes surely would like to put the Aggies on his shoulders and carry the team to victory after victory, that won’t be in the cards unless Utah State improves dramatically on defense.
Like linebacker John Miller said, “If you can’t keep points off the board, you can’t win games,”
The Aggies have provided real evidence of that for multiple seasons now, but last year especially.
Utah State fielded one of the worst defenses in all of college football in 2024.
In to fix that are defensive coordinator Nick Howell and a host of new staffers, plus a number of incoming transfers.
In many ways, the Aggies defense hardly resembles anything that came before.
On the defensive front, senior defensive tackle Gabriel Iniguez Jr. is back, but alongside him is FCS transfer Tyree Morris. Behind them are mostly newcomers like Naki Fahina, Josh Papu and Carson Tujague, though Bo Maile is still around.
The edge rusher position is similar. There are a couple of returners, Enoka Migao and William Holmes, who should be expected to get a lot of playing time, but behind them are newcomers in Weber State transfer Nu’u Sellesin and junior college transfer Tevita Tuha.
At linebacker, things will look the most familiar, with Miller and Bronson Olevao Jr., back and leading the way. But behind them and primed for real playing time are junior college transfers Tymere Burton and Mataira Brown. Former junior college transfer CJ Nesmith will be a factor too, after playing in just three games last season.
The Aggies’ secondary won’t look much like it did in 2024, especially now with Ike Larsen suspended.
New Mexico transfers Noah Avinger, Bryson Taylor and Bobby Arnold should all see real playing time, be it at safety, nickel or corner. BYU transfer Courage Ugochukwu figures to factor in at corner as well. Utah Tech transfer Brevin Hamblin has the chance to be a standout at safety, with former Aggie turned near New Mexico Lobo turned Aggie Titan Saxton factoring in as well.
With all the roster turnover, will Utah State actually be better on defense? This isn’t the first time that the Aggies have tried to remake the defense on the fly by bringing in a host of new players and, well, it hasn’t exactly worked out.
There is growing optimism, among the players themselves at least.
“I think when it comes to the defensive side (of the ball), we want to bring a different kind of tenacity (this year),” Olevao said. “We want to fly around making plays, but mainly get all 11 hats to the ball. There’s going to be mistakes, there’s going to be things that maybe we miss — a call or an alignment — but overall we want all 11 hats to the ball and to be able to fly around and make plays."
Added Miller: “I feel very confident in this defense after seeing how we fly around in the spring and fall. ”... I feel like it’s just going to be amazing. This defense is something I’m so excited for, and I feel like we’re going to do great. We’ll be a great help to our team, for sure, this year."
Howell himself noted that it will take actual games to see if the purported progress made by the Aggies on defense is real, though. Camp and practice are one thing, games are a different thing altogether.
“We’re not going to know until we play,” Howell said.
If improvement is real on defense for Utah State, then Barnes’ hopes for the Aggies in 2025 won’t seem as outlandish. If the Aggies don’t see the much-hoped-for improvement on defense, then more of the same feels likely.
A brand new special teams unit
Similar to the defense, Utah State’s special teams are dramatically different than a year ago in terms of player composition.
There’s a new punter, BYU transfer Landon Rehkow.
There’s a new kicker, Cincinnati transfer Carter Brown.
There are new kick returners, be it Jacobs or Starling, or New Mexico transfer DJ Mayes or Nebraska transfer D’Andre Barnes, per Brian Phillips of Big Blue USU Aggie News.
The only potential familiar face is punt returner Kahanu Davis, as USU has a new long snapper as well in Hyrum Hatch.
Special teams had its moments in 2024, but not enough of them. And it had its issues too, namely missed field goals by then-kicker Elliott Nimrod.
Utah State needs an elite special teams unit to make up some ground, especially if the defense isn’t as improved as needed. Will USU’s special teams be special?
The potential is there, but it is unproven again, aside from Brown and Jacobs.
Brown was 18 of 24 (.750) on field goals and a perfect 38 of 38 on extra points in two seasons played with the Bearcats. And Jacobs has been a kick or punt returner his entire collegiate career, going back to his time at Arizona State, before he transferred to New Mexico.
But like so much of this Utah State team, there is a lot of hypothetical right now, until actual games are played.
“In college football now, with the number of transfers, I think really the identity, the confidence, the outcome and the orientation of all that is being played out weekly,” Mendenhall said. “You’ll see teams that their trajectory, they start slow and they just keep building and grinding and becoming. Then you’ll see others that start pretty fast and they go the opposite way.
“... You learn as you go, and I learn as I go. As a head coach, our team learns as they go, we match up, we adjust, and we use the feedback loop, and we spin it as fast as possible.”
Spin it fast enough and there’s a chance Utah State does something special. Spin it too slow and 2025 could be more of a rebuilding season for the Aggies, along the lines of what 2017 was.
All that’s left at this point is to get to game day, Saturday night at 5:30 p.m., inside Maverik Stadium.
