From start to finish Saturday night in Logan, Utah State football was about as good as it gets.
There were some mistakes made by the Aggies here and there against McNeese State, the visiting FCS school from Louisiana that Utah State paid $400,000 to come play in Cache Valley, but those were quickly forgotten in what ended up a runaway 48-7 victory for the Aggies.
In simplest terms, Utah State did what good teams are supposed to — it handled inferior competition and then some.
It was obvious everywhere.
On the scoreboard, USU scored at least two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters, while limiting McNeese to just one total score.
In the stat book, the Aggies (627) out-gained the Cowboys (239) by 388 total yards of offense, a game’s worth of yardage essentially.
Utah State doubled McNeese in first downs converted (27 to 13), averaged more than twice as many yards per play (8.4 to 3.5), was better in the red zone and was demonstrably better at creating havoc on defense (four sacks and six tackles for loss by the Aggies, compared to one sack and one tackle for loss by McNeese).
Then there was the eye test.
Utah State was bigger, stronger and faster, at almost every position. Bryson Barnes was the ultimate proof of that.
The Aggies’ quarterback was nearly unstoppable Saturday, and that was with him throwing his first interception of the season.
Barnes finished the game with a career-high 421 yards of offense, 293 through the air and a game-high 128 on the ground. For the second straight game, Barnes was responsible for five touchdowns, three through the air and two on the ground this time around.
The Aggies took their cue from Barnes and the rest of the team followed suit, with career-best performances across the board from players like running back Miles Davis (118 yards rushing, 39 yards receiving and a touchdown), wide receiver Brady Boyd (four catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns), defensive tackle Carson Tujague (11 total tackles) and outside linebacker William Holmes (two sacks and three tackles for loss).
It was that kind of night for the Aggies.
“Our team prepared really well this week,” Utah State head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “Once we got into the locker room, they’re talking about Tuesday already. They know the process now of what it takes to develop a football team and to be the most prepared team, regardless of opponent.
“They’re learning the process and what that takes every single week. Their preparation was exceptional, and it was great from Tuesday all the way through, including the walkthrough today, which was long and fast and fierce. The preparation is unrelenting, and it shows.”
Barnes is quickly becoming one of the more beloved figures in Cache Valley, and with his latest performance he is setting the stage for what could end up being a pretty magical season.
On Saturday, per Cache Valley Daily’s Jason Walker, Barnes became the first Mountain West Conference quarterback to throw for 290-plus-yards and run for 100-plus yards in a game since 2014, more than a decade ago.
He is only the fourth QB to ever do so in the conference’s history, joining the likes of Brett Smith (Wyoming) Grant Hendrick (Boise State) and Omar Clayton (UNLV).
After four games, Barnes is on pace to throw for just under 3,000 yards in the regular season, and his scoring production is nearly unprecedented already.
Barnes has already accounted for 14 touchdowns this season, eight through the air and six on the ground. He’s on pace to produce a 40-plus touchdown season. It won’t be long, on the ground especially, before he’s threatening program records, too.
Ever the humble QB, Barnes was deferential after the game.
“It didn’t feel like I had that much production this game,” he said. “There were some things that I left out there that I’m a little frustrated about. I’m excited to get into the tape, talk with coach (Kevin) McGiven and coach (Matt) Johns to see where I can get better. I think I could have gotten out even sooner in the game had I been making some better decisions.
He continued: “I’m super grateful to be in this position. There are a lot of things that went well. Our front dominated the whole game, and one thing I talked to them about is playing at our level and not playing down to their level.
“We set the standard of how we want to play football. I’m not sure what the final number was, but we had 300-plus yards of rushing. When you’re doing that, kudos to those guys up front and creating movement, creating gaps, running backs hitting it hard. There are a lot of things that go into my production, and it’s all about what those dudes are doing up front, so hats off to them.”
Mendenhall wasn’t shy about praising his quarterback, though.
“He’s exceptional in every way,” Mendenhall said. “He’s also being used in a magical way by coach McGiven. Bryson does a lot on his own and improvises on his own after the plays, but the number of plays that are designed right and are working, that’s highlighting it.
“... I’ve had good quarterbacks. Taysom Hill, pretty good quarterback. Bryce Perkins, pretty good quarterback. Devin Dampier, pretty good quarterback. Bryson Barnes is a really good football player. That would have been reason enough to take the Utah State job if I knew Bryson truly who he was and how he is. He’s tough and he’s relentless in his preparation. He’s exceptional and is exactly what Utah State needs as a football program any era, any time as the leader and the style of play. He represents us perfectly well.”
On Saturday it wasn’t just Barnes, though, great as he was.
Davis had another standout performance, running for over 100 yards. He looked more like a feature back than in any previous game.
Braden Pegan continues to make a case for being the best wideout the Aggies have, and that was with Boyd having arguably the best game of his collegiate career.
Freshman Noah White played sparingly but showed real flashes, enough that it wouldn’t be surprising to see him involved more and more as the season goes on.
Defensively, the Aggies were dominant. Aggressive, yet sound. Disruptive, but not reckless.
USU’s defense recorded more sacks and tackles for loss than in any game previously this year, shut down a genuinely talented McNeese running back and didn’t give up much of anything in the passing game.
It was across the board too, with players like Tujague and Holmes standing out, but also defensive tackle Tyree Morris (nine tackles), linebacker Bronson Olevao Jr., (nine tackles and 1.5 sacks), and defensive tackle Naki Fahina (five tackles).
With each passing week, Utah State’s defense appears to get better and better, and this week was no exception.
“We’re playing complimentary football, or we did at a high level tonight and we put a strong performance together,” Mendenhall said. “I was really encouraged and pleased with how our team handled tonight. We played really physical defensively, lots of critical plays being made.”
Olevao Jr., put it another way: “I’m super proud of the way our defense played. I want to give a special shoutout to our defensive line and our back end — I’m super proud of them and I couldn’t have done things without them. I played well, but it comes from the preparation for this week.
“We wanted to hone in on our preparation and on being a dominant defense. There were a couple plays left out there that are stinging a bit, maybe one or two drives. But overall, I’m proud of the way we played, the total effort and tenacity. When they were running the ball, we were able to pin them back and get after the quarterback. Overall, I’m super excited and super happy with how we played.”
Now 3-1 on the season, the Aggies will enter the bulk of Mountain West Conference play with a winning record, regardless of what happens next weekend in Nashville against an undefeated and ranked Vanderbilt team.
Play like they did against McNeese State, though, and there’s no telling where Utah State might end up, both against the Commodores and in conference play. It was that kind of night for Utah State football.