Utah State demolishes Nevada and gets one win away from bowl eligibility

Saturday’s Mountain West matchup between Utah State and Nevada was all but over before the first quarter even ended.

The Aggies scored on all three of their opening offensive drives and Brevin Hamblin added a pick six as they cruised to a 24-0 lead.

The night only continued to go Utah State’s way, and it got a much needed 51-14 bounceback victory over the Wolf Pack.

“I didn’t see that score coming,” Utah State head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “Nevada’s been really good on defense. They’ve played one-score games regardless of who they’ve played all year long.

“Our offensive plan, defensive plan, but really how our team prepared was exceptional. They were physical, they were connected, trying hard and having fun. The energy around the building was different. I’m really glad that they could see a tangible result and a win that was probably atypical.”

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It was night and day from the Aggies’ brutal 33-14 loss to New Mexico two weeks ago. In that game, Utah State failed in all three phases, but on Saturday it dominated in all three phases.

Offensvely, the Aggies couldn’t be stopped. They scored on seven of their first eight offensive drives of the game and didn’t punt until the 5:10 mark in the second quarter.

The offensive line looked much improved from earlier in the season, particularly after its disastrous performance against the Lobos. Quarterback Bryson Barnes looked as good as ever with 288 yards and three touchdowns on a 74% completion percentage.

Even the few times where the offensive line was beaten, Barnes just kept making plays. Late in the second quarter, Barnes easily could’ve been sacked, but he broke away and instead ran for 11 yards and a first down.

Wide receiver Brady Boyd had a career high 117 receiving yards on five receptions with two touchdowns, his first career 100+-yard night.

“We’ve kind of started slow the past couple of weeks, so it was a big emphasis to come out and start fast and stay ahead of the chains,” Boyd said.

“The way it worked out, it wasn’t like we were planning on coming to me for a couple plays, but it just kind of worked out that way. We were really intentional this week about staying ahead of the chains and being good on third down.”

Kicker Tanner Rinker also got in on the scoring in a notable way with three field goals. Rinker is now a perfect 10 for 10 on the year, including 5 for 5 from 40+ yards.

It was an equally dominant defensive performance for Utah State, which racked up four sacks, seven tackles for loss, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

The star of the defense on Saturday was clearly Hamblin. He finished with eight total tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and a pick-six.

“I feel like with everyone around me making plays together, it was natural for everyone,” said Hamblin. “Everyone was making plays. We were all hyped for each other.”

Nevada couldn’t get anything going in the air against the Aggies. Wolf Pack starting quarterback Carter Jones completed only a single pass, while the Utah State defense picked him off twice.

At halftime Utah State led 41-0, outgained the Wolf Pack 335 yards to 47 yards, and held Nevada to -1 passing yards.

Midway through the third quarter, Mendenhall pulled most of the starters and let his reserves get some minutes. Nevada finally scored twice, once late in the third quarter and once early in the fourth quarter.

Its 14 points matched its season average.

The only weird blemish on an otherwise nearly perfect night was four kickoffs from Rinker that went out of bounds and allowed the Wolf Pack to start drives on the 35 yard line.

Overall it was a well-executed night, and a necessary one for the Aggies. They are now 5-4 on the year and just one win away from being bowl eligible.

The only issue is, their remaining schedule is UNLV and Fresno State on the road, and then back at home against Boise State.

If Utah State wants a bowl game in Mendenhall’s first season, it’s going to have to earn it.