It’s official: Bronco Mendenhall’s first season in Logan will end with a bowl game.
It was a messy first half, but Utah State dominated the second half en route to a 28-17 win over Fresno State Saturday night to get its sixth win of the year and become bowl eligible.
The win was also the Aggies’ first on the road this season.
“The message overall was just execute their way back into the game one play at a time,” Mendenhall said of the halftime message when his team trailed 17-7.
“A couple of miscues on our part offensively and defensively led to the difference in the game, and we believed that (if) we would play more consistently we could carve our way back in, which is exactly what happened.”
There’s really no question about it — Saturday’s win was definitely Utah State’s best of the season. There’s also a bit of emotional whiplash since the Aggies suffered a heartbreaking loss in double overtime to UNLV last week.
Last week’s loss was brutal, largely because of how prepared the Aggies were for the game. In previous road losses, particularly to Hawai’i and New Mexico, Utah State did not seem ready for either opponent.
The Aggies seemed like they finally got over their road woes against UNLV but two missed walk-off field goals ended their hopes of a road win.
Despite that loss, Mendenhall said it gave his team confidence that it can perform with the best of the best in the conference.
“We actually gained momentum because of the loss,” Mendenhall said. “It stung and it won’t ever go away. I mean, there’s a scar in there somewhere in all of us for that.
“But, if (UNLV) is a 9-2 team, which they are, if that’s one of the best teams in our league, and we knew we outplayed them, then who aren’t we going to be able to outplay?”
While Saturday’s win over Fresno State was eventually confirmation of the Aggies’ confidence, it took a half of football to get there.
Utah State struggled to open the game, and that started with the offensive line issues that has plagued it all year. Quarterback Bryson Barnes was given little room to make plays, and the stats don’t tell the whole story of how beat up he was on Saturday.
Barnes was sacked twice and hurried twice, but was also often forced to scramble for yards to give his team a chance at first downs.
The offense didn’t break through until the defense gifted it great field position after a failed fourth down conversion from the Bulldogs.
The play calling in the red zone was creative, and Utah State’s first touchdown came on a double-pass play from Barnes to Anthony Garcia, who then found Brady Boyd in the end zone.
Utah State’s defense was a mixed bag in the first half. It did force the turnover on downs, which resulted in the USU touchdown. However, Fresno State also got into the end zone twice and hit a 30-yard field goal to go up 17-7 at halftime.
Because the offense was slow-going, that deficit looked bad for Utah State’s hopes. However, both the offense and defense looked significantly improved after the break.
“17-7 coming in the half and offensively, we wanted more points on the board,” Barnes said. “We were definitely frustrated with the production that we were having, so we came in, we just made our adjustments.”
The first two drives of the second half really show how Utah State managed to completely flip momentum in its favor, and it did so by taking Fresno State’s game plan from it.
The Bulldogs like to run it down, take long possessions and beat you with its physicality, and that’s exactly what Utah State did to them in the second half.
Fresno State started the half with the ball, but after a quick three-and-out by the defense, the Aggie offense took 8:37 off the clock as it went down 78 yards to score a touchdown.
“Offensively, we basically played Fresno style, meaning we drove the ball, we occupied clock, we scored touchdowns,” Mendenhall said.
“It was just exceptional to watch. I was so proud of all these kids and this team and just felt it was just a privilege to be with them.”
In the second half, the Utah State defense had two three-and-outs, two turnovers on downs and an interception to keep Fresno State scoreless.
Utah State had momentum as it forced another quick punt following its touchdown, but disaster struck right after as Miles Davis fumbled the ball.
Fresno State recovered on the USU 19 and gave the defense a short field, though as it has done all season, it didn’t allow the Bulldogs to convert on the turnover.
Bronson Olevao Jr. got his second interception of the year three plays later to avoid another Fresno State score.
Utah State has allowed only 14 points off eight turnovers this season.
“I was in the right place at the right time. A little tip ball to the receiver, and I was right there to catch it,” Olevao said. “But we were talking about that right before that drive, it’s on us as a defense to create something.
“If we need to create a turnover, we need to create some spark, I’m glad I was right there in the position to make that play and kind of shift the momentum back to our offense.”
The turnover allowed the star of the show, Barnes, to continue to shine.
Barnes was relentless and proved to be a significant dual threat. He ended Saturday’s win with 150 passing yards and 113 rushing yards. He contributed 263 of Utah State’s 403 total offensive yards.
Oh, and he added a receiving touchdown. He did so on anther trick play early in the second half on another pass from Garcia, who finished with the two touchdowns and 26 passing yards in the win.
However, no story can properly describe just how physical Barnes had to play in the win. He had 23 carries on Saturday and took many hard hits and falls, but he kept on going to will the offense to 21 second half points.
“I have I’ve not seen anything like it in my coaching career,” Mendenhall said of Barnes. “The number of hits he’s taken this year, the number of runs he’s taken, the number of players that he’s just had fierce contact with, usually initiated by him, the number of sacks, the number of just physical plays.
“I’m not sure there’s been a player that I’ve been more impressed with, his resolve, his grit, his fortitude, his toughness, his pain threshold, his commitment, the way he comes back each week and then plays again. He’s remarkable.”
Utah State will finish its regular season schedule at home on Friday when it hosts Boise State.