As the Utah State Aggies and Washington State Cougars prepare for Monday’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the Aggie program has been relatively unscathed since the regular season ended, while the Cougars are maneuvering through coaching and player turnover.
Of course Utah State isn’t out of the woods yet regarding the transfer portal as it doesn’t officially open until Jan. 2, but the Aggies’ bowl game on Monday is a symbol of the program’s trajectory, and head coach Bronco Mendenhall wants to end the year with a win.
“It always is magical for me when our upperclassmen, our seniors, can go out with a win,” Mendenhall said. “There’s a finality and a statement to that which I’m really hopeful for this team that they can experience that experience in the locker room one more time, for me to be able to express my gratitude to them for all they’ve done all year.”
Of those seniors, the one who stands out most is quarterback Bryson Barnes, as this season will go down as one of the all-time best for an Aggie QB.
Barnes has thrown for 2,687 yards, 18 touchdowns and just four interceptions, though what makes him special is his fearlessness in the run game.
He’s run for 733 yards and nine touchdowns, which is a school record. His last-ever college game will be Monday’s bowl.
“It’s kind of cool to look back on, definitely all the things that have taken place throughout my career, a lot of highs, a lot of lows, a lot of times where I wasn’t sure about my position about where I was standing as a football player,” said Barnes. “There was a lot of doubt in that as well.
“To me, I feel like everything has come to a tipping point. Everything has happened for a reason for sure. I couldn’t be more blessed to be in the situation that I am, with coach Bronco being my head coach, coach (Kevin) McGiven being my offensive coordinator. I couldn’t have written it better myself.”
While there were a handful of games this season that Utah State left with losses in games it probably should’ve won, the feeling around the team is significantly positive. Even with talk around whether or not bowl games mean much anymore, the Aggies don’t care about any of that chatter.
Monday’s game is representative of the direction the team is moving and the positivity that was lost in years past.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed coaching a team as much as this one,” Mendenhall said. “The unity, alignment, effort, just the fun it’s been to be with these guys has been an amazing experience for both my wife and I.”
Now talking football, Monday’s game should be an intriguing matchup and a sneak peek at the future of Pac-12 football. Additionally, a big storyline of the season for Utah State was the growth of its defense, particularly in the final few weeks. When the offense struggled, it was the defense that kept the Aggies afloat.
A big caveat is the difficulty Utah State’s defense has had in the red zone. The Aggies have allowed opponents to score in the red zone on 88.4% of trips, which ranks 111th in the FBS. It could spell disaster against Washington State, which scores on 92% of trips in the red zone.
Senior cornerback Noah Avinger said that was an emphasis for the defense in preparations for Monday.
“They have a very good offensive scheme, very situational aware, good third down conversions, red zone conversions,” Avinger said of Washington State.
“That’s the biggest thing we’ve been focused on as a defense, just dialing those details in at practice all week, just understanding the situations that we need to come up and make big stops to give the offense back the ball. Those are the biggest things that I feel like we’ve been focused on.”