What was learned from Bronco Mendenhall’s first year in Logan?

It was just over a year ago that Bronco Mendenhall became the 31st head coach of Utah State football. His first season in Logan officially came to a close Monday after Utah State’s 34-21 loss to Washington State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Now we ask: How did it go?

The most significant upside of the Mendenhall hire was getting a seasoned coach with nearly two decades of FBS experience. The hope was that he could provide stability for a struggling program that was coming off a 4-8 season and had fired its head coach a month before the start of the 2024 season.

Even after his hiring, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the school. Utah State president Elizabeth Cantwell stepped down in February, and athletic director Diana Sabau left for Maryland in July.

Mendenhall was fully aware of the state of the athletic department and the school as a whole, and he emphasized his desire to change the culture around the football program to one that was respected and respectful.

“When I was hired, I was told some pretty harsh things about the state of the program and the state of the institution, including there’s no chance that we’d be able to make a bowl,” Mendenhall said. “(I was told) there would be a bowl ban because the academics weren’t strong enough. That was stated multiple times. Yet here we are, and with the highest GPA in school history.

“I like being told what we won’t be able to do. Those things have just been ticked off and checked off along the way. That doesn’t mean we’re satisfied, doesn’t mean we’ve reached our full potential. I think there’s been significant progress in every part of the program, with just more to come.”

It was hard to evaluate the Aggies after just their nonconference play. Utah State won the games it should’ve against UTEP, Air Force and McNeese, and lost the games it was expected to against Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

Conference play for the Aggies was a mixed bag. It was the final year the Aggies would be competing in the familiar Mountain West before moving on to the new-look Pac-12, and it appeared wide open. The conference ended up being close, with four teams tied 6-2, but ultimately it was Boise State and UNLV meeting in the title game again.

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Utah State didn’t make a great statement after it lost the conference opener 44-26 to Hawaii. The loss to the Rainbow Warriors started a disturbing trend of the Aggies’ inability to perform on the road. In games away from Logan, Utah State went 1-6.

New Mexico further lowered Utah State’s hopes after a convincing victory in Albuquerque. It was a game for Utah State to prove itself because the week before, it had a gritty win against San Jose State and was looking for its first road win.

It not only lost that game, but it was never close.

However, the Aggies still built a reputation as a dangerous conference opponent, despite their record. Utah State was also a strong home team, with a 5-1 home record.

That was in large part thanks to the heroics of Bryson Barnes, which were on full display in Utah State’s single road win against Fresno State. Barnes threw for 151 yards and ran for 129 to lead the Aggies to their sixth and final win of the season. The dual-threat nature of Barnes stood out to opposing coaches.

But, more often than not, the offense was forced to rely on Barnes’ creativity because of arguably the single-biggest issue that faced the Aggies this season — the offensive line.

Barnes was sacked 40 times this year, by far the most in the Mountain West and ranking in the top five of all FBS. While he had a knack for making something happen on broken plays, it was unrealistic to rely on that as a major part of the offense.

The offensive struggle was on full display in Utah State’s bowl game with Washington State. The Cougars’ defense was suffocating, and by the time the Aggies got any offensive momentum, it was already too late. Barnes had little to work with and even had to leave the field after taking a rough hit in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Aggies saw improvements as the season went on. They never had a dominating defense, but it often played well enough to keep Utah State in games. One of its strengths was causing timely turnovers and managing poor field position when the offense turned the ball over.

The defense notably showed up in the win over Fresno State, where it shut out the Bulldogs in the second half.

Mendenhall got a lot of mileage out of a flawed team, and a year after a 4-8 finish, Mendenhall had the Aggies back in a bowl game.

Now, with Utah State moving on to the Pac-12 in 2026, which is a step up in competitiveness from the Mountain West, Bronco Mendenhall may be just what it needs to return to conference-championship level.

With a new athletic director in Cameron Walker and a new university president in Brad L. Mortensen, Mendenhall says they’ve got the leadership and commitment to make the upcoming Pac-12 era for Utah State a good one.

“I’m thrilled with the direction of Utah State football, but also Utah State athletics,” Mendenhall said. “Our athletic director ... I think there’s just fantastic leadership and alignment that exists there. Our new president, it’s the trifecta, seems to be lined up really well.

“I certainly have to do my part. I love the leadership. I love the direction. I love the support. Now I love the opportunity with a new league and this program. I think we’re staged really well.”