Utah State Football Crushes McNeese In Convincing Win
Sep 20, 2025, 11:55 PM
Utah State's Big Blue conducts the chorus for The HURD as Utah State pulls away from Air Force at Maverik Stadium on Saturday, September 13. (Photo courtesy Utah State football)
(Photo courtesy Utah State football)
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State football continues showing that it is a force to be reckoned with after lassoing the McNeese Cowboys in a 48-7 win.
Bryson Barnes led the way with his second consecutive five-touchdown performance, and the Aggie defense pitched a second-half shutout in an all-phases victory.
“There were some things that I left out there that I’m a little frustrated about,” Barnes said postgame. “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. I’m super grateful to be in this position. There are a lot of things that went well.”
⬅️ WINNING TEAM!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/TWHbxCvWG5
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
RB Miles Davis ended the night with a team-high five catches for 39 yards and carried 13 times for 118 yards. He joined Barnes in averaging better than nine yards per attempt (9.1).
Freshman RB Noah White carried eight times for 49 yards, both career-highs.
MILES. COULD. GO. ALL. THE. WAY.
Touchdown Aggies!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/PBpIEm96fH
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
The duo of Braden Pegan (3 catches, 95 yards) and Brady Boyd (4 catches, 84 yards) combined for seven catches and 179 yards. Boyd scored twice a week after Pegan caught a career-high two TD passes.
Kahanu Davis caught his second pass of the year for a 45-yard TD.
Aggies strike first! @DavisKahanu with his first TD of the year!! #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/S08XuZXYw7
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
Javen Jacobs carried seven times for 22 yards and a score, marking two consecutive weeks he has found the end zone. He added three catches for ten yards.
😤 @_JavenJacobs punches it in from the 1⃣ yard for ANOTHA ONE!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/O6zZ1puBXq
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
“Our team prepared really well this week,” 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.”
He continued, “Their preparation was exceptional, and it was great from Tuesday all the way through, including the walkthrough today, which was long, fast, and fierce. The preparation is unrelenting, and it shows.”
Bryson Barnes leads USU’s multi-faceted attack with 5 TDs
A week after earning Mountain West Player of the Week with three rushing scores and two passing TDs, the former Utah Ute flipped the script against McNeese.
Barnes completed 19-of-27 passes (70.3 percent) for 293 yards and three scores. The dual-threat QB led the ground game as well, finishing with 128 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
Strike the pose @bryson_barnes10 😉
What do you think @HeismanTrophy?#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/coGEqrLrhg
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
Barnes averaged 9.8 yards per carry. It was the third 100-yard rushing performance of his career, all coming with Utah State.
He finished 2024 with back-to-back games reaching the century mark.
The fake and the juke on the score??? @bryson_barnes10 is HIM!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/DwCUTzrCht
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
“Our quarterback, Bryson (Barnes) – the resolve, the physicality, the decision making, the toughness – he’s the leader of our team and our team is taking on his identity,” Mendenhall continued. “We’re playing complimentary football, or we did at a high level tonight, and we put a strong performance together. I was really encouraged and pleased with how our team handled tonight.”
Barnes has 982 passing yards and eight touchdowns to go with 197 yards on the ground and six scores.
USU’s defense complements its high-powered offense well
McNeese wasn’t the heartiest of opponents, but Nick Howell had his defense firing on all cylinders in the runaway win.
The seven points allowed are the fewest since a 62-7 win over Idaho in 2019. The Cowboys’ 239 yards of total offense are the fewest for an opponent since New Mexico in 2021.
“We kept giving the ball back, and they have a really talented football team,” McNeese head coach Matt Viator said after his team settled for 239 yards of total offense and allowed four sacks.
2⃣ First Half sacks for the Motor City Machine, Will Holmes!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/AmPVXgyHqZ
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
“I was really encouraged and pleased with how our team handled tonight,” Mendenhall answered when asked about his defense. “We played really physical defensively, lots of critical plays being made.”
DT Carson Tujague led USU with a career-high 11 tackles, followed by nine stops from Tyree Morris and Bronson Olevao Jr.
Rock break 3️⃣ goes to @jimmyliston64!! 🪨#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/bdrm92PXIr
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 21, 2025
The nine stops were a career-high for Olevao Jr., along with his 1.5 sacks and two QB hurries.
LB William Holmes had a career-high two sacks in the first half. He finished with a career-high three tackles for a loss.
Following Utah State football with KSL Sports Zone
Utah State concludes its non-conference matchup in Nashville, Tennessee, against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday, September 27. Kickoff is at 10:45 a.m. MT, and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Listen to USU football games on KSL Sports Zone with Scott Garrard and former Aggie QB Kevin White on the call.
Find KSL Sports coverage of Utah State University Athletics here.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
