LOGAN — In the very first viewing of the new-look Bronco Mendenhall-led Utah State football team, the Aggies were a mixed bag, but an overall rather positive one. And in the end, the 28-16 margin over UTEP on the scoreboard was what mattered most.
While not the most perfect showing, the Aggies performed well in many areas, with stars on this new-look team emerging quickly. Running back Miles Davis was arguably chief among them, gaining 149 scrimmage yards (88 rushing, 61 receiving), including a 58-yard rushing touchdown where he narrowly avoided stepping out of bounds on the sideline (though many online very much believe he did).
Miles Davis TO THE HOUSE!📺 @CBSSports pic.twitter.com/bHPkMmrvao
— USU Football (@USUFootball) August 31, 2025
“I wear a [size] 12 [shoe] and I’m glad I don’t wear a 15,” Davis said, also giving due credit to his offensive line for helping him break the long run.
Quarterback Bryson Barnes, having his first chance at being the true QB1 in Week 1, threw for 229 yards and ran for 29 more along with one passing and one rushing TD. His touchdown through the air came on a long play where he eventually found tight end Broc Lane for a 52-yard scoring strike.
Bryson ➕ Broc 🟰 7⃣ points!📺 @CBSSports pic.twitter.com/mybFHpCrCv
— USU Football (@USUFootball) August 31, 2025
The tricky bit is that Utah State’s offense played rather well in the first half — Davis had 130 of his 149 total yards in the first two quarters, for example — but largely stalled in the second half. USU’s lone score of the latter two quarters came on the end of a 93-yard drive. Barnes starred on that drive, accounting for 55 yards, including the 12-yard touchdown run to cap things off on that drive.
That drive put the Aggies up 28-10 with 8:35 left in the third quarter, but from that point on the Aggies didn’t score. In fact, for the rest of the game, USU had a net negative on yards (-2) with four drives going three-and-out and the longest one netting just 16 yards.
“There’s a few dropped passes. We had some protection issues, and then just run game targeting,” Mendenhall said about the drop-off on offense. “If you just talk about basic offense, our execution didn’t quite hold as long as it needed to.”
Offensive line troubles plagued Utah State much of the game. UTEP spent a lot of time in the Aggies’ backfiled, recording 12 tackles for loss and four sacks. That alone had a big factor in why the offense fizzled in the second half.
What didn’t fizzle out was Utah State’s defense. UTEP had only a few moments of offensive success, getting a long TD pass to open its scoring account in the first quarter, a field goal in the dying seconds of the first half and then one final hurrah in the fourth quarter that cut USU’s lead down to 12 points.
The defense came up big even when the offense slowed down. Time after time following a Utah State three-and-out, its defense pulled through by forcing a stop. If nothing else, it made for a tension-filled final quarter.
“It seemed more critical a little bit right because we weren’t moving the ball so much in the fourth quarter and seemed like the only chance UTEP had was if they could break a big player they could put a couple drives together,” Mendenhall said of his defense’s clutch performance.
In the end, though, UTEP averaged just 2.9 yards per rush attempt, a mere 4.9 yards per pass attempt, and had just one single play that went longer than 20 yards (only three that went longer than 15). One what might have been one of the few explosive plays UTEP got, the Aggies came away with a big turnover as Noah Flores snagged an interception on a deep pass attempt in the second quarter. It came shortly after Flores subbed in for a banged-up Dylan Tucker at cornerback.
No-Flo with the takeaway! 🔄📺 @CBSSports pic.twitter.com/f1NGeFAtO8
— USU Football (@USUFootball) August 31, 2025
“A lot of times offenses test the new corner right away. And man, (Flores) played the ball beautifully, intercepts it, and it didn’t surprise anyone on the team because he practices so diligently,” Mendenhall said. “I’m not sure the team was happier for anyone in the game”
UTEP didn’t make corralling its players easy. The Miners employ fast athletes at the skill positions that can easily create mismatches. That first touchdown for the visitors, a 34-yard deep strike from Malachi Nelson to Kenny Odom, emulated a score the Miners got against Nebraska a year ago.
“The first time Nebraska played man coverage, (UTEP) threw slot fade for a touchdown. First time we played man coverage tonight, slot fade for a touchdown,” Mendenhall said.
That led the Aggies to an approach of containment. They didn’t throw many numbers in the pass rush, dropping eight defenders on most plays as UTEP threw quick passes much of the night. Utah State didn’t generate much of a pass rush as a result (and partly by design), at least until later in the game.
“The receivers are fast. They’re capable. And we would have rather just said, our collective body of work through the night will end up winning rather than giving up high-risk plays that we thought would hurt our team,” Mendenhall said. “We didn’t like a couple of the matchups. We thought some others are better. Our collective approach, we thought, would end up controlling the score, which it did. And then you saw more pressures at the end and more affecting the quarterback when it was more clear all they would do his past because they had to catch up.”
The initial verdict from Mendenhall on his team after the first week is that “our team is tough, our team is resilient, our team is not polished, we’re not finished, we’re not complete, but we’re willing.” That rather well summed up the evening for the Aggies.
Plenty of work to do, but even an unpolished, unfinished, incomplete team will appreciate a victory on the first official weekend of the Bronco Mendenhall era of Aggie football.
