Utah State graduate quarterback Bryson Barnes willed his team to a 28-17 victory over Fresno State last week that featured 21 unanswered points by the Aggies. After the game, and earlier this week, coaches around the Mountain West have taken notice of Barnes’ talent and especially toughness. Some are on the verge of declaring him to be the deserving candidate for the conference’s offensive player of the year award. Some are outright saying it.
In the post-game press conference directly following USU’s win, during which Barnes amassed 266 all-purpose yards (151 passing, 113 rushing and two receiving) with one touchdown, Aggies’ head coach Bronco Mendenhall was asked about whether his quarterback deserved to win the offensive player of the year award. Mendenhall’s answer was quick, direct and bold.
“It’s Bryson Barnes every day, all day, every vote.”
Just a few days later, two more head coaches within the league were voicing their support for Barnes’ OPOY candidacy. One of those being Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson, the Aggies’ upcoming opponent, and Fresno State head coach Matt Entz, who had the pleasure of watching Barnes slowly dismantle his defense in the second half on Saturday.
The case for Bryson Barnes for Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year has some pretty big voices behind it.Fresno State HC, Matt Entz — “I think (Barnes) is the best football player in our league right now.”Boise State HC, Spencer Danielson — “He’s probably going to be… pic.twitter.com/1ACQPBSuMb
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) November 25, 2025
Entz prefaced his comments by saying has wasn’t “going to advocate” for anything, but went on to make definitive statements on Barnes’ capability as a football player.
“I think (Barnes) is the best football player in our league right now,” Entz said, also making sure to note that he “didn’t say quarterback, I said football player.”
Danielson, in his weekly press conference a few days ago, said Barnes is “probably going to be the Offensive Player of the Year in our conference and he’s absolutely deserving of that.”
The three coaches echoed each other in calling Barnes one of the best, if not the best, players in the league. Even more so they voiced the exact same reasons for why Barnes has impressed them so much: his toughness.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tougher football player, a more resilient young man than our quarterback,” Mendenhall said. “He, in my opinion, just took over the game. Run after run, and first down after first down, and delivering the football. What a remarkable leader he is. And it’s absolutely my pleasure to be his coach.”
“He’s tremendous. And he carried that team and he put them on his back in the second half and did a really good job. I thought we had a good gameplan defensively. We did. He was peeling himself off the ground, but he refused to go down,” Entz said.
“Bryson Barnes is tough. He’ll take hits and he’s an absolute elite competitor,” Danielson said.
Danielson also shared an interaction he had with his wife on Saturday as they followed the Aggie game on TV when they got a good, long look at the way Barnes has been playing lately.
“When we got done with our game, we had media and other stuff on Saturday and went home and my wife Rachel was watching a couple games and we were watching the Utah State/Fresno State game. And a couple of plays in that game, she looks at me and says ‘That quarterback is so good.’ And I’m like ‘Babe, you’re 100% correct.'”
Barnes faces some tough competition for the award, however. UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea has had an excellent season in his own right. The Rebels’ star has completed 68.2% of his passes for 2,780 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also run for 528 yards and seven more TDs. Barnes has completed 62.2% of his passes for 2,503 yards with 18 passing TDs to four interceptions along with 644 rushing yards and eight additional scores. Comparing those numbers, Colandrea has a slight edge statistically, with better efficiency and more total yards (3,308 to 3,147) and touchdowns (28 to 24). Colandrea also has the feather in his cap of being on a team still in contention for the conference title game.
Mendenhall, even after saying that Barnes deserved “every vote” expressed doubt in the voting process, saying it is “one of the most flawed and imperfect processes that exist.”
Bronco Mendenhall on whether Bryson Barnes should be the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year:”It’s Bryson Barnes every day, all day, every vote.”Mendenhall didn’t exactly express confidence that Barnes would get the award, though, calling the selection process “one of… pic.twitter.com/xqqqOpCiV2
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) November 23, 2025
