Cover Story: Aggies Snag Bowl Eligibility With Dominant Half At Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif. – Utah State was lucky to get to the halftime break at Fresno State with the game still within reach.

The Aggies hadn't been bad in the opening frames, at least not in all phases, but they had played on Fresno State's terms and suffered the consequences. Between offensive line penalties and significant struggles in pass protection, Kevin McGiven's offense has managed only one score in the first half, converting a short field after a failed fourth-down Fresno State try into a 24-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Garcia to Brady Boyd.

That offense spent most of the first 30 minutes behind the chains and out of sorts. They faced eight third downs with an average distance of 9.8 yards and moved the chains on one of them, lost yardage on six of their 36 plays and threw incompletions on nine more. They traveled beyond their 40-yard line three times, scored one touchdown, punted once from Fresno State's 36 and missed a 46-yard field goal at the end of the half. The Bulldog defense doesn't need extra help, and Utah State had given far too much of it.

Some sluggishness after last week's brutal double overtime loss to UNLV wouldn't have been terribly surprising, but Utah State really wasn't concerned with that entering this game. The team had responded well to the loss in practice and throughout the week. It left a scar, in head coach Bronco Mendenhall's words, but it had also emboldened the Aggies. They outplayed one of the top teams in the Mountain West on the road, and believed, with tangible proof, that they could do the same to anyone else in the league.

"It was just realistic because we believed that we outplayed UNLV in so many areas," Mendenhall said. "We actually gained momentum because of the loss. It stung, and it won't ever go away. There's a scar in there somewhere in all of us for that. But if that team is a 9-2 team, which they are, if that's one of the best teams in our league, and we knew we outplayed them, then who won't we be able to outplay? There was some momentum and a reference there that was taken forward beside the frustration and the disappointment that we didn't win in a game we thought we outplayed them."

This first half at Fresno State was a matter of execution above anything else. Utah State knew it needed to have success on early downs and avoid errors to keep that Bulldog defense off its front foot, and had simply failed to do it in the first and second periods.

"We were pretty frustrated," senior quarterback Bryson Barnes said. "We were expecting to come out and start fast. It was 17-7 coming in at half. Offensively, we wanted more points on the board. We were definitely frustrated with the production we were having. We came in, made our adjustments and we just wanted to get to some of those calls, there was nothing we had in the gameplan that we felt like we couldn't execute. In the second half, we came out with a little more determination, trusted in the gameplan and executed."

While the Aggie defense had not been perfect either, allowing 17 points and 256 yards on just 34 plays (7.5 yards per play), it too had plenty of cause for optimism. Fresno State gained 112 of those yards and both of its first-half touchdowns on just two plays – a 69-yard Rayshon Luke run and a 43-yard pass to Jahlil McClain. Without those breakdowns, caused by one or two missed tackles, bad angles or coverage miscommunications, the Bulldogs averaged just 4.5 yards per play and scored just three points.

They were only 2 for 7 on third downs, their lone fourth-down try went nowhere, and their element of surprise was gone. Utah State planned for quarterback Carson Conklin, Fresno State's starter in the last three games, and instead got E.J. Warner, a wildly different threat to deal with. If the Bulldogs were hoping to ride that change to an insurmountable cushion before Utah State could adjust at the half, they had failed. The mood in the Aggie locker room at the break was far less gloomy and far more assertive. This game was there for them if they could execute, and they didn't need to be convinced of that by their coaches. They've been through enough together that they could feel it and know it to be true without doubt.

"It wasn't a somber locker room, but it was a determined locker room at halftime," Mendenhall said. "There wasn't discouragement, but there was some frustration that we were in the situation we were, meaning that we were coming from behind. We knew that's not where we wanted to be against this team. There was belief, there was a lot of hard coaching and a lot of really clear corrections that needed to happen. I attribute that to our coordinators for getting the messages across that needed to be gotten across, and to our players then taking those messages and executing it, and then having the outcome we did. It's gratifying as the leader of the program to see your people excel and thrive, and they did. I'm really proud of them.

"I attribute the adjustments to coach McGiven and coach Howell schematically. The message overall was just to execute our way back into the game one play at a time. A couple of miscues on our part offensively and defensively led to the difference in the game. We believed that if we could play more consistently, we could carve our way back in, which is exactly what happened."

Slowly but surely as the second half swung into motion, they made Fresno State feel it too – the creeping concern that something had changed in the team on the opposite sideline. Fresno State's opening drive, which presented a massive opportunity to command the middle eight minutes after a late score in the second quarter, went nowhere. Bryson Donelson gained three yards on a first-down run, Jake Tarwater couldn't handle a second-down pass, and the Aggies applied heavy pressure on third down to force Warner into throwing the ball away.

Taking over possession at its 22-yard line with a heavily run-centric strategy, Utah State's offense delivered a statement drive. Barnes rushed for 18 yards on the opening play and carried four more times for another 14 yards. He connected through the air with Braden Pegan for 10 yards, with Miles Davis for five, with Boyd for seven, with Kahanu Davis for 17 and back to Pegan for seven more. The context of those throws is especially critical. The 10-yard completion to Pegan came on second-and-10; the Davis reception moved the chains on third-and-4; the 17-yarder turned a second-and-18 into third-and-1; and the last completion to Pegan moved the chains once more on third down. Between the hefty dosage of Barnes, Utah State slipped in a 10-yard keeper for Garcia and a short handoff to Davis, keeping the Fresno State defense guessing just enough to leave everything else open. From two yards out, McGiven dialed up another trick play pass for Garcia, who found Barnes in the end zone for six points. All told, the march encompassed 15 plays and 78 yards, and burned an astounding 8:37 off the clock.

"The players, they knew that template, that model and that blueprint," Mendenhall said. "It doesn't work without our quarterback, but we've seen glimpses of it. Our defense just would not allow sustained drives in the second half and they held their concentration to where there weren't any giant plays. And then offensively, we basically played Fresno State's style, meaning that we drove the ball, we occupied clock, we scored touchdowns and separated. It was just exceptional to watch. I was so proud of these kids and this team. It was just a privilege to be with them.

"Coach McGiven is a master in terms of deception and tricks. It seems like every time AG throws the ball, he throws a touchdown or catches a touchdown or runs a reverse for a touchdown. It's not like when the opponent sees him out there that they don't know something is coming. And yet, the something works, and it keeps working. The play design is exceptional. All the way going back to the swinging gate play against UTEP and him hurdling over all the players, now it's another couple touchdowns tonight. He just seems to do it every week."

Fresno State looked ready to respond when it broke through with a 44-yard Johnathan Arceneaux run on the second play of its ensuing drive, though that was furthest the Bulldogs would get. Ike Larsen stole 15 yards of the run back when he instigated Arceneaux into committing an unsportsmanlike conduct foul, and the Aggies defense shut down the next three plays to force a punt.

"What a great plan, but also super execution in critical moments," Mendenhall said. "They're hard to get off the field with the way they run the football. And then the third down and fourth downs, those two things allowed our offense to have the opportunities. Our offense then needed to execute and remain consistent, but our defense kept giving them the opportunities and eventually that took hold."

The Bulldogs gained and immediately lost another potentially game-changing momentum swing not long after. Safety Camryn Bracha made a terrific play deep in Aggie territory, punching the ball away from Davis at the end of a 10-yard run and toward former Utah State linebacker Jadon Pearson, who was all over the field for Fresno State throughout the evening.

Just 19 yards from the end zone, Warner came out passing, firing incomplete on first down, gaining eight yards on second down and looking for the end zone on third-and-short. Instead, he found Bronson Olevao Jr., who has emerged recently as the go-to player for this Utah State defense when it really needs a big play. The junior linebacker plucked the ball out of the air after it deflected off Josiah Freeman's outstretched hand, returned it 17 yards, and set his offense up with a chance to take the lead as the third quarter wound down and the final frame approached.

"It's three weeks in a row, you can just feel it developing and blossoming to where they're not only carrying their side of the ball, but they're influencing and determining the outcome," Mendenhall said. "When you have a chance and have to make not only a stop, but we would have been thrilled with just a field goal stop there. To have no points and also get the ball back, what a critical play. Bronson has just seemed to be able to find his way into making those types of plays for most of the year. I'm super excited for him.

The Aggie offense, frustrated so often this season by its inability to capitalize after big plays from its counterpart on the defensive end, didn't let this one go to waste. Still leaning heavily on the legs, arm, brain, and various other body parts of their stalwart signal-caller, the Aggies began another slow, methodical trip down the field. Barnes connected with Pegan for seven yards on third-and-4. Facing third-and-13 not long after, he kept the ball for himself, broke to the outside and somehow found his way to the first-down marker.

"The playcall, we actually kind of changed it mid-week on preference or situational, being able to run and get outside instead of more downhill," Barnes said. "That was the idea with the down and distance being what it was, get more outside and try to stretch the field. There was a hole, I stepped up in it, bounced it back out, stepped up and bounced back out and it just opened up. The offensive line did a great job of creating those gaps for me to get through and get outside to the perimeter. That's one to remember, for sure."

The last third down of the drive, a third-and-8 from Utah State's 45, ended with an 11-yard completion to Boyd, who had dropped a catchable pass earlier in the drive and made sure to keep a strong handle on this one. Whether it was that conversion or one of the other seven third-down conversions (on eight tries) in the half that did it, Fresno State's spirit was rapidly fracturing, and Utah State's final surge on the drive was met with little resistance.

The Aggies picked up a free first down on a Fresno State facemask, picked up 10 yards between runs for Barnes and Javen Jacobs, and handed the ball right back to Jacobs for a 19-yard house call with 10:37 to play. It didn't quite wash nearly nine minutes off the clock like the last scoring drive had, but a 13-play, 80-yard trot that landed a second short of five minutes was still pretty damn good.

"You can't stop the quarterback run without using an extra number," Mendenhall said. "If you're going to use the extra number, you don't have it in coverage. There it is. You can choose. Keep the number back and Bryson will run for eight, nine, 10, 12, 13, 16, whatever. Or, you can use a number on him, and then the throw game is open. That really was the formula.

"I have to say too that Javen Jacobs, he had some really nice runs. He came into his own also. John Wooden's definition of competitive greatness is being at your best when your best is needed. Javen Jacobs was also a glue component to that and those drives in the second half at the end. He has to be part of that beside Bryson. You focus on him, focus on the running game, we're going to give it to the running back and there he goes. That trio is really what happened."

It was certainly enough to send Fresno State into a spiral that it could never pull out of. The Bulldogs went three-and-out on their next possession, stopped after four yards on back-to-back runs and then forced off the field with an excellent play from Larsen on third-and-short to bat down an attempt right after it left Warner's hand. Only a minute after that grueling series, the Bulldogs had to send their defense right back onto the field.

Fatigue is a funny thing in football. It's not like basketball, where a player might lose his legs and start missing shots he usually hits, or botching defensive assignments he usually handles. Football fatigue is much more about focus and desire. Fatigued players don't seek contact like fresh ones. They don't run through their pre-snap reads with the same attention to detail. They might lose a step or two from their top speed. It's a slow process, and when only a few players at a time are feeling it, odds are that you won't even notice – that's the beauty of an 11-man team sport.

When an entire unit is fatigued, though? Say, after logging 30 snaps (most of them runs) and more than 14 minutes in a quarter and a half? Fresno State has worn opponents down with ball control and a physical ground game all season. It knew just as well as Utah State did what was coming.

First down. Barnes takes the snap, fakes, and plunges ahead on a draw. Jahzon Jacks is half a step too late, and though he manages to get a hand on Barnes' foot, the tackle doesn't take hold until Barnes stumbles for an 11-yard gain. First down. Barnes executes a triple option, freezes both Pearson and Bracha with a fake pitch, and picks up nine yards before the latter can cut back inside to make a play. Second-and-1. Jacobs is stuffed at the line, but the fun ends there for Fresno State as Barnes moves the chains on third-and-short. First down. Pass interference, 15 yards. First down. Jacobs tests the middle of the Fresno defense and likes what he finds, picking up five yards before Ryan Wilson knocks him down.

Second-and-5. All five Aggie skill players line up to the broad side of the field pre-snap, with one tight end on the line and another motioning out to join two receivers. Fresno State has eight players in or near the box, but at least one of them needs to account for Barnes, leaving Utah State with six blockers for seven defenders. All six of them find someone to block, and only cornerback Al'zillion Hamilton remains unaccounted for. Jacobs is running right at him, but he can't seem to get his body to do what he knows it needs to do. All he can do is chase, dive, and watch from the turf as No. 8 in black and white darts down the sidelines and into the San Joaquin Valley night. There may be six minutes left, but the game is over.

"Big credit to the offensive line," Barnes said. "When you're able to win up front and run the ball effectively, it's really hard for teams to win the game. When you can put numbers up on the board running the ball, you can really control a game that way and I think that's what we did in that second half."

The story of the game was Barnes, of course, because he's been the story of most Utah State games this season. He racked up 150 yards on 16-of-30 passing, ran 23 times for 113 yards, and caught a two-yard touchdown pass. All eight of Utah State's third-down conversions came directly from Barnes. Every time he was knocked down, and he was knocked down quite a bit, he got back up. Every time the Aggies needed him, he gave everything he had.

"I don't think I've ever seen a tougher football player and 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. It's absolutely my pleasure to be his coach.

"I have not seen anything like it in my coaching career. The number of hits he's taken this year and the number of runs he's taken. The number of players he's just had fierce contact with, usually initiated by him. The number of sacks and the number of physical plays. I'm not sure there's been a player I've been more impressed with. It's his resolve, grit, fortitude, toughness, pain threshold and his commitment, the way he comes back each week and then plays again. He's remarkable. You could devote five headlines to him and just keep riding it out all the way to the new year and it wouldn't get old to me. He's exceptional. That I became the head coach at Utah State and I inherited him, I don't know what aligned but man I'm grateful."

The story was not just Barnes, though, and that's what made the difference. Fresno State gained 109 yards and three first downs on 26 snaps in the second half. Larsen played one of his best games as an Aggie, Noah Avinger was rock-steady at corner, Tyree Morris continuously harassed Warner, John Miller and Brevin Hamblin did what they've done all year, Olevao may well have flipped the game with his interception, and the list hardly ends there. From Garcia's trick plays to the steady hands of Boyd and Pegan, from Jacobs' fresh legs late to an offensive line that never gave up on the game, every part of it mattered.

Utah State needed a complete team effort to snap its road drought and grab that elusive sixth win, and the team simply followed their quarterback's lead, giving all they had to give until the job was finally complete.

"The defense played consistently the whole second half, and Bryson Barnes and the offense then just methodically, play after play after play, ended up taking over the game," a giddy Mendenhall said. "I couldn't be more proud. Trailing at halftime, on the road against a really good team, and then to carve our way back, pull ahead and then seal the game? What a fitting tribute to who these kids have become from game one to now. That I get to be with them now in another game? That's the coolest thing and the best gift I could have. I'm so thankful to be with them."