Bryson Barnes leads USU to 36-14 win in season opener

LOGAN, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – Bryson Barnes has come to the rescue before, this was the first time he did it for his new team, Utah State, to make a winner out of first year head coach Nate Dreiling.

The former Utes quarterback came in for injured started Spencer Petras, and threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 88 yards and another score, as the Aggies pulled away from pesky Robert Morris University, 36-14.

After Petras threw two interceptions to start the game, he connected with the speedy Kyrese White, who bolted to the end zone on a 57-yard touchdown to give Utah State an early 7-0 lead.

But Robert Morris scored two second quarter TD’s to take a 14-10 lead into halftime. Petras left the game midway through the second quarter with an ankle injury after completing 10 of 15 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

But Barnes led the Aggies to 26 unanswered points in the second half, throwing a 53-yard TD to White, who took a screen pass and again showed off his blazing speed. Barnes then showed off the wheels himself, sprinting to a 63-yard touchdown to give the Aggies a 26-14 lead in the fourth quarter.

Barnes capped the night with a 21-yard touchdown to Jalen Royals, who set a school record with 15 touchdown catches in 2023.

“I’ve been through it,” Barnes said. “I’ve had to do it at Utah for the last three years, and it prepared me for this moment. Coach really preached that. You’re one hit away and you never know when that hit is going to be. It could be the first play, it can be in practice leading up to the game and it can be in week eight. You never know when that opportunity is going to happen, so you have to be ready for it. The preparation process is that you have to prepare like you’re the starter when you are the backup.”

Barnes finished his first game as an Aggie completing 11 of 15 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Barnes also led Utah State in rushing with 88 yards, while Robert Briggs added 88 yards on the ground, and Rasul Faison had 78 yards. Utah State rushed for 303 yards in total.

However Briggs suffered a serious leg injury after a 55-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Dreiling speculated that his leg was fractured and could be lost for the season.

White was the big-play receiver, hauling in just three catches, but for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

Dreiling won his first game as head coach, after Blake Anderson was fired in July.

“I’ll tell you guys what I told the team after the game – that game, in a way, summed up our last 60 days,” Dreiling said. “We took some blows, adversity hit, and it finished with a group rolling their sleeves up being tough players that finished with love, integrity and toughness. And that’s what we want this program to be about. The second half was a great snapshot of what we are about and how we need to run. There are a lot of things we need to clean up from penalties to defense. The biggest jump is from game one to game two, so hopefully we can make that jump and get things ready for next week.”

A pair of newcomers led the Aggie defense as linebacker Jon Ross Maye and safety Jordan Vincent each finished with 10 tackles. The Aggies also received a pair of sacks from defensive end Cian Slone and defensive end Blaine Spires.

Utah State next hits the road to face USC on September 8th.

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