Bryson Barnes accounted for 323 yards and four touchdowns to lead Utah State over San Diego State 41-20 on Saturday.
With the loss, SDSU (3-7, 2-3 Mountain West) has dropped five in a row, and their second straight by a score of 41-20.
The Aztecs led 13-0 with just over three minutes left in the second quarter, after a 35-yard field goal by Gabriel Plascencia as the clock ran down on the first quarter and an interception by Brady Nassar led to a touchdown run by Marquez Cooper in the second.
? Highlights from Utah State's 41-20 win over San Diego State!#MWFB | #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/tUdMndq67I
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 24, 2024
Plascencia added a 30-yard field goal on SDSU’s next drive, but then Barnes turned it on – with an assist from the Aztecs, penalized on a pass interference call – running 19 yards for a touchdown.
The junior then threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Grant Page in the final two minutes of the second quarter to give Utah State a 14-13 lead at the break.
It was all Utah State after that; the Aztecs didn’t score again until a 12-yard touchdown pass by Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson to Mekhi Shaw with 32 seconds left in the game.
Barnes threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Josh Sterzer early in the third quarter and a 6-yarder to Grant Page early in the fourth. Kyrese White and Herschel Turner each added a touchdown run to make it 41-13 with 3:08 remaining.
Barnes was 13-of-15 passing for 139 yards and had 193 yards rushing on 15 carries for Utah State (3-7, 2-3 MW), which has won three of its last four games. Danny O’Neil went 23-of-31 for 199 yards, but no touchdowns.
Cooper ran for 118 yards and a touchdown for San Diego State. It was his fifth 100-yard game this year and the 22nd of his career.
The senior running back out of Maryland has been one of the few highlights for SDSU in 2024, and on Saturday he became the 23rd player in NCAA history to surpass 5,000 career rushing yards.
The Aztecs have one more chance to win their third conference game as they close out the season at home at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30, hosting Air Force.
