Utah State believed it could compete with Vanderbilt and injury woes only made the blowout hurt more.
Before Saturday morning’s game against No. 18 Vanderbilt, Utah State football wasn’t lacking in belief that it could compete.
Though the Commodores were a considerable favorite and though the Aggies had gone into SEC country and been defeated once before already this season (at Texas A&M), USU wasn’t swayed.
“We got a lot of belief in ourself,” tight end Broc Lane said. “I think it starts with the coaches. Coach (Bronco) Mendenhall and every other coach, I mean, they believe in us fully.
“In those (pregame) meetings they were not just talking, ‘Oh, we’re going to Vanderbilt, really good team.’ No, they fully believed we were going to go out there and win, so I think that really helps us, makes us believe.”
Utah State coaches weren’t unrealistic. They understood that Vanderbilt’s offense, led by quarterback Diego Pavia, is elite. They knew their own defense would be in for a long day. They also understood that their own offense could have some success against the Commodores.
In the end those things held true, albeit not enough for the Aggies to come close to pulling off an upset.
Vanderbilt defeated Utah State 55-35 Saturday, blowing the game open in the second half after a competitive first half.
Pavia was excellent for the Commodores, throwing for 321 yards and five touchdowns. Powered by his arm, Vanderbilt torched the Aggies’ defense again and again.
On the other side, Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes was great too, before he left the game with an injury. Barnes threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns and his play kept the Aggies close throughout the first half.
For everything Utah State did well though, Vanderbilt was simply better, and there were plenty of things the Aggies did poorly, too, which led to the blowout loss.
“I love my football team,” Mendenhall said. “Encouraged by the way they battled. (There are) plenty of things that I can help them prepare for at a higher level so they can execute more consistently throughout (the game).
“We knew coming into the game, we were very impressed with (Vanderbilt’s) quarterback. We were very impressed with their offensive scheme. We thought that was going to be a formidable challenge. We felt good offensively about our scoring potential. Ultimately, special teams did not perform well for us today, field position as well as some miscues.
Continued Mendenhall, “So ultimately, congratulations to (Commodores coach) Clark Lea and the Vanderbilt staff. They have a good football team. They executed and prepared at a really high level, and for us — coming on the road — my preparation of our team didn’t allow us to play as consistently and productively and cleanly enough to take it right to the end."
Special teams were in fact an adventure for the Aggies, an adventure that frequently could have ended in disaster but by good fortune sometimes didn’t.
There was a muffed punt by punter Landon Rehkow that originally led to a safety before a penalty on Vanderbilt gave the Aggies the ball back. Additionally, there was a roughing the punter penalty that kept a scoring drive alive for Utah State.
Even with those gifts, USU’s special teams were a non factor, or at worst a factor in a bad way. Rehkow averaged under 50 yards per punt and Javen Jacobs couldn’t do much to flip the field in Utah State’s favor in the return game.
It wasn’t just special teams that went wrong for Utah State, though. The Aggies were frequently overwhelmed up front, on both sides of the ball.
Case in point, Vanderbilt averaged more than seven yards per carry, while Utah State averaged under five, a stat inflated by a 58-yard run by Jacobs.
Pavia was sacked only once and hurried only once, whereas Barnes and backup Jacob Conover were sacked a combined three times and hurried eight times.
When Utah State did get solid played in the trenches, especially on defense, its secondary frequently didn’t take advantage. The Aggies’ backfield was beaten regularly by Vanderbilt, with one-on-one coverage being a real problem for USU.
“It was just guys on the back end, our DB room, just not executing at the end of the day,” safety Noah Avinger said. “You know, you’ve got to win your one-on-ones.
“That’s the biggest thing that we preach on our team. It’s one-on-one battles on the safeties and corners and nickels. At the end of the day, the one-on-one matchups, they won majority of them and we weren’t able to make plays on today.”
Mendenhall laid some of the blame on USU’s approach to defense — he noted that they emphasized stopping the run — but ultimately it was a lack of execution.
“We struggled, not only in sacking their quarterback, which most everyone does, but our coverage just wasn’t tight enough,” he said. “It wasn’t clean enough, it wasn’t effective enough, and then there were yards after the catch as well.
“They were making plays downfield consistently, and we weren’t making plays downfield either through playing the ball or getting enough pressure.”
While Utah State’s defense understandably deserves most of the blame for the loss after allowing 55 points to Vanderbilt, the Aggies’ offense wasn’t with it flaws.
Utah State’s run game, a strength in wins earlier this season, was almost a non-factor. Barnes was really the only effective runner when the game was still competitive, with both Jacobs and Miles Davis struggling to make much of an impact.
And in the passing game, aside from wide receiver Braden Pegan and tight end Broc Lane, there wasn’t much production. Players such as Brady Boyd and Anthony Garcia were invisible for significant portions of the game.
Adding insult to injury, USU suffered a couple key injuries in the loss.
Barnes was knocked out of the game early in the fourth quarter, his status in question going forward. Additionally, starting left tackle Jake Eichorn left the game, his loss making the Aggies play without both of their starting tackles (Trey Andersen was injured earlier this season). USU also lost outside linebacker Will Holmes, arguably the team’s most athletic defender.
There were some positives for Utah State, to be fair. Barnes, when healthy, played great. Pegan and Lane were near their best. Linebacker John Miller had another standout game and Avinger was as stable as ever.
Braden Pegan ➡️ DOG!
— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 27, 2025
📺 @SECNetworkpic.twitter.com/Fp41usrNWA
Utah State needed a lot more to go right to have a chance at upsetting Vanderbilt, however, and clearly not nearly enough did.
Belief in the program hasn’t faded, though. Even in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, the Aggies still believe they are a capable football team, with the majority of Mountain West Conference play upcoming.
“I feel like we could play with anyone in the country,” Avinger said. “I feel like every week provides the opportunity to get better as a team. We have played two top 20 opponents and you know what? What more can you ask for than to play those teams.
“(We have to) learn from our mistakes and what we did good. Learning from that and make it even better, just the execution of all that. Stacking each game on and on is building confidence, but just knowing the execution that we can put forth going into conference, it’s kind of exciting, even though obviously we fell short tonight.”
Added Lane: “Today, we fell short, but this team fights, man. It’s exciting to be a part of a team that fights as hard as we do. ... I’ve got full confidence in this team.
“It’ll be nice to get a lot of dudes healthy here on this bye week, but man, we’re ready to go. Air Force already started conference play (for us), but we’re ready for these conference games. It’s exciting, a great opportunity.”
Category: General Sports
