LOGAN, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – The Battle of the Brothers turned into a battle of the backup quarterbacks in the 113th meeting between Utah and Utah State.
Isaac Wilson made his first career start in place of the injured Cam Rising, and threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 12 Utah to a 35-21 victory over Utah State on Saturday.
Nine players caught a pass from the true freshman in his first 200-yard game.
“It’s getting over that ridge of being nervous,” Wilson said. “I feel like I’m confident. I felt composed throughout the game. And leaning on my offensive line, wide receivers, running backs. It was fun to play in a hostile environment like that.”
Micah Bernard added 123 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Mike Mitchell ran for 75 yards.
Utah (3-0) beat Utah State for the 15th time in the last 16 meetings in their rivalry that dates to 1892.
Bryson Barnes led Utah State (1-2) with 223 yards passing and two touchdowns in his first game against his former team. Barnes, who was Utah’s starting quarterback a year ago, threw a pair of costly interceptions that shifted momentum away from the Aggies before halftime.
Rashul Faison added 115 yards rushing for Utah State.
A series of big pass plays helped the Aggies give the Utes an early scare.
Barnes hit Otto Tia on a deep pass down the sideline and followed with a 20-yard scoring strike to Broc Lane to put Utah State in front late in the first quarter. The Aggies made it 14-3 less than a minute into the second quarter on a 12-yard pass from Barnes to Jack Hestera. Jaylen Royals hauled in a 35-yard pass with one hand a play earlier to set up Utah State’s second touchdown.
“They were all ready to play and we weren’t at the onset,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “We kind of sleepwalk through that first quarter, but got things going after that. I can’t tell you why we were not in our best in the first quarter, but we responded.”:
Utah’s offense finally sprang to life in the second quarter.
Wilson tossed a 10-yard pass to Money Parks for the Utes’ first touchdown. Then Caleb Lohner outjumped a defender to haul in a 11-yard pass, that gave Utah a 17-14 lead going into halftime. Cameron Calhoun returned his first career interception 34 yards to midfield to set up the go-ahead score.
Bernard helped put the game away after halftime. He barreled three yards up the middle to give the Utes a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter. The Aggies briefly cut the deficit to seven on a 1-yard keeper by Barnes. Bernard then raced for a career-long 64 yards to set up a 2-yard catch by Carsen Ryan, giving Utah a 35-21 lead with 11:50 left.
Barnes completed 16 of 31 passes for 223 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions against his former team, while also rushing for 36 yards and a score.
“Man, we know who Bryson is,” said Utes defensive lineman Keanu Tanuvasa, who had two tackles for loss and a sack. “He’s a hard worker and we respect that about him. I love him, that’s one of my greatest teammates. But this week he wasn’t our teammate, and so we were focused on who was in the battle with us, and that was what we did.”
A sluggish early start from the offense was offset by big defensive plays. The Utes earned a pair of first-half takeaways that kept Utah State from building an even bigger lead. Smith Snowden saved a first-quarter touchdown with an interception in the end zone and Calhoun’s pick set up a go-ahead TD before halftime.
The Aggies played inspired football in their first home game against Utah since 2012. Ultimately, breakdowns at critical moments on both sides of the ball undid Utah State’s chances at picking up a rare win over the Utes.
“We saw what they can do,” said Utah State head coach Nate Dreiling about his offense, which racked up 385 total yards. “They scored 21 points versus probably what’s going to go down as a top three to five defense in the country. And that’s where the backup quarterback and two receivers get knocked out of the game. So they’re going to continue to do to play at a high caliber.”
The Aggies had to play almost the entire game without receiver Kyrese White and the entire second half without leading receiver Jalen Royals.
Utah State played much better than they did in a 48-0 loss to USC last week.
“We continue to take a step forward,” said defensive back Jordan Vincent, who had an interception. “I can’t complain because if we would’ve came out here and took a step backwards from last week, then I feel like we’d have questions in the locker room.”
“Very proud of my team just for all the hard work, all the adversity we’ve been through and just never giving up,” Faison said. “I just feel like we’re just so close and we keep trusting each other and it’ll get better.”
Utah next plays its very first Big 12 Conference game at Oklahoma State Saturday, while Utah State wraps up its non-conference schedule with a game at Temple.
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