Utah State pulls away from Robert Morris in 2nd half

LOGAN, Utah — Backup quarterback Bryson Barnes passed for two touchdowns and ran for another Saturday night, Kyrese White caught three balls for 131 yards, including touchdowns of 57 and 53 yards, and Utah State beat Robert Morris, 36-14, in the season opener for both teams.

Nate Dreiling, who was named Utah State’s interim coach after the firing of Blake Anderson in July, got his first win as a head coach at any level. The 33-year-old, who was elevated from defensive coordinator, is the youngest head coach in the FBS.

Barnes replaced Spencer Petras — who left the game after an apparent injury and never returned — midway through the second quarter. The Aggies went three-and-out on his first possession at the helm and then Barnes threw an interception to end the second as Robert Morris took a 14-10 lead into halftime.

Utah State forced the Colonials to go three-and-out on the first possession of the third quarter before White caught a swing pass and raced 53 yards for a touchdown with 10:33 left to give Utah State the lead for good at 17-14.

Elliott Nimord kicked a 50-yard field goal about eight minutes later to make it 20-14 going into the fourth quarter and Barnes scrambled for a 63-yard TD run to make it a two-possession game with 13 minutes to play.

Robert Morris again went three-and-out and, after Robert Briggs Jr. ripped off a 55-yard run, Jalen Royals caught a 21-yard scoring pass from Barnes to cap a two-play, 76-yard drive that made it 33-10.

Nimrod added a 42-yard field goal with less than two minutes to play.

Anthony Chiccitt faked a handoff and then hit tight end Cole Mitchell down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown early in the second quarter and Delvecchio Powell II added a 31-yard TD run to give Robert Morris a 14-10 lead at halftime.

Powell took the handoff on a draw play, ran through a would-be tackle and spun out of another near the line of scrimmage before he bulldozed his way through another defender for the final 5 yards on his way into the end zone with 41 second left in the second quarter.

Robert Morris defensive back Rob Carter capped the first half with an acrobatic, one-handed interception.

In case you missed it, check out this acrobatic interception by Rob Carter Jr. to end the half. #BobbyMo pic.twitter.com/EwE9XxXmk9

— RMU Football (@RMU_Football) September 1, 2024

Dayton 18, St. Francis (Pa.) — Gavin Lochow caught a touchdown pass and threw for another and the Dayton defense forced turnovers on the last three possessions in a season-opening win over St. Francis (Pa.).

Lochow hauled in a 12-yard pass from Drew VanVleet midway through the first quarter to cap an 11-play, 28-yard drive on the Flyers’ first possession. That score was set up by Gideon Lampron’s strip sack of Nick Whitfield Jr. and fumble recovery. The Flyers converted on fourth down twice.

After a 75-yard punt to the St. Francis 1, the Dayton defense swarmed Markell Holman on the next play for a safety in the final minute of the first quarter.

The Flyers opened the second half with an eight-play, 74-yard drive, capped by Lochow’s 27-yard strike to Luke Brenner after he took a backwards pass from VanVleet. That made it 15-3 after the two-point conversion failed.

Dayton’s second lost fumble led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Markell Holman to pull St. Francis within 15-10 but the Red Flash’s next three drives ended by fumbles on the Flyers’ 5 and 32 and downs on Dayton’s 36. Finally, the Red Flash got to try a Hail Mary from Dayton’s 43 as time ran out.

Lampron led the defense for Dayton with 11 tackles, three for losses, and forced two fumbles. VanVleet was 15 of 22 for 129 yards.

Whitefield threw for 121 yards, completing 15 of 26 for St. Francis, which had 247 yards to total offense to 203 for Dayton.

St. Francis will also open the basketball season at Dayton on Nov. 4.