No. 9 BYU Dominates No. 21 Boise State on the Blue
No. 9 BYU traveled to no. 21 Boise State on Friday night in the biggest game for BYU since the Cougars went independent in 2011. BYU walked away with a dominant victory over Broncos - it was the first victory over Boise State on the blue turf in program history. Here's a summary of BYU's 51-17 victory over Boise State.
First Quarter
On the first possession of the game, Boise State was moving the ball when starting QB Jack Sears left the game with what appeared to be concussion-like symptoms. That early play changed the course of the game. Freshman Cade Fennegan replaced Sears and played alright in his absence, but Boise's offense was very different after that play. A big sack on third down by BYU's Gabe Summers forced a Bronco punt and BYU took over at their own five yard line.
BYU has been an explosive offense all season and they showed it on the first drive - it took BYU only two plays to go 95 yards when Tyler Allgeier exploded 86 yards up the middle for a touchdown. BYU took a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game.
Apparently, BYU's first drive impressed Kendrick Perkins:
Boise State responded to BYU's quick strike with a 53 yard drive that ended with a field goal.
BYU's next drive carried into the second quarter. BYU had a 7-3 lead after the first quarter.
Second Quarter
Boise State forced a BYU field goal, the Cougars had a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter. Cade Fennegan, the young Boise State quarterback, struggled in the second quarter. After nearly throwing an interception, Boise State punted the ball back to BYU.
Boise State's defense settled down in the second quarter forcing a few quick BYU punts. BYU's Caleb Christensen intercepted a Cade Fennegan pass to give BYU good field position, but the Cougars failed to capitalize on the short field.
Credit: BYU Photo
On the next drive, Boise State moved the chains a few times before punting and pinning BYU on their own four yard line. With only 2:26 remaining in the first half, BYU took 1:26 to go 96 yards and score a touchdown to go up 16-3 late in the first half.
On the first play of the next drive, Khyiris Tonga forced a fumble and BYU recovered deep inside Boise territory with one minute left in the half. One again, BYU failed to capitalize on the short field and BYU took a 16-3 lead into the locker room. BYU's clock management was suspect to end the first half.
Third Quarter
The Cougars took control of the game in the third quarter outscoring Boise 22-0. BYU received the ball to start the second half. Deep in his own territory, Zach Wilson found Dax Milne on third down for a 38-yard completion to move the chains. On the next play, Zach Wilson threw a dart to Gunner Romney to put BYU inside the 10 yard line. Wilson capped off the drive with a fast ball to Isaac Rex in the endzone.
Credit: BYU Photo
BYU continued the quick-strike trend on offense against Boise State - their first three touchdown drives averaged 92 yards and took an average of 1 minute and 26 seconds off the clock.
After forcing a quick Boise State punt, BYU ran an up-tempo offense and took six plays to get into the endzone. With a 31-3 lead, the game was out of reach with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
After another quick stop, BYU started pouring it on. Zach Wilson led BYU on another quick 72 yard touchdown drive. BYU took a 38-3 into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
BYU blocked a Boise State punt early in the fourth quarter and set up a short field for a BYU offense that was already scoring touchdowns like it was their day job. Wilson threw another dart (sense the theme?) to put BYU inside the two yard line. Zach Wilson threw a screen pass (technically recorded as a run) to Neil Pau'u for the touchdown. The Cougars took a 45-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.
BYU and Boise State exchanged a few touchdowns when the game was out of reach. The mostly costly loss for BYU came when RB Lopini Katoa was injured while running the ball in garbage time.
Zach Wilson's night ended with 359 passing yards and three total touchdowns, excluding the screen pass to Neil Pau'u. Tyler Allgeier ran for 123 yards on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns. Gunner Romney had 133 receiving yards on 6 receptions.