The Good & The Bad from BYU vs UTSA
BYU faced their toughest test of the season against UTSA. It was not the BYU team we've grown accustomed to watching over the last few weeks, but BYU won an ugly game on Saturday. Here is the good and the bad from BYU-UTSA:
The good
UTSA was moving the ball down the field when Troy Warner intercepted a bad pass from Frank Harris. The interception wasn't initially seen on TV.
Micah Harper had a really nice stop on a screen in the first quarter followed by Chris Wilcox breaking up another screen. BYU's starting cornerbacks played a physical first half.
Neil Pau'u makes up for his fumble with an incredible catch on fourth down. Great throw by Wilson to the corner of the end zone and an even better toe tap by Pau'u.
After allowing a few first downs in the early going, BYU's defense held UTSA to only 101 yards in the first half.
Ryan Rhekow placed a punt inside the UTSA 10 yard-line in the first half. BYU's defense followed that up with a quick three-and-out and the Cougars gets the ball back in enemy territory.
UTSA played a very aggressive defensive style in the first half. A screen pass to Katoa in the red zone negates the blitz and Katoa waltzed into the endzone. Isaac Rex with the block downfield to create space for Kato
Kavika Fonua put together a very strong first half.
Harper with another really nice TFL to start the second half. Harper is becoming the most reliable tackler in the secondary.
After a sluggish start to the second half, Zach Wilson connected with Dax Milne on a slant for a big first down. That play set up long throw downfield to Gunner Romney on the next play and an eventual touchdown.
Really big sack by Gabe Summers on third & long in the fourth quarter. Dawe and Tofa also collapsed the pocket on the play.
On third down, a blitz off the edge forced Zach Wilson to throw the ball up to Dax Milne in single coverage. Milne made a great play on the ball and kept the drive alive for BYU. Most importantly, it kept the ball away from UTSA
A great block downfield by Neil Pau'u set Tyler Allgeier up for a big conversion on 3rd & 12. That run essentially put the game away setting BYU up for their final touchdown of the day.
Throughout a college football season, you are going to play a few ugly games. BYU was able to win despite a lackluster performance. That's important and BYU is now 4-0 heading into their matchup against Houston.
The bad
BYU was rolling down the field when Neil Pau'u fumbled inside the 10 yard line and gave the ball back to the Roadrunners. That mistake kind of set the tone for the rest of the game.
Offside penalties hurt the BYU defense early and often. UTSA had multiple free plays on offense as a result of offside penalties.
That camera work on the Troy Warner interception, yikes.
Sloppy play was the theme of the day against UTSA. BYU was clearly the better team but penalties and turnovers kept UTSA in the game.
BYU ran another fly sweep to the short side of the field in the red zone, I don't like that call.
Very little pressure on the QB in the third quarter giving Narcisse all the time in the world to throw.
Another free play (offsides) gives UTSA QB Narcisse the chance to throw downfield on a free play. Narcisse made a nice throw for a touchdown.
Narcisse's ability to escape pressure and keep his eyes downfield gave BYU's defense problems in this game. It's something BYU will need to clean up before taking on Houston next week.
BYU's offense lost the ball on multiple exchanges in the run game. BYU wasn't making simple mistakes like this in the first three games of the season.