BYU football: Cougars (finally) get a win, defeat San Jose State
After weeks of despair, BYU football finally got a win. It was perfect, it wasn’t always pretty, but it was a win. Here’s what we learned.
Holy smokes. The last time I got to write about BYU football winning a game was way back in August. It feels like ages ago, but after nearly two months, the Cougars finally picked up a victory.
It marks the first FBS win for BYU football this season.
I know that San Jose State isn’t a powerhouse. In fact, the Spartans are a punching bag. But you know what? It was fun to watch BYU football score points, complete deep passes and force takeaways.
And, most of all, it was fun to watch BYU football pick up a win.
So here’s what we learned from the Cougar victory.
Wow, San Jose State is terrible
Remember last week? How we were all disappointed that the Cougars were handled by ECU, despite the Pirates being bad?
I would imagine that’s how SJSU fans feel this week.
The Spartans were thoroughly dominated by BYU, from start to finish. The Cougars put up nearly than 600 yards of total offense, while averaging seven yards per carry. BYU also had the ball for more than 31 minutes.
On top of all that, BYU football’s 41 points were a season high. It was really solid game for a team that had been reeling. This kind of win was exactly what the doctor ordered. While we always knew BYU had talent, it hadn’t been showing. So for BYU to break through like this says quite a bit about the state of SJSU football.
KJ Hall might be BYU’s best back
With Ula Tolutau’s future being uncertain at this point, it looks like KJ Hall might be the best of BYU football’s options in the backfield.
If Tolutau is able to play again this season, then he needs to be the workhorse. But Hall showed the same flashes he did last season – and if he’s healthy, he deserves some run.
He was explosive out of the backfield, providing breakaway speed that no Cougar has this season (see his 75-yard TD run below).
Hall was also effective as a receiver, catching three passes for 44 yards. He left the game in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury, but he had been dealing with an elbow sprain since the LSU game. Perhaps his absence was more precautionary than anything else.
If not, it looks like he’ll become another Cougar on the mend – an unfortunate trend this season.
The play calling (and execution) is all over the place
In the first quarter, BYU came out aggressive. Tanner Mangum hit Jonah Trinnaman on 45-yard bomb, then connected with Micah Simon for a touchdown.
It was something we haven’t seen from the Cougars all season long.
Mangum looked sharp, getting time to throw and making accurate passes.
In the second quarter, Mangum didn’t look quite as sharp, but he was focusing on driving the ball down the field.
Something must’ve happened during halftime, because the third quarter looked nothing like the first two.
Mangum reverted into his old self. Short, inaccurate flares out to the sideline. Gains of a yard or two. He stranded Matt Bushman on a play, and I thought for sure Bushman was going to have broken ribs.
It’s strange. Detmer certainly opened up the playbook to start the game, so I don’t know if those were scripted plays (then he went conservative when he started calling plays on the fly). Or perhaps it was just Mangum getting gun shy. But either way, it resulted in the ugliest offense of the game for the Cougars.
Brayden El-Bakri is a man
El-Bakri deserves praise for his special teams play this entire season, but wow did he grab some headlines for himself today.
The Cougar fullback laid the boom on a San Jose State kick returner, forcing a fumble and generating an audible reaction from the LaVell Edwards Stadium crowd (and me, from my couch).
El-Bakri has also been a great blocker all season long. So slow clap for him. Hopefully next week he gets a goal-line carry or two.
Micah Simon is BYU’s No. 1 receiver
A lot of Cougar fans had been clamoring to see more of Micah Simon, and we finally got it against San Jose State. After showing flashes here and there for most of the year, the sophomore wide out caught three passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns against the Spartans.
He did have two drops, but it’s clear he’s the best receiving option on the roster for BYU. Next season, as an upperclassman, I’ll be expecting some big things from him.
Expect a QB battle next season
If Tanner Mangum wasn’t going to light the world on fire against San Jose, than he might not do it against anyone. I hate to say it, but it looks like this pro-style offense just doesn’t work for him.
He still had some nice throws – some were near perfect – but there were plenty of times where he’d force a ball into double (or triple) coverage.
The Mangum of 2015 would, when it doubt, sling it deep. At least if it was picked, it would be like a punt. But he had the arm strength to often place the ball where only the receiver could get it. We haven’t really seen that this season, and he’s often trying to force the ball into tight windows.
It doesn’t mean Mangum is done as a starter, nor does it mean he’ll never be effective. But from what I’ve heard, I fully expect Beau Hoge and Joe Critchlow to challenge him for the starting job next season.
We can’t overreact
This win was fun and awesome, but it’s important to keep expectations in check. San Jose State is a really bad team, and the Cougars were supposed to do this to them.
It was such an impressive performance compared to what we’ve been used to seeing from BYU, but that doesn’t mean the Cougars will win out the rest of the season.
For comparison, Utah defeated SJSU 54-16. Utah State defeated the Spartans 61-10.
So BYU’s 41-20 showing was fun, but doesn’t look so great by comparison.
But still, Saturdays are much better when you win.