BYU Football: Impressions on the Cougars’ loss to Cal

After the surprise win against Arizona to start the season, BYU Football thudded against Cal, dropping a game that they had every opportunity to win.

BYU Football’s 21-18 loss to Cal brought back nightmarish flashes of 2017. It seemed like the same type of story that we saw in almost every game last year: the defense keeps the Cougars in the game while the offense stalls time after time.

The Cougars had a myriad of opportunities to win this game, and they let every one of them slip away. While most of the progress we saw against Arizona seemed to disappear against Cal, it will remain to see whether a performance like this becomes the anomaly or the trend.

Here are some thoughts on the game:

Finishing Drives

BYU crossed midfield four times in the first half, and they only walked away with a total of three points for their efforts. One touchdown in that span would have given the Cougars the win.

Then came the costly fourth quarter red zone stall. BYU’s special teams recovered a fumble on Cal’s 17-yard line. After a good first down play cam two ineffective plays, a 15-yard penalty, and an interception.

So many missed opportunities.

Penalties, miscues, and dropped passes stalled those drives. With nearly 200 yards of total offense in the first half, BYU moved the ball well but kept shooting themselves in the foot.

Dropped Passes

Speaking of stalled drives, the Cougars had five dropped passes, most of which directly contributed to those stalls. None were bigger,though, than the long pass dropped by Dylan Collie.

Tanner Mangum put that ball in the perfect spot, and it would have put the Cougars in scoring position. Instead the drive eventually stalled for no points.

Losing in the Trenches

After absolutely dominating Arizona’s offensive and defensive lines last week, both of BYU’s lines lost the battle against Cal.

The offensive line did an adequate job in the first half, protecting Tanner Mangum well and opening up holes in the run game.

The script flipped in the second half, and Cal brought constant pressure in the pass game and clogged lanes in the run game.

For a second straight game the defensive line couldn’t get to the quarterback. After only one sack against Arizona, they didn’t have any against Cal. And they couldn’t react in time to the run-pass option, giving up too much in the run game.

Refereeing

…

Turnovers

On the bright side, BYU forced their first four turnovers of the season. The fumble recovery touchdown by Dyan Ghanwoloku put the Cougars back within striking distance, and the interception, fumbled punt recovery, and fourth down stand gave the offense opportunities that they couldn’t capitalize on.

On the not-so-bright side, the Cougars had four turnovers themselves. The two turnovers on downs (see the above section of the first one) stalled promising drives, and Tanner Mangum’s two late interceptions ruined needed possessions.

Third Quarter Flip

It’s interesting that this week’s third quarter was a complete opposite of last week’s third quarter. Last week the third quarter looked like this:

• BYU sustained drive (Touchdown)
• Arizona three-and-out
• BYU sustained drive (Touchdown)
• Arizona three-and-out
• BYU sustained drive (Touchdown)

This week’s third quarter:

• Cal sustained drive (Touchdown)
• BYU three-and-out
• Cal promising drive (Fumble recovery for a BYU touchdown)
• BYU three-and-out
• Cal sustained drive (BYU interception)
• BYU three-and-out
• Cal sustained drive (Touchdown early in the fourth quarter)

Defending the Flat

Give Cal credit for their halftime adjustments. The Golden Bears leaned more heavily on the run-pass option and focused on getting the ball into the flat. Cal got chunk yardage on nearly every play, and the Cougars didn’t make the adjustments necessary to stop the bleeding.

A great example of this is Cal’s final drive. After BYU’s touchdown and the failed onside kick, the Cougars had to force a three-and-out to have one more shot to win.

They couldn’t do it.

Cal got chunk yards on all three runs, getting the first down and ending the game, much like BYU did to Arizona last week.

Third Down Conversions

BYU will have to find a way to convert on third-and-long plays. The Cougars were an abysmal 6-17 on third downs, and they didn’t convert a third down longer than three yards until the final scoring drive. They struggled to complete the short ones too, but they have to find a way to reliably convert on third and long.

On the flip side, Cal was 8-15 on third down. That’s much too high of a conversion percentage, and unlike BYU they were able to consistently convert on third and long, espec