BYU Football: Chunk Yardage and two other keys to beating Wisconsin

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TUCSON, AZ – SEPTEMBER 01: Defensive lineman Corbin Kaufusi #90 and Trajan Pili #52 of the Brigham Young Cougars celebrate after the Arizona Wildcats missed a field goal during the college football game at Arizona Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. The Cougars defeated the Wildcats 28-23. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Turnovers

This one might sound like a broken record, since it was a key to the game against Cal as well.

On the bright side, BYU forced four turnovers (two fumbles, interception, turnover on downs). On the not-so-bright side, the Cougars turned the ball over four times as well (two interceptions, two turnovers on downs).

The turnover battle will have to be much more one-sided in BYU’s favor against Wisconsin. If the two teams play straight up in the giveaway game the Badgers will have a monumental advantage.

However, if BYU could force four turnovers like they did against Cal while avoiding turning the ball over themselves, they can give themselves an opportunity to pull off the upset.

When you take a look back at some of the biggest upsets in college football, most of them came when the underdog forced more takeaways. Just look at some of BYU’s biggest wins:

1979 at No. 14 Texas A&M – BYU wins turnover battle 4-3
1985 at No. 10 Washington – BYU wins turnover battle 5-2
1996 vs. No. 13 Texas A&M – BYU wins turnover battle 3-1
1996 vs. No. 14 Kansas State – BYU wins turnover battle 2-1
2006 at No. 17 TCU – BYU wins turnover battle 2-0

Next. Defensive Line Reinforcements are Coming. dark

For the Cougars to add this game to their list of top wins, they’ll likely have to force the Badgers into making some mistakes, while avoiding those same mistakes themselves.

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