Takeaways from BYU Football's loss to Boise State

BYU Football lost another close game on Boise State’s Smurf Turf, falling to 4-5 on the season in a game where the Cougars made mistake after mistake

It was a game of missed opportunities for BYU Football. Especially opportunities to find the end zone.

At least Skyler Southam got plenty of opportunities to use his leg.

The Cougars had plenty of opportunities to score touchdowns, but could only come up with one in the 21-16 loss to Boise State.

BYU was able to stay in the game, and looked night-and-day better on offense aside from stalling multiple drives within the red zone.

Before the game we posted our three keys to the game, which were:

Air it out
Protect Zach Wilson
Disrupt on defense

The Cougars did fairly well in all three categories, but three turnovers, three stalled drives in the red zone, and a whole lot of special teams miscues cost the Cougars.

Not to mention how many times they shot themselves in the foot on that first long fourth quarter drive…that resulted in another field goal.

Here are some quick takeaways from the loss:

Slow Start

Aside from the Hawaii game, BYU has started the game slowly all season. That didn’t change at all, as Boise State jumped out to a 14-0 lead quickly after a bad punt and a kickoff fumble.

Take away just one of those early scores and BYU wins that game.

Offensive Line

The offensive line looked better in Boise than they did against Northern Illinois, but they still had multiple miscues in pass protection.

Boise State sacked Zach Wilson seven times (although some of them were on Wilson) and disrupted a handful of other plays in the backfield. In a tight game like this, those miscues loomed large.

Setting up the Run

Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes finally opened up the passing game early on rather than insisting on going back to the run game over and over.

And for the most part it worked. While the Cougars passed the ball 29 times and rushed it 38 times, but Wilson’s seven sacks and a majority of his 18 rushes came on intended pass plays. Especially that last play of the game.

As a result they successfully opened up running lanes more often because of the passing success. The Cougars rushed for more than 100 yards in the second half thanks to that.

An Impressive Freshman

Hand it to Zach Wilson. The freshman played a good game, going 19/29 for 292 yards and a rushing touchdown.

It wasn’t a perfect game, though. He held on to the ball too long at times (especially on the final play) and underthrew a handful of key balls in the fourth quarter, but hand it to Wilson for playing tough in his first road contest.

Those mistakes will start to disappear as he gains more experience.

Punching It In

While BYU moved the ball well, they struggled in the red zone. A mixture of odd playcalling (a Jaren Hall quarterback keeper on second and goal?) and lack of execution stalled two golden opportunities in the first half. Instead of going into the locker room tied 14-14, BYU was down 14-6 at the break.

Not to mention the three consecutive rushing plays in the red zone on the final play with time running out…

Not-So-Special Teams

A short Cougar punt set up Boise State’s first touchdown.
A fumbled kickoff return set up the Broncos’ second score.
Skyler Southam missed a field goal.
The Cougars sent the opening kickoff of the second half out-of-bounds.

Not a good night for the special teams at all, although Southam’s other three field goal makes kept the Cougars in the game.

Big Plays

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most of BYU’s scoring opportunities were set up by big plays. Yes, most of those big plays came from the defense, but they were big nonetheless.

Michael Shelton’s interception set up a field goal.
A fumble recovery started BYU’s first touchdown drive with good field position.
The 42-yard pass from Wilson to Talon Shumway set up the touchdown.
The 59-yard Matt Hadley run gave the Cougars a shot to win it on the last drive.

The Bushman Play

It was a good play called by Jeff Grimes, and an amazing catch by Matt Bushman, but that fumble was a killer.

Even a field goal there would have changed the way the Cougars played the rest of the game.

The Value of Momentum

The game completely shifted on Michael Shelton’s interception. Boise State was running away with the game early until the pick, and the game turned on a dime from there, turning into an even contest.

Final Drive

The final play’s failure was on Wilson, but the final drive’s failure was fully on the playcalling.

Two Giant Weeks

It’s very possible that Kalani Sitake’s job rests on how the Cougars do in the next two games. BYU should win both of those to clinch bowl eligiblity, and if they don’t the Cougars will have lost at least four out of their last five games.

At that point some hard decisions will need to be made.

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Takeaways from BYU Football’s loss to Boise State

By Shaun Gordon | Nov 4, 2018