It was a tale of two halves for the BYU defense against Iowa State

In the first half, BYU’s defense gave up 318 total yards and 24 points. They were lucky that the largest lead Iowa State ever got was only 14 points. The best play they had was when Logan Lutui got an interception when the ball was thrown to him without an Iowa State player in the same zip code. The next best play was a sack that BYU got right before the first half ended.

But BYU had been here before. They had gotten behind early against Colorado and fell behind against Arizona. The Cougars clawed their way back into both of those games. BYU’s pass rush would come alive in the second half and sack Rocco Becht three more times. Bodie Schoonover would lead the team with two sacks in the game.

They would defend the pass better in a night-and-day difference. Evan Johnson and Therrian Alexander were fantastic in one-on-one coverage, and Johnson got the third interception for the BYU defense of the game. The play of the game on defense, and maybe the play of the game came from Faletau Suatala. Suatala would make a brilliant interception and return it to the endzone for a 40-yard pick-six.

When it was all said and done, in the second half, the Cougars held Iowa State to 177 yards and only allowed three points. BYU came into this game allowing only 293 yards per game (18th best in the nation) and allowing only 15.6 points per game (14th best in the nation). It says a lot about this team’s heart and poise that they gave up 202 more yards and 11 more points than they usually do, and still found a way to win, and by two touchdowns. Showing guts of granite, spines of steel, this BYU team has what it takes and a chance to be special.