BYU football spurs Wyoming as the Cougars take home a road win

The Cougars keep on humming through their non-conference schedule, and Wyoming fell victim to the BYU's momentum on Saturday night.

BYU weathered a dangerous night-game environment and cruised to a 34-14 victory in Laramie (hey, that's awfully close to that one guy's prediction!). Despite a slow start, which included an early interception from quarterback Jake Retzlaff, BYU's offense came alive in the second and third quarters of play, scoring 27 of their 34 points in those periods.

Speaking of Retzlaff, he delivered another mixed performance in his third start of the season. Throwing for 291 yards and 3 scores was a positive, and adding an extra 61 yards on the ground rounded out a solid stat sheet. On the negative side, however, the before-mentioned interception nearly had some extra company, with at least two additional passes that barely escaped the Cowboy defense.

Following Retzlaff has been enigmatic up to this point in the season. For every 25+ yard dime, he'll miss an open receiver by a severe margin. He held onto the ball better in this week's contest, but carelessness and inaccuracy won't be as easily forgiven in Big 12 play.

BYU vs. Wyoming game recap

Keanu Hill enjoyed a career performance the last time these two teams matched up in 2022. Hill enjoyed another strong performance against the Cowboys in 2024, as he broke the scoring seal with a 20-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.

The receiving core as a whole showed out in Wyoming. Chase Roberts had himself a night, racking up 129 receiving yards. Lassiter, Epps, and Hill made up the receiving scores, and dominated the Cowboys secondary--when they got the ball, of course.

On the ground, the Cougars enforced a running back by committee approach. Haunga, Moa, and Davis pushed the ground attack from the backfield, but Jake Retzlaff enjoyed the strongest rushing statline, with an average of 10.3 yards per attempt.

The offense wasn't without its weaknesses following a putrid output the week prior. 3rd-down efficiency is a major point of concern for the offense up until this point--only converting 2 of their 11 3rd downs on the night. On the bright side, the Cougs enjoyed a perfect night of fourth-down conversions; Roderick's offense reached the sticks on each of their three fourth-down conversion attempts. Keeping the possession alive on third down will be an essential tool to help ease the pressure on Jay Hill's defense.

My heart rate spiked at the opening kickoff of the second half, when Keelan Marion took his return the full length of the field for a kickoff touchdown. I honestly can't remember the last time I've seen that from a BYU return man. Could it have been Adam Hine against Virginia in 2014?

The Cougars' defense continues to be stout, and I have no reason to believe this won't continue as the level of competition ramps up heading into conference play. Wyoming couldn't move the ball for the majority of the game, and the defense has been consistently awesome night in and night out.

BYU escaped non-conference play with a perfect 3-0 record, and we should be happy to have reached this point in the season without suffering a single defeat. The battle to reach bowl eligibility is far from finished, however, and the Cougars will face a real measuring-stick game against a tough-as-nails K-State squad in Provo next weekend.

But for now, let's all take a deep breath and savor the moment. This may not last much longer (I said hoping to reverse-jinx my favorite football team).

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