BYU Cougars report card vs. UNLV

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, October 25, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

BYU Cougars
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Final score: BYU 42, UNLV 35
BYU team grade: C-plus

Brigham Young looked like two different teams on the field against UNLV on Saturday. The offense clicked and the defense stumbled time after time. Cougar fans can start writing thank-you notes to Matt Putnam. The backup defensive end shed a block and chased down UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton for a 9-yard loss with seven seconds remaining.

The play forced the Rebels to take their final timeout, and the game ended on the next play when Clayton tossed an ill-advised Hail Mary pass into the end zone for an interception.

Major props also go to UNLV head coach Mike Sanford for his decision to go for a first down with a fourth-and-3 on the Rebel 34 early in the fourth quarter.

Trailing just 31-28 with 11:35 remaining on the clock, Sanford elected to try a quick 5-yard sideline pass. It was one of the few times in the game the Cougar defense wasn’t fooled and the pass was broken up. BYU kicked a field goal five plays later to go up 34-28.

Cougar offense grade: A-minus

Max Hall was on fire at the start of the game, connecting on his first eight passes for 92 yards and two TDs. He was only sacked once, and he could’ve easily avoided it by throwing the ball away. His line for the game was 24 of 30 for 245 yards and four aerial scores. He also picked up 28 yards on three scrambles

The entire offense responded positively to last week’s loss at TCU. The group played turnover-free and balanced football, picking up 205 yards on the ground and 245 in the air.

It was refreshing to see O-coordinator Robert Anae open the playbook a bit more and get the ball into the hands of other playmakers (such as more touches by Fui Vakapuna).

Notable highlights:

• Austin Collie extended his current streak of 100-yard receiving games with 113 yards on seven catches, including two clutch third-down grabs. He returned the opening kickoff 75 yards to set up the Cougars' first score.
• Freshman WR O’Neill Chambers caught his first touchdown pass of the year.
• Vakapuna had 71 yards on eight carries (8.9.-yard average). On the Cougars’ first possession of the second half, he ripped off gains of 11 and 33 yards and then scored on a 1-yard TD pass from Hall.
• Harvey Unga contributed 85 yards on 20 carries and 24 yards on three receptions.

Cougar defense grade: D

BYU’s defense gave up 465 total yards (353 passing, 112 rushing) and allowed a woeful 11 third-down conversions on 15 attempts. They forced the Rebels to punt just twice, and the only turnover came on the last play of the game when safety Andrew Rich intercepted Clayton’s Hail Mary pass in the end zone.

The only sack of the game was the previously mentioned game-changer by Putnam. Why isn’t this kid playing more?

It was known going into this game that UNLV’s offensive strength was in its passing game with Clayton and his top three receivers. BYU fans knew that their team could give up some serious rushing yardage and still win by shutting down the pass.

As it turned out, the Cougars held the Rebels to 112 yards rushing, but the Y’s porous pass defense was shredded by Clayton (26 of 40, 323 yards) and his backup, Mike Clausen (2 for 3, 30 yards).

Whatever the plan was for defending the Rebel passing game, it didn't work.

Cougar Special Teams grade: B

The special teams offered a mixed performance against UNLV. Collie’s 75-yard kickoff return was the major highlight, and the blocked punt recovered by Brandon Bradley in the second quarter also turned out to be critical.

So did Mitch Payne’s two fourth-quarter field goals (26- and 39-yarders). Without Payne’s six points, the Rebels could have been playing for a field goal at the end of the game instead of being forced to score a touchdown.

Justin Sorensen twice sent his kickoffs out of bounds, which gave UNLV excellent field position on its 40-yard line. The Rebels proceeded to score touchdowns after both of Sorensen’s penalized kicks.





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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl...
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