BYU report card vs. San Diego State

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, November 08, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

BYU Cougars
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Final score: BYU 41, San Diego St. 12
Team grade: B-plus

As expected, the Cougars ran into little resistance Saturday against the Aztecs in their final home game of the 2008 season. Now sporting a 9-1 record, BYU’s win marked the 18th straight home victory -- a school record.

Two staunch conference rivals remain on the Cougars’ schedule and they’ll need to vanquish both of them if they want to grab a share of the MWC title this year. BYU travels to Colorado Springs next week to face the Air Force Academy and Salt Lake City on Nov. 22 to take on bitter rival Utah.

Cougar Offense: B-plus

First, the negatives. The Aztec defense gave up an average of 292 yards on the ground per game entering the BYU contest. BYU gained just 101 yards rushing on 37 carries (2.7 yards per try). Harvey Unga had only 38 yards on 12 carries before leaving in the third quarter with a shoulder stinger. The team’s lone turnover was a fumble that SDSU converted into a field goal near the end of the third quarter. The Cougars were also a disappointing 46 percent on third-down conversions (6 for 13).

Max Hall (25 of 30 for 319 yards and three TDs) had another solid game in hooking up with his three top receivers. Austin Collie extended his streak of 100-yard receiving games to eight with nine catches, 126 yards and two touchdowns, including a 61-yard TD grab. Senior Michael Reed compiled 97 yards on five catches, featuring a 56-yarder, and Dennis Pitta added 60 more yards on five receptions.

Senior Wayne Latu carried three times for 15 yards and a touchdown. Does anyone else notice how much quicker Latu hits the line of scrimmage than Unga and Fui Vakapuna?

Cougar Defense: B-plus

The Aztecs entered the game averaging 231 yards passing and 66 yards rushing per contest. BYU held them to 163 yards passing (68 yards below their average) and gave up 119 yards rushing (53 yards above their mean). The Cougars intercepted Ryan Lindley once and recovered three fumbles for a plus-3 turnover margin.

Senior linebacker David Nixon registered 14 tackles and snagged the Y’s lone interception.

It would be refreshing to say that the Cougar secondary was responsible for holding Lindley to 19 of 34 passing (4.5 yards per attempt), but Lindley’s inconsistency in delivering an accurate ball had more to do with his final stats than the defense.

BYU held San Diego State a touchdown below its 18-point-per-game average.

Cougar Special Teams: A-minus

Mitch Payne was a perfect 5 for 5 on extra points and nailed two field goals from 33 and 25 yards out. Justin Sorensen had just one touchback on eight kickoff attempts. C.J. Santiago averaged 41.5 yards on four punts, nailing one inside the 20-yard line.

Collie returned one kickoff for 41 yards and O’Neill Chambers totaled 63 kickoff return yards on three tries. Reid White returned one punt for a yard.

The Cougars gave up 21 yards on one punt return and quashed the other two SDSU attempts for minus-4 yards. The Aztecs picked up 110 yards on six kickoff returns.

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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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