Report card: Hall’s six turnovers handicap Cougars

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, November 22, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

BYU Cougars
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Utah 48, BYU 24
BYU team grade: C-plus

You would think that with a score of 48-24 in favor of the Utes, BYU’s team grade would be worse, but were it not for Max Hall’s fumble and five interceptions Saturday, the Cougars very likely would have won.

Four of Hall’s six turnovers were converted into easy touchdowns—three of them coming in the fourth quarter when the score had been as close as 27-24 with Brigham Young driving when Hall fumbled. The Utes scored off that and then on the next two drives Hall threw ill-advised passes that turned into 14 more quick points.

The six turnovers by Hall set a BYU record for giveaways by an individual player in a single game.

Despite the six turnovers, the Cougars compiled more total yardage (418 to 416) and rushed for more yards than any other team has on the Utes this season with 214 (120 over the Utah average of 94 per game).

BYU also did not allow any sacks in the game, the first time this season the Utes had been shut out from sacking an opponent.

Cougar offense grade: C-minus

Again, take away just half of Hall’s six turnovers, and BYU’s offense played well enough to beat Utah.

• Solid pass protection provided by the offensive line—no sacks
• Rushing game totaled 214 yards. Could have had far more than that but just when the Cougars would move the ball on the ground with ease, Hall would turn it over.
• Harvey Unga and Fui Vakapuna both averaged over 7.7 yards per carry. Why BYU abandoned the running game when it was working so well is a mystery. Unga finished with 116 yards and two TDs on 15 carries (7.7 yards per try) and Vakapuna had 36 yards on four rushes (9.0-yard average).
• Austin Collie extended his streak of 100-yard receiving games to 10 with 104 yards on 10 catches. He also added 14 yards on two rushing attempts.

Hall also had six passes batted down by the Utah defensive front. He finished with his worst stats of the year (21 of 41 for 204 yards, five picks, zero passing TDs, one rushing TD).

Cougar defense grade: B

The defense was sliced and diced by Brian Johnson in the first quarter as Utah raced to a 17-3 lead on Johnson’s 254 passing yards—most of it on quick throws. The Cougars were only down 20-17 with a minute left in the first half when Hall threw his first pick and Utah converted it into a quick touchdown to make the halftime score 27-17.

The Cougar defense made good adjustments at the intermission and clamped down on Johnson, holding him to 46 yards passing in the second half.

The defense also limited Utah to just 110 yards rushing (64 yards below the Utes’ per-game average).

The most telling stat on how Hall’s turnovers affected the outcome of this game: Utah scored on five of its six possessions in the first half—one of those coming off a Hall interception right before the halftime whistle. The Cougar defense stopped Utah’s offense three drives in a row to begin the second half before Hall was picked off on three straight possessions, which handed the ball over to the Utes on BYU’s 31-, 4- and 29 yard-lines in those three turnarounds.

Cougar special teams grade: B

The Cougar special teams performed well enough to contribute to a win.

Collie set up BYU’s first three points with a 70-yard kickoff return in the first quarter. He had a 33.5-yard average per return (134 yards on four tries). O’Neill Chambers added 91 yards on four returns (22.8).

C.J. Santiago logged a 54.5 per-punt average on two boots, and Mitch Payne nailed all three extra point attempts and a 40-yard field goal.

The Cougars provided solid coverage on the Utah kickoff and punt return attempts.


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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is the author of Road to the Rose Bowl (Silverback, 2005), the definitive book on the last 50 years of matchups and tradition in the Rose Bowl Game. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 weekly college football columns AP Top ...
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