BYU clinches Poinsettia Bowl bid with home win over Southern Utah


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PROVO — It was a rough start to the season when BYU opened the first year under head coach Kalani Sitake with just one win in its first four contests.

Yet despite that, the Cougars cemented another postseason berth Saturday afternoon.

Taysom Hill completed 22-of-29 passes for 320 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and also ran for 29 yards and a score to help the Cougars clinch their 12th-straight postseason bowl appearance with a 37-7 win over FCS foe Southern Utah at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

BYU (5-4) officially accepted an invitation from the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on the field following the game.

“It was a good game,” Sitake said. “I thought Southern Utah did some good things up front … but we were able to control most of the game. We had a couple of sluggish things happen, but the guys rallied. I’m just happy about the win, and proud of the way the guys won.”

Hill had his first 300-yard passing game since Aug. 29, 2014, when the senior threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-10 win at UConn in the season opener of his junior year. Saturday was the third time in his career Hill has passed for at least 300 yards.

KJ Hall ran for a team-high 59 yards and a touchdown, and also caught three passes for 68 yards. Mitchell Juergens caught eight passes for 82 yards, and Nick Kurtz had 69 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Hill scored on a 16-yard touchdown run on the second offensive play of the game to give BYU a 7-0 lead at the 12:14 mark of the second quarter. He then added a 31-yard strike to Nick Kurtz and a 21-yard toss to Colby Pearson, as BYU cruised to a 31-7 lead at halftime.

Tanner Mangum opened the second quarter for BYU to a roar from the 59,302 crowd at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mangum finished with 1-of-3 passing for 12 yards on that drive, and exited until the third quarter. The sophomore signal caller completed 11 passes for 121 yards and also ran for 42 yards.

"I just had to be ready to go," Mangum said. "I did th ebest I could. i was a little bit amped up with a couple of those throws, those two incompletions. I put too much on it, but when I was able to settle in and just play.

"Overall it was just good to get in there and with KJ too. He was doing awesome out there."

Patrick Tyler led Southern Utah (5-5) with 144 yards, including a 17-yard TD strike to Logan Parker. Raysean Pringle caught three passes for 63 yards, and ran for 15 more yards on three carries for the Thunderbirds.

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