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PROVO — Jamaal Williams and 20 other BYU seniors, including fifth-year quarterback Taysom Hill, used two second-half touchdowns to pull away from Utah State, 28-10 on Saturday night in Provo.
Here is how BYU graded out in the Senior Night win of its in-state rival.
Offense: C
Taysom Hill received a smattering of boos from the less-than-capacity crowd in LaVell Edwards Stadium for an 8:21 p.m. MT kickoff in late November. His performance wasn’t great — but it didn’t deserve the elbow injury he suffered early in the fourth quarter, his third injury in a home game against Utah State of his career.
Former Utah State defensive back Dallin Leavitt forced the game’s first turnover, picking off Hill’s pass intended for Hunter Marshall with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. Jaylen Davis added another interception that nearly went for six. The junior returned his pick 37 yards, and Utah State cashed in two plays later on Damion Hobbs’ 2-yard TD run with 47 seconds left.
One bright spot to the BYU offense was the return of tailback Jamaal Williams. The Cougars’ all-time leading rush ran for 41 of BYU’s 81 yards of offense in the first quarter, and finished with 131 yards and his first score since a 31-14 win Oct. 8 at Michigan State.
In the end, BYU piled up 355 yards of offense, with 227 of them coming in the second half.
Defense: A
Logan Taele notched his third-straight game with a sack, holding the Aggies to Brock Warren’s 28-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive, and the Cougars sacked Utah State quarterback Kent Myers three times.
Even as the offense struggled, BYU’s normally-reliable defense kept the Aggies from seven points until Hobbs’ second-quarter TD dive, the visitors’ only complete scoring drive of the game.
Michael Shelton scored as many touchdowns as the BYU offense in the first half, scooping up a loose ball and returning it 52 yards for a 14-3 lead with 2:50 to go in the half.
Fred Warner picked off Utah State quarterback Kent Myers, the third interception of the game (but first for BYU) to help the Cougars shut out the Aggies in the third quarter. BYU has not allowed a single point in the third quarter for seven-straight games, and held Utah State to just 46 yards of offense in the second half.
Special teams: B+
Jonny Linehan downed a punt inside the 1-yard line, with a big boost from Garrett Juergens on the punt coverage team, to open the second half.
Other than that, special teams had little impact; Rhett Almond missed a 28-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that proved inconsequential, and Linehan averaged just 38 yards per punt on three kicks.
Coaching: B+
After struggling in the first half, offensive coordinator Ty Detmer called Williams’ number and rode BYU’s successful run game through three quarters. The Cougars ran 25 more plays than the Aggies, and held Utah State to just 23 minutes of possession while holding the ball for 36 minutes.
Defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki has proven himself this season, and his defensive scheme — albeit with athletes like Warner, Francis Bernard and Butch Pau’u patrolling the linebacking corps.
Overall: B+
A less-than-impressive first half gave way to a back-breaking second half, and BYU’s continued run of second-half success can’t be overlooked. The Cougars end the regular season on a four-game win streak, and went 7-1 since a 1-3 start with losses by a combined eight points.
