Special teams helps BYU stay undefeated


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PROVO — BYU moved to 4-0 with a 41-33 win against Virginia Saturday thanks largely to its special teams.

In a game that saw the Cougars run just 60 offensive plays, well below their season average of 88 per game, a group of unsung heroes picked them up in what ended up being a tale of two halves.

Going into a bye week, BYU has 12 days to prepare for Utah State before an Oct. 3 date with the Aggies at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

It isn't likely a punter will be an integral difference maker.

"I actually had a rough warmup. I wasn't very happy about my pregame, and then the first punt came along and I made great contact with it," Scott Arellano said. "And from that point, I just started having a lot fun and felt really good. When I have a really good punt, I just start stacking them on top of each other."

The good --------

Special teams: Arellano may very well have been the most important player on the field Saturday. His three punts that traveled 60 or more yards (60, 63 and 65) dramatically shifted field position in the Cougars’ favor.

“It might be one of the best performances by any punter since I’ve been the coach,” Bronco Mendenhall said.

Add that to Adam Hine’s 99-yard kick return touchdown following a Virginia score that narrowed the deficit to 34-26, Trevor Samson’s 28- and 37-yard field goals and mostly strong kick coverage, and it would be difficult to say the offense or defense performed better for BYU. Devon Blackmon also had a 25-yard punt return.

“That hasn’t been a strong unit for us yet this season,” Mendenhall said. “We put a ton of pressure on that unit this week to improve their performance.”

Jamaal Williams: He might be wondering why he doesn’t get the ball more at this point. Despite averaging 5.2 yards per carry, the junior finished with only 13 carries for 68 yards and his third touchdown of the season. Williams punished defenders with his usual downhill running style and seemed to always gain a few yards after contact.

Craig Bills: There’s a reason Bills is looked to as the leader of the defense. He covers sideline to sideline and had a team-high 10 tackles, seemingly always in the right spot his team needed him. Bills continued his hard-hitting as well, shaking up a Virginia receiver on a third quarter third down that he registered a pass breakup on. He was adamant in a postgame press conference that he isn’t worried about how the officials call penalties because he’s looking to make plays. Bills also recorded half of a tackle for loss.

Alani Fua: A career-high nine tackles, including a team-best eight solo, illustrate Fua’s presence and playmaking. Without Bronson Kaufusi, who Mendenhall said he realized couldn’t go after seeing Kaufusi take one drop in warmups, Fua was crucial to the Cougars holding Virginia just enough times to come out with the eight-point victory.

Mitchell Juergens: From one week to the next, Juergens may have had the most improved day. His fumble late in the second quarter versus Houston allowed the chance for a Hail Mary that changed the nature of the game. However, Juergens looks like he’s fitting into the role previously occupied by J.D. Falslev, from whom Juergens said he’s learned that “not being the tallest guy … it’s big just to give it our best every single play.” He did just that on a 50-yard touchdown catch where he broke away from his man as he noticed Taysom Hill start to scramble to stretch BYU’s advantage to two possessions.

“I actually didn’t have the best game,” Juergens said of the Houston contest, “but it’s great to have teammates pick you up and teammates to keep you motivated.”

Needs work

Passing game: Hill had his fourth consecutive game with over 250 yards of total offense in the win, while adding three touchdowns, so it’s hard to find too many faults in his play, but after a sharp 7-of-8 passing start, he was 6-for-15 the rest of the way. The junior skipped a number of passes off the grass in front of his intended receivers and threw behind them. Jordan Leslie had the most catches with four, even though he didn’t play more than half the third quarter or the entire fourth. Hill’s targets take some of the blame in not achieving enough separation to consistently get open. Mendenhall said he hopes Nick Kurtz will be ready to go against Utah State.

Run defense: Virginia ended its win over Louisville with 114 rushing yards but had 103 after one half against BYU. The Cavaliers finished with 192, which even outdid their total against FCS side Richmond.

Missed opportunities: BYU turned Virginia over twice, yet scored three points off them. The Cougars also had a chance to recover a muffed punt and stopped the Cavaliers on two of their four fourth-down conversion tries. For how often the game-changing moments went in BYU’s favor, Mendenhall will surely want to work on capitalizing on his team’s chances.

The bad

Cornerback play: Although two of BYU’s five pass-interference infractions came on Virginia’s final drive, most all of them were called because players failed to turn and face the pass. Rob Daniel’s interception was one of the lone highlights for a group that went with freshman Jordan Preator the majority of the second half. The quantity of long third-down conversions given up isn’t a good sign for a team looking to run the table.

“We need to work on tracking the ball better down field,” Bills said.

Pass rush: “Not very good,” Mendenhall stated in reference to this aspect of the defense’s play. “We’re not hitting the quarterback frequently enough.” BYU eventually knocked starting quarterback Greyson Lambert out of the game, but Matt Johns entered and kept Virginia in the game. When the Cavaliers had time, they were able to pick apart the Cougars' secondary.

Penalties: As one of the five worst teams in this category coming into the week, BYU didn’t show much as far as changing the trend. Eight of the 12 (for 133 yards) came in the first half and significantly factored into Virginia’s halftime lead, stalling drives and hampering field position.

“To say we’ve done nothing, maybe the results say that,” Mendenhall said. “But, yeah, I think it’s time to make sure that I continue to work on it. Hopefully it will show at some point. Maybe it’s a cumulative effort and maybe the next time that we play you’ll see an improvement — hopefully.”

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Kyle Spencer

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