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PROVO — BYU's game against 1-8 Idaho Saturday night was exactly what you'd expect it to be — a whole lot of points for the Cougars and not very many for the Vandals.
The home team's 52-13 win came swift against the Vandals: Each of BYU's first three possessions resulted in touchdowns, and when the Cougars didn't score the hallowed seven points on their fourth drive, Idaho's very next play resulted in a shotgun snap over the quarterback's head and into a fumble recovery by BYU junior Spencer Hadley who, you guessed it, ran for a touchdown.
By the end of the first half, the Cougs were up 42-7 — the most points they'd scored in a half since 2008.
Simply put, Senior Night was a success.
"It was a great way for our seniors to finish up," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Not only did they play well, but they played about a half and then had a great time cheering on the rest of their teammates, and that shows great leadership."
Starting quarterback Riley Nelson and his separate pairings with freshman running back Jamaal Williams and junior wide receiver Cody Hoffman helped propel BYU in the first half.
Hoffman was the recipient of touchdowns Nos. 1, 5 and 6 — all 4- to 6-yard passes from Nelson, while Jamaal ran for touchdown Nos. 2 and 3.
After last night's game, Williams is officially tied for third as a BYU freshman running back with the most rushing touchdowns, clocking in at 10. In addition to his rushing touchdown ranking, Williams recorded his second straight 100-yard rushing game, totaling 104 yards on just 10 attempts.
"I was pleased with our performance in the first half," Nelson said. "There are still some things to work on, but overall it was really good. It kind of takes the other team's wind away when you can score on them right off the bat, so that was our plan going in."
Mendenhall pulled Williams out before the second quarter even ended, but Nelson's reigns weren't handed over to second-string senior James Lark until BYU's second possession of the last half of the game.
"When it's clearly going to be one-sided and the execution demonstrates that we're playing at a high enough level," said Mendenhall in response to a question about when to take starters out. "I almost took (Nelson) out before the end of the second quarter. The same with (Williams). So I try to gauge it based on how I think we're performing."
BYU's confidence and reliance on its second string in the second half can be summed up by the defense dancing on the sidelines and special teams penguin-sliding into the end zone.
"It was just fun," said senior defensive lineman Russell Tialavea. "It's hard to explain, playing your last home game as a senior. It was a tough series when Idaho scored, but I think overall we did good on the defensive end. We do our jobs and have fun."
The second-string offensive stars of the second half were Lark and his 49 passing yards, Paul Lasike and his 44 rushing yards and David Foote and his 39 rushing yards.
"Overall I think we played well and it was a fun night for us," said senior offensive lineman Braden Brown. "I think every week we've done better as a unit. We've got guys who go out and battle every week and just continue to get better, so I can't be more proud of the offensive line."
On the defensive side, Skyler Ridley looked promising for future seasons with 53 yards receiving. Even Mendenhall mentioned Ridley, saying he seems to catch everything.
The best statistic of the night, though, was BYU's 537 total offensive yards on 87 plays — 236 of which were contributed by Nelson.
The players even gave a special mention to the fans who endured the freezing temperature.
"It's nice to know that we've got true fans behind us who will brave all sorts of weather," Nelson said. "It means the world to us as players to see people invest so much into the program."
Idaho will continue on, now holding a 1-9 record.
"I’m proud of our guys, fighting through all those things, especially with the score," said Idaho head coach Jasen Gesser. "We definitely need to clean up a lot of things. We need to get better in a lot of areas, of just sheer fundamentals; you know it’s glaring out there. BYU has a great program and they have some good players and they’re fundamentally sound."
