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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The BYU Cougars headed to Las Cruces to take on the New Mexico State Aggies in hopes of erasing the bad taste they had in their mouths of the tough loss against the San Jose State Spartans.
Starting quarterback Riley Nelson was out of the game due to an injury and third string QB James Lark got the start for the Cougars and the senior took advantage.
Lark started off strong for BYU and people immediately started questioning why it's taken so long to see the QB in action.
"James Lark has started 6/6 for 50 yards for #BYU. How is that literally everyone except Bronco & Doman wanted this move 2 months ago?" tweeted @SeanBingham.
"If Lark is 13/14 for 124 yds and a TD in 1 qtr, just think what a paralyzed Riley Nelson could be doing!" tweeted @camstew.
"Lark threw it away! Man it feels good to have a QB who can make D-1 QB decisions," tweeted @Cougar_Center.
"James Lark throws a bullet for 6 to Hoffman. He is 21 of 25 in the first half. What could have been," tweeted @PKKinahan.
Lark looked sharp, but some still thought fans might have been jumping to conclusions considering Lark was going against the 1-9 NMSU Aggies. But whether it was against a bad team or not Lark put up some great numbers.
"It's just NMSU, but #Lark looked really, really good! Passes on target. Good decisions and scrambling," tweeted @killroyboy.
"How many #BYU quarterbacks have thrown 6 TDs in their first start? You just watched it! Thank you James Lark. We can only dream," tweeted @TaloTBS.
"LARK. Wow. So happy for the dude!. He never complained ever. Went to work everyday. This game shows you the type of kid he is!" tweeted @Penny_1.
As impressive as Lark was, he needed someone to throw to and that target was Cody Hoffman.
"Hoffman is now 3rd in BYU career receiving TD's, 4th in catches, and 7th in yards. He could climb to 6th in yards with 21 more today," tweeted @jaromjordan.
"Cody Hoffman's fourth TD catch ties a BYU single-game record (last tied by Luke Ashworth in 2010)," tweeted the Voice of the Cougars @gregwrubell.
"Hoffman sets BYU record for TD catches in a single game. Give Lark the assists, did what he should have done as QB with zip on ball," tweeted @HarmonWrites.
Hoffman finished the day with 182 yards and 5 TD's to finish the day and he passed 1,000 yards on the season.
Lark finished the day with 384 yards and 6 TD's.
"Lark's 5 TD are most since Max Hall's 5 vs. Air Force in 2009. Hoffman's 4 receiving most since Luke Ashworth vs. CSU in 2010," tweeted @BYUCougars.
The BYU Cougars finish the regular season 7-5 and they're headed to the San Diego Poinsettia Bowl in December.
With Lark's performance today many will be hoping for him to start the bowl game, but according to history it's likely a safe bet Riley Nelson will lead the Cougars onto the field in San Diego.
