Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ARLINGTON, Texas — BYU lost the turnover battle and the game as it went against TCU in Cowboys Stadium, with a final score of 38-28. Some impressions arose during the game that may lead to some solutions later on.
Riley Nelson, BYU QB: Nelson was able to make several key plays with his legs, but he also committed several big mistakes while trying to keep plays alive. The ball was ruled a loose ball and recovered by TCU. Nelson's mistake stopped a BYU drive and took away a lot of BYU momentum and another potential BYU score.
Nelson ended the game with two interceptions and one fumble. One of those interceptions took place in the end zone, preventing BYU from getting very needed points. Nelson is exciting to watch but he seems to be a double- edged sword. and Friday night it led to too many self- inflicted wounds from that sword.
TCU defense: The TCU defense is still really dominant. The defense plays with great speed and anticipation. While Nelson made some bad reads, the defense also made great plays on the ball. The defense was in the right position to make those big plays. The TCU defense plays with speed, the players know they are fast and they play with confidence because of the speed they possess.
BYU special teams: Apart from a return by JD Falslev for a touchdown, the BYU special teams unit looked awful. The special teams had several bad plays, which gave TCU great field possession. TCU was able to capitalize on the great field possession with touchdowns. Two dropped punts resulted in 14 points for TCU.
Right before the half, BYU rushed the field goal unit onto the field to attempt a field goal while the play clock was winding down. The unit barely had time to set up and the kick resulted in a missed attempt. Tasks that seem to be so simple were not easy Friday evening and ultimately played a role in the Cougar loss.
BYU linebackers: The linebackers still stand out as the best all-around unit on the BYU team. They continued to put pressure on the quarterback and stop the runs. Big open field tackles stopped third-down conversions. The TCU offense was given great field possession too many times in the games, and in that circumstance the offense has to do more in order to get a team win.
Turnovers: Once again BYU lost the turnover battle and the game. There were two interceptions and one fumble, all of which can be put on Nelson. The Cougars simply made too many mistakes to stay in the game. BYU controlled the time of possession and gained more total yards in the game, but once again turnovers cost the Cougars the game.
Winnable game? BYU was competitive with TCU, but as has been demonstrated already this season, if you lose the turnover battle you lose the game. BYU made too many mistakes but it was not shut down by the TCU defense. The offense threw for 215 yards while TCU threw for 147 yards. BYU also rushed for more yards with 183 while TCU rushed for 135 yards.
The BYU defense played well against the TCU offense as well. Clean up the mistakes and you may have had a decent game, but capitalizing on mistakes is the great equalizer in football. BYU will lose to any team with a winning record if it continues to lose the turnover battle.
