Hine helps No. 19 BYU find run game in loss at No. 10 UCLA


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 5-6 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.

PASADENA, Calif. — Tanner Mangum dropped back on a 4th-and-7 play in the final minute, trailing by a point, and looking to pass.

And his pass was … intercepted by UCLA's Myles Jack, as the No. 10 Bruins survived upstart BYU, 24-23 on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.

The win moves BYU to 2-1 on the season with its first loss to UCLA since 2007.

Here are a few quick thoughts as No. 19 BYU moved to3-8 all-time against UCLA, including 2-2 under head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

Adam Hine is ready to shoulder the load

With starting tailback Algie Brown battling a knee injury, Adam Hine earned the first start of his senior year — and he earned it early on. The senior from Santa Clara barrelled in for a 7-yard touchdown to put the Cougars up 7-0 on the first offensive series of the opening quarter.

But perhaps Hine's most athletic play was a hurdle over a UCLA defender in the third quarter to set up Mitch Mathews' 14-yard touchdown grab that put BYU up 17-10.

Adam Hine with the Leap! http://t.co/paTNEa1bLz#BYUfootball#ThisisYpic.twitter.com/k8OPZOsVhh— BYU Photo (@BYUphoto) September 20, 2015

The former state champion high jumper and long jumper at Snow Canyon High finished with 149 yards and his touchdown on 23 carries.

"We're short on backs with Algie going down, and Adam just studded up and was averaging about five yards per carry around the third quarter," offensive coordinator Robert Anae said after the game. "For a younger quarterback, we leaned on (Hine) heavily. He stood in.

Harvey Langi, running backer

Langi had his first carry of his Cougar career for five yards to spring Hine's touchdown run, then added an interception that he returned 15 yards in the UCLA red zone on the Bruins' next offensive series. He then trucked a line of UCLA defenders to gain three yards and a first down midway through the second quarter.

The former Bingham High standout got it done on both sides of the ball, finishing with eight tackles, two picks and a pass breakup as well as eight yards and two first downs on two carries.

"Harvey Langi, between interceptions and running the football and short yardage, I thought he was fantastic," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.

Mitch Mathews has it

Mathews was the lead returning receiver for BYU following his junior season, but he had a slower-than-usual game last week against Boise State.

The 6-foot-6 wide receiver came back with a vengeance against the No. 10 Bruins, though. Mathews caught Mangum's 17-yard pass in the corner of the end zone with 6:26 left in the third quarter to break a 10-10 tie and give BYU a 17-10 lead. The Oregon native finished with 84 yards on nine catches.

Anae said the offense began to find itself, using quick, short passing routes to help Mangum gather confidence en route to 47 pass attempts.

"There were a lot of quick passes, and the ball was coming out of our quarterback's hand fast," Anae said. "I do like the effort, and the more we get everybody together without the hesitation here and there, I think we'll turn into an offensive machine. Right now, we're just starting down that road."

BYU linebacker Sae Tautu, left, dives to bring down UCLA running back Paul Perkins after a long gain during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
BYU linebacker Sae Tautu, left, dives to bring down UCLA running back Paul Perkins after a long gain during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)

UCLA's Paul Perkins is the best running back BYU has faced this year

BYU linebackers coach Paul Tidwell called Perkins "probably UCLA's best player" in leading up to the game, and the junior tailback lived up to the billing. Perkins finished the first quarter with 99 yards and a score. He ran over, under, around and through tackles, often bursting into BYU's secondary before finally coming down by the hands of Kai Nacua or another BYU safety.

On the Bruins' first offensive series of the second half, they returned a punt to 56 yards, then ran the ball through Perkins five-straight times before his 5-yard TD rush with 9:27 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 10-10.

"Paul has had some pretty darn good games," UCLA coach Jim Mora said. "I was impressed with his toughness that he ran with. He moved the pile forward, carried the ball a lot, and played a lot."

Perkins had 219 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, and backup running back Nate Starks added 81 yards and the gamewinner on seven rushes.

"The difference in the game was Perkins," Mendenhall said. "He had a really great game and he was very difficult to tackle. I thought he was a catalyst for (UCLA)."

BYU's defense works well — but it's run defense needs work

The Cougar secondary walked into the Rose Bowl and forced freshman newcomer Josh Rosen into the worst performance of his short career, ending the night with 106 yards on 11-of-23 completions with one touchdown and three interceptions.

But stopping the pass only goes so far without mustering any force against the run, and BYU found that out the hard way.

"You've got to take away the pass first and try to make them run the ball, which they did," BYU safety Michael Wadsworth said. "The only thing was we weren't able to stop the run. That makes it tough."

Perkins gashed BYU's front seven for 219 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, and he was only brought down in the backfield once. Nate Starks added 81 yards and a scores on seven carries, both putting up new career numbers against the Cougars.

Langi led the BYU defense with eight tackles, two interceptions and a pass breakup while becoming the first BYU player to go both ways since Jan Jorgensen in the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl. But BYU's next-best tackler was Michael Wadsworth, the safety who finished with six tackles — all solo grabs — to cover for a front-seven of missed arm-tackles and slippery running backs.

"I think the secondary did a good job of limiting deep balls; I don't think they caught one on us today," said Wadsworth, who helped the secondary limit Rosen to a game-long pass of 19 yards. "We've just got to do a better job of coming up to tackle (the runners). I missed a couple; we've just got to bring our feet and wrap up."

Related stories

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsBYU Cougars
Sean Walker

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast