PROVO — BYU didn't make it easy, but it pulled away down the stretch with a 30-13 win over UConn to snap a two-game losing skid in front of an announced crowd of 56,393 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday night.

The Cougars struggled to finish drives in the first half, outgaining the Huskies 283 yards to 104 yards, but was forced to deal with a 7-7 tie at the break. Francis Bernard scored the first touchdown of his BYU career in the opening quarter, but UConn came back with Bryant Shirreffs' 30-yard touchdown pass to Arkeem Newsome with just under two minutes left in the half to tie the game.

The BYU defense finally got going in the fourth quarter, out-racing UConn 20-3 and pulling away for a win that will look easier in the box score than it was through three-fourths of the contest.

Here are a few quick thoughts on the Cougars' win over the Huskies on the eve of LDS General Conference weekend.

Let-down three-quarter sandwich

With BYU's offense appearing to still be reeling from being shutout at Michigan a week ago, the Cougars went down 10-7 midway through the third quarter on UConn kicker Bobby Puyol's 37-yard field goal. The offense found plenty of yardage, nearing the 300-yard mark early in the second half, but struggled to finish drives after going 87 yards on 12 plays in 5:18 in the second drive of the game to go up 7-0.

In all, BYU out-gained the Huskies 539-230, including a career-best 365 passing yards from freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum. But not being able to put up points until the fourth quarter, when BYU out-scored UConn 20-3 was frustrating.

"I was frustrated, and mad ... Disappointed, and angry; I don't know which is worse: mad or angry?" BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We weren't playing cleanly enough in the critical moments to finish off after driving the entire field. We have a lot to learn from and we can leverage this game in a lot of ways.

"The outcome was favorable, and I'll take that any time. But we certainly want to play in a higher level than we did tonight, especially in the critical moments."

The BYU lead didn't reach double-digits until the game clock reached 12:03 left in the fourth quarter, when Mitch Mathews capped a one-play, eight-second drive with a 21-yard TD grab to go up 20-10.

"Some of the breakthroughs that I think were possible through the entire game showed up in the end," Mendenhall said. "A few things hard to spark that, and obviously field position and turnovers and field position helped ignite the point production.

"There certainly could've been more points."

BYU's defense got after it

Despite losing standout linebacker Harvey Langi to injury, the Cougars forced seven tackles for loss — including four sacks — against a porous UConn offensive line. BYU also had a pair of quarterback hurries, putting pressure on Shirreffs all night and forcing him to throw two fourth-quarter interceptions.

Even defensive end Bronson Kaufusi caused uncharacteristic "havoc" plays, pulling down an interception on one of the rare plays where he dropped into coverage in the second half.

"It doesn't matter what you call if the players don't execute," Mendenhall said. "I like our team and our chemistry and how close they are."

Injury bug

BYU was without the services of standout running back Adam Hine, who could miss as many as four weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the second quarter of the Cougars' 31-0 loss at Michigan. Linebacker Harvey Langi also missed Friday night's game with an undisclosed injury, and nose tackle Travis Tuiloma also did not see action — though he appears to be close to returning for BYU.

Sae Tautu and Jherremya Leuta-Douyere earned starts in BYU's front seven in place of Langi and Manoa Pikula. Tautu led BYU's defense with six tackles, including three tackles for loss and a sack — even though he didn't he would be starting until Thursday night.

"The easy ones to spot are the guys sacking other guys, and Sae is usually just very consistent," Mendenhall said. "Between Sae and Jherremya, those two are usually exactly what they are supposed to be all the time and I don't worry about them."

Running back Algie Brown returned to the BYU back field after missing the past three weeks, starting for the injured Hine alongside freshman Francis Bernard. Bernard finished with 69 yards on 11 carries, and Brown led all rushers with 95 yards on 18 carries — and he didn't lose a yard on any of his touches.

"It's good to be back," Brown said with a wide grin. "Sitting out for three weeks, my body is feeling it. But it feels great to be back."

Riley Burt also saw his first action at running back, gaining five yards on his first collegiate touch to gain a first down on BYU's opening drive.

Mendenhall said Hine will likely be out for four weeks, but Langi, Johnson and nose tackle Travis Tuiloma have a "great chance" of returning next Saturday against East Carolina.

"We'll be anxious for that to happen," he added.

Happy Birthday, Bryant

UConn quarterback Shirreffs celebrated his 21st birthday Friday night in Provo. It wasn't a happy one for the North Carolina State transfer, though, completing 14-of-28 passes for 168 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for the Huskies.

Shirreffs was sacked four times by the BYU defense, which brought additional pressure with a pair of quarterback hurries.

"Tough loss. Everybody is hurting," UConn coach Bob Diaco said. "But we're going to move forward. We're going to get better and learn from our mistakes and improve, finish and execute. We're going to close out games that are winnable."

Related topics