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PROVO — Lopini Katoa was motivated Saturday night.
Motivated by watching his BYU team limp to a 4-9 season a year ago, when he was relegated to the practice squad as a true freshman, fresh off a two-year church mission and a transfer from Oregon State.
Motivated by his senior mentors, including fellow running back Matt Hadley, backup quarterback Tanner Mangum, and injured running back Squally Canada.
Motivated by the chance given to him.
And with all of that, Katoa made good use of all the motivation given to him against an overmatched New Mexico State.
Katoa scored four touchdowns, and Matt Hadley added two more on the ground to help BYU overcome a slow start and cruise to a 45-10 win over New Mexico State to clinch bowl-eligibility late Saturday night in the Cougars’ home finale.
Katoa finished with 155 yards on 15 carries, and Hadley had 55 yards on seven carries. Riley Burt added 61 yards on 10 carries for the Cougars (6-5), who rebound from last season’s 4-9 disappointment to clinch bowl-eligibility for the second time in head coach Kalani Sitake’s three-year tenure.
"It was a lot of fun to see the offense clicking like that," Katoa said. "It was a big tribute to our O-line and the lanes they opened. It was fun to run behind them."
BYU (6-5) piled up 510 yards of offense, including 317 on the ground. Zach Wilson completed just 12-of-26 passes for 172 yards, but did not throw a touchdown or an interception and took just two sacks.
Mistakes were minimal, and BYU kept the ball on the ground with the offensive line paving the way to bowl eligibility.
Katoa shouldered the bulk of the carries. But BYU ran the ball 51 times, with 40 of them going to top backs Katoa, Hadley, Burt and freshman Tyler Allgeier, who had four rushes for 49 yards with an electric 44-yard sprint in the final quarter.
"He’s been hobbled with some injuries, and it’s nice to have him back at full strength," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of Katoa. "I thought the running back group did a great job. AJ Steward is a great coach, Lopini did well, and even Tyler Allgiers got in and made some big plays in there.
"I'm really happy with the group. Our offense is starting to click a bit more, but we can still be consistent."
With 12 minutes left and a 45-10 lead, even backup quarterback Tanner Mangum — the former starter who lost his job to Wilson following a 45-20 loss to in-state rival Utah State back on Oct. 5 — saw playing time.
Mangum completed 1-of-3 passes for 21 yards and an interception.
New Mexico State entered the game averaging just 27.2 points and 42.3 points allowed per game. But the Aggies opened the scoring, taking a 7-0 lead on Josh Adkins 17-yard strike to Drew Dan in the corner of the end zone with 9:18 left in the first quarter.
The score capped a 13-play, 85-yard drive on the Aggies’ second drive offensive drive of the game, aided by a BYU penalty and a lack of pass rush in the absence of senior defensive end Corbin Kaufusi.
"We've been starting out slow," BYU linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi said, thrust into a rare starting role in his second season. "That's one thing that we've been trying to fix and obviously it didn't work out as well. I thought we played great after those first couple of series we adjusted.
"Coach Tuiaki did a good job at adjusting and making the right calls for us as a defense. Thej D-line played phenomenal like they always do. They got after their quarterback. Overall, though, we did play pretty well as a defense."
Hadley pulled the Cougars back even, though, capitalizing on freshman Malik Moore’s interception at the NMSU 16-yard line and rumbling one for a 1-yard TD with 2:20 left in the first quarter.
Hadley doubled the scoring with a 40-yard burst for a touchdown, and Katoa tacked on a 15-yard touchdown while carrying two-and-a-half Aggie defenders to give the Cougars a 21-7 advantage.
Katoa added his second touchdown with a 13-yard run with 96 seconds left in the half en route to BYU’s 31-7 halftime lead.
New Mexico State had 85 yards on one scoring drive in the first quarter, but finished the rest of the half with just 86 more yards of offense as BYU slowly took control. Wilson threw for just 119 yards on nine completions in the first half, but took care of the football, didn’t throw an interception and was only sacked once.
Katoa earned his hat trick in the third quarter, busting up the middle and scrambling into the end zone for a 14-yard score to put the Cougars up 38-7, and BYU’s defense did the rest.
The Aggies were held to just a single field goal for the rest of the game.
Senior sendoff
Saturday's game was the final home game for 25 seniors, and the school honored them all with a special presentation prior to kickoff.
The list is long and varied, from starters to former starters to role players and bit players like Nate Sampson, the seldom-used linebacker who surprisingly ran on to the field late when team captain Butch Pau'u back and forced him to play.
"When he came off, he told me, ‘Butch, I’ll remember this forever,'" Pau'u said of the encounter. "The opportunity to play at LaVell Edwards Stadium isn't given to many, and I’ll cherish the opportunity to play on this field."
The list of seniors also includes punter Rhett Almond, defensive back Joshua Buhler, running back Squally Canada, wide receiver Dylan Collie, wide receiver/student assistant Trey Dye, running back Brayden El-Bakri, long snapper Matt Foley, safety Gavin Fowler, running back Matt Hadley, lineman Ausitn Hoyt, safety Tanner Jacobson, defensive tackle Kamalani Kaluhiokalani, defensive end Corbin Kaufusi, lineman Ului Lapuaho, quarterback Tanner Mangum, kicker Andrew Mikkelsen, linebacker Riggs Powell, safety Sawyer Powell, linebacker Adam Pulsipher, linebacker Rhett Sandlin, cornerback Michael Shelton, linebacker Sione Takitaki and defensive tackle Merrill Taliauli.
Next up
BYU ends the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 24 at rival Utah. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT on Fox Sports 1 and KSL Newsradio.
It’s the first time the rivalry game will be played in the final week of the regular season since 2010, which is also the year the Utes started their seven-game winning streak in the series.
