Rout 66: No. 25 BYU unlocks offense to survive shootout with Virginia

PROVO — In Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall's first trip back to BYU in six years since departing for the ACC Coastal division, the Cavaliers and Cougars combined for 87 points, 1,095 yards, 114 plays and 53 first downs.

And that was just the first three quarters.

If the Big 12-bound Cougars weren't going to join the ACC Coastal, their former coach of 13 years brought the ACC Coastal to BYU.

Tyler Allgeier rumbled to a career-high 266 yards and five touchdowns, Jaren Hall added 349 yards passing and four more scores, and the 25th-ranked Cougars jumped out to a fast start before surviving a shootout 66-49 Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Allgeier tied a school record with his fifth touchdown run, the most by a BYU running back since Jamaal Williams had five in a 55-53 victory over Toledo in 2016.

Samson Nacua had 107 yards and a touchdown for BYU (7-2), his most in a Cougar uniform; his brother Puka Nacua added 107 yards and a score. BYU's 734 yards of offense are the most against a Power Five team in 2021, and the most put up against any team coached by Mendenhall in the veteran defensive coach's career.

"Two defensive coaches don't really like shootouts; the first half wasn't really what I wanted," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. "The first quarter, yeah, but the second quarter — I didn't like it.

"I think the offense just had to be ready to have a shootout, no matter what. And I'm glad they did."

But as is often the case in the most offensive of contests, the game turned on a couple of defensive plays.

After Hall connected with Neil Pau'u on a 10-yard touchdown that opened the fourth quarter with a 52-49 edge, Uriah Leiataua forced his second fumble to give the Cougars a rare short field. Allgeier capitalized two plays later with his fourth touchdown — a 31 yarder with 14:22 remaining — to restore the Cougars' 10-point advantage.

Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong — who finished with 329 yards and four touchdowns through the air, and another 94 yards and two scores on the ground before leaving with an injury in the fourth quarter — then threw his second interception of the night to former Brighton standout Drew Jensen as the Cougars pulled away for good.

"So big time. They had a really good offense, and were moving down the field," said Allgeier, who complimented BYU's defense for only allowing one touchdown in the second half after a 35-point second quarter.

"The defense making their changes really changed everything. It gave the ball back to the offense and put it back in our hands."

The win was the 600th in program history, giving BYU 427 wins since 1972 — the eighth-most in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

But it was anything but easy.

"It was a track race," Hall said. "We knew from the beginning they had an explosive offense, and chances were it would be a shootout like that. We had a good game plan, and just executed along the way."

After halting the Cavaliers (6-3) on their first series — twice, thanks to a 5-yard offsides penalty — Hall opened the game with a 52-yard bomb to Samson Nacua to move into the red zone.

Three players later, the former Maple Mountain quarterback dived into the end zone for a 2-yard score — and the Cougars were off and running.

Just five plays later, BYU was scoring again.

That was thanks to Payton Wilgar, who picked off Armstrong for only the sixth time this year, and Allgeier, who scored his first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard plunge to put the Cougars up 14-0 in just 2:36.

BYU scored on each of its first four offensive possessions, including a 26-yard corner fade from Hall to Puka Nacua to go up 21-0 just seven minutes into the game.

And then things went full ACC Coastal.

Armstrong evaded two tackles for loss before sprinting for a 30-yard touchdown, capping a 35-10 spurt to give the Cavaliers a 35-31 lead with 1:59 left in the half — a run of six consecutive touchdown drives, four of which in four plays or less.

"We had expected that of BYU," Mendenhall said. "They start fast against a lot of different teams. They jumped out on us quickly, but our team remained poised and composed. Our offense responded and we went in with a lead at halftime. That's tough to do. Brennan was right in the middle of all that and probably the primary reason."

Armstrong had 381 yards of offense — by himself (280 passing, 91 rushing) — at the half as Virginia took a 42-38 lead at the break. The offensive explosion included Hall's 283-yard, two-touchdown passing performance with 23 yards and a score on the ground; 74 yards and two touchdowns from Allgeier; and a BYU career-high 107 yards and a touchdown from Samson Nacua.

BYU's offense wasn't bad in the first half — Virginia just posted 448 yards, 19 first downs, and 12.9 yards per play with 42 points in just 14:10.

Shootout doesn't even begin to describe it. The game opened with an over/under of 66.5, but shattered that projection by the middle of the second quarter when most live betting services moved it up to 101.5.

But despite the pinball numbers — and ones that grew in yardage after the break — Virginia's scoring offense that ranked 16th nationally with 35 points per game before Saturday night barely threatened after halftime.

Some scheme changes were in store, Sitake said. But mostly, the coaches just rotated more players — and the defense refused to give up.

BYU opened the second half with Allgeier's third touchdown, a 49-yard blitz just 1:52 after the break.

But Keytaon Thompson pulled it back with a 2-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-1 with 2:10 left in the third that put the Cavaliers back in front following a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Armstrong's fourth touchdown pass of the game — and sixth overall.

Virginia didn't score again.

"Drop eight won us the game; that was Ilaisa Tuiaki's idea," Sitake said. "I think people need to respect him a little bit more now."

BYU hosts FCS foe Idaho State in the regular-season home finale Saturday (1:30 p.m. MT, BYUtv).

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