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BOISE, Idaho — If you had BYU with a 17-14 lead after three quarters of the Cougars' final scheduled game at Boise State, give yourself a hand.
That game was just getting started, though, in a game where the Broncos were favored by as much as 8.5 points.
Has any game in the short-lived but feisty rivalry series ever gone according to the script?
Puka Nacua caught 14 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns, including a toe-dragging 6-yard score with less than two minutes left, as BYU stunned Mountain West favorites Boise State 31-28 to snap a four-game losing skid Saturday night on the blue turf for the final time for the foreseeable future.
"Love and learn is definitely a lot better when we're winning," Nacua said after the game. "But it was super cool to see Clark Barrington in the postgame locker room; I don't know if we've ever seen Keenan Pili dance, and we almost did. We'll get that done eventually.
"It was nice to see smiles on everyone's faces, and not a forced smile. When you win, everything feels a lot better, whether you're beat up or you feel fine. The flight home is going to be a lot better."
That's tied for the third-most receptions in a game in BYU football history, and the most since Mitch Mathews caught 16 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns against Nevada back on Oct. 14, 2014.
But his last catch was the most important.
HE CAUGHT IT! TOUCHDOWN! @AsapPuka with the crazy catch for @BYUfootballpic.twitter.com/9huF9mTfHh
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 6, 2022
That's when Jaren Hall found the former Orem High standout on fourth-and-goal at the 6-yard line, down 4 points and needing a touchdown to break through against a Boise State team riding high on its own four-game winning streak. The redshirt junior signal caller had two main options on the play — one to tight end Ethan Erickson and one to Nacua, who was in a better position.
Truthfully, there aren't many times when Nacua won't be open, Hall said after his favorite target had pushed off a defensive back, clutched the football with two hands, and pinpoint-dragged one the edge of his toe in bounds for the game-winning play.
"You'll take your best guy, one-on-one there," Hall said. "Honestly, every look looks good to 12."
If Nacua wasn't one of the best players in college football before Saturday night, he looked like one after coming off the blue turf following a raucous celebration of the few thousand BYU fans scattered among the 36,461 at Albertsons Stadium.
He may not have a Heisman vote, but Nacua gets a vote of confidence from his head coach.
"He's one of the best players in college football," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "We have to do that. And he attracts so much attention that it opens up stuff for everyone else.
"I don't think people understand the value of our receivers blocking downfield, and Puka's in charge of that, too. Him relishing his role opens it up for Cosper, for Chase, and for everyone else. We kept them on their heels a bit to be able to play balanced football."
Ditto for Hall, who threw for career-high 377 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions for the Cougars (5-5), and added a 82 rushing yards for a career-best 459 yards of total offense.
"I've always believed that: he's one of the best players in college football, hands down," Hall said of Nacua, who also had a designed run out of the backfield. "He does it all. There's nothing he can't do.
"He loves the game, he loves us, and that dude is the most energetic guy on the field. He has the most faith, the most belief, and he puts time in the game. People don't see behind the scenes how much time he puts into the game. … I just love seeing him go out there and do his thing."
The save of the game, though, may go to Hinckley Ropati, the seldom-used reserve running back who broke out for a career-high five rushes for 28 yards and three catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, a 48-yard screen pass from Hall that the junior college product took for a touchdown for a BYU team that posted 532 yards of offense against the second-ranked defense in the country, while allowing 324.
Prior to Saturday night in a game BYU played without running backs Christopher Brooks and Mason Fakahua, Ropati had just five rushes for 19 yards in two seasons.
George Holani ran for a team-high 73 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter, and Taylen Green threw for 220 yards and two scores for Boise State (6-3).
Nacua topped the 100-yard receiving mark for the third time in the last four games, pulling in his 11th reception for 116 yards with a key touchdown in the third quarter.
"I've still got a lot to prove," Nacua said. "There were a lot of blocking plays where I didn't, and a lot of routes where I can be better. But whatever my team needs me to do; I've got to continue to be better.
"It's my job to make plays in the run game, pass game, running routes. That was a great game of football for us."
It started early, too, with his first catch. Nacua opened the game with a 5-yard catch for a first down on the Cougars' opening drive, one that ended as Hall scampered behind his offensive line into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown set up by Ropati.
The Cougars (5-5) had a 17-14 lead after three quarters with a 395 yards to 178 advantage after holding the Broncos to just 54 rushing yards.
That lead came after Hall found Nacua for a 24-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone with 25 seconds left in the third for BYU's first lead since the first quarter.
But things were just getting started.
Holani ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including an 11-yarder with 6:28 to give the Broncos a 28-24 lead after Ropati's 48-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass with 8:12 on the clock.
After Holani's second score, Nacua snuck a foot inside the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown from Hall that gave the Cougars a 31-28 lead with 1:52 remaining.
Just enough time for Green, the redshirt freshman and reigning Mountain West offensive player of the week, to lead a rally, right? Maybe it was, until Jakob Robinson's pass breakup forced a turnover on downs to finish off the Cougars' second-straight road win on the blue turf.
"Orem Tigers, making plays," Nacua said, a day after his alma mater's 26-24 win over Alta in the quarterfinals of the 5A state tournament. "Go Tigers."
