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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., - Nearly two years after being sidelined with a shoulder injury, junior quarterback Bret Engemann made his return to the field on Thursday, leading BYU to a 42-21 victory over Syracuse. In his first start since Sept. 30, 2000, Engemann recorded three touchdown completions and ran for another in the Cougars' season-opening victory to earn this season's first Mountain West Conference Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors.
Engemann connected on a career-high 35-of-54 (.648) attempts for 386 yards, marking the second 300-yard game of his career. In his come-back performance against the Orangemen, Engemann was responsible for four touchdowns on the evening, including a career-high three TD completions and a three-yard run.
The 6-foot-5, 238-pound junior started things off with an 11-for-15 (.733) performance in the first quarter, racking up 111 yards, including a six-yard touchdown strike to Andrew Ord.
In the second quarter, Engemann racked up another 105 yards, 10 more completions, and a two-yard pass to Toby Christensen to put the Cougars up 14-7. During the second quarter, he also engineered a school-record 99-yard scoring drive to give BYU a 21-7 lead with 4:53 remaining in the first half.
After the half, Engemann kept up his blistering assault on the Syracuse defense, posting 12 more completions on 15 attempts (.800) for 80 more yards. After the Orangemen had tied the score at 21-21, Engemann led the Cougars on a 10-play, 92-yard drive and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a three-yard run.
Holding to a narrow six-point lead in the fourth quarter, Engemann found David Christensen down the sideline for a 50-yard touchdown strike, giving BYU a 33-21 advantage with 6:33 remaining. On the night, Engemann produced scoring drives of 99, 92, 80, 73 and 71 yards.
written by BYU Athletic Media Relations
