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The BYU Cougars battled hard against the No. 10 Oregon State Beavers in Provo Saturday, but after a close three quarters, BYU fell apart in the fourth and ultimately lost, 42-24.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the teams were tied 21-21 and it looked like it would be a battle to the final minute.
However, a tipped pass, two pass interference calls and an interception by BYU quarterback Riley Nelson led to three OSU touchdowns. And just like that, the game was out of reach and over.
Afterward, BYU defensive back Preston Hadley felt those plays, specifically the tipped pass, affected the outcome of the game.
“That was just kind of the story of the game,” Hadley said. “When we needed those big plays — you know there are about five or six plays a game that really determine the outcome — and I think that was one of them that just didn’t go our way. That’s part of the game.”
While those plays created scoring opportunities for Oregon State, BYU’s defense did not perform as well as it had in previous games this season.
On the opening drive, the Beavers scored a touchdown and ended BYU’s streak of not letting a team score a touchdown in 13 quarters.
Hadley said the defense did not make the plays it needed to.
“Our defense, we still have a lot of pride, and we still know what we are capable of and we know what we have to do to get better,” Hadley said. “And I think it came down to just not making plays when we had the opportunity to throughout all three levels of the defense. We’re still going out and keep working and we’re going to come back and fix what needs to be fixed and be ready for next week.”
BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall believes Oregon State quarterback Cody Vaz's deep throwing was the difference between the teams.
“Oregon State’s ability to throw it over the top of us — big pass plays — I thought was the difference in the game,” Mendenhall said. “They were able to execute in a lot of critical situations. It was our inability to defend the pass well and downfield throws with Oregon State’s receivers' ability to keep making the critical plays that was the difference in the game.”
While the score may not show it, BYU’s offense performed better than it has has in past weeks.
Nelson returned from a back injury that sidelined him the last two games. He finished with a career-high 28 passing completions, 305 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
Nelson acknowledged that his play led to interceptions and he knows what to do to improve.
“As evident by my last interception, you have to maintain control and you have to stay within the box and no matter the score or time of the game, stay within your read. If you go outside your read, stuff like that happens. But I’m a senior and I’m the quarterback and I have to do what my team needs me to do in order to give us a chance to win the game.”
Wide receiver Cody Hoffman was the team's leading receiver with a career-high 10 receptions for 102 yards.
While Hoffman had a great game, other receivers, specifically the tight ends, had a rough game. Various tight ends dropped multiple passes that should have been caught.
Mendenhall acknowledged the bad play by the tight ends.
“I think we took a step back today and didn’t catch the ball as well,” Mendenhall said. “We struggled to catch it cleanly and move forward.”
Nelson credits a good Oregon State defense to limiting what BYU could do throwing the football.
“We couldn’t take the top off of them today,” Nelson said. “We got a few chunks on some play actions, but we couldn’t really get the ball vertically. To their credit, their safeties did a good job on top of our guys and their pass rush was pretty good too.”
BYU will need to quickly bounce back from this loss as it faces No. 7 Notre Dame Saturday.
“It’s going to be a new week and we’re a new team,” Hadley said. “Each week the goal is to go 1-0 so we’re just going to prepare and train like crazy and get ready for them and bring the fight to them.”
Ashley Anderson is a senior at BYU majoring in public relations with the hope of one day having a career in sports public relations.
