Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — The excitement was high Thursday night as BYU and Washington State took to the field for the football season opener game. Neither team wanted to leave the stadium losing its first game of the season.
The expectations were also high with Washington State's "Air Raid" offense coming to town, and people were wondering how BYU's defense would hold up.
Toward the beginning of the first quarter it seemed like BYU's defense could not keep up with WSU's offense. But then the play came that changed the energy of the game.
With Washington State on the 23-yard line and looking ready to make a touchdown, linebacker Uona Kaveinga intercepted the ball.
This interception changed the energy of both the BYU offense and defense and led to the team's 30-6 victory.
BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall was pleased with how his team — especially his defense — played throughout the game.
"We were prepared for a difficult game," Mendenhall said. "The defensive players really did a nice job and they wanted to play well."
Another highlight of the game that the BYU defense contributed to was holding Washington State to -5 rushing yards.
For Mendenhall, this was a way to prove that BYU has an effective defense.
"Even though the entire focus of outside is how well they throw it, I still don't believe you can play great defense if you have to defend the run and the pass," Mendenhall said. "We were going to make sure we took that away first and then defend their screen really well. I was really impressed with them."
BYU quarterback Riley Nelson was also impressed with the defensive effort against a top offense.
"We were BYU tonight," Nelson said. "We held them to -5 yards and had a great defensive effort."
Senior linebacker Brandon Ogletree said the defense had a solid start to the season but believes they can do better.
"Anytime you hold a team to negative rushing, that is a huge accomplishment," he said. "That is a dominant performance in our books. The great part is we are not happy about letting them score 6 points. It is a really good start, and we got to keep it rolling from here."
Ogletree also believes that BYU has the chance to be one of the top defenses in the country this year.
"We were a top 15 defense last year," Ogletree said. "I still expect (Washington State) to be one of the top offenses in the country, and that says a lot about our defense. We did really well and I would put our defense against any offense in the country."
Linebacker Kyle Van Noy continued to be a star defensive player and create plays that really ignited the team's energy. Van Noy sacked Washington State's quarterback Jeff Tuel twice for a loss of 13 yards.
Mendenhall appreciates his experienced players, like Van Noy, who can make plays that will help the team overall.
"Anytime you have really experienced and good players, you hope to put them in situations to make critical plays at the right time your team," Mendenhall said. "We have those on our team."
Sophomore defensive back Jordan Johnson made his collegiate starting debut against Washington State and quickly became a defensive leader. Johnson had four tackles and one interception, which he ran back for a 64-yard gain.
Johnson at times was assigned to guard Washington State wide receiver Marquess Wilson, who is expected to be a top wide receiver in the country.
"We all play to compete, and I was excited for this challenge and my first start," Johnson said. "(Wilson) is a great athlete and is one of the top five receivers in the country, and I feel as though I did my job."
Ogletree was also happy with Johnson's performance and likes to see his teammates have plays that spark the energy of the game.
"When Jordan Johnson gets a pick, that is what we live for, to see how far he has come with this team," Ogletree said. "Once he makes a good play like that you are happy for him, because we sweat together and bleed together all year long. It's a celebration."
As BYU prepares to play Weber State next Saturday, the team knows that they need clean up some game aspects to improve. Mendenhall complimented the way his team plays but said they need to play cleaner overall. Nelson agreed.
"We are leaving this game hungry because we left some points and yards on the field," Nelson said.
Ashley Anderson is a senior at BYU majoring in public relations with the hope of one day having a career in sports public relations.
