BYU turns ball over on first five Las Vegas Bowl possessions

Senior safety Tevin Carter intercepted two passes, including one he returned 28 yards for a touchdown, and junior running back Joe Williams rushed for two touchdowns as 22nd-ranked Utah held off Brigham Young 35-28 in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday afternoon at Sam Boyd Stadium. “It’s the only thing that matters”.

Despite the 35-0 lead, Utah’s offense didn’t actually do much on Saturday, finishing with a total of 197 yards – its first time under 300 total yards all season – and averaging a paltry 3.1 yards per play. Having been a BYU player himself, Sitake said he plans to “share that family atmosphere that we had when I played”.

Former BYU fullback and most recently Oregon State defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake is set to become the Cougars’ new head coach. The next year, he was a graduate assistant at BYU before moving on to Southern Utah, Utah and the Oregon State in the next few years.

BYU opens the 2016 football season against the University of Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 3 and will play Utah the following week on Saturday, Sept. 10 in Salt Lake City. WHAT BOOKS SAY: “Utah (-2.5) continues to receive 3-1 bets and money over BYU, but the line has been staying strong at 2.5 for the past four days”.

“We’ve got to find some answers”, he said. On just 65 yards of offense, the Utes sandblasted the Cougars with scouring defense, forcing BYU to have five turnovers on their first five possessions.

It also was just quite almost the first time a team overcame a five-touchdown deficit in a bowl game, which made it an outstanding beginning to the bowl season. “Obviously, we have to get better”.

The Cougars were down 35-0 when Trevor Samson got his first attempt of the game, but he missed badly from 44 yards out. Mangum was 5 of 6 for 83 yards on the drive. “I can’t give you the names or anything but we’ve been working on establishing a staff right now and I’m looking forward to getting the right guys who know exactly what we are about here at BYU”.

Utah (10-3) came in as a two-point favorite in the first meeting since 2013 of schools that have campuses 46 miles apart. Utah led 35-0 with four minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

BYU again fumbled the ball soon after, and Utah recovered once more, making for the fifth turnover of the game.

BYU and Utah did not have a rivalry game scheduled this year, as was the case for last season, but their bowl pairing allowed for Mendenhall to get one last shot at Utah as the head coach at BYU. Washington State’s Mike Leach, who attended BYU but didn’t play football, cited Edwards’ influence in the game as “indisputable”, and Leach’s disciples have played a big role in advancing the concepts.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more proud of my team”, Mendenhall said.

“I am the product of a lot of sacrifice from so many different people”, Sitake said. Those hopes were mostly dashed in their first defeat, a 42-24 loss to USC, but UTah followed up by another two wins. Their pass defense, on the other hand, was weaker as BYU found success on the outside of the field with 315 yards. Travis Wilson, who was sacked three times, went 9 for 16 with 71 yards.

“I want to express my appreciation to Gary Andersen and Kyle Whittingham who have given me tremendous opportunities in my career and helped prepare me for the chance to be a head coach”, Sitake stated.

Arizona’s Anu Solomon threw for 329 yards, Baker finished with 107 yards rushing, and Cayleb Jones had 182 yards receiving and a score. After the game, Wright said he will enter the National Football League draft. However, that was it for the Utah scoring as BYU came roaring back with Tanner Mangum shaking off the disgusting start to lead the way to 28 unanswered points.

Still, Arizona was able to hold star running back Jhurell Pressley to 75 yards rushing and no touchdowns. He was also the team’s leading receiver with 22 yards on two receptions. He carried 21 times for 102 yards, including scoring runs of 8 and 4 yards. Taylor Blaise had a 98-yard kickoff return for Arkansas State in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late to mount a comeback.