FTB – BYU can’t complete comeback in 35-28 heartbreaker

After the game, Wright said he will enter the National Football League draft.

What channel is the Las Vegas Bowl featuring BYU vs. Utah on? With a 35-0 lead in the first quarter, it appeared as if the Utah would run away with the game, but the Cougars weren’t ready to give up just yet. Until BYU regained its composure, that is, and made it a game for both teams to remember.

Utah Utes runningback Joe Williams (28) makes a run during the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl against the Brigham Young Cougars at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015. “It’s the only thing that matters”.

The Cougars (9-4) managed to score 4 unanswered touchdowns, cutting the deficit to 7 points when freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum dove across the goal line for a 4 yard touchdown with 3:30 remaining but could not get the ball back as Utah ran out the clock in Bronco Mendenhall’s last game as BYU’s head coach.

“Even though our offensive numbers were not good at all, we took care of the football”. After the game, BYU said it hired former Cougars running back Kalani Sitake as coach.

He became the first Tongan defensive coordinator at the Football Bowl Subdivision when he was appointed in 2009, replacing current Beaver head coach Gary Andersen who took the head coaching position at Utah State.

Carter returned one of the picks for a touchdown and another to the 1-yard line as No. 20 Utah romped to a 35-0 first-quarter lead in the first meeting of the heated rivals outside of the state of Utah.

This was Mendenhall’s final game at BYU after 11 seasons there. Mangum also added a touchdown on the ground.

“Giving up was never an option tight end Remington Peck said”. It was the final BYU game for longtime Bronco Mendenhall, who is headed off to Virginia to be the Cavaliers’ new head coach.

In a statistical quirk, BYU actually outgained Utah offensively (89-69) in the first quarter.

The parade of BYU giveaways continued with a another Carter interception that set up a Williams run (21-0), a 46 yard interception return TD by Dominique Hatfield (28-0) and a Squally Canada fumble that led to a 20 yard Travis Wilson TD scramble (35-0).

“You’re not going to lose a lot of games when you’re plus-5 in the turnover department”, Whittingham said. “But that’s our job to not allow that to happen, not to get complacent. We’ve got to do a better job next time we’re up 35-0 and hopefully we won’t have the same result, as far as the let down”.

Mangum’s shaky start didn’t stop him from throwing for 315 yards in rallying his team.

BYU dominated much of the rest of the game, but it was too late.

“We were one game short of where we ultimately wanted to be, which is the PAC-12 championship game”, Whittingham said.

It may have been no small coincidence that Utah junior defensive end Hunter Dimick logged his first significant action since he injured his shoulder against USC – recording his third sack after totaling 10 as a sophomore – and that Utah had a full rotation of four defensive tackles as sophomore Filipo Mokofisi showed no signs of being hobbled.

CELEBRATION BOWL: Tarik Cohen rushed for 295 yards and scores of 83, 74 and 73 yards, and North Carolina A&T (10-2) used a slew of big plays for a 41-34 win over Alcorn State (9-4) at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

BYU played with more fire and focus in the final month of the season and the Cougars have the motivational edge in this matchup, playing for the last Cougars contest with longtime coach, Mendenhall, on the sidelines.