Originally published October 22, 2016.
Last Friday, the BYU Cougars, clad in Homecoming royal blue, defeated Mississippi State 28-21 in double overtime, in a game so exciting that the ROC rushed the field after the Bulldogs’ final desperation pass was broken up. Oh yeah, and how about Jamaal Williams? The fifth-year senior is rapidly gaining national attention (not to mention Doak Walker Award chatter), and he amplified all that on Friday when, on a nine-yard run in the first overtime period, he passed Harvey Unga and became BYU’s all-time career rushing leader. Here are some thoughts on the Cougars’ victory:
Offensively, there were good, bad, and ugly points for BYU.
The good: Taysom Hill made some absolutely killer plays with both his arm and legs, including throwing three TD’s and rushing for one as well. He was responsible for every Cougar score. His 15-yard touchdown pass to Moroni Laulu-Pututau is maybe the best throw I've ever seen him make. The headliner, though, was Jamaal Williams—now BYU’s all-time career rushing leader. His 76 yards were, in all honesty, not particularly spectacular, but they got him to the record and he played a critical role in the Cougars’ first overtime drive. The Cougar receivers had some big plays, and both Tanner Balderee and Hunter Marshall had huge TD catches from the tight end spot. Laulu-Pututau’s acrobatic fourth-quarter sideline grab will be high on my list of best plays from this season.
The bad: Taysom made a couple of bad decisions that cost the Cougars some opportunities; more frustrating, though, was that Hill and his receivers often appeared not to be on the same page and there were some obvious miscommunications—including one that led to an interception. Wherever the fault lies, that particular wrinkle needs to be corrected NOW. Dropped passes continued to plague the receiving corps. I just spent a paragraph singing Moroni Laulu-Pututau’s praises, and now I will get on his case a bit: too many of the drops are his. The entire group needs to shore up their catches.
The ugly: Taysom’s aforementioned interception, the play of the offense in the second quarter, and too many loose balls.
Defensively, there were some major issues. Mississippi State gashed the Cougars on multiple enormous third-and-long plays, and even converted a 4th-and-11 with almost cavalier ease. The Cougar corners were frequently beaten by faster receivers, and the safeties were caught out of position over the top several times. Missed tackles also proved a struggle yet again. The scary part is that Boise State has a considerably superior passing game to that of the Bulldogs, and the Cougar secondary will have its work cut out for it. There were positives though; Kai Nacua and Micah Hanneman picked off passes, and the Cougars recorded four sacks. You wouldn’t guess it by all of the long passing plays BYU gave up, but Mississippi State was held scoreless in the second half.
Special teams had little to write home about; kickoffs continued to be short, but kick coverage was decent. Rhett Almond missed a field goal, and he and Andrew Mikkelsen alternated at PK throughout the game (despite that missed FG being the only real miscue for either). With all of the weirdness at kicker, thank heavens Jonny Linehan has been as solid as a rock at punter. He had another fantastic outing Friday, and his booming 62-yarder was pure clutch.
Overall, it was a win. The student section excitedly rushed the field, which is fun. There was also a great homecoming fireworks show, and a stirring tribute to Jamaal Williams when he passed the career rushing mark. The ROC held up “21” signs and a gigantic banner in celebration. It wasn’t the prettiest game of the year for the Cougars, but a win is a win, and a win over an SEC team is even better.