From the Archive: Thoughts on BYU Football’s exciting 43-26 win at Houston

Originally published October 27, 2020.

BYU’s Friday night tangle with the fellow Cougars of Houston was, like the last game the two teams played in Houston, an offensive slugfest that made for a highly entertaining evening. It was also a tale of three different games—BYU absolutely dominated the first quarter and rolled out to an early 14-3 lead; Houston then punched back with a 23-0 run, torching the somewhat conservative BYU defense; finally, midway through the third quarter, offensive and defensive adjustments and a brilliant surprise onside kick swung momentum convincingly back to BYU. The blue Cougars scored the final 29 points of the game en route to a 17-point victory. Here are some of my thoughts from the matchup:

The Offense: We’ll start with the guy everyone in the country seems to be talking about these days—Zach “Wow, did he just make that throw?” Wilson. Wilson has been spectacular, and he continued his crazy high-level play against Houston. On the blue Cougars’ first play from scrimmage, Wilson nailed Dax Milne down the sideline with an on-the-money deep ball for a 78-yard touchdown. As the game went on, he just got sharper and sharper. I won’t belabor this point, because his statistics speak for themselves: 25 of 35 passing, 400 yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a passer rating of 205.14. His 40 rushing yards also led the team. That brings up an interesting point—for the first time since 2016, BYU won a game while rushing for less than 100 yards. The blue Cougars gained just 78 rushing yards—Zach Wilson’s longest completion by itself covered that same distance. It didn’t matter. Houston’s commitment to stopping the run game just showcased Wilson’s arm to a greater extent. Dax Milne was fine with the red Cougars’ defensive approach—he chewed up DB’s and spit them back out on his way to nine catches for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Those are Austin Collie-esque numbers! Coming into the season, most pundits agreed that Gunner Romney was likely to be BYU’s best receiver. Unfortunately, Romney went down with a hamstring injury early in this one—but even if he hadn’t, a new possibility has emerged: Dax Milne might just be BYU’s best pass catcher. He and Wilson are friends and roommates off the field; on the field, the rapport they’ve developed is impressive. One concerning development has to be noted: the offensive line really struggled to get leverage in the run game against Houston. Now, I get that James Empey got hurt and the line was already dinged up before that, but the blue Cougars have designed their run game to rely on the line to be violently physical, punishing the opponents’ front and allowing backs to power over people. There were a couple of third- or fourth-and-short plays that the BYU offense failed to convert because the O-line wasn’t aggressive enough. Now, they did pass block well as usual, and the Cougars scored 43 points and won the game, but some adjustments and a lot more physicality are certainly needed up front.

The Defense: I have sung Ilaisa Tuiaki’s praises at times this season—I thought his gameplanning for the Navy game was stellar, for example—but I’m going to get on his case this time. For large stretches of the second and third quarters, the BYU defense was gashed by the dink-and-dunk over-the-middle game of Houston quarterback Clayton Tune. Eleven different Houston players caught at least one pass, and Houston was able to put three touchdowns on the board with alarming speed. Then, Kalani Sitake said “enough”. Midway through the third quarter, it seems that Sitake personally took over playcalling for the defense, and the result was remarkable—the blue Cougars switched to a man coverage scheme that totally shut down Houston’s passing game, and the red Cougars’ last five drives netted exactly eight total offensive yards. That complete defensive dominance allowed Zach Wilson and company to score 29 unanswered points and win the game handily. As far as individual performances go, Chris Wilcox was highly impressive in one-on-one coverage. Max Tooley’s motor was on full display and he made multiple nice plays. Zac Dawe also had a nice game, with a sack, three tackles for loss, and a pass breakup. Not bad at all! The defense made the adjustments that were necessary to turn the game around, and Coach Sitake deserves a lot of credit for making that happen.

Special Teams: Jake Oldroyd is back, y’all. After sitting out the UTSA game, Oldroyd was his usual impeccable self against Houston. He nailed all of his PAT attempts and, most importantly, executed a *chef’s kiss* perfect surprise onside kick that shifted the game’s momentum—and the field position battle—decisively in BYU’s favor in the third quarter. Oldroyd’s consistency and his dedication to his unique craft make him an important weapon for the Cougars in blue. Punter Ryan Rehkow also had a very nice game once again—he has continued to surprise and impress me each week. I look forward to seeing where his BYU career goes.

Overall Impressions: This was a big-time win for a BYU team that has been starved for competent opponents. Houston is not a cakewalk opponent, and this was clearly a statement win for the blue Cougars—one that may prove important given the New Years Six bowl talk swirling around this 5-0 team. Zach Wilson’s highlights continue piling up and driving his draft stock higher. He has also stayed in the Heisman conversation, and while Trevor Lawrence is probably a lock for the award, it’s fun to even hear a BYU quarterback in the conversation. Next up is Texas State, a former DII powerhouse that has struggled in FBS play and is 1-5 on the season to this point. BYU needs to not only win this game, but put up some style points in the process. The blue Cougars don’t have the strength of schedule they were supposed to feature this season, which means that every cupcake win needs to be absolutely decisive if they are to stay in NY6 contention. There can be no more UTSA’s. The spread for BYU against the Bobcats is -30, and the Cougars are going to need to cover it and then some in order to stay in the national conversation.