BYU Defensive Starters:
RE Kaufusi
DT Tuiloma
LE Taele
WLB JLD
BLB Pikula
MLB Langi
SLB Warner
BC Davis
FC Hannemann
FS Preator
Kat Takenaka
BYU Offensive Starters:
ZR Mathews
LT R Mathews
LG K. Johnson
C Koroma
RG Lapuaho
RT Wilcox
IR Houk
HB Juergens
XR Blackmon
QB Hill
RB Brown
1st Half
24-14 BYU
BYU:
296 total yards (240 passing, 56 rushing)
Possession: 15:04
Plays Ran: 40
Nebraska:
212 total yards (185 passing, 27 rushing)
Possession: 14:56
Plays Ran: 45
It took BYU’s offense a possession or two to get in sync. After that, Taysom Hill and his receivers were firing on all cylinders. Through the first half, Hill was 17/25 for 231 yds with 1 TD and rushed 5 times for 37 yds and 2 TDs. Hill was very calculated in his decisions throwing the ball and focused on progressing through his reads opposed to taking off and running when he couldn’t find a receiver. Hill ‘sprained’ his foot in the first half and backup Tanner Mangum immediately came in and contributed for the Cougars completing one pass for 9 yds and rushing another time for 9 yds. Other than the QBs, the Cougars didn’t have much going on in the running game with Brown, Hine, Carter and Juergens rushing the ball 7 times for 11 yards. The Cougars had plenty of momentum heading into the half leading 24-14 and had a chance to tack on 7 more points if not for a dropped pass from Taysom Hill to Algernon Brown at the close of the quarter.
Defensively, BYU struggled out of the gates against the pass, during the first three series Tommy Armstrong Jr was 10/12 for 156 yds and 2 TDs. There were a handful of opportunities for players to make plays in the backfield but they missed tackles and the Cornhuskers were able to turn a positive game out of the mistake. After a few series, the Cougars regained their composure and were able to hold Armstrong Jr 1/11 passing for a period. There was a scare at the end of the half where the Cornhuskers marched down the field, but it ended as a missed FG by Drew Brown ending the half with the Cougars leading 24-14.
2nd Half
9-14 Nebraska
BYU:
215 total yards (139 passing, 76 rushing)
Possession: 12:03
Plays Ran: 32
Nebraska:
284 total yards (185 passing, 99 rushing)
Possession: 17:57
Plays Ran: 41
For BYU, that last play of the first half carried over into the second half with BYU having three of their first four drives resulting in three and outs. The first drive was halted by an interception that was returned for 43 yds and resulted in a TD for the Cornhuskers. Taysom Hill left the game after the first play of the fourth quarter with what has been diagnosed as a lisfranc injury and he will be unable to finish the season. It wasn’t until there was about 8 minutes left in the game that the Cougars scored again with a FG from Trevor Samson to bring the score to 27-28. The Cougars took advantage of big plays during their final drive with a 16 yd run from Adam Hine and a game-winning 42 yd Hail Mary pass from Tanner Mangum to Mitch Mathews with :01 second left in the game.
On defense, the Huskers continued with the momentum they finished with in the first half with two quick TDs to start the half. The Cougars had three notable injuries on the defensive side of the ball from the middle of the defense in Travis Tuiloma, Manoa Pikula, and Jordan Preator. Nebraska took advantage of Tuiloma and Pikula going out and were able to run the ball more effectively more than tripling their total from the first half. Preator’s replacement, Michael Wadsworth came in and made a couple of big plays for the Cougars including a TFL with less than two minutes left. Micah Hannemann came up with a big time interception on a drive where the Huskers were marching, right after they scored their two TDs. After forcing that turnover, the Huskers were unable to find the end zone again.
