Long time coming: BYU halts losing streak by drubbing SJSU

Photo by BYU Photo

PROVO – Tanner Mangum, KJ Hall and Micah Simon helped BYU to a 41-20 win over San José State Saturday afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

“Our guys played hard, and I’m pleased we got a win,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I thought we took advantage of our strength up front on both sides. It was nice to get a lead and not have to play from behind.”

Mangum completed 18 of 34 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. It marked his first three-touchdown game since 2015.

Hall rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown. He also caught three passes for 44 yards. His 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the Cougars’ longest rushing play since Mike Hague’s 87-yarder against UNLV in 2006.

Photo by BYU Photo

Simon became the first BYU player with two touchdowns in a single game this season, as he reeled in touchdown passes in the first and fourth quarters.

On defense, the Cougars forced five turnovers. Brayden El-Bakri, Zayne Anderson, Austin Lee and Langi Tuifua all recovered fumbles, while Michael Shelton picked off a pass.

 

BYU’s first drive went 85 yards on five plays for a touchdown. Jonah Trinnaman caught a 45-yard pass from Mangum on the Cougars’ first offensive play. Mangum connected with Simon for 23-yard touchdown four plays later. BYU led 7-0 five minutes into the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, El-Bakri forced and recovered a San Jose State fumble on the Spartan 10-yardline. Mangum found Matt Bushman for an 11-yard touchdown pass over the middle and the Cougars extended their lead to 14-0.

Photo by BYU Photo

San Jose State got on the board with six minutes left in the first quarter when Bryce Crawford hit a 48-yard field goal. Crawford provided the game’s next points early in the second quarter, with a 25-yard field goal to cut the BYU lead to 14-6.

On just the second play of the Cougars’ next drive, Hall made it 21-6 with the 75-yard touchdown run.

Rhett Almond made a 36-yard field goal with 5:09 left in the first half for a 24-6 Cougar lead, which they took into the locker room.

Squally Canada’s nine-yard touchdown run 10 minutes into the third quarter gave BYU a 31-6 lead. Mangum completed a 42-yard pass to Aleva Hifo to set up the score.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Mangum found Simon for a 41-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. The Cougar lead increased to 38-6, and it was added to three minutes later with a 30-yard Almond field goal.

The Spartans scored their first touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter. Montel Aaron connected with Tre Walker for a 30-yard touchdown pass to put the score at 41-13. With less than a minute to play, San José State scored again, with Aaron hooking up with Tre Hartley for a nine-yard score.

BYU plays on the road against Fresno State next Saturday at 7:45 p.m. PDT. That game will be televised on ESPN2, with radio broadcasts on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143) and KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM.

Game book: SJ-BYU Box_1

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.