BYU’s 34-14 win over Wyoming was solid but not spectacular – Deseret News

LARAMIE, Wyoming – BYU’s last visit to War Memorial Stadium for the foreseeable future was much like many of its previous ones – not terribly pretty, but effective.

The Cougars struggled to run the football with consistency, were still shaky on third down and committed enough penalties on defense to keep them from getting the much-coveted shout.

But wins in Wyoming should never be taken for granted given how much emphasis the Cowboys have placed on the matchup, and so Saturday night’s 34-14 victory over the struggling Brown and Gold will be enough, with the awareness that the difficulty of the program goes on steroids from here. on the outside.

“Happy to be 3-0 and proud of the team. I thought the energy, the effort, all the things we want from our guys showed up,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.

“It didn’t go perfectly, but there were some really good things to work on, some really good things to improve on. I feel like we improved from last week to this week and I’m looking forward to making an improvement from this week to the next.”

In front of 24,513 on the high plains of Laramie, BYU picked up its 10th straight win over the Pokes (0-3), who have a serious offense but lack a reliable passer.

Snow College transfer Evan Svoboda was 14-of-32 for 140 yards and an interception, only to hurt the Cougars on the ground — which many quarterbacks did.

Keep the southern Illinois lane. And with Kansas State’s Avery Johnson coming to town next weekend, watch out.

Speaking of reliable passers, BYU’s starting QB Jake Retzlaff has been alternately hot and cold. He was picked off once, could have been intercepted twice more and was off target on at least a half-dozen throws, particularly to senior wide receiver Darius Lassiter.

Lassiter caught a 20-yard TD pass in the second half, but there were moments in the first where his body language suggested he was frustrated by Retzlaff’s inaccuracy.

But when Retzlaff was in the game, he was really, really active and making plays with both feet and his arm that kept the Cowboys at bay. The junior completed 22 of 36 for 291 yards and three touchdown passes for a 175.6 passer rating. He also led BYU with six carries for 62 yards.

This is playing.

“We scored a good amount of points, we won. It’s hard to say today without watching the film and stuff (about his performance),” Retzlaff said.

“The guys around me made a lot of great plays for me, but yeah, I think I played well enough to get a good win. And the defense played pretty well.”

Perhaps the most impressive stat was that the offense posted nine plays of 20-plus yards — explosive plays in chunks — that more than made up for another lackluster outing on third down.

The Cougars were 2 of 11 on third down and at one point were 0 for 16 on third down dating back to last week’s 18-15 win over SMU.

“You have to be really happy with the guys playing on offense,” Sitake said. “Looking at the interception that Jake made, we all know why it was an interception — it was thrown under.

“He can make better throws and I challenged him to do that. We don’t want him to feel shy about playing football and playing quarterback. Interceptions happen sometimes. We want him to continue to be aggressive.”

Retzlaff also ran the ball fearlessly. He carried the rushing attack in the absence of the 1-2 punch of LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati, the running backs who were shut out in the SMU game and stayed in Provo.

With Retzlaff’s run likely creating the illusion that BYU will be fine without Martin, it should be noted that BYU averaged 5 yards per carry; Freshman Pokaiaua Haunga was most efficient, picking up 35 yards on five carries.

Sitake said RB4 Enoch Nawahine was “hit a little bit,” which is why Sione Moa and Haunga got the carries after RB3 Miles Davis, who had a rough night (8 carries, 15 yards).

“Credit to Wyoming, man. They wanted to stop the run. They put some pressure and movement up front. They made it difficult, but we wanted to establish a presence up front on both sides of the ball,” Sitake said.

“I’m glad we were able to do that and get some hard yards, especially at the end. Finishing the game on offense (in a winning formation) is what we wanted to do.”

That said, there was at least one Cougar who wanted more. Chase Roberts had six catches for 129 yards, including a sack on a trick play, which BYU calls “special.”

“I think we should have beaten this team 60, 60 to zero,” Roberts said. “But as we go forward and fix those mistakes and play clean, then we’re going to beat a lot of teams this year.”

The Cougars finished with 458 yards, the Cowboys just 217, while running just two fewer plays (67-65).

Retzlaff was never sacked and barely touched, so he gives the ball a game on the offensive line — despite some unusual holding penalties that stalled drives and one that cost Sione I. Moa his first touchdown as a Cougar.

Kudos also to BYU’s special teams and especially Keelan Marion. The Connecticut transfer rusher returned the second-half kickoff for a 102-yard touchdown, BYU’s first kickoff TD in 10 years (Adam Hine, 2014 vs. Virginia) and first TD return on road in 26 years.

“In the first half, I misread the punt (and returned it to the 16), so the guys were on me, the coaches were on me. I was kind of beat up about it. He went to halftime, coach Kalani looked me in the face and said, ‘Kee, just have faith and hit it.’

“The guys saw that I was down and they gave me that spirit and picked me up and trusted me to hit it.”

And he did, lifting BYU to a 24-7 lead and breaking the Cowboys’ back.

“Actually, I was shocked. I didn’t know how to celebrate. I hugged the boys,” Marion said.

Aside from a penalty-assisted 75-yard Wyoming drive, BYU pretty much dominated the first half — but only held a 17-7 lead.

Retzlaff threw Kody Epps on first-and-10 from the Wyoming 23 on BYU’s first possession, and Wrook Brown picked off the pass at the 1.

It was Retzlaff’s third interception of the season, sixth of his career in seven starts.

Wyoming got just one first down on its first four possessions, then finally responded after BYU took a 14-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to Epps. BYU’s first TD came easily, a nifty play to Keanu Hill up the middle for a 20-yard score.

The Cougars moved the ball to thwart Wyoming just before halftime, but the drive stalled when Retzlaff made two errant throws and BYU settled for a 49-yard field goal by Will Ferrin.

Retzlaff was nearly picked off a couple of times in the first half — one was an absolute drop — but he finished the first half with decent numbers: 17 of 27 for 197 yards and two TDs, with a goal-line pick.

Jay Hill’s defense again performed admirably, but only forced one turnover – the first interception for Evan Johnson.

In the fourth quarter, the Pokes drove 76 yards on 12 plays against a combination of second and third teams for their final TD.

“We are not satisfied. We know we have to keep working, but we will certainly celebrate because it was a tough game and a tough week of preparation,” said Sitake. “Proud of our leaders, proud of our coaches. I look forward to the next one.”

The Cougars (3-0) play No. 14 Kansas State (3-0) on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.