By Daniel Olsen | Even full-contact practices couldn’t give Troy the boost they needed to pull off the upset in Provo. Once again, the BYU Cougars started strong and earned another statement win as they beat the Trojans 48 to 7.
The player of the game was definitely on the passing side this time. In the first game vs Navy the Cougars ran all over the Midshipmen. Tonight Zach Wilson was as close to perfect as he could possibly be. He completed 84 percent of his passes for a career high 352 yards. He was responsible for four passing touchdowns on the night as he found Isaac Rex and Dax Milne in the end zone. He also ran it in on his own twice.
Mason Wake and Jake “The Make” Oldroyd also got in on the scoring action. Wake had two rushing touchdowns and Oldroyd connected on a 54-yard field goal to end the half. He also connected for a 20 yard field goal in the second half. He is still perfect on field goals and extra points this season.
The game started off slow as Troy punted the ball but recovered a fumbled punt recovery by Milne. However, the Trojans couldn’t capitalize on that momentum and turned the ball over on 4th and 1. After a couple more punts, BYU found the end zone first to lead 7-0 after one quarter.
The second quarter is where BYU did most of their damage. They completed a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and field goal all in those 15 minutes. They did allow their first touchdown of the season in that quarter but other than that they were playing perfect football.
The Cougars wouldn’t allow any sort of second half comeback either. They held the Trojans scoreless for the second half while piling on 24 more points of their own. The scoring slowed down by a little but not much. BYU scored 14 in the third and 10 in the fourth quarter to match their 24 point output in the first half.
With a talented offense like this there was no doubt that BYU would put up points. The defense was an unexpected surprise. BYU allowed just one touchdown on a vastly different offenses from the option team they faced against Navy just 19 days prior.
The Trojans have been one of the more talented air raid teams in recent memory but were disrupted by a hungry Cougar defense. This was to be expected to some degree as the Trojans did allow four sacks against a bad Middle Tennessee team last week. However, it was surprising that the Cougars excelled to this level for the second game in a row.
The Cougars were predicted by many, including our preview article, to be a two touchdown favorite. Nobody except perhaps the die hard Cougars wearing the blue goggles predicted the margin of victory would be this great again.
While very shorthanded with season injuries or surgeries for five of their players. Nevertheless, they played like a fully loaded team.
The Cougars get a short break before they take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Friday, October 2 at 7 PM MST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.