Utah wins Las Vegas Bowl 35-28 as BYU comeback falls short
BYU won the final three quarters of Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl. It’s just that the first quarter was so bad that the Cougars couldn’t win the game.
Utah went up 35-0 after BYU turned the ball over five times in its first five possessions and held on for a 35-28 win after the Cougars couldn’t get the ball back from Utah at the end of the game for an attempt at the tie.
To see how BYU lost the game, click this link here. We’ll give you a short summary otherwise. Utah had three interceptions and forced two fumbles in the first quarter. Two of those interceptions were returned for touchdowns while the third was returned to the BYU 1.
After the turnover barrage, BYU played like it was the better team. The Cougars scored 21 second-half points as the Utah offense was stifled. The Utes had just 197 yards of total offense and were 5-15 on third down.
“A little bit ridiculous on our part,” Utah coach Kyle Willingham said after the game. “To go up 35-0 and have it end like this.”
Not accounting for a brief drive at the end of the half, Utah’s next six drives after getting a fifth touchdown all ended in punts. Then two ended in turnovers on downs. It was clear that the short field gained in the first quarter by the turnovers was imperative in Utah’s lead. The Utes had an average start position of the BYU 23 on its three offensive touchdowns.
Meanwhile, BYU was getting its act together on offense. Tanner Mangum didn’t throw another interception and threw touchdowns to Nick Kurtz and Remington Peck. He also ran for a four-yard score that cut the deficit to seven.
But once the lead was down to a single possession, Utah’s offense finally came through. The Utes used an option play to get a first down with just over three minutes left and BYU out of timeouts. Then Joe Williams got another first down that effectively ended the game.
The game was BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall’s final one with the Cougars and a chance to end his BYU career with 100 wins. He’s moving to be the coach at Virginia and taking six assistant coaches with him. During the game, reports emerged that BYU had agreed to hire Oregon State defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake as its next head coach.
Utah finishes the season 10-3 while BYU ends with a record of 9-4.
For more Utah news, visit UteZone.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
