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Cougars’ grit won’t let them quit in Las Vegas Bowl
The official decision came after BYU’s game against its rival the Utah Utes in Las Vegas, where the Cougars fell 35-28 after falling behind 35-0 in the first quarter on five turnovers.
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Thanks to five BYU turnovers on their first five possessions of the game, the Cougars fell behind Utah 35-0 in the first 11 minutes as Utah turned each turnover into a touchdown – two directly via pick sixes.
With a win over BYU, the Utes notched their first 10-win season as Pac-12 members and the first since 2010, when they played in the Mountain West. Many Utah fans still might point to 2015 as a disappointment, a reminder instead of what could’ve been.
Mangum would bring BYU back, throwing two touchdown passes before rushing for another TD with 3:23 left to cut the Cougars’ deficit to seven. “I’m excited to get to work and continue the incredible legacy of BYU football”.
New BYU head coach Kalani Sitake played full back for the Cougars in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000. BYU head coach (now former coach) Bronco Mendenhall said in the post game that the Utah pressure by the front four was faster than Mangum was comfortable with, thus creating the opportunities. So while the outlook for BYU isn’t necessarily negative, it’s at best unknown. “Next time we’re up 35-0 hopefully we won’t have the same results”. The Mountaineers (11-2) were playing in their first bowl game since moving up to FBS. BYU scored 28 points in the final three quarters while shutting out Utah to lose 35-28.
Now former BYU running back Kalani Sitake will take over as coach of the team Mendenhall led for 11 years. Sitake replaces Mendenhall, who returned to coach the bowl games after taking the Virginia job. Whittingham’s counterpart will be coaching his final game at BYU.
Mangum, who earlier this season led the Cougars to last-minute comebacks against Nebraska and Boise State, never had a chance to do the same against the Utes.
BYU was down largely because of the early mistakes by the freshman, who lost a ball while scrambling on the third play of the game, then threw interceptions on the next three drives.
“We played real well in the first quarter, very average in the second quarter, pathetic in the third quarter and half the fourth quarter, and then finished pretty average”, Whittingham said.
Mangum ended up completing 25 of 56 passes for 315 yards. Joe Williams led all offensive players with a 113 all-purpose yards, 91 rushing and 22 receiving. Senior Tevin Carter went out with a bang with two interceptions that lead to two Utah touchdowns and to be named the game’s Most Valuable Player. After all, the program was a power in the Mountain West, notching three 10-win seasons and beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in 2008 to cap a 13-0 season.
About the only question left after five first quarter touchdowns by the Utes was how big their Las Vegas Bowl rout would be.
Tom Hackett won the Ray Guy Award for the second year in a row, and he put on an absolute show against BYU. The Utah Utes are 9-3 and 5-7 against the spread.
All of those coaches played for BYU in the LaVell Edwards era – which is logical, considering Edwards’ tenure lasted 29 years. Byu Cougars rank at 58 for 30.3 road passing yards where as Utah Utes rank at 31 for allowing 21.8 passing yards at home.
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Despite missing the past three games, the 6-foot-6, 239-pound McCalister is tied with All-SEC tackle Jon Bullard for the team lead with 6½ sacks and has a total of 9½ tackles for loss.