BYU loses to East Carolina to conclude a winless October. Unlike the last three, this one was close with the final score being 27-24. Another week of bad playcalling and execution by the players. The defense looked a little better than it has in a while. The offense forgot how to mix it up on going for it on fourth down. BYU losing to ECU mean that this season is over because they aren’t beating Boise State or Stanford so no Bowl Game for them this year.
Players who Stood out
Jakob Robinson
Robinson accounted for seven tackles last night and he is showing that he can step up and play Cougar football. He has had some hard games this year but if he can play like he did last night he will be one of the big names next year.
Kaleb Hayes
Kaleb Hayes also had seven tackles and helped lead the defense when some of their leaders were down. He also got his hand up and blocked a pass.
Brayden Cosper
Cosper is back and looked great last night. He finished with four receptions on 37 yards. When he was on the field he was a great option for Jaren Hall.
Players with a Great Game
Lopini Katoa
Katoa was the player of the game yesterday as all the Cougars could do was run the ball except in the blue zone. He finished with 116 yards on 20 carries. As the run game has struggled he showed that he can be another option for the Cougars with Brooks out.
Puka Nacua
Puka Nacua continues to turn heads and be a leader on this team. Nacua finished last night with seven receptions, 79 yards, and one touchdown. That makes his third on the season.
Micah Harper
Micah Harper was the leader on defense last night with Tooley and Wilgar out. He had five tackles but was all over the place on defense.
Players who Struggled
Miles Davis
Davis in his return from an injury only had 46 yards on 11 carries. He needs to step it up and make some more blocks when the Cougars don’t run the ball.
Keanu Hill
Hill only had 11 yards last night and it hurt the Cougars when he wasn’t getting open or being looked for on the field.
Jaren Hall
Hall needs to learn how to look downfield more often. Many times if he would have just thrown the ball a little farther or used his eyes he may have thrown some more passes.
Takeaways
Offense
The offense needs to be creative with their play calling and switch it up. East Carolina read the offense like a book last night. It showed that maybe Hall is struggling to throw the ball a little too much so they went to the run game and you can only do that for so long before a team picks up on it.
Katoa had a great game as he lead the offense in yards and plays last night. The only problem was when he was on the field the defense of ECU knew they were going to run it. Maybe it’s time to see what Jacob Conover can do because Hall isn’t leading on or off the field except for after the game.
Defense
The defense looks like it is trending in the right direction. Last night I want to say it was way more missed tackles than the scheme or the play calling. They forgot how to come to play after half time and that can’t happen if they want to win another game this season. They did their best with their leaders on the field but some of the others needed to fill those roles and I was the ones who did I know the coaches noticed it. BYU’s loss to East Carolina proved that the defense can head in the right direction.
Chaz Ah You left the game in the first quarter didn’t return and was seen going to the locker room in a boot. Ethan Slade was also helped off and didn’t return. Carter Krupp left in the third quarter with an injury and also didn’t return. Keep an eye out for those as this week goes on.
Special Teams
The kicking game was looking good and that one field goal was good last night. Ryan Rehkow punted for 176 yards last night with his long being 71 yards and one within the 20.