Duck and cover: No. 12 BYU football overwhelmed by loss to No. 25 Oregon | News, Sports, Jobs

Far too little, far too late.

Those are pretty much the only words to describe how BYU’s No. 12-ranked football team played in Saturday’s big game against No. 25 Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, going out in every way. the phases of the game. The Ducks took a big lead and then held off the Cougars to claim the 41-20 victory.

Why was BYU so bad?

Was it a hangover from the emotionally draining double overtime win over Baylor?

Were a number of starters missing due to injury?

Was he facing the pressure of a big national ranking and a genuinely hostile environment?

All of those things played a part, of course, but the reality is that this Saturday afternoon Oregon was just too much.

“It obviously wasn’t the result we were looking for, but you have to give Oregon a lot of credit,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “They showed up ready to play, more ready than us, especially at the start. I didn’t have this team ready so it’s on me. We have to figure out how to start better and faster. It seemed like we were digging ourselves too deep to get out. The players played their hearts out, but we have to find ways to take advantage of the lags on our side and find a way to have better production on the pitch. And it is in the three phases.

The Ducks scored on each of their first six possessions (five touchdowns and a field goal) while the Cougars made costly mistakes on both sides of the ball.

The message was sent early in the game after BYU received the ball first.

Cougar junior quarterback Jaren Hall hit freshman wide receiver Chase Roberts for 35 yards on the first play, but four more plays would only gain four yards and BYU turned the ball over on tries.

“It’s tough (when you don’t convert on the fourth down),” Hall said. “It gives momentum to the other team, which is especially bad when you’re in their stadium. You hate giving up chances on fourth down. It’s a turnover. We preach a lot taking care of the ball. It’s as devastating as throwing an interception or fumbling the ball for us. We’re relying heavily on converting fourth downs to give our defense a break. We needed to do that more there.

Oregon needed just four plays to take control, securing a 26-yard gain on a short pass and a 36-yard run before Duck quarterback Bo Nix dived two yards to bring the score to 7-0.

BYU went three times on their next possession, then hurt themselves further when hitting Oregon’s punt returner after he beckoned for a good catch, resulting in a personal foul.

The Cougar defense folded but didn’t break on Duck’s ensuing push and kept Oregon at the basket.

It looked like BYU could have gotten back into the game on the next drive, going 75 yards to take the lead. The Cougars used a double false play on screen on either side, then Hall spotted tight end Isaac Rex wide open in the middle for a 28-yard TD connection to make it 10-7.

But that would be as close as BYU would get because they’re the home team that’s made almost all the big plays the rest of the way.

The Ducks scored another touchdown, but the Cougars returned to Oregon territory, trying to keep up.

An incomplete pass on third down led BYU kicker Jake Oldroyd to attempt a 38-yard field goal, only to see him navigate a right.

Oregon then capitalized on two fourth conversion attempts as they killed the rest of the second quarter, scoring on a 15-yard pass from Nix to tight end Terrance Ferguson with less than 30 seconds left in the mid- time.

The Ducks then killed all hope of a BYU rally with a nine-game TD drive to start the second half, capped off by a six-yard run from Nix.

The Cougars’ incompetence was on full display on the next practice as a run play on a fourth-and-one from its own 36-yard line was badly blocked and stuffed by Oregon, giving the Ducks another short field.

Nix will hit Ferguson again, this time from 10 yards, and with a 31-point lead, the Ducks leave the Cougars for dead.

But BYU scored a touchdown on an 18-yard pass from Hall to wide receiver Kody Epps, then took a break when a pass bounced off the hands of an Oregon receiver and right on linebacker Cougar Ben Bywater.

The interception put BYU on Duck’s 25-yard line and four plays later Cougar running back Christopher Brooks came in from two yards out with over 10 minutes left to give BYU fans any hope of a miracle.

Sitake said the idea on the sideline was that if the defense could stop, they could go for the kick in play later in the game.

“It was a three-point game,” Sitake said. “They just took the time off the clock. That’s what we did a lot last year. We thought we could change some things and maybe get a spark, but towards the end of the game we were doing everything we could to salvage things and get the guys to play their missions on offense and defense.

But Oregon’s running game quickly crushed those plans, crushing a long drive that culminated in a final field goal and killed most of the clock to secure Duck’s victory.

Oregon’s offense ended up outpacing BYU 439-366 in total yards, but the clear difference was in the running game, where the Ducks had 212 yards to just 61 for the Cougars.

“We just couldn’t leave the field because there was not much we could do for them as far as stopping the run goes,” Sitake said. “We had lost a few guys in defence, but that’s okay. It seems to have a great depth. They just couldn’t settle. The guys made a lot of mistakes.

Part of that was due to BYU trying to come from behind, which often resulted in more passing plays.

“It’s pretty tough because then you have to go through different play calls trying to get bigger chunks of yards,” Epps said. “I’m not in the head of the coaches. I just go over there and do what they ask me to do. But from a player’s perspective, it’s quite difficult because the defense can sag a little more because they know you’re fighting for more than you usually would.

The biggest problem, however, was that the Cougar defense failed to get key plays on defense.

“I’m proud of my guys for the way we fought towards the end, but obviously you have to stop early in the game,” Bywater said. “They came out hot, running down our throats. No excuses. It’s just something we have to work on. We’ll go back to the drawing board and find out.

Now, BYU will look to regroup before hosting Wyoming at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Sept. 24.

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