Cougars cruise past Seahawks 70-6

PROVO, Utah – BYU football scored the most points in Bronco Mendenhall’s time as head coach in a 70-6 win over Wagner Saturday afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

BYU (6-2) totaled 741 yards of offense (330 rushing yards) in the win while holding Wagner (0-7, 0-3 Northeast Conference) to 129 yards. The Cougars tallied six rushing and four passing touchdowns.

Tanner Mangum went 12 of 13 for 237 yards and three touchdowns at quarterback before being relieved in the second quarter. Beau Hoge took over, going 8 of 11 for 117 yards and one touchdown. Koy Detmer Jr. also took a turn at quarterback for BYU, throwing 3 of 3 for 57 yards.

Two Cougars rushed for over 100 yards in the victory. Algernon Brown rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns on just six attempts. Nate Carter notched 102 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries. The receiving yards were spread out among the team. Eight players totaled 20 or more receiving yards. David Kessler led the team with 78 yards and one touchdown.

Manoa Pikula led the team in tackles with six, while Fred Warner totaled four tackles, two sacks and one quarterback hurry. Trevor Samson was a perfect 7 for 7 on PATs attempts.

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The Cougar offense got going right from the start, jumping out to a 28-0 lead after the first quarter. Colby Pearson scored his first touchdown of the season and the first touchdown of the game on a 16-yard reception from Mangum just 1:13 into the game.

With 11:28 left in the quarter, Mitch Mathews also caught a touchdown pass, a 20-yard reception, to extend the lead. The last two scores of the quarter for BYU were rushing touchdowns from Brown, 42-yard and 37-yard rush. The defense held Wagner to just one first down in the quarter.

BYU tallied three more touchdowns in the second quarter to push the lead to 49-0. Terenn Houk had a 19-yard reception and a 46-yard reception to set up the first score of the quarter. Mathews caught his second touchdown of the game on a 19-yard pass from Mangum with 13:07 left in the second quarter.

Michael Shelton had a 40-yard punt return to set up the Francis Bernard rushing touchdown with 9:49 remaining until the break. In the Seahawks’ next series, Jordan Preator intercepted the ball to get possession back for the Cougars. Hoge came in at quarterback for BYU, rushing the ball seven times. He ran two yards for his first career touchdown.

The defense held Wagner to just 37 yards of offense and two first downs in the first half compared to BYU’s 457 yards and 21 first downs.

The Seahawks evaded the shutout with a rushing touchdown at the 6:52 mark in the third quarter. The PAT attempt by Wagner was blocked by Logan Taele, denying the extra point and making it 49-6.

Kessler caught his first career touchdown after catching a short pass from Hoge and taking it 47 yards. On BYU’s next possession, Carter ran 70 yards for another touchdown to make it 63-6 right before the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Hoge rushed one yard for his second touchdownof the game with 8:07 left. That was the last score of the game, making the final score 70-6.

The Cougars have a bye next week before hitting the road to take on San Jose State on Friday, Nov. 6. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network at 8:30 p.m. PST. It will also be on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM and Sirius XM 143.