BYU vs. Idaho State Postgame Notes and Quotes

POSTGAME NOTES

RACKING UP YARDS AND POINTS
BYU set new season-highs in total yards, rushing yards and points against Idaho State. The Cougars rolled up 572 total yards with 290 coming on the ground. BYU's 56 points were the most scored by the Cougars since a 59-21 victory over UNLV in 2009.

STAT MAN
Linebacker Kyle Van Noy blocked Idaho State’s first punt attempt, the first time a Cougar has blocked a punt since the Colorado State game of 2009. Van Noy now adds a blocked punt stat to his collection of at least one of the following: interception, forced fumble, fumble recovery, quarterback hurry, pass breakup, sack, tackle for loss, tackle and touchdown.

DYNAMIC DUO
The outside linebacker duo of sophomore Kyle Van Noy and senior Jordan Pendleton accounted for 10 total tackles, 5 tackles for loss including 4 sacks. Each linebacker had 2 sacks and Van Noy had 4 tackles, 3 for a loss, 3 quarterback hurries and also blocked and recovered a punt while Pendleton had 6 total tackles.

TIME DIFFERENCE
BYU’s first scoring drive lasted just 7 seconds when Riley Nelson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ross Apo. The Bengals kicked a field goal on their second drive of the game and drained 7:07 from the clock on the drive. BYU’s first three scoring drives were completed in less time, totaling 5:05 for 21 points.

JUST KEEP RUNNING
Running back Michael Alisa broke loose for BYU’s longest run play of the season, a 42-yarder for a touchdown with 3:35 left in the first quarter. The touchdown run was also the longest scoring play of the season (excluding field goals). Alisa’s run was the longest of his career and was the third-longest offensive play for BYU this year.

THE NEXT PRIMETIME?
Mike Muehlmann played both offense and defense against the Bengals. Muehlmann spent some time playing tight end, the position he played as a freshman last season. The sophomore also played on defense at defensive end, where he was switched to before the 2011 season. Due to injuries, Muehlmann will continue to be a versatile player for the Cougars.

A LONG, LONG WAY
BYU’s 9-play, 99-yard touchdown drive was the longest touchdown scoring drive of the season. It ties the longest drive since 2006, another 99-yarder against Utah State. BYU added a 91-yard drive for a touchdown in the third quarter to give the Cougars 4 scoring drives of more than 90 yards this season.

HOFFMAN KEEPS IT GOING
Cody Hoffman caught his first pass of the game in the second quarter for 9 yards. With the catch, Hoffman extends his streak with at least one reception to 14-straight games and 20 of 21 career games. Hoffman finished the game with 5 catches for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns.

PICKING MACHINE
Safety Daniel Sorensen returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to give BYU a 49-3 lead. It was the second interception of the season for Sorensen. In the fourth quarter, defensive back Jordan Johnson intercepted a pass that he returned 42 yards. Earlier in the game safety Travis Uale recorded his third interception of the season in the second quarter.

RUNNING OUT THE FLAG
BYU was led out of the tunnel today by senior linebacker Jadon Wagner carrying the team flag and junior defensive back Preston Hadley with the special teams flag. The special teams flag, highlighted by an old school BYU logo adopted by the special teams, is a new addition this season. Fahu Tahi, (1999,02-05), a four-year letterman at BYU and five-year NFL veteran carried the alumni flag.
 

POSTGAME QUOTES

BYU HEAD COACH BRONCO MENDENHALL

“I believe we played consistently for four quarters. We had a great chance for young players to play and they handled their assignments well. They executed at a high level. Our team prepared well this past week at practice. It’s a unique challenge playing an FCS team this time of season. It showed maturity from our team and is a real step forward in my opinion. Other than that, it came the way I would have hoped. Scored on offense and defense.”

“We had an opportunity to give [Jake Heaps] some playing time. He throws the ball well and plays aggressively with the football. It was fun to see him smiling, that’s a good thing.”

“It’s always good for defensive players to be on edge. That particular play I didn’t see. I apologized and I didn’t ask Kyle to but I saw him after. Clearly their coach wouldn’t have reacted that way if it wasn’t a penalty. Some of best teams are most penalized on defense.”

“If you look at Kyle’s production this entire year starting against Ole Miss, what game hasn’t he contributed too? The guy makes a lot of football plays. He has a high football IQ. He loves it and is very intuitive. Sometimes he’s outside his assignment but it’s because he knows where the ball is.”

“We were hopeful to get Jake some scoring drives then to just make runs. Run it, run it, run it, run it. And then play action when you need it. There were to be no passes beyond pass six-minute mark.”

“I think [Riley] has played about how he has the past couple weeks. He throws the ball well especially well on time and those possession throws he’s exceptional at. When you get him moving that is when bigger players open up and happen. With that, it changes the defensive mindset. You have one more player to defend. And you just don’t have enough guys. He has the ability to create that; it’s inherent to who he is.”

“This team is working hard to improve and it showed in the game but it showed more to me as coach in day-to-day practice this week.”

“To have more smiles from scout players and to have players able to play in Lavell Edwards stadium was great. It was maybe the happiest I’ve seen our locker room in awhile from collective standpoint.”

“What will happen now is whenever I’m done with this press conference, the coaches will go back right now and get the work we do on Monday’s done. We’ll try to get that done so Monday will become a Tuesday.”

“[Cody Hoffman] is so consistent. He has such size and range and uses his body so well. If Riley puts it anywhere close to him he has a knack for getting the football. Cody has become the ‘go-to-guy’ because he’s making big plays in critical situations.”

“We’ve won two, [TCU] has won four. The past couple games haven’t been as competitive as I would have liked. The focus will be on TCU. I want our team to get better. This will be a great chance to see that.”
 

IDAHO STATE HEAD COACH MIKE KRAMER

“Great demonstration by BYU where they are at in their program.  They’ve grown a lot in the last three weeks. They started out of the gate and they didn’t play as effective in their first five games. Now they are a much different and much improved team and they showed it today."

“They are resilient on defense. They weathered a storm of a pretty good offensive performance by us early to hold us out of the end zone. Offensively, when you score on the first play of the game it bodes well. We were a little worn out defensively, but nice job by BYU. My hat is off to Bronco Mendenhall and his staff."

“It was 56-3 but there was a lot of growth. We lost our guys a bit in the second quarter, but we talked to our guys at halftime. I like what I saw in the second half. I’m proud of our effort. I liked how we continued to fight, especially in the second half. I challenge the kids at halftime and said we wanted to see better play in the second half."

“We have three winnable games left. We’ll get back on the bus and go up to Pocatello and see what we can get done.”

“I thought Kevin [Yost] played well at times. He absorbs sacks. He doesn’t take sacks. The coverage was good but the protection was even better. BYU rushes hard off the corners. We take too many negative plays on offense and we shouldn’t. We’ll keep working with Kevin on that. It’s about developing him and teaching him how we play the quarterback position at Idaho State.”

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