1 / 8

BYU senior running back Chris Brooks runs through a hole during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

2 / 8

BYU junior running back Hinckley Ropati hurdles a pile of players during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

3 / 8

BYU junior quarterback Jaren Hall runs up the field during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

4 / 8

BYU sophomore defensive back Gabe Jeudy-Lally celebrates after helping out on a sack during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

5 / 8

BYU junior wide receiver Puka Nacua scores a touchdown during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

6 / 8

BYU sophomore tight end Isaac Rex celebrates scoring a touchdown during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

7 / 8

BYU defenders make a tackle during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

8 / 8

BYU sophomore defensive back Gabe Jeudy-Lally knocks a pass away during the game against Stanford at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

❮ ❯

How good was the BYU football run game Saturday night at Stanford?

This is the stat that best provides the answer: The Cougars only threw the ball 12 times in the entire game — and only twice in the second half.

It certainly didn’t make sense to toss the ball around when the BYU offensive line was bulldozing the banged-up Cardinal defense and Cougar runners were gaining more than seven yards per carry.

Led by BYU senior running back Chris Brooks, the Cougars ended up with a season-high 358 yards rushing yards on 50 carries as they simply overpowered Stanford on their way to the 35-26 win to close out the regular season.

“It was a good win,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I challenged the guys to do something that hasn’t been done yet (beat Stanford), so it felt good to come here and get a win. The guys executed the game plan. It felt like we could run away with it but they did a good job coming back.”

Brooks — who has been limited in 2022 due to injuries — finished with 164 yards on 23 carries. It was the second-best game of his career (he rushed for 197 yards against UC Davis in 2019.

It was also the second consecutive year Brooks had a big game against the Cardinal as he rushed for 131 yards on 13 carries when he played for Cal in the 41-11 Bear win over Stanford in 2021.

“(Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick) and the other guys on the offensive staff felt very good about the run game, so they just wanted to keep going to that,” Sitake said. “I thought Chris ran really physically last week. I think with the injury and being out, I think he’s taking out his anger on the field. I’m really good with that. I thought he played physical, put his head down and ran some people over.”

Brooks and BYU set the tone early in the game as the Cougars needed just seven plays to get in the end zone. Brooks had two carries for 32 yards on the drive, then was the decoy as BYU junior quarterback Jaren Hall kept the ball and went 19 yards for the score.

Although Stanford senior quarterback Tanner McKee led his team back down the field to answer with a field goal, that would be as close as the Cardinal would get.

The Cougars got into the end zone on all four first-half possessions to take control of the game.

BYU extended the lead on an explosive 43-yard sprint from junior running back Hinckley Ropati, then tacked on a pair of touchdown passes from Hall to sophomore tight end Isaac Rex.

The first came on a double-reverse flea-flicker as Hall handed the ball to Brooks, who handed it to wide receiver Keanu Hill, who then pitched it back to Hall.

The Cougar signal-caller immediately lofted a pass to Rex who was running by himself down the near sideline. Rex made a defender miss, then barreled into the end zone for a 43-yard TD.

The other scoring pass came on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line after a couple of quarterback runs by Hall had been stuffed by the Stanford defense.

BYU had attempted a wildcat run by junior wide receiver Puka Nacua, but the snap was off and the play was a disaster. Fortunately for the Cougars, the Cardinal were offsides, allowing BYU to replay the down.

On their second attempt, Hall rolled right and tossed a strike to Rex, who used his 6-foot-6 frame to easily pull down the high pass for the 1-yard touchdown.

That score gave the Cougars a 28-9 lead late in the first half, but a series of BYU blunders allowed Stanford to make things interesting late in the game.

First, the Cougars allowed the Cardinal to get in field goal range with one second on the clock, then took a timeout when the clock might have expired.

Stanford junior kicker Joshua Karty — who had previously made a 34-yard field goal but missed an extra point for the first time in his career — drilled the 54-yarder to make the score 28-12 at halftime.

BYU had a chance to extend the lead in the third quarter after seven runs and one pass had put the Cougars in a third-and-1 at the Cardinal 21-yard line.

Instead of simply giving the ball to Brooks or even Ropati (who finished the game with 85 yards on nine carries) to power up the middle and get the necessary yardage, BYU inexplicably ran two straight carries to the edge by Hall.

It wasn’t that Hall struggled to run the ball (he had 11 carries for 69 yards) but both plays gave the Stanford defense plenty of time to react and get to Hall before he could get the necessary yardage. Hall hurt his ankle on the second play and did not return to the game.

“I think Jaren will be fine for the bowl game,” Sitake said. “I think it was going to be difficult for him to function at a high level if he had come back, so we made the decision to keep him out.”

But the Cougar defense got a stop of its own after the turnover on downs and BYU simply let the run game take care of business early in the fourth quarter.

Brooks and Ropati ran the ball nine straight times for 62 total yards before the Cougars reached in the their bags of tricks again.

BYU sophomore quarterback Jacob Conover started to the left with a running back behind him, then pitched the ball to Nacua on a reverse the other direction.

Nacua went almost the entire 25 yards to the end zone untouched and the 35-12 Cougar lead seemed like it would be enough.

But this was Stanford’s final game and the Cardinal weren’t going down without a fight.

“They obviously wanted to win this game,” Sitake said. “Knowing they aren’t going to a bowl, I thought they put everything they could into this game. We weren’t able to be dominant on the defensive side. We just didn’t get enough disruption in the backfield.”

McKee led two straight TD drives, with freshman quarterback Ashton Daniels powering in on a QB sneak from a yard out and the McKee hit senior wide receiver Brycen Tremayne for an 8-yard score.

Since Stanford had converted a two-point conversion after the first score, the Cardinal just needed the extra point to cut BYU’s lead to eight points.

But the Cougars got a break when the snap on the PAT was high and the kick was never even attempted, allowing BYU to stay ahead by two scores.

Brooks, Nacua and Ropati then combined to gain a couple of first downs and allow the Cougars to run out the clock for the win.

BYU ends the regular season with a record of 7-5 and now waits to find out its bowl destination and opponent.

“I’m looking forward to bowl prep,” Sitake said. “The destination and opponent aren’t really that important to me. It’s extending the season and having the practices, which will be big for our program and the development of the young guys.”

Newsletter