BYU football’s experience sets tone early as Cougars explode past South Florida
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- BYU senior Kaleb Hayes sings the Cougar fight song with his teammates after the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU junior wide receiver Puka Nacua scores a touchdown during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU players take the field before the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU junior linebacker Max Tooley celebrates after making an interception and scoring a touchdown during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU players watch something on a phone during the lightning delay before the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU defenders make a tackle during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU junior wide receiver Puka Nacua pumps up his teammates before the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU fans cheer on their team during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU junior quarterback Jaren Hall throws a pass during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU defenders make a tackle during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU senior running back Chris Brooks salutes toward the crowd after scoring a touchdown during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU defenders line up for a play during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU senior running back Lopini Katoa runs the ball up the field during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU football players watch the rain fall during the lightning delay before the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU junior linebacker Max Tooley celebrates with his teammates after making an interception and scoring a touchdown during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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- BYU junior wide receiver Puka Nacua runs the ball up the field during the game against South Florida played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
One of the most difficult qualities to identify in a college football team is its mental toughness.
Saturday night’s season-opener for the BYU football against South Florida at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa appeared like it would be a good gauge of just where the Cougars stood in that vital characteristic.
Not only was BYU on the road in a hostile environment that featured a two-time-zone trip and high heat and humidity, the Cougars also had to deal with a two-and-a-half hour lightning delay.
When both teams were finally allowed to return to the field for a post-delay warmup, many of announced 31,521 in attendance observed that the Bulls appeared to be more amped to get the game going.
With all the potential worries and concerns, it was easy to overlook that this BYU squad has an enormous amount of experience.
But it quickly became apparent would be the clear difference in the game.
The Cougars looked poised, confident and explosive from the start, exploding to a 38-0 lead and cruising to the 50-21 win over South Florida.
“It was a great game and I was proud of our guys for handling the delay,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “The boys did a good job responding. We were ready for anything, for the heat, for the 4 p.m. kickoff, everything. When we came into the delay, it was cool to have our trainers, our sports medicine department, our sports scientists and our strength coaches all work together to collaborate on what was the best approach. South Florida had to go through the same delay. Obviously I’m just happy it was a win.”
Cougar junior quarterback Jaren Hall said that the team never let the circumstances get to them in any way.
“We didn’t stress too much,” Hall said. “We didn’t press ourselves to stay fired up but we understood the situation. We had some time, so we laid back and relaxed a little bit, watched some college football, which allowed us to stay tied in to the game. We wanted to make sure we stayed loose and relaxed.”
BYU junior linebacker Max Tooley said that while there were younger players who hadn’t been through such a delay before, they had plenty of veteran examples to look to in how to handle it.
“We’ve been through some games where we have been delayed,” Tooley said. “That helped us to stay focused and keep us hyped up without overdoing it. We had some good energy in the locker room during the delay and it carried over into the game.”
It would’ve been hard to imagine a better start for BYU than the one the Cougars were able to put together in the first quarter, with the possible exception of losing the coin toss.
Since the Bulls deferred to the second half, BYU chose to get the ball first and made the most of it.
After a touchback on the kickoff, the Cougars elected to run a jet sweep with junior wide receiver Puka Nacua. He took the ball, burst past a couple of excellent blocks and eluded the rest of the defense as he ran 75 yards for a touchdown.
“Puka just did his thing,” BYU junior running back Lopini Katoa said. “It was a great call to start the game because they like to bring pressure and this made them pay for it. There is no better way to start the season. Momentum is a huge thing in college football and we had a ton of it in the first half.”
The Cougar defense came out inspired by the big play and immediately shut down the South Florida offense, forcing a punt.
BYU wasn’t able to quite match the speed of the first score but still put together a 10-play drive with Nacua scoring on another jet sweep, this one from just five yards out.
Then it was time for Tooley to join the scoring party.
After the Bulls got a first down, Tooley watched a swing pass play develop and made an instinctive decision.
“All their receivers were on the field side, so when I saw my guy in the backfield come on the swing route, I committed to it,” Tooley said. “I saw the ball was available, I knew I had to capitalize on that. I feel like in camp I missed a couple of passes that could’ve been interceptions, so I’ve kind of been dreading that. But I said to myself this whole week that if it was in my hands, there was no way I was going to drop it.”
He snagged the ball cleanly and had nothing but green turf between him and the end zone. He easily covered the 33 yards for the pick-6 and the BYU rout was on.
“I hadn’t had a pick-6 since high school and I had been wanting to get one,” Tooley said. “It was just up there for me to take.”
The Cougars would add a 21-yard TD pass from Hall to wide receiver Keanu Hill, a 13-yard scoring connection between Hill and junior tight end Dallin Holker, and a 39-yard field goal from junior kicker Jake Oldroyd to push the lead to 38-0 late in the first half.
That was when South Florida showed some heart, taking advantage of a 50-yard pass play to get a 1-yard plunge by senior running back Jaren Mangham to get on the board right before halftime.
The Bulls then one-upped the Cougars on the opening kickoff of the second half as sophomore Jimmy Horn Jr. took the ball at the 11-yard line and found a gap to his right. He made the BYU coverage team miss tackles and went 89 yards for the score.
It appeared the momentum might have shifted even more in favor of the home team when Hall misread a pass from the 18-yard line and had it intercepted in the end zone by USF senior safety Mekhi LaPointe.
But the BYU defense shut down the Bull offense and on the ensuing punt attempt, the ball was snapped over the punter’s head for a safety.
Cougar senior running back Chris Brooks burst through the line for a 52-yard scoring run, then Oldroyd added another field goal while South Florida got one more TD to complete the scoring.
Although the 50-point explosion was the most second-most points BYU has scored in an opener in the last 20 years (the most being the 55 the Cougars scored at Navy in 2020), Sitake and the players were quick to point out they feel like they can be better.
“We know how good we are and we know who we can be,” Katoa said. “I was talking to a lot of the guys in the locker room and a lot of them are actually unsatisfied because they know we could’ve done better. We know we have a lot of tough opponents ahead of us. I loved hearing that because when you are hungry after winning big like that, it’s a good sign.”
BYU will get its next chance to make a statement when it hosts nationally-ranked Baylor in the home opener at LaVell EdWards Stadium on Sept. 10.
