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BYU linebacker Max Tooley makes a tackle during the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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A BYU defender tries to make a tackle during the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU fans high five Cougar players after the 41-20 BYU loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU head coach Kalani Sitake waves to the Cougar fans after the 41-20 BYU loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU safety Ethan Slade makes a tackle during the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU tight end Isaac Rex scores a touchdown during the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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A BYU player makes a tackle during the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU players celebrate with linebacker Ben Bywater (2) after he made an interception during the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU players run onto the field before the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU wide receiver Kody Epps catches a touchdown pass during the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

❮ ❯

Far too little, far too late.

Those are about the only words to describe how the No. 12-ranked BYU football team played in Saturday’s big game against No. 25 Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, getting outplayed in all phases of the game. The Ducks built a big lead and then held the Cougars at bay down the stretch to get the 41-20 win.

Why was BYU so bad?

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

Was it missing a number of starters due to injuries?

Was it facing the pressure of a big national ranking and a truly hostile environment?

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

“It was obviously not the result that we were looking for but you have to give a lot of credit to Oregon,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “They showed up ready to play, more ready than we did especially at the beginning. I didn’t have this team ready so that’s on me. We’ve got to figure out how to start better and faster. It seemed like we just dug ourselves too much of a hole to climb out. The players they played their hearts out but we’ve got to find ways to take advantage of mismatches on our end and find a way to have better production on the field. And that’s in all three phases.”

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

The message was sent early in the game after BYU got 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 gain just four yards and BYU turned the ball over on downs.

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

Oregon needed just four plays to seize control, getting a 26-yard gain off a short pass and a 36-yard run before Duck quarterback Bo Nix dove in from two yards out to make the score 7-0.

BYU went three-and-out on its next possession and then hurt itself more by hitting the Oregon punt returner after he had waved for a fair catch, resulting in a personal foul.

The Cougar defense bent but didn’t break on the ensuing Duck drive and held Oregon to a field goal.

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

But that would be as close as BYU would get as it was the home team that made almost all the big plays the rest of the way.

The Ducks scored another touchdown but the Cougars drove back into Oregon territory, trying to keep pace.

An incomplete pass on third down resulted in BYU kicker Jake Oldroyd attempting a 38-yard field goal, only to see it sail wide right.

Oregon then capitalized on two fourth-down conversion attempts as it killed the rest of the second quarter, scoring on a 15-yard pass from Nix to tight end Terrance Ferguson with under 30 seconds left in the half.

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

The Cougars ineptness was on full display on the next drive as a running play on a fourth-and-1 from its own 36-yard line was poorly blocked and stuffed by Oregon, giving the Ducks another short field.

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

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

The interception set BYU up at the Duck 25-yard line and four plays later Cougar running back Christopher Brooks walked in from two yards out with more than 10 minutes left to give BYU fans just the faintest hope of a miracle.

Sitake said the thought on the sideline was that if the defense could get a stop, they could go for the onside kick later in the game.

“It was a three-score game,” Sitake said. “They just just took the time off the clock. It’s what we did a lot last year. We thought we could switch some things and maybe get a spark going but towards the end of the game it was just doing whatever we could to salvage things and get the guys playing their assignments on offense and defense.”

But the Oregon running game squashed those plans quickly, grinding out a long drive that resulted in one last field goal and killed most of the clock to secure the Duck victory.

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

“We just couldn’t get off the field because we couldn’t do much to them as far as stopping the run,” Sitake said. “We were down a couple guys on defense, but that’s all right. We feel like we have some great depth. They just couldn’t settle in. Guys made a lot of mistakes.”

Part of that was because BYU was trying to come from behind, which often results in more pass plays.

“It’s pretty tough because then you have to go into different play calls that are trying to get bigger chunks of yards,” Epps said. “I’m not in the coaches’ minds. I just go out there and do what they ask me to do. But from a player’s perspective, it’s pretty tough because the defense can sag off just a tad bit more because they know you’re fighting for more than you would usually be doing.”

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

“I’m proud of my guys for how we fought towards the end but obviously you’ve got to get stops at the beginning of the game,” Bywater said. “They came out hot, running down our throats. No excuses. It’s just something we’ve got to work on. We’ll be back to the drawing board and figure it out.”

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

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