Too much Texas: BYU football fails to capitalize in loss at No. 7 Texas
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- BYU senior quarterback Kedon Slovis throws the ball while being pressured during the Big 12 game against Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU running back Aidan Robbins carries the ball during the Big 12 game against Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU senior linebacker AJ Vongphachanh pursues Texas running back Jonathon Smith during the Big 12 game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU defenders knock the ball away from Texas sophomore Xavier Worthy during the Big 12 game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU senior quarterback Kedon Slovis hands the ball off to junior running back Aidan Robbins during the Big 12 game against Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU senior linebacker AJ Vongphachanh pressures Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy during the Big 12 game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU senior quarterback Kedon Slovis gets hit during the Big 12 game against Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU junior running back Aidan Robbins carries the ball during the Big 12 game against Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
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- BYU senior linebacker AJ Vongphachanh pursues Texas running back Jonathon Smith during the Big 12 game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
The axiom that football is a game of inches is often inaccurate, particularly in a game where one team defeats the other by 29 points.
But in the case of the BYU football team in their matchup against No. 7 Texas at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, that axiom was much more accurate than the 35-6 Longhorn win that the scoreboard indicated.
That’s because midway through the fourth quarter, the Cougars trailed Texas by 15 points and had the ball.
On a third-and-6 from the BYU 32-yard line, Cougar senior quarterback Kedon Slovis dropped back and spotted senior wide receiver Darius Lassiter coming open over the middle 20 yards down the field.
Slovis set his feet and fired, only to see the ball sail just an inch or two too high. Lassiter leapt high but could only get his fingertips on it.
If that pass had been completed, BYU was looking at a fresh set of down in Texas territory with a chance to go in and make it a one-possession game.
Instead, the ball that was just slightly off-target bounced right to Texas sophomore safety Michael Taaffe for an interception. He then returned it to the BYU 8-yard line.
“I’ve got to give him a better chance,” Slovis said. “It’s one of those where you want to give our guy a chance, but I’ve got to miss lower. That way it doesn’t pop up and lead to the interception that put them in scoring position. It’s tough. It’s the game of football. You always love this game but sometimes it’s frustrating, especially after a game like this where if a handful of plays go differently, we’re in the game and have a chance to keep it close to the end.”
The Longhorns had a false start penalty push the ball back, but freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy hit junior wide receiver Adonai Mitchell on a slant route for the 13-yard TD that put the game out of reach.
“Obviously this was not the outcome that we wanted,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “The thing that stands out to me is the missed opportunities that we had in all three phases and the inability for us to weather some things and then also to take advantage of opportunities that we had.”
The main reason the Cougars stayed within striking distance was because of some key defensive stops that prevented the Longhorns from pulling away.
The BYU defense stymied the Texas three times inside its own 10-yard line.
On the first play of the second quarter, Cougar junior defensive end Isaiah Bagnah burst through on a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line to hit Murphy and knock the ball free, then recovered the fumble.
Late in the third quarter, BYU stopped Longhorn junior tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders a yard short of the goal line on a fourth-down pass to get the ball back.
The Cougar defense then stuffed Texas sophomore running back for a loss on a fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line to force a second turnover on downs.
“It’s huge as a defense,” BYU sophomore Crew Wakely said. “That’s really what you’ve got to hang your hat on, third and fourth downs. We need to be better on third downs but anytime someone tries to go for it on fourth down and we stop them, that’s exciting for us because that means that they aren’t getting points or that’s a turnover for us. That’s something we take pride in.”
The problem, however, was that the Cougars were already behind and BYU couldn’t turn those into points.
It was another poor start on the road for the Cougars, this time courtesy of a special-teams gaff.
BYU junior punter Ryan Rehkow boomed a 57-yard punt after the Cougars went three-and-out on their first drive. Texas sophomore Xavier Worthy collected the ball, dodged the BYU gunner and found an open lane. He went 74 yards untouched to the end zone to give the Longhorns the 7-0 lead.
The Cougar defense gave BYU a chance to tie the game when senior linebacker AJ Vongphachanh forced Murphy into a bad pass and Cougar sophomore defensive back Crew Wakely intercepted it.
Wakely returned it clear to the Longhorn 10-yard line, but the Cougars were flagged for a blindside block on the return (one that appeared to happen behind the play) that cost BYU 45 yards.
“We are taught that if you are behind the play, don’t hit anyone,” Wakely said. “I didn’t see what happened but I couldn’t control that.”
The Cougars got a first down, but then Slovis had his pass tipped at the line of scrimmage and it went right to Texas sophomore cornerback Terrence Brooks.
He returned it to the BYU 26-yard line (no penalties) and the Longhorns turned the good field position into a four-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Jonathon Brooks.
Bad starts on the road have plagued the Cougars this season and again falling behind by two scores was a hole the BYU couldn’t climb out of.
BYU did edge closer with a long drive midway through the second quarter, but Slovis’s jump on third down came up two yards short of the goal line and the Cougars settled for a field goal.
It looked like BYU had a chance to end the half down by 11 points, but a nice double move by Texas junior wide receiver Adonai Mitchell allowed him to get behind the Cougar defense for a 30-yard TD reception on a third-and-8 play.
The Cougars used a big 46-yard catch by Lassiter to again get inside the Texas red zone, but once again couldn’t keep the momentum and had to settle for a second field goal.
That set the stage for the fourth-quarter plays that allowed the Longhorns to extend the lead and get the comfortable win.
Sitake emphasized that while there were many things he wanted his team to do better, the credit should go to Texas.
“Sark (Longhorn head coach Steve Sarkisian) and his staff did a great job,” Sitake said. “That’s a great team. There’s a reason why they’re still in the playoff contention talk. And they deserve to be in that conversation. When you are playing against great teams, you can’t make the amount of space that we made and hope to get a victory.”
