Boise, Idaho • It nearly didn’t happen. After the lead bounced back and forth late into the fourth quarter, BYU had a fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line. After a day of self-inflicted mistakes that backed BYU into a corner, this was its last chance.
And after a timeout, quarterback Jaren Hall gave his best player a 50-50 ball. Puka Nacua, spinning in the end zone as he tracked a bobbling pass, got a foot inbounds for a touchdown.
With 1:46 left, BYU took a final 31-28 lead. A four-game losing streak was snapped and BYU escaped.
“I see growth and I see progress,” a relieved Kalani Sitake said. “Regardless of the results, I have to find ways for us to improve. And I think we have improved. Sometimes success can mask some deficiencies and I think we are on our way to fixing that. … Just happy that we got the win.”
It wasn’t a win that came easy, even if the game played out exactly how BYU would have drawn it up.
The offense stayed on the field and drained the clock. The defense used the extra rest to get stops. In the first half alone, BYU picked up 16 first downs to Boise State’s three. Overall, it outgained Boise State 532-324.
Hall finished 29 of 42 for 377 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Nacua ended with 14 catches for 157 yards and two scores.
But four errors nearly cost BYU the game — recurring errors too that have plagued this team for weeks.
The first came on a failed fourth-down attempt at the 33-yard line in the first quarter. BYU couldn’t pick up a short yardage situation, ending in an eventual Bronco touchdown. It wiped away all of the Cougars’ progress and tied the game at seven.
The second quarter was dominated by two Jaren Hall interceptions that also erased long drives. The first half ended with BYU being stopped at the 1-yard line on a Lopini Katoa carry. The play, with only one camera angle, could hardly be reviewed to see if Katoa got in.
“Maybe we should have a camera on the goal line at every game,” Sitake said after. “That would be really helpful. But from what [the officials] are seeing, they are just calling it like they see it. And that is OK.”
All the missed opportunities nearly resulted in Boise State outlasting a tired BYU defense as the game droned on.
BYU briefly held the lead twice in the second, once on a 24-yard touchdown by Puka Nacua and again on a 48-yard touchdown from Hinkley Ropati, but the defense couldn’t support the lead. Without depth, Boise State returned the scores each time until a final spot where Jakob Robinson.
Ropati ended with 110 all-purpose yards, the most in his career.
