Texas vs BYU – How the Cougars did on Saturday

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After hammering New Mexico State 56-7 on Saturday night with an explosive second half, the Longhorns hit the road to face the Cougars of BYU on Saturday.  How did the boys from Provo do on the road yesterday at Virginia?

The honest answer…not so well.

The game was delayed for two hours by a monsoon, but a late touchdown gave the Cavaliers a 19-16 win over the Cougars.  One only needs to look at the statistical line from the game to see it was a very rough outing for BYU QB Taysom Hill.  The 6-2 Sophomore went 13-40 for 175 yards 1 TD and 1 INT. Hill did rush for 42 yards and 1 score, but was also sacked three times. Hill also had an awful moment late in the third quarter where he lost a high, but catchable shotgun snap, then tried to pick the ball up and run instead of just falling on it near his own endzone.  The play resulted resulted in a safety.

Cougar RB Jamaal Williams was a bright spot with 114 yards on 33 carries and 2 receptions for 25 yards. For those of you wondering, yes, Ross Apo is still at BYU, and had 2 receptions for 59 yards, but Senior WR Cody Hoffman, a badly needed piece for the offense, missed the game with a hamstring injury. Not sure of his status for this weekend, but it would be a blow for the Cougars to not have him available.

The Cougars also had a punt blocked, but the BYU defense did all it could, holding the Cavaliers to just 223 total yards in the game. Virginia rushed for just 2.6 yards per carry and didn’t have success in the air either. Even with the Cougars camp losses on the defense, they still had their team in the contest.

The worst news for the Cougars was ferocious LB Uani Unga was hospitalized last night with potentially broken ribs. Even if they aren’t, it’s doubtful the Cougars will have their best defender available for the game to face off against the deep stable of Texas running backs.

The Cougars had as many highs as they did lows in the game, but honestly look like a team with a top 25 defense and a bottom 40 offense. That said, they will be ready to rock at home on Saturday.  We’ll have more news, notes, and coverage all week long here at Horn Sports.