Friday night college football: BYU bests Boise State

The Cougars dominated the first half, forcing Boise to turn it over on downs on the first drive of the game. The Cougars responded with a missed field goal, but they took a 10-0 lead after forcing three-and-outs on the Broncos’ next two drives.

By the end of the first half, the Cougars had built a 21-3 lead. Boise had made a field goal, committed two turnovers on downs, punted twice and fumbled once.

BYU dominated both sides of the ball. Taysom Hill got things rolling with a 20-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter and the team never looked back. With the score 17-3 late in the first half, it seemed Boise State was putting together a scoring drive to get some momentum on its side before the break. Instead, a costly fumble around midfield gave the Cougars the ball once again. BYU answered about 60 seconds later with yet another touchdown, and the game was essentially over after that.

The game did get somewhat interesting five minutes into the fourth quarter when Boise State cut the lead to 34-20, but the Cougars came right back down and drilled another field goal to take a three-possession lead with just seven minutes remaining.

Taysom Hill has been unstoppable thus far, completing 21-of-28 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns. He’s also carried the ball eight times for 53 yards and a touchdown. Unless Boise State can figure out a new game plan in a hurry to keep Hill in check, it’s going to be a long night for Chris Petersen’s boys.

As a team, BYU racked up 376 yards of total offense. Hill connected with nine different receivers for pass completions, and the Cougars are averaging more than five yards per carry.