Friday night college football: Utah State, BYU cruise on Friday night

Not a whole lot went right for the Spartans early, and a last-second field goal attempt that would’ve cut the deficit to 14 points went wide right. Quarterback David Fales has been unable to find the end zone and threw a costly interception deep in his own territory. SJSU’s ground game has been nonexistent; as a team, they carried the football just 11 times for 39 yards.

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BYU quarterback Taysom Hill has run all over Middle Tennessee’s defense so far. The Cougars took an early 7-3 lead on a 12-yard touchdown rush from Hill, and then went ahead once again, 16-10, in the second quarter on a 50-yard Hill scamper to the end zone.

Even though the Cougars lead by 13, the game could essentially be over if they just took better care of the football. Two costly fumbles in the red zone prevented BYU from blowing the game wide open in the second quarter. They clearly looked like the more complete team in the first half, and unless MTSU makes some changes in a hurry, this one will likely be over midway through the second half.

San Jose State answered on its first possession with a 31-yard field goal off the foot of Austin Lopez. Even with the field goal, USU’s defense had to be feeling good about coming away with a stop in the red zone to halt a 14-play drive that spanned nearly 70 yards.

In addition to the two passing touchdowns, Keeton has also rushed for 34 yards on six carries. He’s doing a little bit of everything for Utah State tonight, and SJSU will have to make adjustments in a hurry if it hopes to stay in the game much longer.

Thursday evening, rumors regarding Hoffman’s suspension began flying around, including some on the Internet claiming to have inside sources on the matter.

While the Cougars’ offense is definitely run-oriented, Hoffman has contributed to the passing game as BYU’s best receiver. He missed the season-opening loss at Virginia, and in two games has compiled 10 receptions for 171 yards. Look for BYU to run the ball even more than usual on Friday night, and when quarterback Taysom Hill drops back in the pocket, he may target slot receiver JD Falslev early and often.

Despite a 1-2 record, San Jose State has shown little signs of slowing down from its 11-2 campaign in 2012 even without former head coach Mike MacIntyre (hired away by Colorado). After a 24-0 opening win over Sacramento State, the Spartans hung around with Stanford, trailing by just two touchdowns heading into the fourth before falling 34-13. In their third game, San Jose State trailed Minnesota by just three points at halftime, and ended up losing 43-24.

Rankings and records: Utah State is 2-2, and San Jose State is 1-2. The Aggies are 1-0 in conference play, while this is the Spartans’ conference opener. San Jose State holds a 20-14-1 lead in the all-time series, but Utah State has won the last four contests between the two schools.

BYU caught national attention with a record-breaking win over Texas in Week 2, but remains winless otherwise thanks to close losses to Virginia and Utah. They host their first non-AQ opponent of the year Friday when they play Middle Tennessee State in Provo. Television coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

The Cougars started the year out with a 19-16 loss on the road to Virginia in harsh weather conditions and responded with a program-record 550 rushing yards in a 40-21 home win against Texas, a game that caused the Longhorns to fire defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. Two weeks later, BYU lost 20-13 in the Holy War at home against Utah. Despite the two losses, Cougar fans aren’t panicking yet.