BYU fell short of its goal to remain undefeated all-time against the Texas Longhorns, losing 17-16 in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.
Similar to the Cougars’ opener last week against Ole Miss, this game was decided by just one point, only this week the Cougars were on the losing side of that decision.
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Tale of two halves
The Cougars started the game in a dominant fashion by outscoring their opponents 13-3 and racking up 92 more yards than Texas in the first half.
Longhorn quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw two interceptions, while BYU kicked two field goals and scored one touchdown in the half.
However, Texas came out re-energized in the second half — its defense held BYU to just one field goal and a total of 67 yards. The Longhorns offense accumulated 201 yards in the last two quarters, which led to two rushing touchdowns to win the game.
New faces
Texas welcomed a pair of players to the field on Saturday after they missed the Longhorns’ first game of the year, including sophomore defensive tackle Ashton Dorsey. Dorsey missed the Longhorns’ game against Rice because of a team suspension.
The Longhorns also brought back Marquise Goodwin, a junior wide receiver who was scheduled to redshirt this year. Also a kick returner, Goodwin has been competing with the school’s track and field team in South Korea. He decided just this week to return to the football team to play out his junior year.
QB quandary
Texas featured three different quarterbacks in the game. The starting QB, Gilbert, was taken out in the first half after throwing his two interceptions, one to Daniel Sorensen and another to Travis Uale.
Freshman David Ash spent some time under center, by throwing the ball three times as well as gathering 36 yards on the ground.
Case McCoy, a sophomore quarterback, also appeared in the game. McCoy saw significant playing time in the second half and led the team in completing seven passes for 57 total yards.
Case is the younger brother of Texas great Colt McCoy, who is now the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.
Side notes
Linebacker Brandon Ogletree sat out because of a concussion he suffered against Ole Miss. Sophomore Spencer Hadley started in his place and led the team with 12 tackles. … Up until the loss against Texas, Jake Heaps had finished his last six games — dating back to UNLV of 2010 — with at least 200 passing yards. Heaps fell just eight yards short of increasing the steak to seven games. … The Cougars played in front of a record-high 100,955 fans who were in attendance at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
