By Creighton McEwen
The BYU football team failed to show up during the first half of its game against Colorado State on Thursday night, Oct. 9, as the Rams were firing on all cylinders while the Cougars didn”t know what a cylinder was in a 58-13 loss.
CSU scored six touchdowns in the first half, three by passing, one by rushing and one on defense. The Cougars could only get in the end zone one of the three times they took the ball inside the 10-yard line. Failing to capitalize gave BYU just 13 first-half points with two field goals by junior kicker Matt Payne.
The melee began as CSU quickly found itself up by 14 points halfway through the first quarter after the Cougars failed to move the ball at all during their first two possessions.
Payne”s first field goal, from 24 yards, came on the next possession after three failed attempts to get into the end zone from the 10-yard line.
The Rams responded quickly when scoring their third touchdown of the first quarter on a 59-yard pass from Bradlee Van Pelt to Matt Bartz, just over one minute later.
The first quarter ended with CSU leading 21-3.
The score could have gotten worse had CSU not fumbled the ball into the end zone after the Rams intercepted one of freshman John Beck”s passes.
The Cougars scored their only touchdown of the half after CSU fumbled a punt return inside the 10-yard line. One play later, Beck connected with senior tight end Justin Jory for a nine-yard touchdown pass.
CSU continued to pile it on as the Cougars fumbled the ball two times, and the Rams went on to score three more touchdowns in the second quarter, two within 55 seconds.
Van Pelt completed eight of his 11 pass attempts for 192 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, with the majority of the numbers coming in the first half.
The half ended with the score in favor of Colorado State 41-13. The 41 points are the most BYU has ever allowed in one half at home.
Colorado State”s first drive of the second half lasted almost eight minutes, capped off by another touchdown run by Marcus Houston, his third of the game.
After another uneventful and unsuccessful Cougar drive and just before the end of the third quarter, the Rams held the ball for another three and a half minutes before Jeff Babcock kicked a 38-yard field goal.
The Cougars amassed just six total yards in the third quarter.
Junior Todd Mortensen played the entire fourth quarter. Beck finished with 136 yards passing off 10 for 23 passing with one touchdown and one interception.
The Rams tried to run the clock out to finish the game, but Bronco”s boys allowed one last touchdown with nine minutes remaining in the game.
BYU failed to move the ball, let alone score, in the second half. Colorado State”s 58 points are the most BYU has ever allowed at home, and the 45-point loss is the Cougars” worst in more than 50 years.
