BYU football notebook: win streak reaches 4

The BYU football team increased its win streak to four games when the Cougars defeated the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday night, 38-28. The two teams entered  halftime tied at 14 but BYU outscored Oregon State 24-14 in the second half.

Riley, Riley, Riley

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Junior quarterback Riley Nelson led the team to an effective offensive performance, tallying 499 yards total offense. The Cougars converted 11-of-14 third downs and only punted the ball one time. Nelson completed 17-of-27 passes for 217 yards and was the leading rusher for the team, as he picked up 87 yards on the ground. He also threw three touchdown passes to three different players.

Hoff show

Sophomore wide receiver Cody Hoffman, who was recruited by Oregon State, caught nine passes and finished with 162 receiving yards, both career-highs for the sophomore from California. He pulled in more passes than the rest of the team combined. Hoffman had two long catches to help move the Cougars up the field, including a 46-yard deep bomb from Nelson.

First-timers

Sophomores J.D. Falslev and Kaneakua Friel caught their first career touchdown passes, both coming in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Cougars.

Stuffing the run

The Cougar defense continued its dominance as it held the Beavers to just 59 yards rushing for the entire game. Junior defensive back Preston Hadley led the team with 11 total tackles. Linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Brandon Ogletree each intercepted Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion to terminate drives by the Beavers. Ogletree also forced two fumbles as a part of the Beavers’ four total turnovers in the game.

Mendenhall returns

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall returned to his alma mater for the first time since his coaching days at Oregon State. Mendenhall played for two years as a Beaver and coached there briefly before moving on to New Mexico and eventually BYU.