The seniors of BYU led the Cougars to a 52-10 victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
BYU finished its football season undefeated at home. The Cougars were perfect in the blue-zone against the Bulldogs and scored five times on five attempts.
“Overall it was a solid win, a win that we hoped for an expected,” BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “I’m just grateful that this senior class played well enough and led well enough to make us undefeated at home.”
The Cougars started slow against the Bulldogs in the first quarter but finished the rest of the game strong. Third downs continued to be a struggle for the Cougar offense. BYU only converted four of its 11 third-down attempts. Mendenhall said he isn’t sure why the offense has been starting slow lately. He said that after the offense scored in the second quarter and following Kai Nacua’s interception that the offense gained more confidence.
Senior Bronson Kaufusi led the defense with five total tackles, three of which were sacks, in his last game at LaVell Edward Stadium. The defense managed to hold Fresno to 275 yards. Nacua both came up with two interceptions on the day and returned one for a touchdown. Linebacker Fred Warner tallied one interception as well.
Kaufusi had a career day against Fresno. His three sacks on the day extended his season total to 10, which is a career high. He also his second blocked field goal of the season.
“Kaufusi is a big man, and he runs really well,” Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter said following the game.
Seniors Remington Peck and Terenn Houk had the opportunity to have some fun and run a trick play. Peck received a handoff from quarterback Tanner Mangum and then threw a touchdown pass to Houk. Houke said that It was a play that he and Peck drew up last week and had practiced several times. The offensive coordinator had promised that if they made the play, he would call it in the game. Both Houk and Peck were surprised that the play was actually called.
Mangum continued to impress in his first year as BYU’s starting quarterback. He finished the game with 24 completions on 37 attempts for 336 yards and one touchdown.
The Cougars had a good game on the ground by gathering 158 yards. Running back Algernon Brown tallied 9 yards on 11 carried for the day.
