BYU beats Western Kentucky 41-10 to maintain spotless record

BYU Football went up 35-3 in the first half and held off Western Kentucky’s offense in the second half to win 41-10 on Halloween and start the season 7-0 for the first time since 2001.

The win was enough to get the Cougars into the Top 10 in both the AP Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll this week at No. 9.

Zach Wilson continued to show why he is in Heisman and NFL Draft discussions with four total touchdowns on the night. He also set a new BYU record for pass attempts without an interception with 184.

“We had a lot of big plays and moved the ball down the field well,” Wilson said. “They tried to throw some different stuff at us, so credit to them for that. But we were still able to put points up.”

Tyler Allgeier was the unquestioned featured running back for BYU against the Hilltoppers, carrying the ball 16 times for 95 yards and a touchdown. The two-headed dragon of Dax Milne and Gunner Romney led the receiver group once again, putting up 126 yards between them, on just 10 targets.

First Half

BYU was forced to go for it on fourth down early on the opening drive, and Wilson showed no hesitation in keeping the ball and running three yards for the first down. The first highlight of the game came on the first drive as well, with Romney pulling down an impressive 38-yard reception to put BYU on the goal line. Allgeier punched it in for BYU’s first score on a 10-play, 75-yard drive to go up 7-0.

“It’s fun,” Allgeier said of the scoring early in the game. “We just want to score in the red zone because we couldn’t do it last year. We just got to keep it going.”

BYU struggled to get WKU’s offense off the field in the first quarter, as the Hilltoppers took over eight minutes to go 49 yards in 14 plays. The Cougars eventually held their opponent to a field goal, making the score 7-3 BYU with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter.

Wilson continued to carve up the WKU defense on the second BYU drive and set a new BYU record for consecutive passes without an interception with 166. Allgeier broke off the first big run of the game for a 32-yard gain up the sideline, and Wilson found Milne crossing into the end zone on a 23-yard pass to put BYU up 14-3 late in the opening period.

The Cougars then forced their first turnover of the game with a fumble recovered by Isaiah Kaufusi, giving BYU the ball back to start the second quarter.

“We just played football,” Kaufusi said. “The defensive line did a great job. Our defense stepped up and made plays.”

BYU was once again forced to go for it on fourth down and Wilson found Neil Pau’u for his first catch of the night. A run from Allgeier put the Cougars in the red zone and Wilson ran it in for the five-yard touchdown, giving BYU a 21-3 lead with 12:45 left in the first half.

BYU held WKU to a punt on the following drive, and Wilson took just five plays and two minutes to get the Cougars back into the end zone. The drive was assisted by back-to-back penalties on the Hilltoppers, first targeting, then pass interference, both on pass attempts to Milne. Wilson found Lopini Katoa wide open on the east sideline and the junior running back took two cuts to the inside to get his first score of the night and put BYU up 28-3 midway through the second quarter.

Penalties continued to be the story for WKU for the rest of the second quarter, with unnecessary roughness and face mask calls putting the Cougars back in the red zone. Wilson got his third touchdown pass of the half on a throw to tight end Isaac Rex to give BYU a 35-3 lead heading into the break.

Second Half

WKU quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome broke off a big run in the third quarter to set up the Hilltoppers on the one-yard line, but BYU’s defense shut them out four downs in a row to give the ball back to BYU. Kaufusi pumped up the student section behind the end zone prior to the play and then got a tackle assist on the goal line on fourth down to maintain BYU’s momentum.

“That was the best series we had as a defense,” Kaufusi said. “The mentality was that we weren’t going to let them score. Those four downs were the highlight of the game for me.”

The momentum didn’t last long, however, as Wilson snapped his no-interception streak on the following drive with just his second pick of the season. WKU took over on the three-yard line and was able to convert this time, narrowing the lead to 35-10.

The Cougars were held to a field goal on the next drive, with Jake Oldroyd hitting the 49-yard attempt to extend the BYU lead to 38-10 late in the third quarter. With a comfortable lead, BYU elected to replace Wilson with Baylor Romney in the fourth quarter. Wilson finished the night 18-for-32 with 224 yards and three passing touchdowns. He added 35 yards and another score on the ground.

BYU was once again held to a field goal on its final drive of the game, with Romney struggling to find the end zone. Oldroyd’s kick kept him perfect on the season (8-for-8) and gave BYU 40 points for the sixth time this season.

The Cougars were able to rotate in several non-starters late in the game, and 26 players recorded at least one tackle on defense.

“There are guys throughout the depth chart who could start,” Kaufusi said. “That’s the step the program has taken this year. It’s a ‘next man up’ mentality.”

Next up for the Cougars is a Top-25 matchup against No. 21 Boise State in Idaho at Albertsons Stadium.

“It’s a great opportunity for us, that’s a great football team,” Wilson said of the Boise State game. “We gotta give them our best shot.”

The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 at 7:45 p.m. MT on Friday, Nov. 6.