Week 7 – #6 BYU (6-0) vs Miss St. (3-2) – Fri, Oct 14, 2016 – LES – Provo, UT – 10:15pm EST – ESPN

It was originally thought that ESPN would not force MSU to play such a late kick off for them, but they did…a 9:15 local kick off for them…no wonder they don’t travel west much for OOC games! The homecoming royal-out game is a nice touch at night and looks amazing with MSU’s all white unis. MSU plays Auburn the week before and lost a tough one at home. They are 3-2 but 3 wins are South Alabama and South Carolina at home and UMass on the road. 2 blowout losses to LSU and Auburn. It’s also a “homecoming” of sorts for Manny Diaz who was once Texas’ defensive coordinator until Taysom Hill happened. He joked with an ESPN reporter before the game, “I thought I had escaped this kid…that’s the only reason we agreed to this game in 2016 we thought he’d be gone…I still have nightmares about that game here a few years ago!”

Taysom looks every bit as lethal as he did that fateful night in Provo 3 years ago. It becomes crystal clear tonight that Taysom is on another level in college football and BYU will go as far as he can take them.

However, the rest of BYU (the non Superman people) are bruised and battered. Thankfully 3 timely interceptions (F. Warner, Lake, Nacua) stop Miss State scoring drives. Taysom is able to manage the game well and after one half has only 3 incompletions and has BYU up 14-0 after another long scamper down the sideline on a broken play.

To start the 2nd half Tanner gets his drive and does a perfect Tanner…rolling right and chucking it downfield on a dime to Pearson for a 65 yard TD strike. He slipped behind the entire secondary who admitted after the game, “I didn’t think that dude could chuck it that far!” Uh…do you not have ESPN? MSU appears to quit early in the second half (which is nearly midnight for them) and BYU’s defense earns it’s first shut out of the season! MLP scores on a slant on the next drive and then Jamaal runs one in for good measure late in the 4th on a hand off from Mangum.

BYU wins 35-0. Shutting out and blowing out an SEC team gets the national pundits talking…even Paul Finebaum says BYU is a CFP team if 12-0 now.

Player of the Game – Pearson – 8 catches, 123 yards, 2 TD’s.