BYU overcomes slow start to down UMass, snap 2-game losing skid

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — After a two-game tailspin, BYU got back on the winning train Saturday afternoon.

And now the Cougars are just one win away from bowl eligibility.

Zach Wilson completed 14-of-22 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns, and Aleva Hifo added two rushing touchdowns to help the Cougars snap a two-game losing skid with a 35-16 win at UMass.

Talon Shumway caught three passes for 29 yards, including a pair of touchdown passes, for the Cougars (5-5), who moved within one win of becoming bowl eligible after last season’s losing record.

Ross Comis completed 23-of-33 passes for 183 yards and ran for a score for UMass (4-7), who had 98 yards of offense on the first two drives and finished with just 285 yards.

BYU avenged last season’s 16-10 home loss to UMass back on Nov. 18, 2017.

"It was a slow start, but give credit to UMass for what they did," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said after the game. "We’ll take the win any way we can get it. I’m just proud of how the guys played.

"It was a good win for us."

UMass took a 10-0 lead before the Cougars woke up for the 10 a.m. MT start. After opening the game with a field goal, the Minutemen forced a turnover on the Cougars’ first offensive play from scrimmage. They followed that up with 2-yard scoring plunge by Marquis Young with 4:12 left in the first quarter.

The Minutemen out-gained the Cougars 98 to -2 yards across the small sample size of the first two series.

But Wilson’s legs got the Cougars moving.

Rather than handoff for a jet sweep, Wilson carried the rock himself on the next drive. The former Corner Canyon star rumbled 36 yards downfield, the longest rush of his career, to set up a 10-yard scoring strike to Shumway for the junior’s second touchdown grab of the season to pull the Cougars within three by the end of the first quarter.

As the offense stagnated again, BYU’s defense momentum in the road Cougars’ favor for long enough let Wilson find his favorite target again.

The former KSL Game Night 5A MVP found Shumway for a 15-yard score underneath, capping a 10-play, 68-yard drive over 5:07 in the second quarter.

"Even though we scored, we were still hungry to score more," Wilson said. "We wanted to go, to pick it up. But it was good going into halftime with a lead; it’s more comfortable."

BYU’s defense sacked quarterback Comis twice in the first half, and added three more tackles for loss to keep the Minutemen at bay, 14-10. With 6-foot-9 basketball shot blocker Corbin Kaufusi on special teams, UMass also missed a 36-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer.

"We just had to play assignment sound football, and continue to execute our plays as we practiced all week," said senior linebacker Sione Takitaki, who finished with a team-high 14 tackles and two tackles for loss.

Even with a run-heavy game that out-gained BYU 20:45 to 9:15 in the first half, the Minutemen still trailed by four.

Matt Hadley finished off a five-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring plunge to go up 21-10 with 8:08 left in the third. The touchdown was set up by Neil Pau’u’s remarkable 40-yard grab from a Wilson flea flicker that gave the Cougars first-and-goal at the UMass 10.

Hifo tacked on his first touchdown of the game with a 3-yard jet sweep into the end zone at the end of the third quarter. The rising junior star added another 10-yard rushing touchdown to open the fourth quarter, capping a run of 35-unanswered points for the Cougars.

Comis finally got UMass on the board again with a 5-yard run with 5:26 remaining, but the game was well out of hand by then.

Next up

BYU plays its final home game next Saturday, Nov. 17 against New Mexico State. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. MT on ESPN2 and KSL Newsradio.

UMass finishes the regular season Saturday at No. 5 Georgia.

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