alt=Jeff CallPROVO — Naturally, BYU fans will always remember the Cougars’ thrilling victories during the independence era over Power 5 programs like Ole Miss, Texas, Nebraska, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Wisconsin, Tennessee and USC.
But they also won’t forget inexplicable losses to programs like East Carolina, UMass, Northern Illinois, Toledo and South Florida.
Here’s a look at some of BYU’s head-scratching defeats since embarking on independence:
2012
San Jose State 20, BYU 14
Ordinarily, any loss to San Jose State would be mortifying. After all, the Spartans have posted only one winning season since 2007.
As it turned out, BYU’s setback to San Jose State came during that one winning campaign in which the Spartans finished with an 11-2 record and No. 21 national ranking.
Still, the Cougars had to like their chances against SJSU, considering in previous weeks they lost by only a field goal at No. 5 Notre Dame and then blitzed Georgia Tech 41-17 on the road.
That night in San Jose, BYU, with senior quarterback Riley Nelson at the controls, had the ball inside SJSU’s 25-yard line four times in the fourth quarter but only scored once. Other drives were doomed by penalties, turnovers and a blindside sack.
Nelson suffered a rib injury late in the game, which turned out to be his final start as a Cougar QB.
2013
Virginia 19, BYU 16
In one of the most surreal season openers in Cougar football history, BYU fell at Virginia.
It marked the return of Robert Anae as offensive coordinator, and it was the first game of the Cougars’ “go-fast-go-hard” offense with quarterback Taysom Hill.
Severe weather delayed the game for two hours after it had started, and once play resumed, BYU and UVA slogged through wet, sloppy conditions. In the fourth quarter, Hill led a 92-yard touchdown drive that lifted the Cougars to a 13-12 lead. But in the end, a Hill interception set up the Cavaliers’ game-winning touchdown.
Virginia finished winless (0-8) in the Atlantic Coast Conference and posted a 2-10 record overall.
A couple of years later, the Cavaliers would hire away BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall as their head coach.
2014
Central Florida 31, BYU 24 (OT)
A week after Hill’s season-ending leg injury, senior quarterback Christian Stewart made his first career start at what was then called Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
BYU scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter only to watch UCF score 21 straight points of their own, including the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
The Cougars had fourth-and-3 at the UCF 6-yard line in OT, but a slant pass from Stewart to Jordan Leslie fell incomplete in the end zone to end the game. The loss was part of a four-game losing streak.
The Golden Knights were coming off a 12-1 season in 2013 and they finished 9-4 in 2014. After an 0-12 season in 2015, UCF ended up going 13-0 in 2017 and 12-1 in 2018.
2017
East Carolina 33, BYU 17
Going into this epic battle of futility, both teams sported identical 1-6 records.
The Cougars had one of the worst offenses in the country, ranking No. 128 in total offense and scoring offense. ECU had one of the worst defenses, ranking No. 129 — dead last in the country — in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. The Pirates were giving up an average of 50 points and 600 yards per game.
But ECU dominated the contest in the second half and led 33-10 late in the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, who would star at Washington State the following year before moving on to the National Football League, completed 6 of 9 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns against BYU.
Cougar quarterback Tanner Mangum passed for more than 300 yards, but most of those came late as BYU tried to come from behind.
It marked the Cougars’ seventh consecutive defeat that season.
ECU finished the year with a 3-9 record.
2017
UMass 16, BYU 10
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Cougars in 2017, they did.
Making his second career start, a week after beating UNLV on the road the previous week, true freshman quarterback Joe Critchlow and the offense struggled at home against a beleaguered UMass team that was riding a 10-game road losing streak.
BYU’s 16-10 setback to the Minutemen on Senior Day marked the first time the Cougars lost nine games in a season since 1955.
In the third quarter, the Minutemen led 16-0. On the day, Critchlow was sacked seven times.
“I’m very disappointed about the loss. I’m disappointed for the seniors and the entire season,” coach Kalani Sitake said afterward. “It’s the lowest point for all of us.”
This loss came one year after the Cougars had beaten UMass 51-9.
The Minutemen finished the 2017 season with a 4-8 record, while BYU concluded with a 4-9 mark.
2018
Northern Illinois 7, BYU 6
More than a month before this setback, the Cougars beat No. 6 Wisconsin on the road.
And two weeks before this loss, BYU made a quarterback change, switching from senior Tanner Mangum to true freshman Zach Wilson, who led the Cougars to a 49-point outburst against Hawaii in his first career start.
But playing at home against Northern Illinois, BYU scored only two field goals and missed a 51-yarder. The Cougars had a chance to mount a potential game-winning drive with 1:47 remaining at their own 33-yard line, but Wilson threw an interception that sealed the defeat.
In late November, the Huskies would lose 28-21 at Western Michigan, the same Western Michigan team that BYU would crush in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, 49-18.
Northern Illinois finished the season with an 8-6 record.
2019
Toledo 28, BYU 21
Having posted a better-than-expected 2-2 record over the first four weeks of the season with games against Utah, Tennessee, USC (an overtime win over a ranked Trojan team) and Washington, the Cougars traveled to Toledo’s Glass Bowl.
BYU led 14-3 early in the third quarter and was up 21-14 going into the fourth quarter.
But the Rockets rallied as the Cougars collapsed.
BYU linebacker Chaz Ah You forced Toledo running back Bryant Koback to fumble with more than one minute left, giving the Cougars the ball. But on BYU’s ensuing possession, Wilson threw an interception and suffered a thumb injury on the play. After the interception, Toledo had the ball at the Cougar 2-yard line and scored a TD with 51 seconds remaining.
Backup redshirt freshman quarterback Jaren Hall entered the game and threw a long pass that landed out of the end zone as the game ended.
The following week, Toledo lost to Bowling Green, which entered that game with a 1-4 record.
2019
South Florida 27, BYU 23
In what looked, in many ways, like a repeat of the Toledo loss the previous week, the Cougars squandered another double-digit lead, saw another starting quarterback suffer an injury and lost another game — their third in a row.
BYU led 16-7 at halftime and 23-14 going into the fourth quarter. But the Bulls scored a pair of touchdowns in the final period.
Hall sustained a concussion-related injury in the second half and was replaced by redshirt freshman Baylor Romney, whose desperation pass was knocked down in the end zone as time expired.
South Florida improved to 3-3 and the win over BYU was its first victory over an FBS opponent — not named UConn — in 12 months.