0-0 BYU vs 0-0 Arizona

BYU comes out of the tunnel sporting all Royal to open the season in Vegas. The much anticipated QB decision lead to Jaren Hall being named as the starter, and the backup being Baylor Romney. A-Rod brings out some trickery on the first drive of the game, with Jaren throwing a backward pass to Samson. Samson then throws it back to Jaren who launches it deep to a wide open Isaac Rex for a 60 yard touchdown. The first half scoring for BYU continues, resulting in a 24-3 halftime score. 

On the first play of the second half Jaren scrambles right and gets tackled awkwardly, he sprains his ankle. Baylor trots out onto the field, and leads BYU to a field goal. 27-3 is the score heading into the 4th quarter. Arizona finally gets some momentum when they block a punt and return it for a Touchdown and get the 2 point conversion, 27-11 with 9 minutes left. Next BYU possession Baylor gets hit while throwing and Arizona picks it off, returning it to the red zone. After a few plays their RB punches it in, and again they convert for 2 points. 27-19 with 4 minutes left. On 3rd and 4 with 2 minutes left Tyler Allgeier takes the handoff and breaks off a 40 yard run into the BYU red zone. BYU is successfully able to run the clock out from there, and survives with a 27-19 victory. 

1-0 BYU vs 1-0 #25 Utah

All week fans wait to hear if Hall will be able to start after spraining his ankle, or if backup QB Baylor Romney will get the start. 2 hours before kickoff it is announced that Jaren Hall will get the start. The first half features some exciting defense, and little to no offense. Jaren struggles with his mobility and goes into the half with 60 passing yards and -10 rushing yards, with Utah leading 3-0. 

In the second half Baylor Romney starts the first possession. He is able to lead BYU down the field for their first points of the game, a 30 yard field goal that ties the game 3-3. On the ensuing kickoff BYU forces a fumble and recovers at the 24 yard line. The very next play is a Romney to Romney touchdown pass. The extra point however gets blocked, 9-3 BYU halfway through the 3rd quarter. Brewer on the next drive finally is able to pick apart the BYU defense, leading them to first and goal at the 3. BYU stuffs 3 consecutive runs, resulting in 4th and goal from the 1. Utah elects to go for it. Brewer fakes the handoff and rolls right, where immediately Chaz Ah You gets in his face and knocks down a hopeless pass attempt, BYU takes over at the 1. 

Lead by a big screen pass to Allgeier, BYU is able to get back into the red zone with 10 minutes left in the game. After a flurry of questionable play calling BYU is forced to kick a field goal, making it a 12-3 score. Utah's next drive takes more time than they would have hoped, and ends with a field goal, 12-6 with 4 minutes on the clock. BYU, hoping to run the clock out, loses 4 yards on poor run plays leading to a 3rd and 14. Baylor Romney takes the snap and looks right, where Puka is running. Baylor anticipates the route and throws to the outside. Unfortunately the Utah DL also aniticpates the throw, batting it straight into the air where Sewell picks it off. Sewell returns the interception for a touchdown and Utah leads 13-12 with 2:30 left. 

BYU has a good kick return, and starts the next drive at the 35 yard line. Romney is able to convert a couple 3rd downs, and BYU finds itself at the 40 yard line with 40 seconds left. First down leads to a Romney sack, knocking BYU back to the 43 yard line. The next 2 plays are both incomplete passes, 4th and 13 at the 43 yard line with 24 seconds to play. Kalani still has 1 timeout, he sends Oldroyd out to attempt the field goal. Kalani intentionally calls TO right before the kick to let Oldroyd attempt a practice kick, and see if he has the leg for a 60 yarder. Oldroyd smashes the ball and gets the distance, but it curves right and misses by a few yards. Kalani decides to keep Oldroyd out there to attempt a 60 yard game winning field goal. Oldroyd on his second attempt gets the same distance, but this time it goes through the uprights, clearing the bottom bar by 2 feet. BYU holds on to win 15-13. 

2-0 #24 BYU vs 2-0 #20 Arizona State

Baylor Romney gets his first start of the season in the ASU game, Jaren is officially listed as OUT. In the first half ASU comes out swinging, and BYU seemingly has no answer for their speedy QB Jayden Daniels. ASU heads into the half with a 21-7 lead. In the second half BYU starts tearing the ASU defense apart with their power run game. Allgeier consistently moves the sticks, leading to a couple TD drives and a 28-21 score heading into the 4th. 

Once the 4th quarter starts the ASU offense puts up a quick touchdown to retake a 14 point lead. BYU manages a field goal, and trails 24-35 with 11 minutes remaining. ASU then proceeds to run 9 minutes off the clock in the most maddening drive Cougarboard has ever witnessed. 4 3rd down conversions of 9+ yards. 1 facemask on a tackle that could have ended the drive. ASU puts the dagger touchdown on the board, handing BYU its first loss of the season 24-42. 

2-1 BYU vs 0-3 USF

USF is one of the worst teams in the nation, coming into Provo 1 week after losing to FCS Florida A&M. They've given up over 40 points every game to this point. Baylor Romney gets the start, in what becomes his last ever start in a BYU uniform. In the first quarter BYU puts up 10 points, with 80% of our yards coming on the ground. The second quarter both teams trade field goals, and BYU takes a 13-3 lead into halftime. 

In the second half Baylor gets BYU down into the red zone, but gets injured on a dirty late hit. BYU fans finally get to see Conover get some game action. His first play is a handoff to Katoa who weaves his way into the endzone, giving BYU a 20-3 lead. BYU's defense stays consistent the rest of the way and BYU's offense continues to lean on its ground game that USF is incapable of stopping. BYU ends the game up 34-3 and kneeling in the red zone. 

3-1 BYU @ 1-3 Utah State

Once again there is debate leading up to kickoff to see who gets the start. Coaches decide Jaren's ankle is healthy enough to get the start, with Conover being the backup. The choice proves to be the correct one, as Jaren throws for over 400 yards against the Aggies. The aggies are able to keep up with the Cougars a little in the first half, BYU leads 24-14 at halftime. 

The second half Jaren begins to show shades of Zach Wilson, throwing 2 consecutive bombs to Gunner and Samson, giving BYU a 31-14 lead 1 minute in. Wilgar then forces a fumble, and the very next play is another completed pass, this time an endzone fade to Puka. BYU leads 38-14, scoring 14 points in 90 seconds. BYU keeps its foot on the gas resulting in 3 more touchdowns, all on the ground by Allgeier, Katoa, and Finau. BYU crushes the Aggies 59-14.

4-1 BYU vs 3-2 Boise State

The Avalos era got off to a rocky start in Boise, as the Broncos lost by 20 to UCF and by 14 to Oklahoma State. In the week before, Boise State's starting QB was hurt by Nevada, giving the Broncos fans excuses yet again. Jack Sears gets his second start agains the Cougars, and is actually able to finish the game this time. The first few minutes of this game highlight some of the worst offensive line play for BYU all season. Jaren is sacked 4 times in the first 2 possessions, and BYU doesn't manage a first down on either possession. Boise State's Sears is able to pick apart the 8-man zone and gives the Broncos an early 14-0 lead. 

BYU finally gets some momentum back when Allgeier plows through 3 would-be-tacklers and gives BYU its first first down of the game with a 38 yard run. BYU would only manage a field goal on the drive. With an 11 point lead Shakir returns the kick for a touchdown, and BYU trails 3-21 to end the first quarter. Jaren finally is able to string a few passes together, culminating in a 74 yard touchdown drive. Boise kicks a field goal right at the end of the half, 10-24. 

Boise State gets the ball back to start the second half, and Sears launches a bomb to Shakir who catches it and shakes off the Safety to get into the endzone. It is called back, however, by a holding call. Boise still manages to get into field goal range and take a 10-27 lead. Jaren starts the next drive with a 30 yard scramble. Katoa then takes an option pitch down inside the 20. Later, on 3rd and goal from the 5, Puka goes in motion and catches a screen pass. He spins into the endzone for a BYU score, 17-27. BYU finally starts to get some pressure on Sears, forcing a sack on 3rd down. BYU's next possession takes an eternity and ends with 3 points. BYU trails 20-27 to start the 4th quarter. 

Sears once again embarrasses the BYU defense, leading the Broncos on another touchdown drive. BYU is able to answer with 6 minutes left in the game in a drive that was aided repeatedly be defensive penalties, 27-34 BSU. BYU finally forces its first turnover of the game on the Bronco's next drive, with Tooley stripping Sears on a QB scramble. Jaren leads an intense drive including 2 4th down conversions, and scrambles into the endzone with 43 seconds left. 34-34, it appears overtime is on its way. On the Bronco's next possession Sears throws a screen pass, and the Boise WR makes 2 players miss and starts running down the sideline. 40, 30, 20, and finally tackled at the 13 yard line. The Broncos run the rest of the clock out, and kick the field goal. BYU loses 34-37, and giving up 388 passing yards to back up QB Jack Sears. 

4-2 BYU @ 4-2 Baylor

Jeff Grimes practiced against Tuiaki for years, and knows the BYU offense very well. In an early morning kickoff BYU's offense struggles to get started, and Grimes manages to score a couple times on Tuiaki. BYU trails 3-10 to start the second quarter. Jaren starts the second quarter with an interception, and Baylor promptly scores a touchdown after, taking a 17-3 lead. Right before halftime BYU manages a field goal, cutting the lead to 11. 

Early in the next half Wilgar comes down with an interception. Before he gets tackled he laterals the ball to a sprinting Mandell who makes his way into the endzone, 13-17 Baylor. After trading touchdowns on the next 2 drives BYU trails 24-21 after converting a 2 point conversion. BYU forces a field goal on Baylor's next possession, and trails 21-27 with 8 minutes left. Jaren then leads the biggest drive of his career to this point. 20 yard completion to Rex, 14 yard completion to Samson, 33 yard completion to Pau'u. With the ball at the 8 yard line he scrambles left, turns and looks to the otherside of the field. The misdirection play works to perfection, and Wheat is all alone on the other side of the field. Touchdown Cougars, BYU leads 28-27 with 5 minutes left. Baylor is able to move the ball a little, but gets stopped on 4th down near the 50 year yard line. BYU runs the clock out, and finishes out the game with a 28-27 victory. 

5-2 BYU @ 2-5 Washington State

Thursday BYU fans get news that no one wants to hear, the Wazzu game is in jeopardy. One of the Wazzu QBs tested positive for Covid, and the game may be ruled a Wazzu forfeit unless they get enough negative tests from the rest of the QB room. Thankfully, only the starter and 3rd string QB were positive, and the vaccinated 2nd string QB will start against BYU. 

The backup QB looks like absolute garbage for most of this game, completing only 9 passes on 21 attempts. Borghi has a commendable game running the ball, but overall the Wazzu offense only manages 7 points all game. Meanwhile, BYU is torching the Wazzu defense early. Jaren throws for 5 touchdowns in this game, 3 to Rex and 2 to Romney. Allgeier chips in with another late touchdown, and BYU dominates Washington State 45-7. 

6-2 BYU vs 4-4 Virginia

Bronco is welcomed back to Provo with a round of applause, and more boos than he's comfortable with hearing. Bronco is booed again, and his wife goes off on social media about it. 

The game starts slow, both teams trade punts for the entire first quarter, we go to the second quarter scoreless. Virginia breaks the drought with a run play that breaks off for 55 yards and a touchdown. The next drive Jaren is scrambling and as he is about to go out of bounds for a first down he gets demolished by the UVA safety, and lands on his hip. Jaren gets up very slowly, and limps to the BYU side of the field. Safety gets ejected for targeting. Baylor Romney trots onto the field, this is his first time playing since he injured his throwing shoulder against USF. 

2 handoffs to Tyler later and BYU gets on the board, 7-7. That ended up being the halftime score. In the 3rd quarter Baylor begins to dissect the UVA defense, and BYU adds a touchdown and a field goal, taking a 17-7 lead. Virginia would score a touchdown on their first possession of the 4th quarter, leaving BYU with a 17-14 lead and 10 minutes on the clock. Baylor Romney throws a deep pass to Puka who hauls it in, but takes a helmet to helmet hit. Puka pops right back up, and Virginia's other starting safety also gets ejected for targeting. This moves BYU down to the red zone. On the very next play Romney can't evade the rush and gets hit by a UVA DT who lands with all his weight on his throwing shoulder, Romney doesn't get up for a while. The boos come pooring in, 2 QBs hurt in the same game. DT clearly lands on Romney intentionally, and knocks him out of the game. 

Conover now enters the game, stuck dealing with a 2nd and 18. He completes a pass in the flat to Wake for 4 yards, and then throws a rifle to Pau'u for 12 yards. 4th and 2, Kalani decides to go for it. Conover rolls right, and underhand tosses it into the waiting hands of Holker. Holker turns and gets down to the 2 yard line. Next play Allgeier punches it in, BYU leads 24-14. Virginia would miss a field goal with a couple minutes left, making 24-14 the final score. 

7-2 #24 BYU vs 1-7 Idaho State

A perfect opponent for Conover's first start in a BYU uniform, especially with a bye week to follow. Conover ends the game with 24-30 passing, 265 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Katoa has his best game in a BYU uniform, as Allgeier sits this one out to nurse his knee. He runs for 130 and adds another 45 receiving yards. BYU also completes its first shut out since 2012, resulting in a 48-0 win. 

8-2 #19 BYU @ 7-3 Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern has had an up and down year, but just recently handed Coastal Carolina its first loss of the season. Their triple option gives BYU fans some worrisome flashbacks to their own game against Coastal in 2020. Conover gets another start as Jaren and Baylor both aren't healthy enough to play yet. 

Conover has an impressive scoring drive to open the game, giving BYU a 7-0 lead early. His next 2 possessions both end in interceptions, but BYU's defense manages to hold Georgia Southern to just 3 points. Right before halftime Conover hits a wide open Samson deep for a touchdown, and BYU heads to the locker room up 14-3. On the opening drive of the 3rd quarter Kaleb Hayes picks off a terrible pass and returns it to the 20 yard line. Conover takes the next snap, shuffles around and takes off up field. He dodges a linebacker and begins to stumble. He is about to be hit by their safety, and lowers his head to brace himself. Him and the safety collide hard, both falling to the ground. A flag is thrown, assumed to be targeting on the safety. Ref announces 'Targeting, BYU, #17'. The review is confirmed. Kalani is belligerent. No Jaren, no Baylor, and now no Conover. Conover will also have to miss the first half of the USC game as a result. 

Sol-Jay comes onto the field for his first action of the season. He hands it off 3 straight times to Allgeier who gets into the endzone for a 21-3 BYU lead. The rest of the second half is a punt fest, until BYU finally breaks a long carry and gets into FG range. Oldroyd misses his first FG of the season, and BYU ends up winning 21-3. 

9-2 #16 BYU @ 8-3 #20 USC

With Conover unavailable to start the first half BYU is in a pickle. Jaren can't run and has little to no lateral movement, Baylor can't throw further than 20 yards accurately with his shoulder, and Sol-Jay has little experience and lacks the talent to compete with USC. Who ends up getting the start? The line shifts from -4 for USC to -12, USC is expected to pound the Cougars. 

BYU doesn't annoucne a starting QB, saying it will be a gametime decision. In the end, its Sol-Jay Maiava who gets the start, and Romney is available if disaster happens in the first half. BYU's gameplan is to run, run, and run some more until Conover can play in the second half. First drive USC forces a 3 and out, and BYU's punt is returned to the 50. 2 plays later Slovis finds Drake London in the endzone, 7-0 Trojans. Next drive Allgeier has a couple of nice runs, then Sol-Jay hits Finau on a screen pass that goes for 25 yards. With the ball in the red zone A-Rod pulls out some trickery. Sol-Jay hands it off to Allgeier who pitches it to Pau'u. Pau'u throws it back to Sol-Jay who unleashes a dart to Puka. Caught for a touchdown, 7-7. USC follows this up with another quick touchdown drive, and once again BYU is down 7. USC puts in a FG right before halftime, 7-17 Trojans.

BYU is still within striking distance as Conover comes out for the second half. His first possession we come out throwing, and it results in a quick 3 and out. USC takes over and gets another FG to go up 20-7. Conover fakes the handoff to Katoa and launches a deep shot to Samson who comes down with it in traffic. Two USC defenders collide with him but he maintains his balance and eventually makes it to the endzone, 14-20. USC for the 3rd straight possession finds itself kicking a FG, but this one is blocked. Caleb Christensen picks it up and returns it for a touchdown! 21-20, BYU takes the lead early in the 3rd quarter. Slovis follows it up with a nice drive, getting USC down to the red zone again. On 3rd and 3 from the 15 he rolls and throws into traffic before getting sacked and Mandell picks it off. BYU's next drive lasts 8 minutes and stretches deep into the 4th quarter.

At the end of the drive BYU finds itself with a 4th and 1 at the 14 yard line. They send out the FG team. The holder takes the snap and... stands up and throws it to Holker for a first down. Conover runs back out and finds Rex for a touchdown on the next play. BYU elects to go for 2 with 5 minutes left and winning 27-20. The play call is a draw play, Allgeier takes the delayed handoff and spins his way into the endzone, 29-20 Cougars. USC does get down the field and score another late touchdown. Their onside kick is recovered by BYU who then runs the clock out. BYU wins 29-27, cementing their second straight 10 win season. 

End of Regular Season: BYU 10-2, #13

BYU is not in the NY6 picture as there are nearly no At-Large bids in the 2021 bowl lineup. ESPN doesn't want a great BYU team facing a mediocre C-USA team in the Independence Bowl. They are able to shake things up and give BYU the ACC's spot in the Gasparilla Bowl. BYU will face off against 8-4 Kentucky.

Gasparilla Bowl: 10-2 #13 BYU vs 8-4 Kentucky

Kentucky comes into this game on a 5 game winning streak, with wins against Miss St, Tennessee, Vandy, NMSU, and Louisville. Conover ends up getting his 4th consecutive start to close the season out. BYU comes out blazing, with 3 touchdown drives to open the game. Conover finds Puka, Romney, and then Pau'u for Touchdowns in the first quarter. With a 21-3 lead Kentucky begins to march back and make it 21-13 at halftime. 

Allgeier breaks off a 85 yard run early in the 3rd, giving BYU a 28-13 lead. Kentucky then fumbles it and Haws recovers. BYU finds its way into the endzone again, this time Katoa. 35-13 Cougars early in the 3rd. Both teams score again in the 3rd, and BYU goes to the 4th completely in control, 38-20. In the 4th quarter Conover finds an open Holker who makes a few guys miss and scores on another big TD play. Kentucky is forced to punt, and BYU beings to grind it out on the ground. Near the end of the 4th quarter Allgeier breaks free one more time, resulting in a 38 yard touchdown. BYU ends up destroying the Wildcats with the final score being 52-20. 

Season Summary: BYU 11-2, #8

4 Different Quarterbacks start during the 2021 season:

• Jaren Hall started 7 Games
• Baylor Romney started 2 Games
• Jacob Conover started 3 Games
• Sol-Jay Maiava started 1 Game

Jacob was impressive enough in his time that it appears he will end up being the starter in 2022 and beyond. Allgeier ends up leaving to the NFL, and gets drafted in the 4th round by the Bengals. Rex also leaves to the NFL, and is drafted in the 5th round by the Vikings. Empey is BYU's last draft pick, 7th round to the Giants.

During the offseason Kalani signs another extension, this one locking him in Provo until 2027. 

*Please do not bet accordingly*