MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Perhaps no team in America is happier about the calendar flipping from October to November than BYU.
The Cougars finally snapped a nightmarish four-game losing streak with their best defensive performance in nearly two months, and a strong overall second-half, in a 27-7 victory over Middle Tennessee before a crowd of 18,952 on a chilly afternoon at Floyd Stadium Saturday.
It marked BYU’s first victory since Sept. 20 against Virginia.
“Not a perfect football game, but we played a good football game today … It’s fun to see our players get a tangible reward for the work they’ve been putting in,” said coach Bronco Mendenhall. “I’m glad October is over and I’m optimistic for November. I’m really happy for our staff, our players and our program.”
For BYU quarterback Christian Stewart — who completed 28 of 45 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another TD — it was his first win as a starter.
“It’s about time,” he said of the streak ending. “I hate losing more than anybody. I’m just really happy for our team. We battled hard this week. We’ve been through a lot. We’ve got through October and now we’re back on the winning train. Things are looking bright for the future.”
BYU improved to 5-4 this season while Middle Tennessee dropped to 5-4.
The much-maligned Cougar defense held the Blue Raiders to 228 yards of total offense and just one touchdown.
“It was great. That is how we play BYU defense. It was great to be back to doing that,” said linebacker Teu Kautai, who recorded three sacks and three tackles-for-loss. “We were humbled. We know our record, and we knew what we were capable of. We just practiced hard and studied a lot more than we usually do. That brought us back to how we play BYU defense.”
The Cougar offense sputtered in the first half as it failed to take advantage of good field position after the defense forced turnovers.
“We didn’t capitalize on two or three or four opportunities in the first half,” Mendenhall said. “I was frustrated that we didn’t capitalize on those, but I felt like that we would have a chance over time.”
With the score tied 7-7 at intermission, the Cougars made some on-the-field adjustments as well as some attitude adjustments.
“Guys were pretty upset (at halftime),” Stewart said. “We moved the ball well enough that we should have had points on the board. Our defense was playing so well that we wanted to put up points for them. Personally, I felt like I needed to put up points for our defense because they played a heckuva game.”
BYU rushed for only 31 yards in the first half, and the coaching staff emphasized an improved run game in the second half.
“As soon as we got out there, we started to run the ball,” Stewart said. “Our offense started to jell and we were able to do whatever we wanted to out there.”
On BYU's first possession of the second half, Stewart was able to make plays by scrambling and finding open receivers, including an impressive 19-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leslie.
“I was really happy, especially for Jordan. He had been kind of frustrated the last four games because he hadn’t had a touchdown,” Stewart said. “It was his birthday this weekend. The first half, he was acting pretty frustrated. I saw him kind of slam his helmet on the ground. So I was really happy to get him, one of my closest friends on the team, a touchdown. … He busted back inside. He made a great play.”
Opening the second half with a touchdown was a big boost for the Cougars.
“We needed to get things rolling,” Stewart said. “I feel like that gave the defense an added boost that they needed to pitch a shutout in the second half and win the game for us.”
The Cougars rushed for 97 yards in the second half as running backs Jamaal Williams, Paul Lasike, Adam Hine and Nate Carter moved the ball on the ground.
Meanwhile, the defense did its part throughout the game. Mendenhall praised defensive coordinator Nick Howell.
“Nick Howell had a fantastic plan together defensively. The kids executed it really, really well against an explosive offense,” Mendenhall said. “The second half, our run game allowed us to add some balance to our offense and make us more difficult to defend.”
BYU has a bye this week before hosting UNLV on Nov. 15.