FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Going into the weekend, UMass boasted the nation’s leading receiver, senior Andy Isabella, and was coming off a game that saw the Minutemen roll up 777 yards of total offense.
Isabella had 303 yards by himself in a triple-overtime victory over Liberty.
But Saturday, BYU’s defense rose up after a sluggish start in the Cougars’ convincing 35-16 win over UMass.
The Minutemen marched downfield, chewing up seven minutes off the clock, on their opening drive and kicked a field goal. UMass ended up extending its lead to 10-0 after the BYU offense fumbled the ball on its first series.
From there, the Minutemen scored only one more time, a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
“We started out slow. We let them drive down and get that field goal. Then we let them score (a touchdown),” said linebacker Sione Takitaki, who had 14 tackles. “I feel like we adjusted and came back really strong with the three-and-outs we were getting.”
BYU limited UMass to 285 yards of total offense. Senior Rhett Sandlin recorded the first two sacks of his career.
“Our defense played phenomenal. We were all over the place,” said linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi, who recorded 14 tackles. “Guys had a ton of tackles. We held their offense to 16 points. That was awesome because they had been scoring 52 points, 49 points. To hold an offense to 16 points is pretty good.”
Isabella, who entered the day with more than 1,300 yards receiving, finished with 10 catches for 85 yards. Isabella picked up 23 of those on the first two plays from scrimmage.
“Getting to the quarterback and the pass rush was really important (to slowing down Isabella),” said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. “We pressured a little bit more. That was the key, not giving (the quarterback) time to set his feet and throw it deep. Isabella’s a good player. He got hobbled early in the game. He’s got a bright future. It was a good challenge for our guys. Defensively, they answered the call.”
“He’s a really good player. Our coaches emphasized his abilities,” Takitaki said of Isabella. “We watched him on film all week. Everybody did their assignments so he didn’t get much. We held him pretty good.”
ALMOST A PICK-SIX: Isaiah Kaufusi had a chance for a pick-six in the second half, but he couldn’t hold on to the ball.
Before that series, he thought he could get an interception.
“I bluffed a little bit like I was going to blitz then I backed off into coverage. I was a little late, but the ball hit my hands,” Kaufusi said. “No good excuse for that one. I could have had a pick-six. But the defense played great, and I’m glad we got the win as well.”
HALL TAKES SNAPS: True freshman quarterback Jaren Hall took snaps in BYU’s final drive Saturday, rushing three times for six yards.
Last week at Boise State, he got one snap in the wildcat position. Does this mean Hall is the Cougars’ new backup QB — not senior Tanner Mangum? Not necessarily.
“There’s still competition. We felt this fits him right now,” Sitake said. “The competition always continues. (Hall) has a skill set where he can run the ball. You saw that today. That’s what we needed at the time.”
NEXT YEAR IN AMHERST: Originally, the fourth game of this BYU-UMass series, in 2019, was supposed to be played at Gillette Stadium. But now the game is scheduled to be played in Amherst, at 17,000-seat McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
According to BYU officials, renovations at McGuirk Stadium have been completed, making it possible to play the game there instead of Gillette Stadium.
Amherst is 70 miles away from Gillette Stadium.
BAND DAY: It was Band Day at Gillette Stadium, and local bands, made up of 3,500 students, filled seats in one of the end zones.
EXTRA POINTS: BYU played an 8:15 p.m. MT game last week, a 10 a.m. MT game Saturday, which will be followed by another 8:15 p.m. kick next week at home against New Mexico State. … Sandlin recorded his first career sack in the third quarter. … Aleva Hifo scored his first career rushing touchdown in the third quarter. He scored his second TD in the fourth quarter. Hifo also has a receiving TD and a passing TD this season.