PROVO — Perhaps no player on BYU’s football roster was more frustrated by the Cougars’ disappointing first half of the 2019 season than former freshman All-American Matt Bushman.
So the junior tight end did something about it, catching five passes for a career-high 101 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday’s 28-25 upset of then-No. 14 Boise State.
Bushman, from Tucson, Arizona, was named the John Mackey Tight End of the Week on Tuesday and remains on the Mackey Award watch list. He’s clearly one of the best tight ends in the country.
“That felt good,” Bushman said after what BYU coaches hope was a breakout game for one of the team’s top offensive players. “It was great. It was something our team needed.”
Bushman, who now has 28 receptions for 398 yards and three touchdowns, all team highs, was referring to the overall win, but he easily could have been talking about his own performance. Until last Saturday, most BYU football observers agreed he was not being used enough, especially in the red zone.
The Cougars (3-4) are idle this weekend, their second bye in October, and don’t play again until Nov. 2 at Utah State (4-2), which plays at Air Force this Saturday.
“When we put everything together we can play with anyone on our schedule. We can compete. I think we can win out. A game like this can kinda get that stone rolling again as we prepare for Utah State,” Bushman said. “We have this bye week and we can get some extra preparation in and yeah, we consider Boise one of our rivals. And we hadn’t beaten them in a couple of years, so it feels great. Same thing with Utah State. They are one of our rivals. We haven’t beaten them in a couple years, so it is serious for us and we are looking to play as well as we can against them.”
Will it be Bushman’s last game against the Aggies?
Bushman is older than the typical junior because he served a two-year mission to Santiago, Chile, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and may choose to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft in April. He politely declined to discuss the matter when asked about his plans last month, saying he didn’t want to become a distraction.
However, he’s starting to appear on some mock draft boards and interest in the 6-foot-5, 245-pound all-around athlete who also played one season for BYU’s baseball team is growing.
“The junior is turning into a much talked about next-level prospect in scouting circles,” wrote Profootballnetwork.com. “BYU has put plenty of productive tight ends into the NFL, and there’s no question Bushman is next in line. The question is how soon before he makes his jump to the next level.”
The website’s Tony Pauline wrote: “Sources tell me that Bushman … is leaning towards entering the NFL draft at the end of the season, with a few people telling me they are confident he will be playing in the NFL in 2020.”
That was written before the Boise State game, and before Bushman not only delivered the standout receiving game, but also showed marked improvement in his blocking ability, according to former BYU lineman Hans Olsen of The Zone Sports Network. Olsen tweeted that Bushman had at least three pancake blocks in the game.
Having led BYU in catches and receiving yards in 2017 and 2018, Bushman now has 1,429 career receiving yards. He is 30th on BYU’s all-time receiving yards list and just passed his father-in-law, Chad Lewis, who is 33rd at 1,376 yards.
Against Boise State, Bushman and senior Talon Shumway (three catches, 74 yards) served as security blankets for redshirt freshman quarterback Baylor Romney, who made his first college start.
“Coaches called the plays that we thought were going to work whether it was (run-pass option) or drop back,” Bushman said. “We trusted Baylor, and the coaches just trusted us. Our offensive line played great as well. … We knew what our game plan was going to be, and we had that belief, and we got it done.”
Bushman was visibly distraught walking off the field after the Cougars were upset 27-23 at South Florida on Oct. 12 when he had five catches for 44 yards but wasn’t targeted much in the red zone. He’s been bracketed and double-teamed quite often this season, but coaches figured out a way to get him open or in one-on-one coverage against the Broncos — gadget plays.
Bushman’s first TD against Boise State came on fourth down when Romney faked a QB sneak and a fumble and Bushman feigned a block then got behind the BSU defense for a 27-yard touchdown.
“Baylor had some good acting skills,” Bushman said. “They faked a little fumble on the exchange. … We knew it was going to work if we got the right situation. Pretty bold (time) to do it, and we are glad it paid off.”
“I don’t get why our team plays good sometimes and pretty horrible other times. I just think offensively we were more aggressive this game, even though we had some weird weather. I just think it was a collective effort. … We needed this win and we went out and got it.” — BYU tight end Matt Bushman
His second TD came after a reverse flea-flicker. The 39-yard touchdown catch tied his career-long reception. CFBovertime.com put Bushman’s performance at No. 5 on its weekly top performers list.
“I don’t get why our team plays good sometimes and pretty horrible other times,” Bushman said. “I just think offensively we were more aggressive this game, even though we had some weird weather. I just think it was a collective effort. … We needed this win and we went out and got it.”
Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes called plays from the sidelines, rather than the press box. It was Grimes’ idea to move down to the field, Sitake said, partly because the Cougars started two freshmen on the offensive line, Clark Barrington and Blake Freeland.
“Play-calling is a collaborative effort from everybody,” Sitake said. “We worked together on defense and offense. … So that’s pretty much all I have to say about it. I thought there were some great play calls on both sides and on special teams.”
BYU’s receiving leaders, 2019
Matt Bushman — 28 catches, 398 yards, three touchdowns
Aleva Hifo — 25 catches, 314 yards, two touchdowns
Micah Simon — 23 catches, 291 yards, no touchdowns
Talon Shumway — 18 catches, 235 yards, one touchdown
Dax Milne — 11 catches, 153 yards, two touchdowns