They shut us down. They outmanned us, outplayed us, outperformed us. They took it to us. – BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — BYU was looking to make history Saturday at the Big House against Michigan, but this is not what it had in mind.
The Wolverines steamrolled the Cougars, 31-0 — the first time BYU has been shut out since a 3-0 setback at home against Utah in November, 2003. Michigan ended the Cougars 142-game streak without being shut out.
"It's frustrating," said BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum. "They shut us down. They outmanned us, outplayed us, outperformed us. They took it to us."
“We took a step backwards,” said offensive coordinator Robert Anae said of his team’s offensive performance.
When the Utes accomplished the feat at the end of the ’03 campaign, it snapped BYU’s NCAA-record streak of 361 consecutive games without being shut out, which spanned 33 years.
Not only did BYU fail to score, the Cougars' 105 yards of total offense against the Wolverines were the fewest gained in a game since Sept. 28, 1974, when it had just 92 yards against Iowa State.
Mangum completed just 12 of 28 passes passed for 55 yards. His longest completion went for 14 yards. The 55 passing yards in the game for BYU are the fewest since that 2003 loss to Utah (41 yards).
Anae said Michigan’s dominance of BYU’s receivers was part “grit and determination” but the failure was wholesale and all 11 players had a part of it. “When some are sleepwalking, you get what you saw today,” he said.
“I would have liked to have seen more internal leadership than we saw today on the field.”
Receiver Mitch Juergens said Michigan did not do anything BYU had not seen out of Nebraska, Boise State or UCLA earlier this season but he admitted Michigan “shocked” BYU’s offense in how they limited the passing game to practically nothing.
“We were not ready for that,” Juergens said. “As a receiving corps we have a lot to fix. We need to be more physical in not letting them cover us and get open.”
“What I can say is they played a lot of man and the only thing I can say is we are very disappointed. They weren’t more athletic than others we have played, but they were very disciplined, and we didn’t come out strong enough with the will to win. We have a lot of things to correct to get ready for UConn.”
Mangum said the day was frustrating. “At the same time, we can’t hang our heads and dwell on it. We got beat today and now we have to use this to motivate us.” He proclaimed he still believed in his receivers “100 percent” and it takes a team effort to improve this week.