PROVO — BYU's crusade to find a win, any win, will be carried on to its next chapter, an adventure deep into SEC territory in Starksville, Mississippi, next Saturday.
The Cougars' losing streak did not end Friday night as an underdog to a break-even Boise State squad in LaVell Edwards Stadium before a crowd of 59,753, many of whom came to see if a unicorn suited up in blue.
Boise State scored 24 unanswered points including a bludgeoning 16-play scoring drive to start the fourth quarter to extend the mourning and pain of Kalani Sitake’s humbled 1-5 team.
BYU’s offense, inspired by the return of its starting quarterback, Tanner Mangum, rose up for a brief while at the beginning of this game. But mistakes, penalties on crucial drive-extending plays — features popular in all five losses — extended BYU’s reign of futility.
Credit Boise State. Blame, wince or do both with the Cougars.
BYU’s defense played tough until the Broncos wore it down.
Boise State outgained BYU 304 to 238 in total yards. The Cougars rushed for just 66 to 158 for BSU but outpassed the Broncos 172 to 142 yards.
Mangum finished 18 of 33 for 164 yards and two interceptions.
Mangum’s return did give BYU’s entire football team a boost.
He was courageous.
He was needed.
He tried his best and gave his all.
It wasn’t enough.
He ended up fighting some of the offense's same bad execution of September.
Heavily taped and wearing what looked like a brace under his sock on his left leg, Mangum came out against Boise State looking more sharp, more confident and more capable than he did during his start against Portland State.
Using the shotgun formation exclusively and plays designed by Ty Detmer to have him get rid of the ball quickly and mix in some power runs by freshman Ula Tolutau, the Cougars marched down the field on their first offensive possession and scored on a 10-play drive.
Mangum looked crisp, his timing dead on. He looked confident, energetic and not only was his offense feeding off his presence, but the defense looked and played like they’d just found its long-lost golden retriever.
Early, Mangum found freshman Matt Bushman for a quick strike. He mixed in handoffs to Squally Canada and Tolutau. He tossed a pass to Jonah Trinnaman and then Talon Shumway. Boise State was on its collective heels. Mangum was 4 for 4 for 31 yards. When Tolutau raced in for a 3-yard score it felt like a huge brick had been lifted off BYU’s football team, victims of a four-game losing streak.
BYU led 7-0. It was simply the best opening drive of the season for BYU’s offense. Not even close. It was rainbows and candy. Mangum completed 8 of his first 9 passes.
Then, old familiar ghosts appeared.
On BYU’s second possession, Bushman caught a 9-yard pass and Tolutau converted the first down on a carry for two yards. Detmer was feeling so good about things he called for Mangum to take a shot downfield to Trinnaman.
Incomplete.
Facing a third-and-8, Detmer called a tunnel screen to Beau Tanner that worked.
It got all the yards to continue. The race was on.
But wait, a tackle, getting in position late, blocked a BSU defender in the back.
Rewind. Step it back. Start over, 10-yards back, third-and-18.
Failure.
That is all the stopped-momentum BSU needed to get fired up, see a vision of a win. BSU outscored BYU 17-0 the rest of the first half. Mangum forced a second-quarter pass which safety Kakoa Nawahine returned 51 yards to set up a field goal.
A tired BYU defense, who’d seen this show a week ago in Logan, tried to hold on, down 10-7 before half.
It couldn’t.
BSU quarterback Brett Rypien gobbled up a heightened sense of momentum and gashed BYU’s secondary down the middle time and time again until he found Sean Modster for a 24-yard TD with 36 seconds left before food and bathroom breaks.
BSU 17, BYU 7.
What went wrong?
BYU’s offense screamed for consistency in execution.
Mangun’s return was big, but it was the cycling of a third quarterback in six weeks. Tolutau had just two carries in the second half.
Again, the offense missed a crucial piece, a rhythm by a unit that is begging for success, a series of good drives.
Mangum threw his second pick with five minutes to play in the game when he looked to Bushman, trying to make a big play.
It backfired.
BYU’s win search is extended. The team is running out of angles, closed-door meetings, and optimistic speeches.
With two minutes left, freshman QB Joe Critchlow ended his redshirt season with an appearance which left everyone wondering if was more than a cameo.
Now it's off to Starkville and those cowbells.
BYU already has a loud ringing in its collective ears and it won't go away.