3 takeaways from BYU’s regular-season finale win over Stanford

BYU finished an unbeaten November with a 35-26 win over the Pac-12’s Stanford late Saturday night.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

What’s up with BYU’s quarterback situation?

The result of a third-quarter sequence will dominate the talk leading up to BYU’s bowl game after Cougar quarterback Jaren Hall left Saturday’s contest injured.

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BYU had things rolling offensively going into the second half, having scored touchdowns on all four of its first-half possessions.

The Cougars then marched deep into Stanford territory on their first possession of the second half before facing a third and 1 at the Stanford 21.

Hall tried to pick up the first down on the ground, and he was stopped short. That left BYU facing a fourth and short, and the Cougars went for it.

Again, Hall ended up trying to run for the first down, and again, he was stopped short.

The BYU junior ended up limping off the field with a reported right ankle injury and he never returned.

In his absence, Jacob Conover entered the game.

He led one BYU touchdown drive — a 10-play drive that featured all runs. 

Conover was asked to pass just once in three possessions, and the pass was incomplete.  

The Cougars’ lone three and out came with Conover on the field.

If Hall misses the bowl game, can Conover deliver?

For what it’s worth, BYU coach Kalani Sitake told reporters postgame that x-rays on Hall’s ankle were negative and said he doesn’t think the injury will keep Hall out of the bowl game.

Running game dominates for BYU

The Cougars’ offensive attack was powered by its run game.

BYU ran for 358 yards in the game, helping it roll up 451 yards of total offense. 

Several guys contributed on the dominant effort, which helped the visitors maintain the momentum throughout much of the game. 

Chris Brooks led the way, rushing for a season-high 164 yards on 23 carries.

Hinckley Ropati added 85 yards and a touchdown, while Hall was more aggressive in the run game, finishing with 69 rushing yards on 11 carries. That included a 19-yard touchdown run on BYU’s opening drive.

Puka Nacua, as he’s been prone to, also got involved in the run game, rushing for 38 yards. His 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter accounted for the team’s final score.

If Hall is seriously hurt, the Cougars will need to lean on the run game in the bowl game.

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BYU hangs on for a long-awaited win over Stanford

The Cougars — after two previous fruitless attempts in the early 2000s — finally got the program’s first win over Stanford.

At times, it appeared BYU would roll, especially after the Cougars led 21-3 in the second quarter and scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions.

The BYU defense even showed some signs of life in the pass rush, sacking Tanner McKee three times after entering the game with just 10 sacks on the year.

Stanford, though, just kept finding ways to stick around and could have been in a one-possession game late if not for some point-after troubles twice.

BYU has rarely been known to put teams away convincingly under Sitake, and this was the case again.

In the end, though, the Cougars continued building momentum going into bowl season.