PROVO, Utah (AP) – Jaren Hall threw 298 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half, and No. 17 BYU destroyed Idaho State 59-14 on Saturday.
Baylor Romney took over for Hall in the second half, who was 2 yards behind his fourth 300-yard performance in the last five games.
Puka Nacua had six catches for 120 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars, who debuted at number 15 on the College Football Playoff Ranking published on Tuesday. Keanu Hill caught four passes for 92 yards and one touchdown. Hill also blocked a punt and got it in the end zone for BYU’s final score towards the end of the fourth quarter.
BYU (8-2) finished with 560 yards offense, averaging 7.4 yards per game, his third straight win. The Cougars have won 19 out of 22 games in the last two seasons.
“Kalani found his groove and I’m so happy that the foundation we laid is paying off,” said defensive lineman Uriah Leiataua.
Sagan Gronauer threw for 167 yards and a touchdown for Idaho State (1-8), which fell to 0-7 all-time against the Cougars.
The Bengals won 2 yards in the first quarter and failed to make a pass. In the meantime, the BYU offense encountered virtually no resistance as they raced to a 42-7 half-time lead.
“After we got through the first quarter offensively, we started moving the ball a bit,” said Rob Phenicie, Idaho state coach. “I think Sagan finally settled down and we saw some good things move forward.”
Hall’s highlights included a 23-yard touchdown pass to Puka Nacua in the middle of the second quarter and a 13-yard dart to Neil Pau’u just before half-time, in which Pau’u dragged two defenders and fell over the goal line.
The Bengals’ only points in the first half came after Tyler Gonzalez recovered a fumble at BYU 17. Jared Scott intercepted a 6-yard pass from Gronauer 1:20 before halftime.
BYU collected sales in the state of Idaho in the first quarter. Hall scored with a 1-yard keeper after Pepe Tanuvasa returned an interception 16 yards to Idaho State 6.
The Cougars now have a week off after playing 10 games in 10 weeks – a stretch that included six power five opponents.
“Ten weeks in a row – that’s pretty tough,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake. “But these guys handled it well.”
TAKE AWAY
State of Idaho: The Bengals went three-and-three on three out of four drives in the first quarter and set a turnover on the other, which set the tone for the blowout.
BYU: The Cougars scored touchdowns on five straight drives to open the game and didn’t kick in until the third quarter. They averaged 397 yards, averaging 9.0 yards per game before halftime.
SUCCESS AGAINST FCS
BYU has enjoyed meeting FCS opponents since it became independent from FBS. The Cougars have won 18 straight games against lower division teams from 1960 when they lost 6-13 to Hawaii in the season finale. BYU has also not lost to a current member of the Big Sky Conference since losing 2-0 to Montana in 1959.
BLOCK PARTY
Hill’s touchdown on a blocked punt in the fourth quarter was the first result of its kind for BYU since a 41:24 victory over the Air Force in 2004. He was motivated by a challenge from defensive graduate assistant Kyle Griffitts, who promised to win Shaving his head Cougars eventually blocked a boat.
“He kept telling us that he was going to block you,” said Sitake.
SURVEY IMPACT
Beating a fighting FCS opponent won’t move the needle for BYU in either the AP Top 25 or College Football Playoff rankings.
NEXT
Idaho State visits Cal Poly on Saturday.
BYU visits Georgia Southern on November 20th.
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