BYU rush the field after defeating Baylor in overtime 26-20 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
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PROVO — With the game tied and the clock winding down in the third quarter, Jaren Hall did something unexpected in BYU’s home opener Saturday night against ninth-ranked Baylor.
Hey passed. And then he caught a touchdown pass.
Chase Roberts threw a 22-yard touchdown strike to Hall with 1:28 left in the third quarter, and the dual-threat signal caller followed a horde of downfield blockers into the end zone as the Cougars took a 20-13 lead into the fourth quarter at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
With BYU’s top two receivers, Puka Nacua and Gunner Romney, out with different injuries, Roberts had himself a night.
The redshirt freshman from American Fork caught eight passes for a career-high 122 yards and a touchdown — and added the Philly Special-esque scoring toss — and Lopini Katoa scored in double overtime to help No. 21 BYU hold off No. 9 Baylor 26-20 in front of a sold-out crowd of 63,470 royal blue-clad fans in double overtime.
Not a bad night for a couple of dudes from American Fork.
“That one’s hard to beat. There have been a lot of good, close overtime games, getting big wins, beating big teams,” Katoa said. “But that right there felt really good for a lot of different reasons.”
Roberts didn’t know when he’d be called upon as the “next man up,” with offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick keeping a tight lid on the availability status of Nacua and Romney. But news leaked out Friday afternoon via ESPN — one source inside the program disputed that the duo weren’t even officially ruled out by the time of the report, but both were eventually — and Roberts knew he’d have a chance to do what he’s done before
And also a few things he never had.
“I’ve never thrown a touchdown pass in my life; that was the first,” Roberts said after the game. “The very first time was a couple of days into practice, they asked all of the receivers who can throw the ball. They gave us all one shot, and I threw a good spiral. But I’m glad we did it and executed it well.”
Does the play have a name or should we just call it the “Cosmo Special” in a nod to a similar play in the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl?
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to disclose that,” Roberts said, laughing.
Nacua piped in, adding with a laugh: “It’s called: How to score a touchdown.”
Hall completed 23-of-39 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown, ran for 28 yards, and added the 22-yard receiving touchdown for the Cougars.
Max Tooley had a career-high 13 tackles to lead the Cougars’ defense, which sacked Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen four times among six tackles for loss. Ben Bywater added 11 tackles and a sack, and Ammon Hannemann supplied a career-best eight stops.
None were bigger than the stops on 11 consecutive plays in the second overtime, including Shapen’s missed ball over the middle and out of the back of the end zone that sent thousands of screaming fans into a mosh pit-style frenzy on the field.
“I would have, if I was a fan,” said BYU defensive end Fisher Jackson, who had three tackles, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. “I was pretty excited; I stormed the field. I think everyone in Cougar Nation was excited that we got this win, for sure.”
Brigham Young Cougars wide receiver Chase Roberts (27) makes a touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone ahead of Baylor Bears cornerback Lorando Johnson (11) as BYU and Baylor play at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022 .(Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
A year after going 5-0 against the Pac-12, the Cougars can add one more tally mark into their final season as an FBS independent before joining the Big 12 in 2023: a win over the defending league champions.
“They had a great year; we knew that they had a great team, but I felt like we could compete against them,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “There were just a few deficiencies that we had. We had to get better and figure things out. Tuiaki’s good at doing that stuff on defense, and we had to do that on offense, too.
“It’s a good place to start. …Now, just stay humble and keep working.”
BYU (2-0) had a chance to win it in regulation, but after Roberts hauled in a 37-yard pass to bring the Cougars into the red zone, Jake Oldroyd missed an off-center field goal from 35 yards out to send the game to overtime tied at 20-all.
Shapen completed 18-of-28 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, and Qualan Jones added 54 yards and two scores on the ground for Baylor (1-1).
The Cougars held Baylor to 36 yards of total offense in the first quarter, taking a 3-0 lead on Oldroyd’s 27-yard field goal on the first offensive series and holding it until Jones found the end zone with 1:37 left in the half following a 13-play, 68-yard scoring drive.
The Bears converted two third downs on the drive and finished 4-of-8 on third downs in the first half; BYU was 0-for-6 on third downs.
That is, until Hall found Kody Epps on third-and-six for 13 yards, then immediately found Roberts in the corner of the end zone for a toe-tapping 20-yard touchdown that gave BYU a 10-6 lead at halftime.
BYU held Baylor to fewer than 100 yards before the break, outgaining the Bears 162-92, including 12-of-19 passing for 143 yards from Hall. Shapen completed just 7-of-14 passes for 47 yards in the first half, while the Bears averaged just 2.3 yards on 20 total carries.
The Bears opened the second half with a nine-play, 77-yard touchdown drive capped by a second for Jones that took an easy 4:02 off the clock. But BYU responded with Roberts’ Philly Special-esque touchdown — the one he had never thrown before — to go ahead before Shapen tied the game for good in regulation with a 4-yard strike to Ben Sims.
Both teams missed potential go-ahead field goals in the first overtime session, but Katoa scored the 20th touchdown of his career in the second overtime period to put the Cougars up 26-20 before shaping threw an incompletion for BYU’s first home win over a top -10 teams since 1990.
And then the fans came, storming the field like they did against Utah and Arizona State last year — but in full force, enveloping the field in royal blue like the all-royal uniforms that included a royal chrome helmet.
But you think the party was big on the field? You should’ve seen the locker room.
“It was amazing,” Roberts recalled. “Kalani puts on a show, for sure. He does his dance moves and then invites others to do their dance moves.
“We just party. We have a good time. Win or lose, we’re always close. We love each other, and it’s so fun — no matter what.”
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A proud graduate of Syracuse University, Sean Walker has covered BYU for KSL.com since 2015, while also mixing in prep sports, education, and anything else his editors assign him to do.
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