The Sports Xchange
Oct 3, 2015
True freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum passed for 365 yards and tossed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to senior receiver Mitch Mathews as the Brigham Young Cougars registered a 30-13 victory over the Connecticut Huskies at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, on Friday.
Senior receiver Terenn Houk had 129 yards on six receptions and junior running back Algernon Brown had 95 yards on the ground for the Cougars (3-2), who scored 20 fourth-quarter points while halting a two-game losing streak. Mangum was intercepted twice while completing 35 of 53 passes as BYU held a 539-230 advantage in total offense and accumulated 31 first downs to UConn's 14.
Sophomore quarterback Bryant Shirreffs passed for 168 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for the Huskies (2-3). Sophomore running back Arkeel Newsome caught a touchdown pass and accounted for 131 total yards (68 rushing, 63 receiving) but couldn't prevent UConn from losing its third straight game.
The game was locked in a tie early in the fourth quarter when the Cougars reached the Huskies' 7-yard line before stalling and senior kicker Trevor Samson knocked through a 25-yard field goal that gave BYU a 13-10 lead with 13:24 remaining.
On the Huskies' ensuing possession, blitzing junior safety Kai Nacua forced Shirreffs to throw an errant pass that was intercepted by senior defensive end Bronson Kaufusi. Mangum responded by throwing a 21-yard scoring pass to Mathews on the following play to make it a 10-point margin with 12:03 to go.
Huskies junior kicker Bobby Puyol made a 42-yard field goal to cut BYU's lead to seven with 8:59 remaining. UConn then aided the Cougars when senior safety Andrew Adams kicked the football into the stands after an incompletion on third down and BYU took advantage of the gift first down to score three plays later on Mangum's 6-yard pass to Mathews to make it 27-13.
Sophomore cornerback Jamar Summers intercepted Mangum in the third quarter and his 26-yard return set up a 37-yard field goal by Puyol that gave UConn a 10-7 lead with 7:11 left in the stanza. The Cougars bounced back before their drive stalled at the Huskies' 8 and Samson booted a tying 26-yard field goal with 3:02 remaining in the quarter.
BYU struck first when true freshman running back Francis Bernard capped a 12-play, 87-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge with 2:44 remaining in the first quarter. The Huskies tied the score with 1:42 left in the half when Shirreffs faked a handoff to Newsome, who snuck down the left sideline and was wide open to corral a 30-yard scoring toss.