No. 22 BYU, Louisiana Tech poised for lots of offense

No. 22 BYU is undefeated and scoring a lot of points.

So is Louisiana Tech.

One team will get its first loss of the season when the Cougars meet the Bulldogs in matchup of 2-0 teams on Friday night in Provo, Utah.

BYU, which has scored at least one touchdown in all eight quarters it has played, outscored Navy and Troy by a combined score of 103-10 -- outgaining them 1,244 yards to 330 yards.

Zach Wilson completed 23 of 29 passes for a career-high 392 yards and two touchdowns against Troy. He also rushed for two touchdowns.

"He's throwing the ball really well and he's seeing things really well," Cougars coach Kalani Sitake said of Wilson. "He's played a lot of games for us and the guys look to him as a leader."

The Cougars had two 100-yard receivers as Dax Milne finished with seven receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown while Gunner Romney produced five catches for 138 yards.

"All it means is we can't get too big of an ego, too big of a head, going into (the Louisiana Tech game)," Wilson said. "We are a good offense, but it means nothing if we stop it now."

It's not just the BYU offense that has been dominant. The Cougars' defense has nine sacks after recording just 17 all of last season.

"I don't believe in style points," Sitake said. "I believe in just winning the game and establishing an identity that we want to get done for that game."

The Cougars had 19 days between their first two games after a scheduled contest against Army was postponed because of COVID-19 issues.

"We handled all we were supposed to over these three weeks," Wilson said.

Louisiana Tech began the season with a 31-30 victory at Southern Miss, then routed Houston Baptist 66-38 in its home opener as Luke Anthony threw five touchdowns and ran for another. The transfer from Abilene Christian completed 17 of 30 passes for 314 yards.

"We've got some weapons out on the perimeter, and (we're) throwing the deep ball really well," Bulldogs coach Skip Holtz said. "Luke can definitely play better, but I'm really proud. He's only been in this offense five weeks, so he's really playing well. Overall, I was pleased with the way we came in and competed."

The Bulldogs had 182 rushing yards among their 542 total yards.

Louisiana Tech allowed 406 yards passing, but Holtz said that's not as bad as it might seem. Houston Baptist quarterback Bailey Zappe, who completed 37 of 58 passes against the Bulldogs, had passed for more than 1,000 yards combined with seven touchdowns and no interceptions against North Texas and Texas Tech.

"It's not often you have a quarterback throw for 400 yards against you and you feel like your defense played well," Holtz said. "(We) created the first turnover (by Houston Baptist) of the year. It certainly wasn't perfect. There are certainly things you have to do better, but we didn't flinch. They went out and they played."

--Field Level Media

Popular posts from this blog

Report: Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr. Expected to Miss Multiple Games Due to COVID-19 Protocols