Just call them the Cardiac Cougars. No. 19 BYU’s first two games have both come down to the wire, with the Cougars somehow clawing their way to victory on both occasions. But their luck could be about to run out when they travel to Pasadena to face Pac-12 powerhouse, No. 10 UCLA.
The Bruins have been mighty impressive in their first couple of games, and a win over an upstart BYU team would set them up very nicely for the start of conference play.
BYU has had quite an eventful first two weeks. In the Cougars’ first game, they lose their senior quarterback Taysom Hill for the year with a broken foot, but freshman Tanner Mangum comes up with a game-winning Hail Mary to beat Nebraska, 33-28, on the road.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]The drama didn’t stop there. Mangum, making his first career start, orchestrated a clutch game-winning drive to beat No. 20 Boise State, 35-24. With those two huge nonconference wins, BYU has launched itself into the discussion as a potential College Football Playoff dark horse.
Not only that, but Mangum has inserted himself into the Heisman discussion, albeit as a long shot bet. (He’s currently priced at +2,000 to take home the trophy.) Mangum went 17-of-28 for 309 yards with two touchdowns but had two interceptions in his first career start against Boise State.
Nevertheless, look for Mangum and the Cougars passing game to go after a Bruins secondary that’s the weak point of the defense and has yet to be fully tested this season. However, it remains to be seen how well he can perform in his first ever start on the road, with the added pressure of facing a top 10 team at the historic Rose Bowl.
Mangum will need added production from senior running back Adam Hine, who rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries against a solid Boise State front.
BYU’s own run defense has been pretty solid so far this season, limiting Nebraska and Boise State to a combined 2.43 yards per carry. It’ll need to continue slowing down the Bruins’ ground game, and force the ball into the hands of talented but still inexperienced quarterback Josh Rosen.
Josh Rosen couldn’t quite reach the heights of his stellar debut in Las Vegas, but it hardly mattered as UCLA came away easy 37-3 winners over UNLV. With Rosen (22-of-42 for 223 yards, a touchdown and an interception) falling back down to earth, Paul Perkins and the running game took center stage. Perkins finished with 151 of the team’s 273 yards on the ground with two touchdowns.
Perkins and his experienced O-line will be by far the best rushing attack BYU has faced to date this season, and should move the ball well on the ground to take some pressure off Josh Rosen. Not that Rosen showed any signs of panic in his home debut against Virginia, where he threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns.
The UCLA defense lost star defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes for the season, but it still has sufficient talent in that line to defend the run. However, the defense’s main problem thus far this season has been the pass rush.
The Bruins have registered just one sack in two games thus far despite playing subpar opposition. They’ll need to find a way to generate some pressure in order to destabilize BYU’s young QB.
The total has gone under in UCLA’s last six home games.
Writer’s Prediction
The lack of a pass rush allows Mangum to get to UCLA’s secondary. Rosen and the Bruins eventually have too much and win 35-24, but BYU covers the +16 spread.
