These are the games BYU needs to win if they are going to find a place in the evolving college football landscape as an independent. Texas had a running defense that had no answers for BYU’s ground game, allowing 550 yards on the ground. BYU used that to their advantage in a 40-21 victory against the Longhorns.
While this was an impressive outing by BYU, it was a tremendously disappointing performance for Texas. BYU lost the only two turnovers on the night but managed to put up 679 yards of offense to pound Texas, leaving some to wonder just what a program like Baylor may do to the Longhorns when the two meet later this season (regular season finale, to be exact). For Texas, this was a game to just try to forget and turn the page as they hit the bus to head to the airport going home.
BYU is known for their quarterback lineage of course, and Taysom Hill had another memorable night despite significant struggles passing the football. Hill was just 9-of-26 for 129 yards but he did his damage on the ground. Hill rushed for 259 yards and three touchdowns. Jamaal Williams also had a solid night with 178 rushing yards. BYU’s star linebacker, Kyle Van Noy, also had an active night to lead an aggressive BYU defensive effort against the visiting Longhorns.
Texas had their offense take a hit when Daje Johnson had to leave the game with a left ankle injury after just two rushes for four yards. Quarterback David Ash played most of the game, completing 19 of 31 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns before being taken out of the game with an apparent head injury. No matter who was on the field for the Texas offense though, this loss was largely due to an ineffective defense and it was not even close.
Texas hosts Ole Miss next week and will have to start finding something that works on defense. The Rebels are off to a 2-0 start and will be looking for some revenge after losing to the Longhorns last season. Ole Miss has some young players already finding their roles in this program and if Texas struggles on defense again they could easily fall victim at home to the SEC visitors.
BYU takes a week off before getting back on the field, and the next one is a big one. BYU hosts rival Utah, with the Utes off to a 2-0 start as they head in to Pac 12 play with a home game next week against Oregon State. BYU has some other intriguing match-ups on the schedule in 2013, with Utah State, Boise State, Wisconsin and Notre Dame before the season is over.