No. 19 Cougars Conclude Regular Season with 30-18 Win Over Houston

PROVO, Utah – No. 19 BYU football concluded its regular season with a 30-18 win over the Houston Cougars on senior night.

Despite not getting the help it needed to get a place in the Big 12 Conference Championship, BYU did secure a 10-win season, for the third time in the past five seasons and 19th time in program history, and will now await its bowl designation.

“Glad we got the win tonight," said Kalani Sitake, BYU head coach. "It was a really interesting game, not the way I saw it happening, but I’m just really proud of the boys. We did enough to get the win, and we probably could have put it away a little earlier, but I love the guys’ belief in each other and building on this, because we know we have another game after this."

Turnovers on both sides of the ball impacted play through the entirety of the game. The BYU defense forced three fumbles and had two interceptions. Houston had three fumble recoveries in the game. 

BYU racked up 356 yards of offense to Houston’s 250. LJ Martin led BYU with 87 rushing yards on a career-high 22 carries. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw for 167 yards and was the team’s second leading rusher with 57 yards on nine attempts with two touchdowns runs. The wide receiver room was led by Chase Roberts who garnered 76 receiving yards, followed by Keelan Marion who picked up 42 yards.

For the BYU defense, Jack Kelly had seven total tackles, six solo tackles, one sack, two quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and an interception. Tanner Wall led the defense in tackles with 13, six solo. Tyler Batty had nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and an interception.

1st Quarter

The BYU offense started the contest with quick movement down the field, highlighted by first-down passes from Retzlaff to Roberts and Marion. A fumbled handoff at the 21-yard line resulted in a recovery from the Houston defense. 

Just two plays later, Houston gave the ball right back with an interception by Batty on the BYU 23-yard line with a four-yard return. 

BYU’s offensive line opened up a hole up the middle for a 15-yard run by Retzlaff. Martin saw a four-yard carry before Houston forced a punt from BYU to switch possession with 7:26 left in the first quarter. 

Houston responded with a 10-play touchdown drive that included 19-yard and 18-yard chunk plays and was capped off with a three-yard quarterback keeper, making it 7-0 with 1:47 left in the first quarter. 

Houston tried to capitalize on the early momentum with an on-side kick attempt immediately following the touchdown. However, Talon Alfrey picked up the attempt and turned on the jets for a 58-yard return, untouched to the endzone. Will Ferrin's successful PAT tied the contest at 7-7 with 1:34 left in the period.

2nd Quarter

Houston wasted no time entering the second quarter, getting down to the BYU six-yard line on a 39-yard pass on the second play of the drive. The BYU defense successfully hit the breaks at that point, limiting Houston to a field goal with 11:48 minutes in the quarter. 

BYU responded with a seven-play scoring drive. It began with a 15-yard gain on a pass from Retzlaff to Marion. The next play saw an eight-yard rush by Marion to get to the 50-yard line. Martin broke right for a 12-yard run and another first down. Moments later, BYU saw a 20-yard pick-up from Parker Kingston up the left side of the field to get to the Houston 15. Sione I. Moa reached the endzone on a six-yard rush for BYU’s second touchdown of the night. Ferrin secured the extra point for BYU to take the lead for the first time in the game, 14-10 with 7:55 left in the half. 

The BYU defense forced a punt on the next Houston possession, aided by a broken-up pass by John Nelson and a quarterback hurry from Batty. The punt reached Kingston for the fair catch at the BYU four-yard line. 

Retzlaff and Martin had 11-yard rushes on the next BYU drive, but the drive ended with a Sam Vander Haar punt to the Houston 35. 

The BYU defense forced another punt on the next Houston drive, limiting the offense to 19 yards on four plays, giving the ball back to BYU with 59 seconds left in the half. 

Retzlaff hustled the BYU offense with a six-play scoring drive. Martin started off the drive with a 12-yard reception, followed up with a six-yard carry on 3rd-and-one. Retzlaff then located Roberts deep down the middle of the field for a 52-yard gain to the Houston 15. Retzlaff capped off the scoring drive with a 13-yard run up the middle to reach the endzone. The extra point finished the drive, resulting in a 21-10 lead for BYU headed into the locker room. 

3rd Quarter

The BYU defense continued to pressure the Houston offense on the first drive of the second half. On the sixth play of the drive, Kelly picked up BYU’s 20th interception of the season and second of the game, giving BYU the ball on the Houston 42-yard line. 

Back-to-back runs by Martin brought BYU to the Houston 29. Retzlaff then connected with Marion down the right side for a gain of 17. A fumble at the four-yard line was recovered by the Houston defense to force a turnover with 8:20 left in the quarter. 

The BYU defense forced a three-and-out after the turnover, but Houston’s 41-yard punt which was fumbled by BYU and gave the ball right back to Houston at midfield. Another quick three-and-out from the defense gave BYU back the ball on the next drive. 

Jojo Phillips secured a 40-yard pass from Retzlaff to position BYU to the Houston 40-yard line after the first play from scrimmage. Two penalty calls on the Houston defense gave BYU an additional 22 yards. After three plays inside the four-yard line, BYU eventually settled for field goal from Ferrin that furthered the BYU lead 24-10 with 17 seconds left on the clock.

4th Quarter

Houston began the last period with its longest scoring drive of the game. A pass interference penalty on the BYU defense brought Houston across midfield to the BYU 43. The Houston offense continued to march down the field on a 12-play drive that resulted in a touchdown and two-point conversion that cut the BYU lead to 24-18 with 8:34 left on the clock. 

A quick three-and-out from the BYU offense resulted in a punt to give Houston the ball right back with just over eight minutes of play. 

Houston picked up a first down and got the ball to midfield, but the BYU defense forced another turnover. This time on fourth down, it was Kelly forcing a fumble and Blake Mangelson recovering the ball on the Houston 18-yard line to end the play and give BYU possession. 

Back-to-back rushes from Martin got BYU within five yards of the Houston endzone. The offensive line opened up a path on third down for Retzlaff to find a way up the middle for another rushing touchdown and move the score to 30-18. BYU attempted a two-point conversion which fell short and Houston got the ball back with 2:52 on the clock. 

Not letting up on the gas, the BYU defense claimed another fumble recovery on Houston’s first play from scrimmage. Nelson punched the ball out on the quarterback run, which preceded the recovery by Logan Lutui.

Four carries by Martin gave the BYU offense control of the clock for the remainder of the game, ending the contest 30-18.