TEAM NOTES
Attendance: 60,186
Today’s Y-Lighter was former BYU head coach Tom Hudspeth’s family, joined by members of the 1965 WAC Championship team, the first in BYU history. The late Hudspeth led the Cougars for eight seasons (1964-71).
Flag bearers: The team flag was carried by junior linebacker Sae Tautu, the special teams flag was carried by sophomore defensive back Grant Jones and the alumni flag was carried by Virgil Carter, quarterback from 1963-66.
Team captains were senior defensive lineman Bronson Kaufusi, junior wide receiver Mitchell Juergens and freshman linebacker Rhett Sandlin.
In all four wins this season, BYU has trailed or been tied in the fourth quarter.
BYU’s 45 points are a season high and the most since scoring 48 in the Miami Beach Bowl last season.
BYU set a season high with 43 rush attempts. The Cougars had 167 rushing yards.
The last time BYU won after trailing by 14 points or more in the first quarter was at Utah State on October 1, 1999. The Cougars trailed 14-0 early before defeating the Aggies 34-31 in overtime. BYU was down 14-0 in the first against ECU today.
BYU scored 28 unanswered points, the Cougars’ longest such streak this season.
BYU had three sacks and is now 45-2 since 2005 when notching three or more sacks in a game.
BYU was 5 for 5 inside the blue zone with four touchdowns and a field goal. The team is now 19 for 20 in the blue zone this season
BYU is now 1-0 all-time against East Carolina and 21-5 against current American Athletic Conference teams.
PLAYER NOTES
Algernon Brown
Brown had 24 carries for 134 yards (53-yard long) and two catches for 20 yards (22-yard long) to go with four touchdowns (3 rush, 1 receive). Brown set career highs in all categories listed above.
Brown is the first BYU player to score four or more touchdowns in a game since wide receiver Cody Hoffman scored five touchdowns at New Mexico State on November 24, 2012. He is also the first BYU player with a receiving and rushing touchdown in the same game since running back Paul Lasike accomplished the feat against UNLV on November 15, 2014.
Brown is the first BYU player to score three rushing touchdowns in a game since Taysom Hill scored three at Texas on September 6, 2014, and the first running back to do since Jamaal Williams had three against Idaho State on November 16, 2013.
Brown scored on a 22-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, a 1-yard rush in the second quarter, a 53-yard rush in the third quarter and a 9-yard rush in the fourth quarter. Brown’s 53-yard touchdown run is the longest by a BYU player since a 66-yard rush by Jamaal Williams at Nevada on November 30, 2013.
Tanner Mangum
Mangum finished the game 24 for 33 for 332 yards and three touchdowns. It’s Mangum’s third 300-yard passing game this season, continuing a BYU freshman record. Mangum’s 254 passing yards in the first half set a career high for a half.
Mitch Mathews
Mathews’ first reception of the game came on a season-long 45-yard reception in the first quarter. With the reception, Mathews extends his streak to 30 consecutive games with a reception. In the second quarter Mathews caught a 13-yard touchdown, his sixth of the season and 19th of his career. He finished with four catches for 72 yards.
Devon Blackmon
Blackmon earned career highs with nine catches for 142 yards.
Sione Takitaki
Takitaki had his first career fumble recovery in the third quarter. Takitaki finished the game with five tackles, including 2.5 TFL and two sacks.
Fred Warner
Warner earned his second fumble recovery of his career and the season. He also grabbed his first interception of the season and second of his career.
Bronson Kaufusi
Kaufusi recorded the first punt block of his career in the second quarter.
Beau Hoge
Hoge saw the first playing time of his career after entering the game in the third quarter. Hoge went 1 for 5 for nine yards and an interception.
POSTGAME QUOTES
BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall | Presser vIdeo link
On Tanner Mangum’s performance:
“What a remarkable performance by Tanner. I didn't expect him to come back, but I’m certainly glad he did. He keeps doing things that are pretty amazing, but at the same time he just keeps staying grounded and humbled and smiling and helping us win football games.”
On the win:
“I thought it was a team win. There were a lot of plays that had to be made, certainly by our quarterback. Ultimately the run game on the last drive sealed the game. So that was a real positive. There was a stretch in there where ECU was moving the ball and we kept creating turnovers which was a huge stretch for us and we started to separate. And then a few injuries happened and Micah Hannemann went down in the secondary. We also suspended two players for team discipline, both in the secondary, before the game. Guys were just out there battling and got an opportunity and they played just well enough to help us win the game.”
“It was a great program win and I’m happy for our team. I’m happy for our coaches. We thought it was going to be a really tough game and we thought ECU was a good team capable of scoring a lot of points. They were able to play hard and all those things happened. Really it’s a great day to be a Cougar.”
On Mangum’s injury:
“I haven’t heard, I’m just glad he came back. I think it was a fourth down play when he was scrambling to slide when the injury happened. He stayed in for a few plays and was limping around and we were trying to not have him move around in the pocket at all. It just kind of seized up so he came out.”
On Mangum:
“It’s just unbelievable. The decisions he is making for a freshman are just exceptional. The poise that he is displaying, it just really impresses me.”
On the game-winning touchdown run:
“It was a relief first, I have to be honest. Then it was excitement and then right away I hoped we could knock down a pass. They were throwing and catching, and we knew going in that their tight end was exceptional. We knew that would be an issue and they have a couple of receivers on the outside as well. They proved to be that way, and so the game wasn’t over. We still had to knock down some passes. The defensive coordinator hat was on so I couldn’t be too excited at the moment.”
On the aggressive fake punt call:
“I thought this was going to be a close game. I thought it was going to be a tough game and I think those games need to be managed aggressively. That’s what we did, and that was our mindset going into the game. Those opportunities presented themselves and luckily we executed. It was a read call, which means if [ECU] aligned for it to happen then we were going to do it. And they did, and it was a huge play.”
On the running game:
“That’s kind of been the piece we have been missing with running backs coming back from injury. Algie was more than capable this last week and he performed really well. Francis Bernard was going to be kind of the spell back for Algie. And it worked just right until Tanner went out, and then the plan was different at that point.”
On preparing for both ECU quarterbacks:
“No. 11 had been the quarterback that had been bringing them back in their other games. It has been really difficult for teams to prepare and play both quarterbacks very well. We had spent the majority of our game plan for No. 10. I did not think he could throw the ball as effectively and as consistently as he did. Most of our plan was for 10. Whether it looked like it or not, we were actually more prepared for him than jersey 11. Mostly I was really relieved when 11 left the game, but you have to be careful what you wish for. No.10 came in and we had to change tempos and we were shorthanded in the secondary.”
On Mangum:
“I think we all saw that the game has slowed down for him. I think the entire stadium knows that based on the response he is getting. It’s hard if you don’t just stop for a second and think ‘this is his freshman season’ it’s kind of hard to imagine.”
On the game-winning drive:
“They knew that we were running the ball and they were certainly trying to stop us. We were actually planning just to run it down to the last play and kick a field goal. Much credit to our offensive line and to Algie they just did it better and ran it down for a touchdown.”
On coach McNeil of ECU:
“I’ll tell you, coach McNeil from ECU is a class act. He’s kind, and he’s generous and he’s positive. He was looking after our player which doesn’t happen very much. I’m very impressed with him as a person.”
On ECU:
“What a great team. They played hard and deserve a lot of credit for fighting back the way they did. They have skilled players and a good program and they have been in and out of the top 25 for the last few years. And [Coach McNeil] is responsible for that.”
Tanner Mangum | Presser video link—Mangum & Brown
“When you’re in the middle of a game you want to do all you can to keeping playing and help your team win, even though you’re hurt. When it came down to the last drive I couldn’t stay on the sideline any longer.”
“Our offensive line and running game on the last drive was great. It is a great feeling when you can step on the field and trust your guys and know that they’ll do everything they can to help you.”
“That last play I thought we were going to pass, but when they called the run all I wanted to do was hold on to the ball. It was exciting to see us fight to the end.”
“It’s great that Tanner can pass the ball so well. It’s fun to see him be able to find a guy here and find a guy there; it opens up the run game for us.”
“We watched a lot of film on ECU this week and the way they move defensively. The biggest thing that helped me this week was the opportunity that Francis Bernard and I had to meet up with Harvey Unga. He gave us some great advice. He told me after the game that the last run I had was exactly what he would have done.”
Kai Nacua | Presser video link—Nacua & Warner
“We made some mistakes on defense, but there are things we can work on to be a better defensive unit in the future.”
“Something our defense does very well is create and recover turnovers. It is very nice because it fuels our team as a whole and allows the offense to go out there and have great field position.”
“We prepared for both quarterbacks during the week. We felt that we were prepared for both. We thought No. 10 would start, but we felt ready for both quarterbacks. We came in and did some good things, but we just need to make sure to be more consistent and execute better.”ECU head coach Ruffin McNeil
ECU head coach Ruffin McNeil
“It was a great game. I didn't like the way it ended, but I was proud of our kids. We've been through what we call half of our season. We divide the season into quarters: the first quarter, the second quarter - and we just finished the second quarter. Now we go right into conference schedule.”
“I was proud of the way the kids finished. They hung in there - even at tough times. That's not an easy task at all for them to do that, but you learn something about the team every game. Never surrender. Never end a fight. That's not even in our vocabulary. I think we've found out about executing. When you play the teams we've played - Bronco has a really good football team over here - you have to be error free in margin and be prepared to come back and play in this tough environment, I was proud of them.”
“We're looking forward to going back to Greenville and getting started to work on next week. The talent we play, the teams that we play - we've got to have that feeding frenzy, as I call it, more and longer. We continue learning and watching the kids growing and how they work together.”
On Tanner Mangum:
“They're going through the same thing that we went through earlier. Taysom got injured early on - I knew how good Tanner was. I​'ve known him since high school. He's a mature freshman. He's got a great arm, he's a great size. He's had to do just as Blake and James had. It didn't surprise me. I've seen both this offense and defense do things that they did tonight. Even with Tanner, I've seen his work on film.”