The following notes are from No. 8 BYU's 66-14 win over North Alabama on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
FLAG BEARERS: Chris Wilcox, Sione Finau and Hank Tuipolotu
COIN TOSS: Zach Wilson. North Alabama won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
SERIES RESULTS: 1-0
TEAM NOTES
9-0
BYU is 9-0 for the first time since 2001. It is the fourth time the Cougars have started 9-0 (2001, 1984, 1979).
40+ and 50+
BYU scored more than 40 points for the eighth time in nine games for the first time. The Cougars also topped 50 points for the fourth time this year.
Scoring
BYU’s 66 points against North Alabama are the most the Cougars have scored this season, surpassing 55 points scored in the season opener at Navy. They are the most points scored in the Kalani Sitake era. It’s the first time the Cougars have surpassed 60 points since a 70-6 victory in 2015 against Wagner. The Cougars have scored 50+ points four times this season, including back-to-back contests (51-17 at Boise last game).
200+
BYU has thrown for 200+ yards in 24 consecutive games with another 277 today. It is the longest streak since 26 in a row over the 2007-09 seasons.
PLAYER NOTES
Zach Wilson
Wilson completed 10 of 16 passes for 212 yards and four touchdowns and a season-best pass efficiency rating of 256.3. It was his seventh game with a pass efficiency rating of 200+ this year. It was his fourth time throwing for four touchdowns in a game this season and fifth of his career. His 26 touchdown passes are the second most in the FBS behind Florida’s Kyle Trask. He had 33 rushing yards, which all came on one play. It was his longest rush of the season. Wilson has been responsible for 34 touchdowns this season, the most by a BYU quarterback since 2009 (Max Hall, 35). Wilson did not play in the second half.
Tyler Allgeier
Allgeier had 13 carries, 141 yards and two touchdowns. It was his fourth 100-yard game and third two-touchdown game this season. He now has 11 touchdowns this season, which leads all BYU players. He entered today’s game ranked No. 16 nationally in total touchdowns and now jumps to
No. 7.
Isaac Rex
Rex had three catches for 20 yards and two touchdowns. He now has eight touchdown catches this season. He entered the game No. 16 nationally in touchdown receptions and now jumps to No. 4.
Isaiah Kaufusi
Kaufusi had four tackles (three solo), one sack and one fumble recovery with a 50-yard return.
Notable career highs/career firsts
First career touchdown: Miles Davis
Career-high rushing yards: Miles Davis (54)
Career-high touchdown receptions: Isaac Rex (Tied, 2) Career-high rushing touchdowns: Tyler Allgeier (Tied, 2) Career-high tackles: Malik Moore (5)
BYU HEAD COACH KALANI SITAKE
“Glad we got the win. We had a lot of guys get in the game and play some reps, so we we felt like we got some good experience for a lot of our guys on the team. Obviously we had some mistakes. I thought we were able to correct to play cleaner in the second half. I appreciate all the effort that our guys showed and the excitement — that level of competition that they had. They're ready to play and had fun doing it. Thank you to North Alabama for taking the game and sticking with the schedule and being here. It was fun to be on the field with them and you know, we wish them the best of luck in what they're doing in 2021. I believe this is their last game, so just the fact that they're able to be here and play here in Provo. We're looking forward to improving from this game and getting better, as we are every week, and just happy we got the win. Looking forward to getting better, though.”
On big offensive plays
“Yeah, you got to give a lot of credit to our offensive coaches. I think first of all, we're playing good team football, complimentary football. With the mindset of our team, our coaches and our philosophy as a program, we're utilizing the skill and the strengths that we have and trying to make plays, trying to put as many points on the board as we can. In order to do that, you give a lot of credit to our coaches, our assistant coaches and coordinators for making it happen, and developing a scheme that Zach will feel really comfortable with and then complement it with everyone we have, with receivers, tight ends and with the running back. So I think looking at that and seeing our run game, you couldn't accomplish any of that without an O-line and a deep O-line. And then the same thing carries over on the defensive side of being able to play solid, starting up in the trenches with the D-line and then going from there. So, we give a lot of credit to Ilaisa Tuiaki, he's our DC, and Jeff Grimes is our OC, and Ed Lab is our special teams coordinator. Those guys have done an amazing job of communicating with the players and utilizing the skill that they have, and the strengths that we have, to try to play good, complimentary football and get points on the board.”
On his assessment of the defense
“We can an improve on a lot of things, and we got a lot of bodies in there and a lot of reps. I think getting off the field will be really important. I thought we gave up too many first downs, but we were able to create some turnovers. I think that looking at it, we have to be better against the pass, but when you can stop the run, make teams have to play one side, not being balanced and disrupting them, I think you're gonna be okay, so overall just happy with the performance. Obviously we had some big plays and were able to get two scores, and we're always gonna look at it and try to improve, but I was really pleased with some of the things I saw from our players, specifically the young guys. We'll keep building on that. There's always room for improvement, and we know there's some on the defensive side, but overall, if we can hold teams to 14 points, we should be pretty good.”
On watching Zach Wilson make plays
“From every position, I enjoy seeing those guys, when it goes well, but I've seen him do that a lot in practice, but I was always just really pleased with what Zach is doing as a quarterback of our team. You see the coaching that he's getting from Aaron Roderick, and then you see the carryover that it has, the effect that it has, and some of the things that Baylor is doing when he gets on the field, Sol-Jay and Conover and all those guys, so a lot of compliments to our our system coach and our quarterbacks coach in A-Rod, and being able to collaborate with the players of the quarterback position and work with Grimes. Zach's starting to feel really comfortable out there, but he's made those those throws. He’s been doing that since he got here. He's got a high level of IQ in football. Especially at the quarterback position, he's starting to get really comfortable with his role, and you see a lot of those guys get comfortable with the experience that they've had the last couple years. Even Baylor getting in there and having him feel comfortable with the offense. There's some guys that are still brand new on the offense, defense and special teams that we're trying to get past the uncomfortable moment and allow them to play fast. We saw a little bit of that this game, but it's okay. I've mentioned before that we're gonna sacrifice some stats in order to get our guys some valuable experience which will add to our depth.”
On Isaac Rex’s play this season
“I think it's kind of at the point now where we know he's a legit guy, but we've been saying that for a while. I think we've been saying that we feel really good with the skill, and Dax and Neil and Gunner. We knew we were going to be good, it's just a matter of getting out there and letting them make plays. That's a lot of confidence that our quarterback has on a fourth down to throw it up for grabs to our tight end. Isaac's got great ball skills, and he's really big. I like what I've seen from our tight end group, I like what I'm seeing from my receiver group and our line and we took a step forward today as a team, getting depth and getting valuable experience.”
BYU RUNNING BACK TYLER ALLEGIER
On his performance today
“You know, it's always a great feeling, but all that credit goes to the big guys, man, and the receivers, so all my success goes to the O-line. That was just an offensive game right there. “
On what makes the offense special
“Honestly, it's just the work that we put in and us trusting each other. I think trust is the big one that really makes us click, and honestly, I think that's just the big success, and just having our minds right, just being prepared to do whatever it takes to get in the end zone.”
BYU OFFENSIVE LINEMAN JAMES EMPEY
On scoring on every first half possession
“I mean, that's having fun with your friends. That’s a lot of fun. That’s playing football, and then executing at the highest level, regardless of who you’re playing. That's really what we've been trying to do, and so that’s a blast. That was a good time."
On the offense’s ability to produce big plays
“I think the credit just goes to everybody playing really hard and doing their job. Football is the ultimate team sport, and when you're out there, you just got to do your part and do your best to make a play, and it just comes from everybody trying to do their job, the best way they can, every time. When you do that, then good things happen. You score a lot of points, you have a lot of big plays and you have a good time. We're trying to execute our best to coach, and they’re trying to call the best plays, and I feel like we're doing a good job right now at going out and playing for each other and playing our best every time we get the chance.”
On the offensive line being healthy
“Football is a sport where people get hurt and go down for a few weeks and come back, and with COVID, somebody might be out for a little bit and come back. You always have to deal with those things, and we have guys that can play at every position, and it's been fun to see a lot of guys get to play this year. And so, yeah, we have a few guys that are back that weren't here, but it's the same unit, and that just kind of goes to the integrity of the o-line unit that we have, and how close we are together, and how we just love playing ball. Shout out to all my boys.“
On having multiple bye weeks this season
“We want to play as much as we can. We're going to get after it this week, and these next few weeks, really, and do our best to be ready for that next game. We're going to get after it and try to get the best we can be. We got a bunch of guys that enjoy the grind and enjoy getting better, and that's really what our focus has been this last little bit. We know that they're still scheduling, and we’re still trying to play people, and we're ready to play anybody, any day. Whether we’ll have three weeks before our next game, I don't know, but we're just going to hit it, and start working, and keep grinding for that next game, and just keep our rhythm going.
On wanting more games added
“Oh, I don't think I have to send Tom any messages. Tom has told us since the beginning that he's going to try and fight for us and get us as many games as possible, and you just heard Kalani say the same thing — he just said that we've always been ready to play, we've been committed to play since the beginning, and so it doesn't make any sense that we wouldn't want to have more games. I think everybody on the team wants to keep playing ball, and keep doing our thing, and so we welcome any opportunity that we get to play football.”
BYU DEFENSIVE BACK MALIK MOORE
On getting plenty of time of the field
“For me, it felt good to just be out there again, because I had an injury back in January and had surgery then, but it's real good to be back out there with my boys and go out there and ball out. This was a great game for everybody to show the coaches what they can do and that there's no drop off when next year comes around.“
On the defense feeding off of the offense
“There’s more opportunities to make plays, more opportunities to show everybody what we can do. And sometimes, for sure, it’s tiring when they’re scoring that fast — two plays in — and they're already on a five-yard line. But it's cool to just know that you have an offense that can back you up if you make a mistake. It feels good to be out there and have the opportunity to just get the assignments down and make plays out there.”
On what makes the offense special
“I think they just trust each other now. They trust each other a lot more, and they just click. If you see in practice, they're always going pads on. To see it on the field is just cool, to know that they all click together, and they know their assignments, and it just works when everybody's doing their one-eleventh.”
On wanting to get a shutout
“I know we wouldn’t really listen to the media about how we were supposed to win by 50 or anything. We knew what we were capable of, and our goal was to just have an assignment-sound game with no mistakes — just play a full game. We feel like we haven't finished the game in the fourth quarter, third quarter here lately. So I think that was more of the goal, but, for sure, disappointing to see that they they scored off of M.A.’s and all that stuff.”
On his interception
“Yeah. I had one my freshman year. That was pretty lit. I could have had a pick before the half was over, and it felt like the dude hit it on my hand. People say I dropped it, but I didn’t drop it. I could have caught it. With the second one, I had to make sure I caught it. It just felt real slow, like the ball was coming in for like five seconds, and then it just kind of cuddle it like a baby, and I caught it.”
On preparing for San Diego State
“It's just day-by-day really. Take every day in practice and remember your assignment on any defensive calls, because everything's always going to carry over. I don't think it's a really big deal that we might have a game scheduled right away. If we schedule it, then we move on to the next person, and we start watching film the next day. It's all about getting those mental reps in, for sure.”
UNA HEAD COACH CHRIS WILLIS
On his team’s performance
“Offensively, for us, I was pretty pleased, for the most part. I don’t know what our numbers were, but we moved the ball, did some things, did get in the end zone twice. We’ve been struggling offensively, for the most part, the previous games, so very proud of this. We saw some things from some people. We let everybody play today. It was almost an evaluation. We knew what we were going up against.”
On facing BYU
“Defensively, we didn’t really have an answer today. When you’re an FCS team with 63 scholarships, you need all your weapons. Not having Mike Boykin in the lineup today, who was our player of the game last week, Wallace Cowins Jr. blowing out his knee — I’m not saying it would’ve made a difference in the outcome of the win or loss category, but just the fact that it did make a difference up front. We got pushed around when they wanted to create a play. But listen, my guys, I’m proud of them. They competed for four quarters and we did the best we can against the No. 8 team in all of college football. So, good football team. We’ll be rooting for BYU. They’re a class act, and I thought we were treated very kindly on this trip — they’re a first-class group of guys.”