BYU vs. San Jose State postgame notes and quotes

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HOFFMAN KEEPS IT GOING
Wide receiver Cody Hoffman kept his streak alive, now catching at least one pass in 30 straight games and 36 of 37 career games. Hoffman finished with a career-best 13 receptions that went for 155 yards. Hoffman now has 951 receiving yards this season, surpassing his 2011 total of 943.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS
With 13 receptions, Hoffman passed Gordon Hudson with 181 career receptions. Also, with another 155 receiving yards, Hoffman moved ahead of Chris Smith for No. 9 in career receiving yards at 2,422 yards. He also moved into a tie at No. 2 with his 12th career 100-yard receiving game and moved into sixth place in career all-purpose yards with 3,756.

TOUCHDOWN JAMAAL
Freshman Jamaal Williams scored one rushing touchdown, bringing his total to 11on the season. He is now tied for No. 2 among freshman running backs at BYU all-time for a single season. He is also No. 3 among freshman FBS running backs with 11 scores on the ground this year.

BLOCKED KICKS
Defensive lineman Russell Tialavea blocked his third kick of the season, San Jose State’s first PAT attempt of the game. Tialavea blocked a PAT against Weber State and a field goal at Utah.

A LOT OF PASSING
In a game that started with a hot San Jose State passing game, BYU ended with more passing yards than the Spartans, 335 to 305. Nelson tied a career-high in completions (28) and attempts (51) for 335 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The 335 yards is his second 300-yard game this season and the second most of his career.

PICKING MACHINE
Junior defensive back Daniel Sorensen nabbed his third interception of the year to stall a Spartan drive. Sorensen also logged interceptions against Hawai’I and Georgia Tech.

RUNNING OUT THE FLAG
Sophomore tight end Devin Mahina led BYU out of the tunnel carrying the team flag today. Senior defensive lineman Simote Vea also ran out the special teams flag. Former cougar Chris Farasopoulos (DB, returner 1968-70) carried the alumni flag.

BYU Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall
On San Jose’s quick start to the game:
“We just were not concentrating very well on our assignments. They had some nice concentration plays that forced our players to really concentrate from the beginning of the play to the end of the play. They had three big plays to start the game and then we decided to play and concentrate. Give San Jose State credit for the way they started the game.”

On his defense after the first quarter:
“I think they played three quarters of good football. San Jose has a good offense and can put a lot of points on the board.”

On learning a lesson about playing an entire four quarters:
“I think so, especially against good teams. They dug us into a hole and we couldn’t get out.”

On the poor running game and 51 pass attempts:
"We don’t like the imbalance. Some of it has to do with up playing from behind. If the runs were more successful we obviously would have run the ball more.”

On QB Riley Nelson:
“He took another hard shot and the guy is very resilient. We had James (backup QB Lark) ready because Riley was hurting. We weren’t sure how and if he was going to be able to continue and he just kept recovering and recovering. He gave us a chance to win the game.”

On the onside kick recovery late in the fourth quarter:
“I was really excited. It was a real nice onside kick. We executed it real well and had 2 ½ minutes still to go with a timeout and it couldn’t have set up any better. We had a couple of false starts right after that in a critical moment that really hurt us.”

Game recap