On the 9th BYU finally got its first win on the blue ground in Boise State on Friday night, and the Cooks won 51-17 against the 21st Francois. The win improved BYU to 8-0 as the Cougars continued to build a dark-horse nomination for the college football playoffs in an attempt to dominate statistically against the best opponent in the 2020 schedule.
The Cooks beat Boise State 573-310, while handing over the Broncos’ worst home defeat since the 2001 loss to Washington State. Injury to Boise State quarterback Jack Sears set the 2-1 Broncos back because they were already without opening quarterback Hong Bachmier. With its first two quarterbacks, Boise State returned to newcomers Kate Fennagen and Andy Peters. Fennegan finally found Khalil Shakir for a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns to give Boise State a little life.
By that time, however, BYU had already put together another excellent attacking performance. Quarterback Zack Wilson is connected for 359 yards in 21 of 27 passes, while passing 2,500 yards for the season. The win was especially significant for Wilson and other BYU upper-class men who were part of a 21-16 defeat at Boise State in 2018. That defeat brought BYU down 0-5 in the road games against Boise State, coming with a point with those three losses.
The makers of the odds were expecting another one-possession game on Friday night, with BYU entering the kickoff as a 4.5-point favorite. But since joining the Broncos Football Cup subdivision in 1996, visions of Boise State to beat the highest-ranked opponent to play at Albertson Stadium have quickly faded. Tyler Algier ran 86 yards to touch BYU’s second attacking game, Sears was injured shortly after, and the Cooks crossed the line for the rest.
BYU’s next game is on November 21 against FCS North Alabama. The Cooks are set to finish the 10-game slate against San Diego State on December 12th.
