Provo • Tanner Mangum dropped to one knee, his uniform stained green from taking knock after knock from Utah’s defense, as one fan on the east side of LaVell Edwards Stadium screamed out in admiration.
“We love you Tanner!” the call came down from the seats.
Mangum stayed on one knee, staring down at the grass inside his home stadium, his right hand atop his helmet, having just seen another rivalry game slip away in all-too-familiar fashion. A week after BYU’s offense was handcuffed and pinned against LSU, it improved incrementally against Utah’s talented defense, but not by much.
“It was not good enough, and obviously I’m not happy about it and I’m going to fix it,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “That’s what I have to do. We owe it to our players on our team and our fans to fix the issues that we’re having on offense.”
Sure, the Cougars’ lightning-quick fourth-quarter hurry-up approach brought them back within striking distance. But it was everything that preceded it, which once again, left the faithful frustrated. Before BYU took advantage with its 76-yard drive capped off by Mangum’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Trey Dye, Cougar fans were already exiting the stadium.
“We dug a hole early on in the game,” Sitake said.
Mangum finished 21-of-39 for 170 yards, but had three costly interceptions that stalled potential drives, putting the Utes in ideal field position. On the ground, the Cougars mustered just 63 total net yards on 24 carries.
BYU’s offense managed to scrape together 233 yards of total offense. Before that late touchdown drive, Mangum’s passing-yard numbers were in double digits. Clearly, Sitake said afterward, the Cougars have not established a normal offensive rhythm early in the season. He defended his quarterback, though, saying that no matter where a breakdown comes on the offensive side of the ball, the magnifying glass is always going to zeroed in on Mangum.
“Tanner’s going to be the most visible part of it all,” Sitake said,”so we need to look at the film and see what all the issues are.”
Tight end Matt Bushman, who finished with a team-high 50 yards receiving on six catches, said he noticed Mangum got more confident as the tempo of the offense picked up late. But as Sitake explained, the Cougars must be as effective when play-calls don’t demand a hurried approach.
“We know we can do it, it just hasn’t happened yet,” Bushman said.
The lingering offensive woes will continue to dominate headlines in this the first quarter of BYU’s season. The Cougars might have snapped a scoreless streak that lasted over six quarters and touchdown-less streak that lasted eight, but there is plenty of work to be put in. Nobody knows that more than these Cougars.
“Yeah, it stinks to lose a rivalry game,” Bushman said, “it stinks to lose two games in a row.”