BYU football: Riley Stephenson pinned Huskies, wins award

PROVO — One of the keys to BYU's 23-17 season-opening victory over Washington last Saturday was winning the field-position battle.

BYU sophomore punter/placekicker Riley Stephenson played a big role in consistently putting the Huskies in a hole during the game, and, for his contributions, he earned Mountain West Conference special teams player of the week honors.

Three of Stephenson's six punts put Washington inside the 15-yard line, while three of his five kickoffs gave the Huskies the ball inside the 20. His two other kickoffs were touchbacks.

Washington began drives from its own 2, 12, 1, 7 and 16.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall has placed special emphasis on the special teams this season. It's paid off so far.

"One of the reasons I'm coaching the kickoff team and structuring our special teams emphasis was knowing we were going to need it because of our relative youth," Mendenhall said. "Field position has to be something we win, and I think that played out (Saturday) ... The special teams changed the game. Field position was huge, with everything else being about equal. The field position part was a key determinant, I thought."

DILUIGI'S DAY: Things didn't start well for running back J.J. DiLuigi on Saturday. He rushed for two yards on three carries in the first quarter, then fumbled a pitch out of bounds in the second quarter.

From there, though, DiLuigi became a playmaker, finishing with 69 yards rushing and tallying four receptions for 83 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown pass from Riley Nelson in the third quarter for what turned out to be the final score of the game.

"I would say he met expectations," Mendenhall said of DiLuigi. "It's good to see a guy labor through the system for a few years, then come through like that."

The Cougars have had a huge void to fill in the backfield with Harvey Unga moving on after last season. Against Washington, DiLuigi provided BYU with production it needed.

"There's no replacing Harvey," DiLuigi said. "I'm just going to try to do what I can to help my team. My teammates trust me, and it's easy to play when people believe in you."

SWEET VICTORY: Following Saturday's win, freshman quarterback Jake Heaps, who hails from the Seattle area, was asked by a Seattle reporter if it was sweet to defeat his hometown team in his first collegiate game.

"Of course, are you kidding me? Of course it makes it sweet," he said. "We were playing my hometown team and the school I always dreamed of going to. I had to put that behind me and treat it as a regular game." NO MISSION PLANS FOR NOW: After Monday's practice, freshman quarterback Jake Heaps was asked if he is planning to serve a mission.

"As of right now, I'm not going on a mission," he said. "At any point, it could hit me saying, 'Hey, I need to go on a mission.' But I'm pretty sure that I'll be staying here and playing football."

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