BYU football: Nevada too much for Cougars

Nevada vs. BYU boxscore

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PROVO — With a true freshman quarterback making his debut as a starter, and facing an up-and-coming Nevada team with a senior quarterback, BYU dealt with a big challenge Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Jake Heaps, who showed flashes of his potential running the offense and the Cougar defense, held the prolific Wolf Pack offense to only three points in the second half.

But in the end, BYU fell to Nevada, 27-13, losing its third consecutive game of the season.

It marked the Cougars' first 1-3 start since 2005, and it's the first time BYU has lost three consecutive games since 2004, one year before coach Bronco Mendenhall took the reins of the program.

"Any time you face adversity, it's difficult. The one thing I took away is the support of this team battling together to improve," Mendenhall said. "Regardless of the outcome, that's the biggest takeaway. They battled to the end and that's a great start. We're still not at the level we need to be at, but I did see improvement. Please don't take it that I'm satisfied. Please don't take it where there's not ground to make up. But I did see improvement."

Nevada improved to 4-0 — its best start ever as an FBS program — and will likely be ranked when the polls come out today.

"This was a great win," said Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault. "When you can come here and beat BYU at BYU, you know you are doing something right."

The Cougar offense did some things right Saturday. It finally scored in the second half for the first time since the season-opening victory against Washington.

"We made lots of plays," said Heaps, who completed 24-of-45 passes for 229 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. "There are a lot of good things to take from this game. It's exciting that we're headed in the right direction. We're moving forward."

Overall, the offense showed some good signs, but was still out-of-sync.

"At times we were very good moving the ball downfield," said wide receiver McKay Jacobson. "I think we're making improvements. Obviously, we have a ways to go. But I'm definitely encouraged by the improvements we're making. I felt at times, during certain drives we were getting into rhythms and moving the ball and having those opportunities. We have to capitalize."