BYU football notebook: Cougar defense only manages to hold Texas offense for one half

AUSTIN, Texas — In the first half, BYU's defense shut down No. 24 Texas, holding the Longhorns to just 88 yards of total offense.

But on its first possession of the second half, Texas made moving the ball look easy, going 62 yards on six running plays to score a touchdown and cut the Cougars' lead to 13-10.

"It's something hard to deal with because we know we played really hard as a defense," said senior safety Travis Uale. "We stopped them early. But then we gave up a few plays here and there, and they marched down field on us a couple of times."

In the end, the Longhorns gained 201 yards in the second half en route to a 17-16 victory.

Late in the fourth quarter, Texas was nursing a one-point lead, looking to ice the game. BYU was looking to get the Longhorn offense off the field. But Texas held onto the ball for the final 3 ½ minutes of the game.

One key play came on third-and-6 at the Longhorn 47-yard line, when true freshman wide receiver Jaxon Shipley threw a pass to quarterback David Ash for a 23-yard gain.

"They like to throw some gadgets at you. We knew it was a possibility," said linebacker Spencer Hadley. "They had run that fly sweep into the boundary quite often. We took our eyes off our keys and tried to make a play and they slipped behind us. It was a great play on their part."

On the same drive, on third-and-8 at the BYU 28, true freshman running back Malcolm Brown ran for 14 yards to seal the win.

"You always want to make that stop and give your offense a chance to get out there and make a play," Hadley said. "That one's on us. That is a bad taste (in our mouths), definitely."

LARGEST CROWD: Attendance Saturday at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was 100,995. That marks the largest crowd BYU has ever played in front of.

The previous largest crowd was 96,304 in September 1991, at Penn State.

Fans purchased 3,800 tickets to the game through BYU's website, according to media relations director Brett Pyne.

INJURY UPDATE: Linebacker Brandon Ogletree, who hails from McKinney, Texas, did not play Saturday due to a concussion he suffered last week at Ole Miss. Spencer Hadley started in place of Ogletree.

Safety Mike Hague also did not play due to cracked ribs sustained in practice.

Linebacker Jordan Pendleton injured his ankle against the Longhorns.

TURNOVERS: Sophomore safety Daniel Sorensen's first quarter interception extended the Cougars' streak of seven consecutive games with a forced turnover. It was Sorensen's first pick since his freshman year in 2008.

BYU VS. BIG 12: With Saturday's loss to Texas, BYU is now 12-15 all-time against current members of the Big 12 Conference. The Cougars are 8-4 since 1980 against the Big 12.

It marked BYU's first-ever loss to the Longhorns, after sweeping a two-game series in 1987 and 1988.

FLAG-BEARERS: Former BYU linebacker David Nixon carried out the alumni flag Saturday, while senior defensive lineman Hebron Fangupo carried the team flag and sophomore running back Michael Alisa carried the special teams flag.

EXTRA POINTS: Temperature at kickoff was 95 degrees … Texas has now won 36 of its last 39 games in the month of August and September under coach Mack Brown … The University of Texas band played BYU's alma mater on the field after the national anthem … Flags flew at half-staff in honor of 9-11.

email: jeffc@desnews.com