BYU football: Cougars bounce back big, crush hapless Cowboys

LARAMIE, Wyo. — For those wondering how BYU would respond two weeks after suffering an embarrassing 38-7 loss to TCU, the No. 25 Cougars answered that question emphatically from the outset Saturday.

On a sunny, warm afternoon in Laramie, a well-rested and fired-up BYU team coming off a bye week silenced the brown-and-gold-clad fans at War Memorial Stadium and shellacked Wyoming, 52-0.

The Cougars (7-2, 4-1) seemingly unleashed two weeks of frustration on the hapless Cowboys (4-5, 2-3).

"The scoreboard kind of reflects the couple of weeks of practice that we had," said BYU safety Andrew Rich. "We worked hard, prepared like crazy and kind of had a sour taste in our mouth from the TCU game. We needed a victory like this. All across the board, the offense, the defense all played well. It was a good victory for us."

"I was impressed with the way our team prepared starting (during the bye)," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Our coaches did an excellent job implementing the changes and things we needed to do to improve our program. I think our players responded well."

Running back J.J. DiLuigi, who scored a pair of touchdowns, said the Cougars were pumped up to play Wyoming.

"We got our swagger back on both sides of the ball," he said. "The defense was hitting hard, finally ?— getting back into it. The offense was able to do what we wanted to do. The last two weeks were able to heal up. It was an amazing game on both sides of the ball."

Quarterback Max Hall played one of his finest games as a Cougar and turned in one of the best performances, statistically, in BYU history. The senior completed 20 of 22 passes for 312 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in a little more than two quarters of play before giving way to sophomore backup Riley Nelson.

"My numbers were good, but I think that's because the guys around me played well. They made me look good," Hall said. "We had a week to fix the mistakes we were making. The energy was high, and everybody played with a passion like we did at the beginning of the season. It was a lot of fun. That's exactly what we needed to happen. I think it was kind of a defining moment for our offense."

"A lot of it had to do with preparation," Mendenhall said of Hall's outing. "He had an excellent plan, he had very clear reads and he was able to do exactly what he had practiced."

BYU didn't have to punt until early in the fourth quarter. By then, most of the fans populating the student section had left the stadium.

The Cougars capitalized on being familiar with the Cowboys' style of defense, according to Mendenhall.

"One of the things that aids us is Wyoming's defense is similar to our own," he said. "We have a lot of chances to practice against similar looks."