BYU football: McKay is A-OK in his return from hamstring injury

LARAMIE, Wyo. — McKay Jacobson made a major impact on the field Saturday at War Memorial Stadium as he returned from a four-week layoff.

Jacobson, who had been nursing an injured hamstring, caught three passes for 100 yards. And one of those passes was a 79-yard scoring bomb on a one-play, second-quarter drive in BYU's 52-0 win.

"It felt fine and it was good to get out there again and play," said Jacobson, who suffered the injury while warming up for the Utah State game 36 days ago. He was sidelined for BYU's loss to TCU two weeks ago and missed playing against USU, San Diego State and UNLV.

Jacobson caught his first pass of the afternoon, a 13-yarder, on BYU's first possession of the game. That play helped set up the Cougars' first touchdown and helped get them on track for what turned into a big offensive output — a total of 543 yards.

With the Cougars up 17-0 with 11 minutes left in the first half, Jacobson ran an up-and-out route that faked out Wyoming corner Marcell Gipson. He then exploded down field, where he waited for Max Hall's pass. Jacobson hauled in the pass and sprinted the remaining 50 yards to complete the play. Near the 5-yard line, Gipson made a last-ditch dive at Jacobson's heels.

"I didn't feel anything but normal," said Jacobson of his hamstring. "It was great, it was a lot of fun to get out there.

"We had a good week of practice and we executed very well. Max Hall had an awesome game," said the sophomore from Dallas.

Jacobson, who averaged 33 yards a catch Saturday, said he felt good all week and he didn't have any problem during warmups.

"If I had to put a percent on it, I'd say I was 100 percent."

Jacobson's 100 yards receiving on Saturday gives him 380 for the season on just 14 catches. As BYU's biggest deep threat, Saturday's numbers give him an impressive season average of 27.14 yards per catch.

Unlike Austin Collie, now with the Indianapolis Colts, Jacobson doesn't catch Hall's attention or focus all the time. But then Collie used to lobby for the ball all game long while he was still at BYU.

Jacobson said lobbying is part of the game and he intends to get better at it.

"You always want to tell the QB, 'Hey, I've got this guy, I've got this guy.' But you have to have patience," Jacobson said. "I try to make the most out of every opportunity. ... I'm working on it (lobbying) and I'll get better at it the rest of the season."

Jacobson said he wasn't trying to ease back into the game on Saturday after his monthlong layoff. He was ready for anything Hall or the offensive coordinator asked of him.

And it helped that Hall had a career day.

"We got on the same page with the extra week of practice," Jacobson said. "And I tried to make the most of it."

e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com