BYU Cougars decimate anemic Idaho Vandals

PROVO, Utah – Jake Heaps threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns after coming off the bench late in the first quarter to lead the BYU Cougars to a 42-7 victory over the Idaho Vandals on Saturday night.

Heaps entered the game when Riley Nelson suffered a broken rib on a play where he threw a touchdown pass to Cody Hoffman. Nelson did not return to the game.

Bryan Kariya added a pair of TD runs from 17 yards out and another from one yard out, respectively, to extend the lead.

Idaho (2-8) surrendered 505 yards of offense to BYU (7-3).

The Vandals struggled to move the ball against the BYU defense. By halftime, the Vandals accumulated just 63 yards of total offense and had minus 2 passing yards.

Idaho quarterback Taylor Davis endured a terrible night, completing 5 of 12 passes for minus 6 yards and an interception before being benched midway through the third quarter.

“This game was two steps forward and three steps back,” senior offensive tackle and co-captain Tyrone Novikoff said. “We just couldn’t get on a roll. That’s frustrating.”

Coach Robb Akey gave full credit to BYU – and wondered what happened to his team.

“We didn’t make any plays tonight,” he said. “That was the problem. We did a poor job executing offensively. We need to execute those things better. … It’s the whole offense. I’m disappointed we didn’t play better tonight.”

Idaho finally got on the board late in the third quarter when McCarty broke loose down the sideline for an 83 yard touchdown run.

Princeton McCarty was the lone bright spot on the Vandal offense. The senior back rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Hoffman was the leading receiver for the Cougars with 114 yards and two touchdowns on six catches.

Michael Alisa led the way with 99 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.