Fourth Quarter Collapse Sinks BYU In 28-21 Loss Against Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio – Consistency has been an issue for BYU football in recent seasons and the lack of consistency reared its ugly face once again on Saturday against Toledo.

In a game where BYU was a favorite -albeit a slim favorite- the Cougars leave the historic Glass Bowl with a 28-21 loss to the Rockets.

Entering the fourth quarter, BYU held a 21-14 lead and then the wheels fell off.

Which loss is bigger for BYU? #BYU #GoCougs #BYUFootball

— Kyle Ireland (@kyleireland) September 28, 2019

Toledo’s offense was already on the move before the start of the 4th quarter, but minutes into the final period, the Rockets tied the game up on a 3rd & Goal up the middle of BYU’s defense.

After both teams had to settle for a pair of punts, the game took a crazy turn.

BYU linebacker Chaz Ah You forced a fumble with 90 seconds remaining and then recovered the fumble giving BYU the ball back with a chance to win the game.

The following play, BYU quarterback Zach Wilson threw an interception to Kahlil Robinson with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter. Robinson returned the interception all the way down to BYU’s two-yard line.

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Toledo’s offense took the field and immediately scored on a Shakif Seymour run of two yards to put the Rockets back out in front at 28-21.

BYU’s offense armed with three timeouts had a chance to lead a drive that would send the game into overtime, just like they did three weeks ago at Tennessee. But they had to do it without their starting quarterback Zach Wilson.

On the interception throw, Wilson injured his thumb and walked into the locker room. Redshirt freshman Jaren Hall was put into the game with a chance to lead a miraculous drive for the Cougar offense.

Starting at their own 25-yard line, Hall helped lead the BYU offense down to the Toledo 36-yard line. On 2nd & 10 with 19 seconds remaining, Hall held onto the ball for a long time before running out of bounds for a gain of four yards. That left only four seconds on the clock and putting BYU 32 yards away from the end zone.

The final play Hall threw it near the back end of the end zone that didn’t give his receivers a great chance at making a play on the ball.

FINAL: Toledo 28, BYU 21#BYU falls to 2-3 on the season. That's a tough loss heading into the bye week. Head scratching performance on many levels.

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 28, 2019

BYU’s loss to Toledo is the Cougars second out of their last three against teams from the Mid-American Conference.

Kalani Sitake’s record as head coach of the Cougars drop back to a .500 record at 22-22 overall. BYU is now 2-3 on the season while Toledo improves to 3-1 on the season.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.