BYU Football Questions Answered In Loss Against Oregon Ducks

Eugene, OR – The No. 12 BYU Football team got rocked by the No. 25 Oregon Ducks in a game where the final score made it seem closer than it actually was.

Where did things go wrong? I’ll explain below from my vantage point.

Who was the most valuable BYU football player?

Even in a blowout loss, I thought there was one player who showed quite well.

Quarterback Jaren Hall threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns.

Two throws in particular stood out to me as being NFL resume building passes.

His touchdown pass to Isaac Rex in the second quarter was a throw that NFL scouts will love.

TO THE HOUSE🏠 pic.twitter.com/hshNFpTrRX

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 17, 2022

Hall bought time for Rex to sneak off the line of scrimmage and delivered a gorgeous pass to Rex while being off-platform.

His second touchdown pass to Kody Epps was another dime, as the kids say.

It required velocity and accuracy to find Epps in the corner of the end zone.

He completed 71 percent of his passes against a good Oregon defense that shut down the Cougar rushing attack.

Most impactful play of the game?

I’m not sure there was one particular moment in the game where the train fell off the tracks.

However, I thought the missed field goal by Jake Oldroyd in the second quarter was a turning point.

Oregon had scored on their first three drives, but the BYU offense appeared to be in position to make it 17-10.

Unfortunately, Oldroyd missed the 38 yard attempt.

Jake Oldroyd's 38-yard field goal attempt is no good. Three consecutive misses dating back to last week now for #BYU's starting kicker. #BYUvsORE #BYUFootball

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 17, 2022

Oregon scored on the ensuing position right before halftime.

You have to feel for Oldroyd right now after missing three consecutive kicks.

BYU desperately needed points in that situation with the defense struggling.

It will be interesting to see how long the BYU coaches will ride with Oldroyd while he’s struggling.

Interesting stat from the game?

After an impressive defensive performance against the Baylor Bears, the Cougar defense couldn’t follow it up against Oregon.

The Ducks scored points on their first six possessions of the game.

Chants of "OVERRATED" are beginning from Oregon's student section.#BYUvsORE #BYU #BYUFootball

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 17, 2022

One of the reasons they scored with such ease was their ability to run the football.

The Ducks ran for 212 yards while holding the Cougars to only 61 yards rushing.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning praised his team after the game for being the more physical team.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning on what the No. 25 Ducks had to do to beat the No. 12 #BYU Cougars. #BYUvsOregon #BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/L7NtP7BmQp

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 18, 2022

There’s no doubt that Oregon won the line of scrimmage.

When was the game over for BYU football?

The BYU defense had two chances to get off the field on the final Oregon drive of the first half.

On both 4th down opportunities, the Ducks ran the football for first downs.

Shortly after, Ducks quarterback Bo Nix found tight end Terrance Ferguson on a seam route to put them up 24-7 right before the half.

If there was ever a time in this game for the defense to make a play, it was on the drive before halftime.

Oregon scored again on the first drive of the second half and the rout was on.

Credit to BYU for battling throughout the entire game when it would have been easy to throw in the backups.

However, the final score was not indicative of what happened at Autzen Stadium.

You can hear Matt Baiamonte every Saturday on KSL Newsradio for Cougar Sports Saturday from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. or you can find him on Twitter.