BYU Football Questions Answered In Win Against Stanford

PROVO, Utah – The BYU football team concluded their 2022 regular season with a 35-26 against the Stanford Cardinal on the farm.

Let’s answer some questions from the final game coached by David Shaw as the Stanford head coach. 

Who was the MVP for BYU football?

Jaren Hall joined elite company after his performance against Stanford, making him my most valuable player yet again.

Chris Brooks probably deserves this award after having rushed the ball for 164 yards on 23 carries.

But I think we saw the value of Hall after he left the game with an injury.

Last week he surpassed the 3,000-yard mark, and this week he elapsed over 300 rushing yards.

ELITE. pic.twitter.com/uiGKGQtcRN

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) November 27, 2022

Only Steve Young and Brandon Doman have reached both those marks in a single season as BYU quarterbacks.

Unfortunately, Hall left the game early in the third quarter on a 4th down running play in which he was tackled awkwardly.

This game likely would have been a blowout with Hall at quarterback, instead, the BYU offense went conservative with Jacob Conover running the show.

They only scored seven points after the injury.

What was the most impactful play of the game?

Late in the second quarter, it appeared that Stanford was going to come up with a big goal-line stand.

It would have been a big momentum swing for the Cardinal.

BYU tried to run a “wildcat” play to Puka Nacua, but he fumbled the ball.

That miscue would have forced the Cougars into a field goal.

Love the play call that results in a Rex TD.

Short yardage wasn’t working so they go to the air for a TD. #BYU #BYUFootball

— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) November 27, 2022

Instead, Stanford was called for an offsides penalty.

On the ensuing play, BYU threw a touchdown pass to Isaac Rex giving them a 28-9 lead.

It felt like a dagger for the Stanford defense who had no answers for BYU in the first half.

What was the most interesting stat of the game?

BYU football had the ground game going against Stanford.

They finished with 358 rushing yards, the most yards gained on the ground this season.

Jaren Hall led the BYU offense to four first-half touchdowns. All of those drives were over 70 yards.

He rushed for 69 yards on 11 carries, though his last carry was one that BYU wants back after the injury.

BYU has scored TDs on its first 4 drives for the first time since Virginia in 2021. #BYUFootball

— BYU Game Notes (@BYUGameNotes) November 27, 2022

Since the year 2000, BYU is now 26-1 when rushing over 275 yards in a game.

The failure and success of this season always came down to the Cougar’s ability to stop the run, and run the ball themselves.

Against Stanford, they did both of those things well.

When was the game over for BYU football?

After Hall left the game with an ankle injury, Jacob Conover led the BYU offense down the field on their first scoring drive of the second half.

BYU dialed up a reverse pitch to Puka Nacua that worked to perfection.

Nacua was basically untouched as he ran the ball into the end-zone from 25 yards out.

Puka Nacua finds the endzone for a 25-yard Touchdown run. pic.twitter.com/LemNMNoHsU

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 27, 2022

The scoring play gave BYU a 35-12 lead early in the 4th quarter that was too insurmountable for Stanford.

BYU gave up two Stanford touchdowns after that point, but the game was never in doubt.

Kalani Sitake and the Cougars have secured a fifth straight winning season.

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.