Simming The Season Week 1: WSU Beats BYU In Barn Burner

Led by senior QB Jeff Tuel's 4 total TDs, the Cougars of Washington State went into Provo and defeated the Brigham Young Cougars by a score of 56 - 49.

I was actually expecting the Cougs to lose, truth be told. When I saw that we won by a TD, I figured some late game heroics played a part. That was not the case, however, as WSU held a 38 - 21 halftime lead that saw a myriad of backups start the 2nd half. The most notable 2nd stringer to see time was backup QB Connor Halliday. Halliday had himself a very nice game throwing for 225 yards and 2 TDs. The star of the show was a toss up between the aforementioned Tuel who accounted for 4 TDs, or star receiver Marquess Wilson who went absolutely bananas with over 200 yards receiving.

The Cougs were up 48 - 21 at one point before BYU made a game of it. The other Cougs scored three unanswered TDs to make the game 48 - 42 before Halliday hit Rickey Galvin on a screen pass that went 36 yards to the house. WSU was successful in their attempt at a 2 point conversion making the game 56 - 42 with only 7 minutes and change left to play.

For BYU, senior QB Riley Nelson almost single handedly brought the other Cougs back from being down four TDs. Riley finished with 368 yards passing and 4 TDs. WSU's bend-but-don't-break-but-seriously-bend-a-lot defense gave up one final score before a failed attempt at an onside kick ended things for BYU. The WSU Cougs are set to host FCS NW in Martin Stadium next week.

Full stats and other scores from around the Pac 12 after the jump.

QB:

Jeff Tuel 19 - 28, 301 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, L53, 1 sack

Connor Halliday 17 - 25, 225 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, L36, 1 sack

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Riley Nelson 22 - 37, 368 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, L71, 7 sacks

RB:

Rickey Galvin 4 carries, 7 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble lost

Carl Winston 3 carries, 10 yards, 0 TDs

Jeff Tuel 3 carries, 9 yards, 1 TD

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Michael Alisa 15 carries, 78 yards, 2 TDs

WR:

Marquess Wilson 14 catches, 213 yards, 2 TDs (L53)

Bobby Ratliff 12 catches, 166 yards, 1 TD (L31), 1 drop

Andrei Lintz 5 catches, 61 yards, 1 TD (L22)

Kristoff Williams 2 catches, 38 yards (L30)

Rickey Galvin 1 catch, 36 yards, 1 TD

Rahmel Dockery 1 catch, 6 yards

Max Hersey 1 catch, 6 yards

Carl Winston 0 catches, 0 yards, 3 drops

.

Cody Hoffman 7 catches, 129 yards, 2 TDs

Defense:

Eric Oertel 10 tackles, 5 solo, 2 sacks

Anthony Laurenzi 5 tackles, 3 solo, 2 sacks

Logan Mayes 4 tackles, 3 solo, 2 sacks

Travis Long 3 tackles, 1 solo, 1 sack

Around the Pac 12:

UW 45, San Diego State 17

Stanford 42, San Jose State 14

UCLA 43, Rice 27

USC 34, Hawai'i 7

Arizona State 42, FCS West 3

Utah 70, FCS MidWest 14

Oregon State 42, FCS SouthEast 3

Oregon 62, Arkansas State 21

Colorado State 14, Colorado 9

Toledo 38, Arizona 14

Nevada 27, Cal 22

Other interesting tidbits:

- #9 Michigan upset #1 Alabama 24 - 23 on a last second FG

- Freshman WR Rahmel Dockery had 190 total yards, most coming off of returns, including a 75-yard kick return

- WSU's total offense: 569 yards

- RB Carl Winston was WSU's leading rusher with -- gulp -- 10 yards. He also had zero catches but three drops. More like CarLOL Winston, amirite?

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Remember, if you want rosters, go here. For a detailed explanation of what this is, go here. See you Thursday. Go Cougs!