{"id":426345,"date":"2024-12-02T01:43:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T01:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=426345"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Jake-Retzlaff-No-19-BYU-overcome-Houston-s-early-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Jake-Retzlaff-No-19-BYU-overcome-Houston-s-early-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Retzlaff, No. 19 BYU overcome Houston’s early lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jake Retzlaff passed for 167 yards and added two rushing touchdowns as No. 19 BYU rode a stifling defensive performance to a 30-18 win over the Houston Cougars in Provo, Utah, on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Retzlaff scored on runs of 13 and 7 yards, the latter coming with 2:52 remaining in the game to help BYU (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) reclaim its two-possession advantage. Houston (4-8, 3-6) had clawed to within six points earlier in the fourth quarter before Jack Kelly and Blake Mangelson teamed for the biggest defensive play of the contest for BYU.<\/p>\n

With Houston facing fourth-and-7 at the BYU 44, Kelly sacked Houston quarterback Zeon Chriss and forced a fumble. After a mad scramble, Mangelson made the recovery at the Houston 18.<\/p>\n

Five plays later, Retzlaff scored on third down to secure the victory for BYU, which was eliminated from Big 12 title game contention when Iowa State defeated Kansas State earlier.<\/p>\n

Chriss passed for 156 yards and, like Retzlaff, ran for two scores. He threw one interception.<\/p>\n

After securing a 10-7 lead, Houston slipped into an extended offensive drought. Including a one-play drive that concluded the first half, Houston amassed 55 yards over six possessions. BYU flipped the three-point deficit into a 14-point lead before Houston suddenly responded.<\/p>\n

Chriss capped a 12-play, 69-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. His subsequent pass to Mekhi Mews resulted in a successful two-point conversion that pulled Houston to within 24-18 with 8:34 to play. When BYU followed with three incomplete passes and a 17-second possession, Houston had its shot.<\/p>\n

Chriss supplied Houston a 7-0 lead with his 3-yard touchdown run at the 1:47 mark of the first quarter. But Houston squandered the momentum from its 10-play, 80-yard drive by attempting an onside kick that BYU’s Talan Alfrey returned 58 yards for a touchdown seven seconds later.<\/p>\n

Trailing 10-7 early in the second quarter, BYU came to life with a pair of touchdown drives en route to a 21-10 halftime lead. Sione I Moa and Retzlaff produced scoring runs of 6 and 13 yards, respectively, with Retzlaff capping a six-play, 80-yard drive that took only 50 seconds.<\/p>\n

Houston, which entered last in the FBS in scoring offense, totaled only 250 yards.<\/p>\n

–Field Level Media<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nov 23, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

-Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Jake Retzlaff passed for 167 yards and added two rushing touchdowns as No. 19 BYU…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-426345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}