BYU Wins Ugly Game Over UTSA to Move to 4-0

A win is a win, right?

BYU came into the game as 34-point favorites but squeaked by UTSA in a 27-20 win Saturday afternoon in Provo. BYU came out firing on its first possession with three long completions to get inside the redzone, but Neil Pau’u fumbled inside the 10-yard line and foreshadowed BYU’s lackluster performance for the rest of the day.

BYU put up 300 yards of offense in the first half, but went into the half up only 14-3. UTSA made a QB change at half and put in LSU transfer Lowell Narcisse. Narcisse responded by going 17/20 for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns.

UTSA did a nice job of pressuring Zach Wilson and prevented BYU’s offense from getting into a rhythm. Wilson finished 22/30 for 292 and 3 total TDs, but BYU’s offense couldn’t string together productive drives like they did in the previous 3 games. Tyler Allgeier had a nice game on the ground, running for 116 yards and 1 touchdown on 19 carries.

UTSA looked better than advertised, but BYU looked like a team that had been listening to the hype the national media has given them. As OL Coach Eric Mateos has said, “Don’t drink the poison.”

BYU faces a tougher test next week as they travel to 1-0 Houston for a Friday night matchup on ESPN.