PROVO -- No one is safe. All BYU Cougars opponents must be on upset alert.
After taking down Nebraska on a final-play Hail Mary in Week 1, the Cougars pounced on and finished off a top opponent late Saturday night, completing a thrilling comeback over the Boise State Cougars with under a minute to go, picking off and scoring a Ryan Finley desperation heave to finish off the game, 35-24.
Freshman step-in QB Tanner Mangum once again pulled off a stunner in the final minute, firing an astonishing 35-yard bomb to a fading-back Mitchell Juergens at the goal-line for a go-ahead TD with 45 seconds to go.
Kai Nacua's hat-trick pick (meaning his third interception Saturday) sealed the deal, as the defensive back returned the interception all the way for another score, the second in 15 seconds, to make it 35-24 and final after the PAT.
Mangum finished with 309 yards passing and two TDs, as well as two first-half interceptions. Juergens led BYU with 172 yards receiving on just four catches, half ending in six points. Devon Blackmon added six catches for 105 yards through the air.
For the Broncos, Ryan Finley's 297 yards passing were not enough to overshadow a one-TD, three-INT performance from under center. His second pick, early in the fourth, gave the Cougars unstoppable field position and led to a BYU touchdown that shortened the lead to 24-21. And that last INT just ended any glimmer of hope left after Mangum and Juergens' absolute gem of a game-winner.
Following an apparent pattern in college football Saturday, the first half was low scoring, ending in just a 10-7 advantage for Boise State. BYU had opened with an 84-yarder to Juergens on their third offensive play of the game, while Jeremy McNichols ran in a three-yarder later in the first quarter to get on the board for the Broncos. The half ended with a go-ahead Tyler Rausa field goal.
McNichols ran for two TDs in this one, the second being another three-yarder to start the third quarter with a bang for the Broncos. Then, after consecutive punt-ending series for the two sides, BYU drove 84 yards to make it 17-14 after a 21-yard rushing score from Adam Hine capped off the drive.
Finley hit McNichols for the runner's third all-around TD on the following possession, the two combining for a 29-yarder on a quick six-play, 86-yard surge downfield. And that's when the tides turned against Boise State.
On the team's next series, Finley gave up a pick that put BYU on his 26 after a 12 yard return by Nacua. Mangum & Co. punched in a one-yarder by the QB to make it 24-21, back to a three-point game with lots of time left in the final period.
After three straight series without an event in the quarter, Mangum got the ball in his hands with 2:43 left and at least three points to get back. He pieced together a picturesque drive, completing throws to Devon Blackmon, Adam Hine, Mitch Matthews, and finally Juergens to cap off a 64 yard drive and take a four-point lead with just 0:45 remaining.
On Finley's first attempt to craft a score beyond belief in the final minute, Kai Nacua stepped in for a 50-yard pick-six to seal the deal and surely bring the Brigham Young University Cougars into Top 25 conversation.
Now 2-0, BYU will most likely be placed near the middle of the Coaches' Poll and Associated Press rankings, while Boise State will lose their #20 placement with the drawback of this unexpected loss.