Baylor Romney passed for 305 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 15 BYU to a 35-27 victory over South Florida on Saturday night at Provo, Utah.
Romney completed 20 of 25 passes while starting in place of Jaren Hall (ribs). One of his scoring passes went to younger brother Gunner, who had five receptions for 119 yards.
Tyler Allgeier rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, and Neil Pau’u and Masen Wake also caught scoring passes for the Cougars (4-0), who won for the 15th time in their past 16 games. Puka Nacua caught four passes for 102 yards as BYU won its 13th straight home game.
Jaren Mangham rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, and Xavier Weaver scored on an end-around for South Florida (1-3), which lost for the 15th time in its past 17 games. Timmy McClain completed 17 of 24 passes for 186 yards.
BYU led 35-20 and had a chance to add to its lead early in the fourth quarter but Justen Smith’s 22-yard field goal was blocked by Darrien Grant. The Bulls went on a 19-play, 94-yard excursion that chewed 9:05 off the clock and ended with Mangham’s fourth-down plunge from the 1 with 5:41 remaining.
South Florida never saw the ball again. The Bulls were out of timeouts and the Cougars ran out the clock.
BYU started fast with touchdowns on its first three possessions to open up a 21-0 lead with 4:20 left in the first quarter.
Romney connected with Wake on a 5-yard scoring pass just four offensive plays into the game. Allgeier capped both of the next two drives with 1-yard scoring runs on fourth down.
South Florida’s Spencer Shrader kicked field goals of 29 and 42 yards in the second quarter before Baylor Romney tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Pau’u to make it 28-6 with 1:06 left in the half.
The Bulls opened the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that lasted seven minutes and 35 seconds. Weaver capped it by scoring on a 3-yard reverse on fourth down.
BYU answered with Baylor Romney connecting with Gunner Romney on a 47-yard scoring toss to make it 35-13 with 5:40 left in the third quarter.
Mangham scored on a 2-yard run with 3:03 left in the quarter.
–Field Level Media