BYU Football: 3 takeaways from Old Wagon Wheel win over Utah State

2. The BYU backfield is still a work in progress

Injuries have certainly taken their toll on the depth of the BYU running back position. Ty’Son Williams, the graduate student who played his undergrad ball at South Carolina, blew out his ACL before October rolled around. Another grad student, former Rice player Emmanuel Esukpa, has also fought injury issues over the course of the year.

That has left BYU especially thin in the backfield, and that shows on the stat sheet. Before the weekend, the Cougars were ranked 112th nationally as they averaged only 121 rushing yards per game. Against Utah State, they eclipsed that mark in a platoon effort as the team finished with 223 yards on 42 carries.

Sione Finau got the highest portion of the workload for BYU, finishing with 15 carries for 72 rushing yards. Lopini Katoa was another big producer for the Cougars, running seven times and racking up 42 yards and a touchdown. Aleva Hifo also posted a score on the ground for the Cougars and added another 28 yards on just three carries. And, of course, Hall was a strong contributor as a runner as well as a passer.

But not everything was rosy. Esukpa, getting back onto the field, ran the ball just twice for six yards and coughed up a fumble. It was a night of fits and spurts, but it produced enough spurts to balance out the feisty passing attack.