BYU football: 3 takeaways from huge comeback win over Houston

BYU football took a trip to Houston with a top-15 ranking under its belt. How would the Cougars fare in their first true test of 2020?

The 14th-ranked BYU Cougars traveled to Houston to face another Cougars squad in a highly-anticipated duel, and it certainly lived up to that. Houston entered with only one game under the belt, but appeared to already be in midseason form.

Across the aisle, BYU had a close call against the Roadrunners of UTSA.

While BYU did come away with a win last week, there was concern as they prepared to face Group of Five juggernaut Houston on the road. After Houston scored an opening-drive field goal, BYU would go on the attack, jumping out to a 14-3 lead.

The second quarter would see things take a turn, as Houston would patch together a few scoring drives to take a 20-14 lead into the half. In a controversial decision, BYU opted to go for it on a fourth and one, coming up short and throwing away an opportunity to tie the game at 17 before halftime. Houston would subsequently drive down the field and knock in a field goal as time expired.

The Cougars from Houston would extend their lead to twelve late in the third quarter, courtesy of a shifty touchdown rush from quarterback Clayton Tune. After nearly 35 scoreless minutes, BYU would finally get back on the board with a 75-yard drive ending in a Zach Wilson touchdown pass to Dax Milne. This would get Kalani Sitake’s team back within a touchdown, a true turning point in the ballgame.

Not long after, Wilson’s warriors would punish the Houston defense, getting in the endzone and taking a pivotal 29-26 lead. The BYU defense held its ground, allowing their offense to go score again. Houston failed to convert on a late fourth down last-ditch attempt, leading to yet another BYU touchdown, capping off a run of 29 unanswered points.

This game was definitely a fun one, so let’s take a look at three takeaways from the Friday night showdown.