Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: BYU tive throwing the ball." Redshirt junior wide receiver Cody Hoffman has 31 receptions for 432 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cougars, and redshirt junior tight end Kaneakua Friel has contributed 20 catches for 248 yards and four scores. BYU has relied mostly on a running week after week they keep shutting down opponents." Brigham Young gave up just 10 attack (189.0 yards per contest) that ranks 38th nationally. True freshman tailback Jamaal Williams and redshirt junior Michael Alisa had teamed up for 531 yards and four touchdowns heading into the game against Oregon State. The good news thus far for the Cou- gars is that, while the offense figures out a way to be more productive, their defense has kept them in ball games. Brigham Young is ranked third na- tionally in scoring defense (8.8 points allowed per contest) and fifth in to- tal defense (229.3 yards allowed per game). The defense has been especially points over three games from Sept. 20- Oct. 5. The Cougars lost a 7-6 decision to Boise State, beat up on Hawaii (47- 0) and edged Utah State (6-3). Eventu- ally, though, the offense has to give some run support. "They've got to get this turned around," Call said. "I'm not sure they can at this point. Here we are halfway through the season and we're expect- ing Riley Nelson will start [against Oregon State], but with the back injury being what it is, I don't think he'll be 100 percent again this season. "He's going to take more shots just stout in the red zone, holding teams to just a 40-percent conversion rate (three touchdowns and a field goal in 10 chances). The Cougars have also limited opponents to a 27-percent (24 of 90) success rate on third downs. Fifth-year senior linebacker Brandon Ogletree paced the team with 49 stops, including six for loss, through six con- tests. Junior linebacker Kyle Van Noy has added 10.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, while fellow junior linebacker Spencer Hadley contributed seven stops behind the line of scrimmage and 3.5 sacks. "BYU, defensively, has been very impressive," Call said. "It's incredible; because of his playing style. I think at some point you'll see them turn to James Lark, and that will require the team to take on a different personal- ity and style. James Lark does have the best arm, but whether or not he can help turn things around I'm not sure." ✦ Date 2012 BYU SCHEDULE Nov. 17 at San Jose State Nov. 24 at New Mexico State Oct. 13 Oregon State (ABC) Oct. 20 at Notre Dame (NBC) Oct. 27 at Georgia Tech Nov. 10 Idaho Sept. 20 at Boise State (ESPN) Sept. 28 Hawaii (ESPN) Oct. 5 Utah State (ESPN) Aug. 30 Washington State (ESPN) W, 30-6 Sept. 8 Weber State Sept. 15 at Utah (ESPN2) Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) W, 45-13 L, 24-21 L, 7-6 3:30 p.m. TBA TBA 3:30 p.m. 3 p.m. L, 42-24 W, 47-0 W, 6-3