Cavalier Corner Digital

BYU PREVIEW PROSPECTING FOR POINTS I Cougars struggling offensively BY WES MORGAN n his second season as Brigham Young's offensive coordinator, Bran- don Doman — who also serves as the Cougars' quarterbacks coach — might as well toss the script out the window. It's time to improvise. His starting quarterback, fifth-year se- nior Riley Nelson, isn't playing particu- larly well and is possibly one tackle away from being sidelined indefinitely. Doman's reserve QB, Taysom Hill, a promising true freshman from the same run-first mold as Nelson, stepped in for an injured Nelson (back) in victories over Hawaii and Utah State, but was lost for the year with a knee injury at the end of the game versus the Aggies. The third-string option, fifth-year senior James Lark, is a drop-back passer who entered this season with six career passing attempts. Nelson managed to play through pain last week against No. 8 Oregon State, ✦ GAME FACTS BYU — Bronco Mendenhall (70-27, eighth season). Series Facts: This marks just the seventh meeting between the two schools and the first since 2005. Notre Dame is 4-2 Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (22-10, third season), Date: Oct. 20, 2012 Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795) Kickoff: 3:39 p.m. ET Television: NBC Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). OCT. 17, 2012 but his effort of 28-of-51 passing for 305 yards with a touchdown and three inter- ceptions resulted in a 42-24 blowout loss. Nelson was originally banged up against Weber State in the third week of the sea- son. After taking a shot to the back in that game, Nelson continued to play the next two weeks, which netted losses to Utah and Boise State by a combined four points. He admitted after the Boise State contest that he was only at about 65 per- cent, which forced the BYU staff to go with Hill the following two weeks. Like Nelson, Hill was a throw-caution- to-the-wind quarterback willing to put his body on the line running the ball. It cost him against Utah State, when a hit to the knee near the end of the game caused ligament damage and knocked him out of the lineup for good. Hill had rushed for a team-high 336 yards and four touchdowns, while also throwing for 425 yards and four scores. It was a spark for a unit that currently Fifth-year senior quarterback Riley Nelson has been hampered by a back injury that caused him to miss two games, but he has thrown for 1,059 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions while also rushing for 113 yards during the Cougars' 4-3 start. PHOTO COURTESY BYU versus the Cougars, which picked up a 20-17 victory in Provo, Utah, in 2004. Prime Personnel: Offense — Even after missing two games ranks 70th nationally in total offense (396.6 yards per game) and 80th in scor- ing offense (25.6 points per contest). Health permitting, BYU plans to march on (back), fifth-year senior quarterback Riley Nelson has thrown for 1,059 yards and six touchdowns, but he has also tossed eight interceptions. Nelson has added 113 rushing yards. He started seven of 12 games played in 2011, winning six of those starts while compiling 1,717 passing yards, 19 touchdown tosses and a quarterback rating of 153.93. Defense — Disrup- tive junior linebacker Kyle Van Noy has 11.5 tackles for loss (minus-68 yards) and 7.5 sacks (minus-52 yards) — both team highs. Van Noy (6-3, 235) was a two-way star (he also played receiver) at McQueen High in Reno, Nev. He was named to the Bronco Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award and Bednarik Award Watch Lists prior to the start of the 2012 season. For The Record: It has been 14 years since Brigham Young has allowed fewer than 300 yards a game for a season … The Cougars have surrendered 260.9 a game through seven outings after allowing 450 in a 42-24 loss to Oregon State last weekend, which was the first time in the Cougars' last 14 games they surrendered more than 300 total yards of of- fense … Next season, BYU will lose 34 percent of its roster (30 seniors and 20 players bound for required two-year Mormon missions).

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