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PROVO — It took No. 22 Washington 2 minutes, 50 seconds to score in its trip to BYU, when quarterback Jacob Eason hit freshman tailback Richard Newton with a 17-yard strike in the back corner of the end zone.
It didn’t stop until after Aaron Fuller was sprinting into the end zone for his second touchdown, an 88-yard punt return to put the Huskies up 38-12 in the third.
And it was all downhill the rest of the way.
Eason threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns, and the 22nd-ranked Huskies stormed to a 45-19 win over BYU in front of an announced crowd of 62,117 fans Saturday afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium — just shy of a sellout.
BYU quarterback Zach Wilson threw for 277 yards on a career-high 26 completions and a touchdown, plus a game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter, for the Cougars (2-2).
"Way too many mistakes, in all three phases, didn’t really give us a chance against a great team like that (Washington),” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said after the game. "As much as we tried to gain momentum, it seemed like Washington had an answer — or we did some things that didn’t help ourselves.
“We didn’t execute well enough, and it’s my fault. It’s my fault as a coach to get these guys ready. I have to get them ready for next week, to play a high-execution rate and our style of football.”
Emmanuel Esukpa finished with 49 yards and a touchdown for BYU, his first career score in a Cougar uniform and seventh overall for the Rice transferFellow graduate transfer Ty’Son Williams suffered an apparent knee injury in the second quarter for BYU, and did not return to the game.
Williams’ knee will be re-evaluated this weekend, but Sitake said results of early tests have been inconclusive. The only player likely out for the season is linebacker Zayne Anderson, who has scheduled surgery on an injured shoulder that kept him out of Saturday’s loss.
“That was heartbreaking,” Esukpa said of Williams’ injury. “We’ve been pretty close since I’ve been here, so it was just heartbreaking.”
Matt Bushman caught six passes for 89 yards and a touchdown — his first of the year for BYU, and Aleva Hifo added 87 yards on six catches.
Through four games, BYU is the only team in the nation to play three ranked teams — and they’ve come out of it 2-2, with wins over Tennessee and then-No. 24 USC. The Trojans will likely be back in the Top 25 next week after a 30-23 upset of Utah on Friday night.
Eason completed a pair of 17-yard touchdown passes in the first quarter, to Richard Newton and Aaron Fuller, respectively, and the Huskies went up 21-3 after one when Brandon Wellington scooped up a fumble and rumbled 69 yards for a touchdown.
“For the most part, we didn’t play assignment sound at the beginning of the game,” Sitake said. “Things just kind of built … and it was too much for us to overcome.”
BYU found its mojo in the second quarter against the Huskies, who out-scored their previous three opponents 42-0 in the first quarter. With former Lone Peak standout Masen Wake paving the way at fullback, Emmanuel Esukpa rumbled into the end zone for a 1-yard score with 8:22 left in the half. After a missed PAT, though, the Cougars still trailed 24-9.
"My man showed out. Next man up; we’ve got to trust all of our backs,” BYU senior Dayan Ghanwoloku said of Esukpa, the team’s leading rusher. "Esukpa over here came in and just did his job. He does it all the time in practice, just does his job, and we have full confidence in him to come in and make plays.”
Oldroyd notched a career-long 54-yard field goal just before halftime. But the Huskies responded with a turnover and a quick 35-yard score to Andre Baccellia to open up a 21-7 run in the second half to put the game away.
"It’s tough. Playing Washington these last two years, we shot ourselves in the foot on a lot of drives,” Bushman said.
"Coming out after halftime, we had all the confidence in the world. We were down by 12, had momentum, but unfortunately turned the ball over — and it was hard to get back after another turnover like that.”
After opening with three of their first four games on the road, the Cougars travel to face Mid-American Conference favorite Toledo next Saturday, Sept. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. MDT.
“We have a bad taste in our mouths right now, gave them the ball too many times, and gave them too many chances to do things on their end,” Esukpa said. “We’ve just got to watch film, learn from it and move one.”
