PROVO — Coming off a bitter loss to the Missouri Tigers, the BYU football team turns its attention to a hapless Fresno State Bulldog team. Here are three keys to a Cougar victory.

Establish the run

In the past two games, the Cougars have put up pedestrian numbers on the ground. Not coincidentally, the team only averaged 16.5 points in those contests. Against San Jose State, BYU running backs only carried the ball 21 times for 46 yards. Against Missouri, Cougar runners only gained 52 yards on 14 carries. Especially against the Tigers, it seemed that Robert Anae abandoned the run game. In that matchup, Algernon Brown was having success in his limited opportunities as he ran for 42 yards on seven carries.

Why Anae didn't feed the ball to Brown more is unknown to me. It's particularly befuddling that the Y threw the ball 41 times and only called 14 designed runs when Cougar head coach Bronco Mendenhall said prior to the contest that the key to beating Mizzou's defense was a balanced offense. BYU needs to get back on track in the running game, and Fresno State is a good team to do that against as the Bulldogs rank 118th in rushing yards allowed per game.

Get back some swagger

Before the San Jose game, BYU was playing with a lot of confidence. Prior to the ugly win against the Spartans, the Cougs were on a four-game winning streak. In all but the Wagner game during the streak, the team was tied or losing at the start of the fourth quarter. But Y players never got down and had enough swagger and confidence to separate themselves from their opponents in the fourth quarter.

In the last two weeks, BYU has not seemed to play with that same mojo. The Cougars held onto the lead white-knuckled against the Spartans and escaped with a win when San Jose failed to get a two-point conversion. Against Mizzou, BYU looked timid for most of the game. Neither of these opponents were having great success this season, but you wouldn't know it by watching them play against the Y. The Cougars need to get their swagger and confidence back. A dominating win against Fresno State will help in that department.

Get Devon Blackmon a touchdown

Cougar wide receiver Devon Blackmon has quietly had a very solid senior campaign. He has been the team's leading receiver in three different contests. He's made some big and timely catches and has given the Cougs a legitimate deep threat. The only thing that Blackmon hasn't done this year, or in his whole career, is score a touchdown. This needs to be rectified. BYU needs to target Blackmon when it gets in the red zone. Not only will this help the Y win the game, it will boost morale as Blackmon has told reporters that he will unleash an epic dance and will encourage teammates to join him if he cracks the goal line. The Cougs need to have fun playing again, and getting the senior his first touchdown in his last home game might be the tonic they need.

Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com contributor and can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com or via twitter @DylanCannon11.

Related topics