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PROVO, Utah (AP) - All Jake Heaps wanted was a second chance to prove he could get the job done as BYU's quarterback. When Riley Nelson went down with an injury early in the game, Heaps saw an opportunity to redeem him from his benching earlier in the season.
It was over when ...Cody Hoffman hauled in a 21-yard touchdown catch from Jake Heaps that put the Cougars up 28-0 right before the half.Quotable
"It was just good to get out there. It was just good to get out there, throw and be with the guys. It was good to go out there and play." -BYU quarterback Jake Heaps
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The sophomore breathed new life in his quest to regain the starting role by putting together his best performance of the season in leading the Cougars to a 42-7 victory over the Idaho Vandals on Saturday night. Heaps threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns while completing 15 of 20 passes to lead BYU (7-3) to its first victory over Idaho since 1953.
"It was just good to get out there," Heaps said. "It was just good to get out there, throw and be with the guys. It was good to go out there and play."
Cody Hoffman was the leading receiver for the Cougars with 114 yards and two touchdowns on six catches. Michael Alisa led the way on the ground with 99 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Idaho (2-8) surrendered 505 yards of offense to BYU.
After Justin Sorensen missed a 35-yard field goal on the team's opening drive, BYU broke through on its next drive when Nelson connected with Hoffman on a 32-yard strike to make it 7-0 for the Cougars. Heaps came off the bench after Nelson suffered a broken rib on that scoring play. Nelson did not return to the game and stayed in an area hospital overnight after suffering a small pneumothorax. He finished with 56 yards and a touchdown on 4 of 7 passing.
With Heaps at the helm, the Cougar offense did not skip a beat. Bryan Kariya added a pair of TD runs - a 17-yard dash and another from one yard out - to extend the lead. Then Hoffman helped BYU take a 28-0 cushion into the locker room when he hauled in his second TD catch - a 21 yard strike from Heaps - with 13 seconds left before halftime.
The Cougars went up 35-0 with 12:31 remaining in the third quarter when Michael Alisa broke through the defensive line and sprinted 38 yards for a touchdown. Following an interception by Jordan Johnson at the Idaho 22, Heaps connected with Ross Apo for an 18-yard strike to push the Cougar lead to 42-0 with 5:37 left in the quarter.
"He was hungry," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Not to say he wasn't hungry to lead the team before, but he looked poised to me and he looked confident, like he was anxious to re-establish himself."
Heaps seemed like a different player on the field and in the huddle to his teammates, as well. He projected supreme confidence and they saw it shine through in his performance.
"You can't come back from going to second string and coming back to first string and play much better than that," said sophomore linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who also turned in a standout performance with a career high 10 tackles.
BYU's defense helped Heaps look even better by making life miserable for Idaho through all four quarters. The Vandals struggled to move the ball against the Cougars. By halftime, Idaho had accumulated just 63 yards of total offense and had minus 2 passing yards. The Vandals finished with 241 total yards and were held to 50 yards through the air.
One reason for the anemic passing game had to do with BYU forcing Idaho to repeatedly settle for screen passes in the flats and short-yardage plays.
"I don't think we believed the protection would hold for the downfield throws," Mendenhall said. "The score got out of hand so fast that we weren't able to really establish the rhythm and balance we were hoping for."
Idaho quarterback Taylor Davis endured a terrible night, completing 5 of 12 passes for minus 6 yards and an interception before being benched midway through the third quarter. Princeton McCarty was the lone bright spot on the Vandal offense. The senior back rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
Idaho finally got on the board late in the third quarter when McCarty broke loose down the sideline for an 83 yard touchdown run.
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