ANNAPOLIS, Md. – BYU was a program to play football in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we probably know why they have a good football team.

The Cougars rolled through a Navy team that was favored to beat by only one point for those who are into that sort of thing.

FINAL: @BYUfootball 55, @NavyFB 3#BYU starting out the 2020 season with a bang.#BYUvsNAVY #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/o6LQoyrvMb

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 8, 2020

BYU defeated the Navy Midshipmen by a score of 55-3 in an empty Navy-Marine Corps Stadium on Labor Day night and capped it off with a kneel down.

The buildup to the game posed a huge opportunity for the Cougars to turn the corner as a program. Mission accomplished. BYU in all three phases of the game shined on Monday night against a Navy team that didn’t have any live contact during their fall camp.

It was noticeable. Navy looked lost out on the field while BYU led by physical play in the trenches set the tone from the opening kickoff and never looked back.

For the college football world that viewed this game as the sport’s best non-conference matchup, BYU let it be known this was a different team than what we’ve seen in previous years under Kalani Sitake.

BYU’s defense forced Navy to an early three-and-out on the first drive of the game and the Cougars were off and running from there. On their first offensive series of the season, BYU scored on a 34-yard touchdown run by fall camp star Tyler Allgeier.

Allgeier was a star on Monday rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns against a Navy defense that was 10th nationally in stopping the run.

Then on the next offensive series, fellow running back Lopini Katoa scored on another explosive play. This time for 39 yards. BYU was up 14-0 before Ken Niumatalolo’s Navy team knew what hit them.

Have yourself a night, @Zachkapono.

13-18, 232 yards, 2-1 (TD-INT), QB rating: 206.#BYUvsNAVY | #BYUFootball | #GoCougs

📸: @BYUphoto pic.twitter.com/bDKmj28B2F

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 8, 2020

BYU went into the halftime locker room with a 31-0 lead. Head coach Kalani Sitake said on the radio halftime show, “we still have 30 more minutes to go.”

A triple-option based attack was suddenly out of rhythm and turning to passes earlier than you would expect. Navy starting quarterback Dalen Morris struggled and was benched in the second half in favor of Perry Olsen.

But it didn’t change Navy’s fortunes. BYU opened the second half with back-to-back touchdowns and built up their lead to 48-0 before the Midshipmen tacked on a field goal to avoid the shutout.

#BYU wins under Sitake in the month of September have historically been close calls.

Margin of victory in September games since 2016 for #BYU.

2
2
14 (FCS)
5
3
27 (FCS)
3
3#BYUvsNAVY @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 8, 2020

Junior quarterback Zach Wilson was masterful other than one interception pass that you could easily chalk up as “not the quarterback’s fault”. Wilson ended the night in his first start with a clean bill of health throwing for 232 yards on 13-of-18 and a two-to-one Touchdown-Interception ratio. The Draper native had a QB rating of 206 before coaches ended his night in the third quarter to give Baylor Romney some reps and later true freshman Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters with Jaren Hall not dressed to play.

Wilson’s top receiver was junior Gunner Romney who was a favorite of Wilson’s during fall camp. Romney, who was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, had a breakout game with four catches for 134 yards and a touchdown.

BYU goes to 1-0 on the season and will have a bye this Saturday before traveling to West Point, New York in 12 days to face another triple-option attack in Army West Point Black Knights. Navy will travel to take on the Tulane Green Wave on September 19th.

For an inside look at what it’s like to be at a college football game during the COVID-19 pandemic, follow @kslsports on Instagram. Mitch Harper will be giving you an inside look all weekend leading up to the BYU vs. Navy game on Monday. Find Mitch on Twitter here.