BYU Passing Attack Among Observations From Win Over Georgia Southern

PROVO, Utah – The No.14 BYU Cougars football team won their 9th game of the season after defeating Georgia Southern University 34-17.

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Cougars adjusted at the half and held the Eagles scoreless after the break.

Jaren Hall led the way for the Cougar offense with 312 passing yards and two touchdowns.

1. BYU football airing it out

The BYU offense has not been shy these past several games when it comes to pushing the ball downfield.

Jaren Hall has thrown for 959 yards in the past three games and the BYU offense has gained 1,804 yards of total offense.

Jaren Hall over 300 yards passing (312) for the 4th time this year and 4th time in 6 games. Also had a 298-yard game in that stretch (Idaho State) #BYUFootball

— BYU Game Notes (@BYUGameNotes) November 20, 2021

His favorite deep ball target this season has been Puka Nacua who pulled down two touchdown passes. It’s first time he’s done that in his college career.

Samson Nacua, Keanu Hill, and Gunner Romney each caught passes for at least 25 yards against the Eagles.

Hall averaged nearly 11 yards per pass attempt.

Many of those long passes fell to the turf, but you have to love the aggressive nature of this offense.

2. Targeting call on Max Tooley

Injuries have decimated the BYU linebacking core this season.

Prior to the game, BYU announced that Payton Wilgar had season ending surgery on his shoulder.

In the second quarter, linebacker Max Tooley pressured Georgia Southern quarterback Connor Cigelske.

Wow. Max Tooley is now ejected for targeting.#BYU was already without Keenan Pili and Payton Wilgar, now Tooley is out for the remainder of this game.#BYUFootball #BYUvsGS

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 20, 2021

After review, officials deemed Tooley led with the crown of his helmet and he was ejected from the game.

The targeting rule is broken and needs fixed. Too often it penalizes defensive players for making

I didn’t think his tackle was dangerous. It was a football play. Hard hits are a part of the game.

The crown of the helmet language of the rule needs to be adjusted.

If this hit was helmet-to-helmet, then I would understand the targeting call, but that was not the case.

Luckily for BYU, Tooley will be available next week against USC.

3. Jakob Robinson ball hawk

Jakob Robinson has been a pleasant surprise this season after transferring to BYU from Utah State.

He was moved to safety a few weeks back after Chaz Ah You was moved back to linebacker because of the injury to Keenan Pili.

Robinson picked off two passes in the second half to help the Cougars separate from the Eagles.

His second interception of the game was a thing of beauty and as a result the BYU defense held the Eagles scoreless in the second half.

. @jakobrobinson87 IS A BALL HAWK 🏈🦅 pic.twitter.com/iZ99gBpQSj

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) November 20, 2021

That type of play would make wide receiver Fesi Sitake happy as he climbed the ladder to grab the football.

It will be interesting to see where BYU is ranked in the college football playoff rankings because of the  shaky performance against Georgia Southern.

You can hear Matt Baiamonte every Saturday on KSL Newsradio for Cougar Sports Saturday from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. or you can find him on Twitter here.