Cougar offense got its act together for finale

It took some time and a conservative UTEP defense but BYU’s offense had a breakout game in the New Mexico Bowl. It comes at a time the Cougars need a solid building block for its entry into independence.

Jake Heaps looked like a veteran quarterback against the Miners. He made all the throws. His three touchdown tosses to Cody Hoffman were especially impressive as was the cross body toss to Hoffman before fumbling in the first half. That throw was big time. So was Hoffman’s catch.

The New Mexico Bowl elevated Heaps and his game. He had four TD passes and another to Devin Mahina that would have made five if the freshman tight end had stretched out with the ball when he dove towards the goal line. That Heaps did all this with a broken rib under his shoulder blade made it even more impressive. He set a BYU quarterback record for pass completion percentage at 73.5 and his pass efficiency rating for the game was 171.69.

His coach, Brandon Doman, said Heaps injury was iffy. He didn’t know how Heaps would respond in a game setting. He was fully prepared to bring in James Lark at any point in the game that called for it. When Heaps got hit late on a flagged play by a UTEP defender, it was the biggest hit he took in the game and Doman wondered if that hit would bring Heaps to the bench. It did not.

“We were up and running,” said Doman.

The injury, the coach explained, is one of three bad things that can happen to a quarterback when he gets hit hard like he did after a first half run for a first down against Utah. “You either separate your shoulder like I did, you break your collarbone, or you break that rib. Breaking that rib is the least serious thing that could happen and that was lucky for him. It takes about six weeks to heal and we were a couple of weeks since it happened in a game in which he played the whole game (Utah).

It wasn’t just Heaps but Heaps plus the offensive line and an improved effort by BYU receivers, said Doman.