15. 9/12/15 - Hail Mary II defeats Boise State: BYU - 35, #20 Boise St. - 24

            When starting QB Taysom Hill suffered a season-ending injury in the team’s season opener against Nebraska, the outlook appeared bleak for the Cougars, especially since Hill’s backup was freshman QB Tanner Mangum, who was fresh off his mission to Chile. Mangum, however, rose to the occasion, knocking off Nebraska with a last second Hail Mary. Mangum’s next task was to lead BYU (1-0) in their home opener against #20 Boise State (1-0), who came into Provo riding a ten game winning streak. Cougar Nation was cautiously optimistic that the young QB would be up to the task. Boise State was looking to build on its previous season’s success (a 12-2 record and Fiesta Bowl win to earn a #16 final ranking) to make a case for a playoff spot. In order to do that, they would have to go undefeated.

The game started with a bang! On BYU’s first possession, the Cougars faced third-and-19, deep in their own territory. Mangum received the hike from the shotgun position. He was immediately flushed out of the pocket and ran toward the right sideline. As three defenders closed in, Tanner stepped up to the 10-yard line and launched a missile that sailed 59 yards into the waiting arms of a streaking Mitchell Juergens. Juergens snatched the ball out of the air and raced into the end zone for an 84-yard TD reception. The game was less than a minute old, and the Cougars already held a 7-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Cougar offense sputtered the rest of the half, with two drives ending in interceptions, and the other five ending in punts. Fortunately, the Cougar D established itself early on, forcing five punts and an interception by Kai Nacua at the goal line. In between, however, Boise did manage to score a touchdown. Starting at midfield, QB Ryan Finley orchestrated a 7 play drive that culminated with a 3-yard TD run by Jeremy McNichols. Then, at the end of the first half, Boise commenced their final drive at their own 41-yard line. As time expired, Boise’s kicker, Tyler Rausa, kicked a 31-yard field goal to give the Broncos a 10-7 lead at the half.

Tanner Mangum scrambling
Courtesy of BYU Photo

Boise’s first drive of the second half started at their own 25-yard line. From there, the Broncos methodically paraded up the field. On the eleventh play of the drive, the Cougar D suffered a bout of deja vu as Boise finished its drive with a 3-yard TD run by Jeremy McNichols. Midway through the third, BYU started their second possession of the half at their own 16-yard line. Since their opening drive, the offense hadn’t mounted a single drive longer than 19 yards. Once again, facing a third-and-19, Mangum broke from the pocket and headed to the right sideline. This time he launched his bomb from the 5-yard line. A wide open Devon Blackmon slowed down to catch the ball at the Boise 42, then turned and ran. The Boise D caught up with him, tackling him at the 23. On second-and-20, at the Boise 21, Mangum handed off to Adam Hine. Hine dashed forward, was briefly halted at the line of scrimmage, broke a tackle at the 15, then surged into the end zone for the score. Then it was Boise’s turn. Starting at their 14-yard line, the Broncos galloped down the field, going 86 yards in six plays. This time, McNichols scored on a 29-yard pass from Finley. After three quarters of play, the Broncos led 24-14.

Although the Cougars had to punt early in the fourth, they were able to pin the Broncos on their own 2-yard line. On second down, Finley threw a long pass from his own end zone, trying to create some breathing room. Kai Nacua was waiting, intercepting the ball at the Boise 37, and running it back to the Boise 12 before being knocked out of bounds. On the next play, Blackmon made an awesome one-handed catch in the end zone…but the TD was nullified with an offensive pass interference call. A couple of plays later, Algernon Brown muscled his way to the 1-yard line with a 20 yard rush. From there, Mangum let his O-line create enough space for him to cross the goal line.

With 3:33 remaining, BYU got the ball back on its own 36-yard line. Down by 3 points, Mangum drove the Cougars to the Bronco 35-yard line. On fourth-and-seven, with 54 ticks remaining, things looked bleak. *Bypassing the first down, Mangum went for broke. As the pocket collapsed, Mangum broke right and released the ball at the 39, with two Broncos closing in. Two Cougars and three Broncos converged at the “Y” in the middle of the end zone, but Mitchell Juergens leaped up and caught the ball for the go-ahead score (#15). The potent Boise offense still had a chance, though. With 45 seconds remaining, the Broncos tried to strike fast. * Finley took the snap and drifted back while looking downfield. His long pass overshot his receiver into the waiting arms of BYU safety Kai Nacua, who made his record-tying third interception of the game at midfield, leaped over a Bronco receiver and ran it all the way up the left sideline before tumbling into the end zone for a pick 6 that sealed the upset (#35). The game that started with a first minute TD, ended with two TDs in the final minute!

Mitchell Juergens' Amazing Catch
Courtesy of BYU Photo

Kai Nacua
Courtesy of BYU Photo

The win propelled the Cougars into the AP Top 25 at #19. They would go on to a 9-4 record, including a Las Vegas Bowl loss to rival Utah, who they’d been unable to schedule during the regular season. Boise went on to a 9-4 season as well, finishing up with a Poinsettia Bowl win over Northern Illinois. As for Mangum, he had thrown his second final minute, fourth down Hail Mary TD in the first two weeks of his BYU career. No Cougar had such a great start to his career; but when you start at the top, there is nowhere to go but down. He finished the season with 3,377 passing yards and 23 TDs including another final minute TD drive. However, after his outstanding freshman season, Mangum was unsuccessful in living up to the astronomic expectations he’d created for himself.

 Game highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCP2yypze0o

 *BYU Tv's Top 100 plays in BYU Football TV history (updated 12/12/20 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYzgPw-bQ_c)