PROVO, Utah (AP) — Bear Bachmeier threw for 236 yards and a touchdown to lead No. 8 BYU to a 27-20 victory over Arizona State on Saturday.
asserted
Bachmeier → throw → Saturday
The Cougars (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) shut out the Sun Devils in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.
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Cougars → shut → win
After Matthias Dunn put BYU ahead for good on a 45-yard field goal, Sione Moa punched it in from a yard out to seal the victory with 2:09 left.
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Moa → put → 2:09
Bachmeier converted two fourth downs before Moa’s second TD to keep the drive alive.
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Bachmeier → convert → drive
“We’re not playing to lose,” Bachmeier said.
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Bachmeier → play → ?
Cardae Mack totaled 170 all-purpose yards to lead Arizona State.
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Mack → total → State
Jake Fette threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
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Fette → throw → yards
The Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3) lost to a Top-10 opponent on the road for the third time this season.
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Devils → lose → time
This latest setback ended up being much closer than the previous two.
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setback → end → two
“They made things difficult for us and made it interesting, especially at the end,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.
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Sitake → make → end
Fette threw a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes to help Arizona State erase a 14-point deficit.
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State → throw → deficit
The Sun Devils converted three third downs on the first scoring drive, culminating in Omarion Miller’s 20-yard TD catch.
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Devils → convert → catch
Then they converted two fourth downs on the next drive before Anthony Miller Jr.’s 1-yard scoring catch made it 17-17.
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it → convert → drive
Adrian Wilson recovered a fumble by Kyler Kasper at the BYU 39 to set up Arizona State’s second touchdown drive.
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Wilson → recover → drive
“We really simplified in the second half for him and I thought that was a positive,” Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said.
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Dillingham → simplify → him
“You always want to do that with a young quarterback.”
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You → want → quarterback
Fette got off to a turbulent start in his first career start.
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Fette → get → start
He fumbled on the third play of Arizona State’s opening drive.
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He → fumble → drive
Isaiah Glasker pounced on the ball at the Sun Devil 29, setting up BYU’s first touchdown.
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Glasker → pounce → touchdown
Ironically, the Cougars scored following another fumble.
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Cougars → score → fumble
Moa scooped up the ball after Bachmeier coughed it up inside the ASU 1 and scampered over the goal line to put BYU up 7-0.
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Bachmeier → scoop → BYU
Bachmeier threaded a ball through traffic to Kyler Kaspar on a 13-yard touchdown pass to extend the Cougars’ lead to 17-3 before halftime.
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Bachmeier → thread → halftime
Arizona State’s strong third quarter made the Sun Devils look back at a first half where they gained only 93 total yards as a missed opportunity.
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they → make → opportunity
“I need to come out better in the first half,” Fette said.
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Fette → need → half
“A quarterback can’t start that slow in the first half in a big game like this.
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quarterback → start → this
So if I come out (strong) in the first half, like we did in the second half, I think we win this game.”
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we → come → game
A lack of a consistent passing game made Arizona State’s offense one-dimensional and kept the Sun Devils from completing a second-half comeback.
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offense → make → comeback
BYU clamped down on defense early, registering six sacks and forcing a turnover before halftime.
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BYU → clamp → halftime
It helped the Cougars weather an inconsistent offense in the second half.
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It → help → half
BYU converted a pair of fourth downs on its final scoring drive.
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BYU → convert → drive
Bachmeier threw a 5-yard pass on 4th-and-4 from the ASU 6 to set up Moa’s second 1-yard TD run a play later.
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Bachmeier → throw → run
Bachmeier and the offense stayed on the field on 4th-and-1 at the BYU 14 yard line with the Cougars holding a 3-point lead.
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Cougars → stay → lead
He plowed ahead and got the first down with a yard to spare.
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He → plow → yard
“The team was all for it,” Sitake said.
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Sitake → say → it
I can be convinced pretty easily.”
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I → convince → ?
The fourth down gamble paid off.
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gamble → pay → ?
Bachmeier hit Legend Glasker on a 53-yard pass on the next play and the Cougars eventually drove 95 yards in 11 plays to seal the win.
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Cougars → hit → win
Bottled Up
Reed Harris finished with four yards on one catch for Arizona State.
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Harris → bottle → State
Harris entered the week as the Big 12 leader in receiving yards (800) and receiving yards per game (114.3).
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Harris → enter → game
He had four 100-yard games through the Sun Devils first seven games this season.
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He → have → games
…and 1 more, not listed.