PROVO, Utah — Sam Houston kept BYU in check but could not find the end zone in a 14-0 loss in the season opener at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Saturday night.
The defense gave the Cougars fits in the Bearkats' first game as a member of Conference USA and the FBS, holding them to 258 yards of offense. BYU just took advantage of its only two trips into the red zone to squeak out the victory.
Sam Houston turned the ball over three times, once in the red zone, and was kept to under 200 yards of total offense. The Cougars forced 10 punts and protected the football to not give the Kats any openings.
Sam Houston's defense held its own in the first half to keep it close. BYU scored on its first possession when Kedon Slovis capped a 50-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 four and half minutes into the opening quarter.
The Kats held the Cougars to 116 yards of total offense and forced five punts, but they couldn't find a rhythm themselves.
Sam Houston managed only 81 yards of offense and had one promising drive stall out just out of field goal range at the BYU 37-yard line when
Keegan Shoemaker hit
Charles Crawford III for an 18-yard gain and connected with
Malik Phillips for 20 more. The Cougars were able to limit the damage and forced a punt to end the scoring threat.
The Bearkats had a golden opportunity to get on the board to begin the third when they snuffed out a fake punt attempt by BYU to get the ball at the Cougar 20. A pass interference call moved the ball to the 6, but Jakob Robinson picked off a Shoemaker pass in the end zone to deny Sam Houston.
Momentum seemed to shift in the Kats' favor toward the end of the third quarter. At first it appeared Sam Houston had blocked a 48-yard field goal attempt and returned it deep into BYU territory, but the Kats were called for offsides.
The Cougars elected to go for it on fourth and one and converted. That led to another touchdown to put BYU up two scores to begin the fourth.
