No. 9 BYU rolls to 54-3 victory over Tulane

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Everything was working for Brigham Young on Saturday.

The No. 9 Cougars got two touchdown passes from Max Hall, and Bryan Kariya and J.J. DiLuigi each scored twice on the way to a 54-3 beating of Tulane.

BYU even got scores from its defense and backup quarterback.

They were so dominating they didn’t even have to punt.

“It shows we are going to come out every week hungry to play and eager to play because we love the game and love to win,” Hall said.

The Cougars (2-0) got off to a sluggish start following their big win over Oklahoma, managing only two field goals by Mitch Payne in the first quarter. BYU began hitting its stride just before halftime, though, starting a scoring spree of 48 unanswered points.

“Well, you get worn down,” said Tulane coach Bob Toledo. “They wear you down. They’re bigger, they’re more physical. They just keep executing and making first downs and scoring and they keep you off the field.”

Kariya rushed for the first of his two touchdowns with 3:28 remaining in the half, then caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Hall with 25 seconds left to give the Cougars a 20-3 margin at the break.

Hall completed 24 of 32 passes for 309 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.

After a 3-yard score by DiLuigi in the third quarter, Hall hit McKay Jacobson for a 38-yard TD, to make it 34-3.

DiLugi ran for a 1-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter. Then, Jordan Pendleton picked up a Tulane fumble and returned it 12-yards to give the Cougars a 47-3 lead, and BYU closed out the game with a 1-yard scoring run by backup quarterback Riley Nelson.

BYU had 527 yards of total offense, including 209 on the ground, and had possession of the football for 33:40 compared to 26:20 for the Green Wave.

“We thought we could get a good line push in the middle,” DiLuigi said. “We thought we could move the ball around and give more guys the opportunity to make plays.”

The Cougars used 10 players to rush the ball and the quarterbacks hit 12 different receivers.

Tulane, which went 2-10 last season, hasn’t had a winning season since 2002. The Wave were held to 162 yards of total offense, and their hopes of establishing a running game against BYU quickly dissipated. They managed only 37 yards rushing.

“Our defense may not be as quick as some of the other defenses, but we play physical and we will hit you,” said BYU defensive end Jan Jorgensen.

Tulane quarterback Joe Kemp managed to complete 14 of 19 passes for 101 yards with an interception and three sacks. The Green Wave’s only score, a 29-yard field goal, came after a 56-yard drive stalled on the BYU 6.