Box Score Prediction: Washington St. @ BYU

BYU starts the season hosting recent Pac-12 bottom-feeders Washington State, which is just about the perfect test for the Cougars. Bronco Mendenhall and co. will need an opponent with some semblance of a program (like, not Eastern Illinois, for example), but obviously they don’t want LSU, either.  We have no reason to believe BYU doesn’t semi-skate by these Pacific Northwest style Cougars, and let's hop in the Delorean and find out what box score will look like.

Final Score: BYU 31; WSU 17

Passing
Riley Nelson - 21-32; 260 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 INT
       
Rushing
Michael Alisa - 15 carries for 85 yards
David Foote - 5 carries for 30 yards
Iona Pritchard - 3 carries for 13 yards, 1 TD
Riley Nelson - 7 carries for 44 yards

Receiving
Cody Hoffman - 4 catches, 85 yards, 1 TD
Ross Apo - 5 catches, 30 yards, 1 TD
Michael Alisa - 3 catches 26 yards
JD Falslev - 3 catches 30 yards
Kaneakua Friel - 3 catches, 30 yards, 1 TD
Austin Holt - 2 catches, 25 yards
Dylan Collie - 2 catches, 15 yards
Alex Kuresa - 2 catches, 19 yards

Defense
2 sacks, 1 INT, and a fumble recovery

Explanation
Mike Leach is a fantastic offensive mind, but he is inheriting a team that was already good at “making offense.” So we have to wonder, how much better can Leach make an already-good offense - especially by the first game. But the bigger problem is the WSU defense, which will not be able to successfully contain BYU’s offense.

Kyle Van Noy can’t be beat at anything. Expect this to be the first of many great games for him and the defense this season.

So, expect a fairly routine win for BYU, but they might not look very impressive doing it, and the offense might struggle out the gate somewhat. It might take a couple games for this year’s team to shake the cobwebs off from the season, but we don’t think Washington State will have enough to take advantage.

- Scott Gower and Daniel Anderson