BYU vs. Idaho State Game Notes - Game 8

BYU will host Idaho State on Saturday, Oct. 22, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast live from LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on BYUtv and KSL Radio 1160 AM, 102.7 FM and ksl.com.

BYU (5-2) vs. Idaho State (2-5, 1-4 Big Sky)
Oct. 22, 2011
1 p.m. MT
LaVell Edwards Stadium
Provo, Utah

For the complete BYU vs. Idaho State game notes, download the attached PDF file below.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- BYU is facing Idaho State for the first time since 1951, a span of 60 years. It’s the second-longest span between games against an opponent in BYU history after going 61 years between contests against Nevada in 1940 and 2001. The Cougars’ will also set the third-longest span in two weeks when they face Idaho for the first time since 1956 - a span of 56 years.
BYU has not played five other current FCS teams (UC Davis, Northern Colorado, Montana State, Northern Arizona and South Dakota) since at least 1951. The FBS school BYU has currently gone the longest without playing is Texas Tech, a team the Cougars last played back in 1940 -- 71 years ago and counting.
- Multiple Cougars earned awards after last week vs. Oregon State. Riley Nelson earned Independent Offensive Player of the Week, Brandon Ogletree earned Independent Defensive Player of the Week and College Football Performance Awards linebacker honorable mention and Cody Hoffman earned CFPA receiver honorable mention and Rivals.com Independent Player of the Week.
- The Cougars are 4-0 overall and 3-0 under Bronco Mendenhall when playing teams classified in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). BYU has wins over Northern Iowa (41-17 in 2008), Eastern Washington (42-7 in 2007), Eastern Illinois (45-10 in 2005) and Murray State (43-9 in 1998).
- BYU is looking for its fifth-straight win. The Cougars have not won more than four in a row since winning its last five games of 2009 and the 2010 season opener.

THE BYU-IDAHO STATE SERIES
This will be the fourth time BYU and Idaho State have played. The Cougars are undefeated against the Bengals, holding a 3-0 advantage, with two meetings in the early 1950’s and another in 1932. It has been 60 years since the two teams faced off, the last time coming in 1951 when BYU won in Provo 27-7.

RIGELL RETURNS
Former BYU kick returner and wide receiver Mike Rigell will be returning to LaVell Edwards Stadium as a member of the Idaho State coaching staff. Rigell currently is in his first year as the running backs coach after serving as a graduate assistant for the Bengals last year. Rigell found most of his success in a Cougar uniform as a kick returner. Before current kick returner Cody Hoffman returned a kick 93 yards for a touchdown earlier this year, Rigell was the last player to accomplish that feat when he took one 96 yards to the house against Hawaii his freshman season in 1998. Rigell was an all-conference honorable mention twice in his BYU career and racked up 3,005 all-purpose yards for the Cougars, good for 14th all-time at BYU. His 1,625 kickoff return yards are tops in Cougar history.

COMING IN THREES
For the second-straight game BYU had three touchdown passes through the air. Each touchdown reception came in the second half as well. Wide receiver Cody Hoffman caught the first one, a 12-yarder in the third quarter. JD Falslev caught the second one, a 2-yard toss, and tight end Kaneakua Friel caught the third touchdown from 8 yards out in the fourth quarter.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
For the third-straight week the BYU offense was able to rack up at least 400 yards of total offense. The Cougars rolled with 499 yards at Oregon State. Against San Jose State the Cougars picked up 446 yards and vs. Utah State the team used 451 total yards to beat the Aggies. Each game featured at least 200 rushing yards. In the past four games the Cougars have slowly improved their scoring as well, scoring 24, 27, 29 and 38 points.

COG IN THE MIDDLE
Despite missing one game due to injury, junior linebacker Brandon Ogletree is currently leading the BYU defense in total tackles, assisted tackles and unassisted tackles and ranks second on the team with two forced fumbles. Ogletree has 43 total tackles on the season, giving him an average of just over seven tackles per game. As a sophomore, Ogletree saw significant action in 11 games and recorded 49 tackles on the season. Ogletree also forced two fumbles and recorded an interception against Oregon State. For his efforts against the Beavers, Ogletree received Honorable Mention Linebacker of the Week honors from the College Football Performance Awards.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES
BYU continued its streak of recording at least 5.0 TFL to three games against Oregon State. BYU recorded a season-best 7.0 TFL for a total loss of 22 yards against the Beavers. Senior linebacker Jordan Pendleton, in his second game back from injury, led BYU with a career high 3.0 TFL. Pendleton also recorded a sack in the game. The Cougars recorded 5.0 TFL against the San Jose State and 6.0 against Utah State.

CORNER TACKLING
Junior corner Preston Hadley led the Cougars with 11 total tackles and three pass breakups against Oregon State. The 11 tackles recorded by Hadley are the second most for an individual Cougar this season, just behind the 12 tackles recorded by Spencer Hadley against Texas. The 11 tackles by Hadley nearly doubled his season total of 16 and marked the first time a corner has led BYU in tackles so far this season. His three pass breakups also tied the individual high for a BYU player this season. Hadley and Corby Eason recorded three pass breakups earlier this year against Utah.

FORCING FUMBLES
BYU has forced nine fumbles in seven games this season, a total that currently ranks atop the stand- ings for FBS Independent teams. The Cougars are averaging 1.29 forced fumbles per game this season. The linebackers have led the way in the forced fumble department. Junior Uona Kaveinga has three forced fumbles this season while fellow junior Brandon Ogletree recorded two against Oregon State. The Cougars have recovered seven of the nine forced fumbles, which also ranks first among FBS Independent teams.

TREE TOS
With two forced fumbles at Oregon State, junior linebacker Brandon Ogletree became just the second player in BYU history to force two fumbles in a game since official records were kept in 2000. Andrew Rich also recorded two against No. 3 Oklahoma in 2009. Ogletree also had an interception vs. the Beavers.

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO
Senior defensive back Corby Eason has recorded two or more pass breakups in four of the last five games and now has 11 on the season and 14 in his career and was recently named to Phil Steele’s Midseason All-Independent First Team. Eason’s season mark ties for second-most in a season at BYU (since official stats were kept in 2000) behind Brian Logan’s 14 while his career mark is good for a tie for fourth-most. Logan also holds that record with 21 career breakups.

KICK RETURN KING
Cody Hoffman is quickly moving up the career kickoff return list at BYU with 34 returns, 875 yards and a 25.7 average per return.

BYU Career Kick Return Yards
7. Vai Sikahema (1980-81, 84-85)     973 yards
8. Mike O’Brien (1986-88)                 945 yards
9. Cody Hoffman (2010-pres)            875 yards

BYU Career Kick Return Average
1. Chris Farasopoulos (1968-70)       27.27 avg
2. Austin Collie (2004, 07-08)            26.06 avg
3. Cody Hoffman (2010-pres)            25.74 avg