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Provo • If BYU coach Kalani Sitake's so-called honeymoon period with demanding and ever-questioning Cougar fans wasn't over before Thursday night's 28-27 loss to No. 14 Boise State at Albertsons Stadium, it is now.
At a place where former coach Bronco Mendenhall made one of the most criticized decisions of his 11-year tenure — going for two after a touchdown with 3:37 remaining in 2012 — Sitake made several in BYU's third one-point loss in four games at Boise State's blue turf.
• Attempting a 44-yard field goal by a kicker unproven from long distance with 15 seconds remaining when there was seemingly time to get closer, or perhaps take a shot at the end zone.
• Trying a fake punt on fourth-and-19 from his own 5-yard line, a disaster that was averted only because Boise State was backed up due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and then missed a field goal.
• Sticking with senior quarterback Taysom Hill (in conjunction with offensive coordinator Ty Detmer, obviously) while the QB who engineered last year's 35-24 win over BSU in Provo, Tanner Mangum, watched from the sidelines. Hill finished 21 of 42 for 187 yards and was sacked four times.
Credit Sitake for explaining his reasoning for the fake punt at halftime to ESPN and for the early field goal to reporters outside a somber BYU locker room after the Cougars' fourth loss by a combined eight points, and third loss to a team now ranked (Utah, West Virginia, Boise State) by a total of five points.
"As far as the clock goes, I didn't know if we had enough time to get closer," Sitake said, having had to burn his final timeout with 22 seconds left when Hill was sacked at the Boise State 40. "We had to make a decision."
In a way, going for the field goal on second down helped the Cougars because, after the low kick was blocked by David Moa, Mitchell Juergens recovered it and the Cougars got two more plays. Both passes were incomplete.
"Just looking at it afterwards, I think it was the right move anyways," Sitake said.
Regarding the fake punt, which was mocked far and wide on social media and college football websites, Sitake said it appeared on film that Boise State was vulnerable.
"We wanted to be aggressive. We came to win the game and it just didn't work out. They made a great adjustment — something that we haven't seen in prior games. … It didn't hurt us. Our defense had our backs."
At any rate, the Cougars will have 16 days to stew over the loss; with a bye next week, their next game is not until Nov. 5 at Cincinnati.
There will be calls for Mangum to get some playing time now that the Cougars' last chance for a really significant win has gone by the wayside. But in fairness to Sitake, Detmer and Hill, BYU's banged-up offensive line will have far more trouble protecting the less-mobile Mangum than Hill, who escaped Boise State defenders countless times Thursday.
Also, receivers dropped several passes. And there were some penalties in the red zone that killed drives, or resulted in field goals or empty possessions after the defense forced turnovers.
"We had some moments," said Juergens. "You can't be anything but grateful for how the defense played. I think they put us in good position, we just didn't capitalize."
Juergens said he wasn't sure what effect not having running back Jamaal Williams had on the offense, and pointed out that Squally Canada (21 carries, 88 yards) filled in admirably. Williams sprained his ankle in practice, then tweaked it in warmups.
"Jamaal is a leader, and he does bring fire and passion," Juergens said. "We might have been missing something there, and that's something we need to work on."
Canada said he didn't know he would get the start until five minutes before kickoff.
"We were hoping that Jamaal would be ready to go," Sitake said. "I anticipated him being ready to go, but at the end we wanted to make sure to take care of his health."
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU at Cincinnati
P Nov. 5, Time TBA
TV • TBA
Boise State 28, BYU 27
BYU 0 17 7 3 — 27
Boise St. 14 7 0 7 — 28
First Quarter
Boise • McNichols 76 pass from Rypien (Rausa kick), 14:11
Boise • Sperbeck 12 pass from Rypien (Rausa kick), 8:13
Second Quarter
BYU • FG Almond 35, 14:49
BYU • F.Warner 44 interception return, 14:22 (Almond kick)
BYU • Kurtz 50 interception return (Almond kick), 4:54
Boise • Wilson 36 pass from Rypien (Rausa kick), :44
Third Quarter
BYU • Hill 1 run (Almond kick), 6:57
Fourth Quarter
BYU • FG Almond 37, 13:33
Boise • McNichols 4 run (Rausa kick), 10:37
BYU Boise
First downs 20 24
Rushes-yards 38-135 35-129
Passing 187 442
Comp-Att-Int 21-41-0 25-39-2
Return Yards 68 82
Punts-Avg. 7-39.0 3-44.33
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-3
Penalties-yards 7-61 8-65
Time of Possession 32:22 27:38
Individual Statistics
Rushing • BYU, Canada 21-88, Hill 13-48, Brown 2-8, Linehan 1-(minus 3), Hifo 1-(minus 6). Boise St., McNichols 30-140, Mattison 1-4, Rypien 4-(minus 15).
Passing • BYU, Hill 21-41-0-187. Boise St., Rypien 25-39-2-442.
Receiving • BYU, M.Juergens 4-57, Pearson 4-31, Trinnaman 3-24, Canada 3-7, Balderree 2-33, Kurtz 2-16, Laulu-Pututau 2-14, B.Tanner 1-5. Boise St., Sperbeck 9-109, McNichols 5-109, Modster 4-82, Wilson 4-68, Knight 1-46, Mattison 1-15, C.Anderson 1-13.
Missed field goals • BYU, Almond 44. Boise St., Rausa 32, Rausa 30.