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Provo • BYU safety Craig Bills freely admitted it. After Saturday's 41-33 win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the senior was exhausted.
"I am really, really tired, to be honest," Bills said.
Why not?
Virginia ran a whopping 102 plays against BYU, and Bills was on the field for all of them. The Cavaliers racked up 519 yards and held the ball for nearly 41 minutes.
"We defended like 100 plays," BYU defensive back Skye PoVey said. "That's hard. But when we were playing a lot of guys, that was huge. For the Jordan Preators, the Fred Warners to step in and play a role, that was big."
It was probably BYU's worst defensive performance of the season to date, and coach Bronco Mendenhall acknowledged that in his postgame news conference.
"It was not great execution from [the first play, in which Robertson Daniel was flagged for pass interference] all the way through to the end of the game," Mendenhall said. "Just in terms of assignment-sound football, playing with an edge, playing with confidence, and making the appropriate stops on third down, which is really tied to execution, [didn't happen]."
Virginia quarterbacks Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns combined to attempt 58 passes and were never sacked. Lambert woozily left the game in the second half after a hard hit and Johns finished the game for him.
The Cougars really missed linebacker Bronson Kaufusi, who warmed up but didn't get into the game due to a sprained ankle.
"We are not getting to the quarterback frequently enough, nor are we making plays on the ball," Mendenhall said. "The combination of those two things allowed Virginia to keep the ball and stay in the game."
The defense's inability to get off the field limited the number of plays BYU's offense could run, only 60.
The Cougars had just 332 yards, a season low, but quarterback Taysom Hill says they still made a statement in the game televised nationally by ESPN.
"As a team, it was huge. Virginia is a really good, physical football team. They played UCLA tough, they beat a really good Louisville team," Hill said. "So for us to come and win the football team the way that we did [was big]. There was a lot of talk, and I think that just solidified some of the conversations out there for our team."
At least, Virginia linebacker Max Valles went away impressed by Hill.
"I told him after the game that he was going to win the Heisman," Valles said. "He is the best athlete I have ever played against in college or high school."
Twitter: @drewjay
Virginia rolls up yards
• The Cavaliers run 102 plays, pick up 519 yards and get 35 first downs.
• Virginia holds on to the ball for 40 minutes, 55 seconds.
• Virginia rushes for 192 yards and converts 10 of 22 third-down chances.