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Austin, Texas • Taysom Hill and BYU's offense stole the show against the Texas Longhorns last year in the Cougars' romp in Provo.
But this time, the defense did enough to get equal billing.
Forcing four turnovers, BYU's defense dominated from beginning to end in the 41-7 win. Mike Alisa intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards and Alisa, Jherremya Leuta-Douyere and Robertson Daniel caused fumbles as the Cougars almost kept the Longhorns from scoring at Royal-Memorial Stadium for the first time since 1976.
Only a meaningless 14-yard touchdown pass from first-time starter Tyrone Swoopes to John Harris with :29 seconds remaining in the third quarter kept the Cougars from pitching a shutout.
Texas missed a 43-yard field goal try the only other time it got close to BYU's goal line.
"We are serious and we plan on playing every game like this no matter the team," said Daniel, whose second-quarter strip and recovery thwarted a Texas drive.
Texas gained just 258 yards, and rushed for just 82 yards.
"Our defense was huge," Hill said. "They simply could not run the ball against us."
It might have come at a cost, however. Star outside linebacker Bronson Kaufusi suffered a lower leg injury in the first half and did not return to the game. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall did not know Kaufusi's status for Thursday's home opener against Houston.
The Cougars caught a break when starter David Ash suffered concussion-like symptoms after last week's 38-7 win over North Texas and was replaced by Swoopes, who struggled. But Mendenhall said the game plan didn't change.
"Those things are just built into our defensive system," he said. "We didn't really acknowledge the quarterback position that much."
The Cougars sacked Swoopes three times, as Dallin Leavitt, Alani Fua and Jordan Preator did the honors. Leavitt led the team with seven tackles.
Defensive tackle Remington Peck said Hill's 30-yard touchdown run inspired the defense to play even harder than it did in the first half, when it posted a shutout.
"We played like it was a 0-0 ball game, like we were starting over," Peck said. "Stopping the run game was the focus all week."