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Injuries, targeting ejection, could leave Cougars short-handed for rivalry game

LSU running back Darrel Williams (28) runs against BYU in the first half of an NCAA college football game in New Orleans, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Scott Threlkeld)

New Orleans • The Cougars not only lost on the scoreboard Saturday night at the Superdome, falling 27-0 to No. 13 LSU, they also suffered some injuries and an ejection that could leave them short-handed next week against rival Utah.

Running backs KJ Hall and Kavika Fonua both left the game with injuries. Hall suffering an arm or shoulder injury when he collided with Jonah Trinnaman on a kickoff return and Fonua injuring his lower leg.

The Cougars rushed for minus-5 yards as Squally Canada got the bulk of the carries and netted 8 yards. Tanner Mangum was sacked three times.

BYU will probably be without one of its best defenders for the first half again Utah. Senior safety Micah Hannemann was ejected for targeting early in the second half.

Hannemann hit LSU running back Derrius Guice and was ejected for the second time in three games, having been flagged in the second half of the Poinsettia Bowl last December.

Coach Kalani Sitake said he has never seen a player penalized for hitting a ball carrier, and the hit was not flagged on the field. Rather, it was “reviewed from up top,” Sitake said.

“Whatever we can do to get our player back, we will try,” Sitake said. “I don’t know what he could have done differently.”

Guice, a Heisman Trophy candidate, finished with 120 yards on 27 carries. The Tigers were 5 of 10 on third-down conversions, while BYU was just 2 of 10.

“It was frustrating, but our defense, they hung in there,” Sitake said.

Immediately after Hannemann left the game, LSU quarterback Danny Etling went directly at backup safety Tanner Jacobson and completed a 32-yard pass to Russell Gage to put the Tigers in field goal range.

But all the Tigers really needed was their first touchdown, a 4-yard run by Guice, because their defense was not giving the Cougars an inch, it seemed.

“We just could not get anything going with momentum,” Sitake said. “Honestly, we thought we could have done better, but you have to give a lot of credit to LSU.”

Later, Sitake credited LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and said LSU has one of the best defenses he has even seen in college football. Still, he believed the Cougars had a few chances to move the ball and couldn’t capitalize.

“I know we have playmakers,” Sitake said. “We’re just not making plays.”

BYU’s defense wasn’t as awful as its offense, not even close, but still gave up 479 yards.

Sitake said he expected his defense to be more dominant in the trenches.

“We’ve just got to get better,” he said. “I am tempted to throw this game [film] out, but we will need it to see where we can get better.”