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Provo • Nick Kurtz wasn't nervous when he was wide open behind the Cincinnati defense and Tanner Mangum's throw came flying toward him.
The BYU receiver was laughing.
He easily caught the heave, and pranced into the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown pass to give the Cougars the go-ahead score in the eventual 38-24 win over Cincinnati on Friday night in front of 57,612 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
"It was so cool," Kurtz said. "I am just glad my family was there to see it."
Kurtz's father has moved from the San Diego area to Utah County, but his mother and some other family members made the trip and were rewarded with two touchdown receptions, the first two TDs of the junior college transfer's BYU career.
He finished with a career-high six catches for 119 yards, his second game of at least 100 receiving yards, and his 53-yard catch tied a career-long that he set against Nebraska in the opener.
"It was really fun to see a player play like that in front of his family," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "That makes it really special. He did a nice job."
Kurtz arrived at BYU with plenty of fanfare out of Grossmont (Calif.) Junior College in 2014, but suffered a foot injury in fall camp and was forced to redshirt last year.
"It is huge when a guy's hard work pays off," said running back Algie Brown, who also had two touchdowns on runs of 5 and 2 yards and finished with 88 yards.
Mendenhall said Mangum was "about 70-80 percent tonight" and was limited all week by the hamstring pull he suffered last week against East Carolina. That showed in the first half, but in the second 30 minutes he was given plenty of time to throw.
Cincinnati didn't sack him, while UC quarterback Hayden Moore was dumped eight times.
"It just took [Mangum] a little bit of time to get back up to game speed," Mendenhall said of the first half when the freshman went 5 of 15 for 80 yards with an interception.
Another big play in the second half was Garrett Juergens' 39-yard punt return, a return that set up the Cougars' final, game-clinching touchdown, an 11-yard run by freshman Francis Bernard.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Nick Kurtz's breakout game
Receptions: 6
Yards: 119
Touchdowns: 2
Long: 53