Tanner Mangum was having one of his best games of the season Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium as the BYU offense racked up more than 300 yards of total offense under his watch.
However, it all came crashing down in the fourth quarter when the junior quarterback went down with a season-ending Achilles injury as Fresno State held on for a 20-13 home victory.
The incredible string of injuries continues… Tanner Mangum carted off the field after an injury to his lower right leg. #BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/iqRcQWFj2p
— Dave Noriega (@davenoriega) November 5, 2017
With the win, the Bulldogs are now bowl eligible while the Cougars suffered more injuries and another frustrating loss. With the loss, The Cougars 12-year bowl streak will come to an end in a season full of injuries, poor execution and questionable play calls on both sides of the ball.
The lone bright spots for the Cougars on offense was running back Squally Canada who rushed 12 times for 84 yards and a touchdown. Freshman tight end Matt Bushman hauled in a career-high eight catches for 97 yards.
“They called my number and I was ready,” Canada said.
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After going down with an injury in the first half, Mangum returned in the second half and drove the Cougars down the length of the field which was capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run by Canada.
Mangum’s non-contact injury occurred on his right foot with 10:30 remaining in the game. The junior quarterback finished the night completing 20 of 33 passes for 163 yards and for just the second time this year, had no interceptions.
“It’s very disappointing. We’re not playing good football right now and it’s my fault,” said coach Kalani Sitake. “There’s really not much to say other than we scored 13 points and we couldn’t stop them on crucial downs. Fresno State did everything they wanted and they wanted it more.”
Notes
Mangum went over 5,000 career passing yards (5,158) Saturday night to become just the 14th BYU quarterback to cross the 5,000-yard mark. The junior quarterback also passed Virgil Carter (5,124) in the process to sit 13th in BYU history. With 33 attempts Saturday night, Mangum also tied Carter for 12th in career passing attempts (736).
