Tyler Allgeier showed why he’s one of the best running backs in the country as the sophomore rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns to lead BYU to a 34-20 road victory over Utah State in the battle for the Old Wagon Wheel.
BYU needed all of it as the Cougars were down to their third-string quarterback in Jacob Conover. Baylor Romney, who had a terrific first half, went down right before the half with what appeared to be a concussion. Romney was 15-of-19 for 187 yards and a touchdown before he left the game.
Playing on the road in a rivalry game, the Cougars were content on just running out the clock and feeding Allgeier as the 5-foot-11, 220-pounder ran all of the Aggie defense en route to a career night.
Allgeier’s 218 rushing yards was not only a career high, but were the most since Jackson McChesney ran for 228 yards against UMass in 2019. It was also Allgeier’s first three-touchdown game of his BYU career and the first time since 2018 that a BYU running back rushed for three touchdowns in a game. Allgeier also became just the 16th player in BYU history to rush for more than 200 yards.
On the other side of the ball, BYU’s defense bended, but didn’t break. While the defense gave up 336 yards, the Cougar defense came up with big plays when they needed them, including forcing two turnovers, 4th down stops and held the Aggies to just 22 yards rushing (0.6 yards per carry).
BYU came into Friday’s game ranked No. 8 nationally in turnover margin and walked out of Maverik Stadium +2 on the night thanks to two interceptions by Malik Moore and Jakob Robinson.
With the win, the Cougars recorded its 50th victory against Utah State and also evened up the series in Logan at 19-19-2. BYU is 5-0 for just the 7th time in program history and has not trailed at any point this season. The Cougars will look to keep that going next Saturday against Boise State.
