The 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl is an American college football bowl game that was played on December 27, 2013, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. It was one of the 2013–14 bowl games that concluded the 2013 FBS football season. The 12th edition of the Fight Hunger Bowl, it featured the Washington Huskies, from the Pac-12 Conference, against the BYU Cougars, an independent team. The game began at 6:30 p.m. PST and aired on ESPN. It was the last Fight Hunger Bowl game played at AT&T Park.
Washington and BYU both finished the regular season with records of 8–4, and each team faced its own set of circumstances entering the game. Washington entered the game with quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo serving as its interim coach following the departure of Steve Sarkisian and several staff members to University of Southern California, where Sarkisian was named head coach days before the game. Though the Huskies moved quickly to hire Chris Petersen away from Boise State, Tuiasosopo coached the game. Washington featured a pair of key star players on offense, in Bishop Sankey at running back and Austin Seferian-Jenkins at tight end. Key performers on the defense included linebacker Shaq Thompson and team captain Sean Parker, a safety. BYU featured a high-powered offense that centered on dual-threat quarterback Taysom Hill and wide receiver Cody Hoffman. The offensive line, however, had been in shambles all season long, and was a potential area of concern. Defensively, Kyle Van Noy, an All-American who was one of the "best defenders" in program history, headlined a unit that also featured Uani 'Unga, who led the group in tackles.
The game featured two female officials, which made Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history. After Washington scored first, and was the only team to score in the first quarter, BYU came back in the second quarter with a trio of field goals from Justin Sorensen, but ultimately trailed at halftime following a kickoff returned for a touchdown and a touchdown pass to Seferian-Jenkins by Washington. The halftime score was 21–16, with Washington holding the 5-point advantage. They were the only team to score in the second half, posting 10 points despite losing both their quarterback and running back due to injury in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, they won the game 31–16.
Teams
BYU Cougars
In December 2010, organizers announced that they had reached a deal with BYU to play in the 2013 edition of the Fight Hunger Bowl. The Cougars, who became conference independent during the 2011 season, were scheduled to fill a slot originally allotted to a team from the Western Athletic Conference, which discontinued football prior to the 2013 season. After defeating the Boise State Broncos for their sixth win of the season on October 25, bowl director Gary Cavalli extended an invitation to play in the game. Cavalli stated in 2010 that he had been hoping to secure the Cougars' participation in the game since 2002. If the Cougars did not earn enough wins to become bowl eligible, an alternate team from the Atlantic Coast Conference would have replaced them; though they finished bowl eligible, one ESPN writer opined they were even better than their record indicated.
Offense Led by coordinator Robert Anae, the Cougars' offense led all seven Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) independent teams in total offense, gaining 495.3 yards per game, they were second in scoring, averaging 31.3 points per game. Averaging 220.8 passing yards per game, BYU's passing game was led by 23-year-old sophomore quarterback Taysom Hill, who totaled 2,645 passing yards with 19 touchdowns (TDs) and 13 interceptions (INTs) on a total of 390 passing attempts, which was in the top-25 most passing attempts among NCAA quarterbacks. Hill also led the team in rushing attempts, yards, and touchdowns, with 215, 1211, and 9 respectively. Fellow sophomore Jamaal Williams, a running back, was a close second in each of the aforementioned categories, with 205, 1202, and 7 respectively. Other key contributors in the rushing attack included running backs Paul Lasike, a bruising junior former rugby star, from New Zealand, who rushed for 341 yards and a touchdown on the season, Algernon Brown, a freshman who rushed for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Adam Hine, a sophomore who rushed for 219 yards and a touchdown. NFL Draft prospect Cody Hoffman, rated the 22nd-best wide receiver prospect for 2014, led the receiving game from his frame, catching 45 passes for 727 yards and 5 TDs. Supplementing Hoffman's leadership of the receiving game were fellow senior wide receiver Skyler Ridley (35 receptions, 412 yards, 2 TDs) and sophomore Mitch Mathews, who from his massive stature reeled in 23 passes for 397 yards and 4 TDs. Other contributors included wide receivers JD Falslev and Ross Apo, and tight ends Brett Thompson and Kaneaku Friel.
A "work in progress" all season long, the BYU offensive line shuffled players in and out in various positions: As evidenced by their depth chart, numerous players started all season long. In the final game against Notre Dame, junior Michael Yeck started at left tackle, fellow junior Solomone Kafu started at left guard, sophomore Terrance Alletto started at center, freshman Kyle Johnson started at right guard, and junior De'Ondre Wesley started at right tackle. Senior Justin Sorensen handled the kicking duties, and was accurate, making 81.8% of his field goal attempts and 100% of his extra point attempts, though did not have much range, with a long of 41 yards on the season.
Defense The 3-4 defense was led by coordinator Nick Howell. Senior linebacker Uani 'Unga led the defense in tackles, recording 136 on the season, adding 7 tackles-for-loss (TFL), and 2 forced fumbles (FF). Joining him in the linebacking corps were All-American Kyle Van Noy, "perhaps the best defender to ever run out of the home-team tunnel at LaVell Edwards Stadium" and led the defense with 16 TFL, junior Alani Fua, who was third on the team with 63 tackles, senior Austin Jorgensen, whose career ended with surgery to repair torn knee cartilage in October, and Spencer Hadley, who returned late in the year after a suspension imposed due to an honor code violation. The defensive line was composed of sophomore defensive end Bronson Kaufusi, tied for second on the defense with seven TFL and tied for first with four sacks, senior nose tackle Eathyn Manumaleuna, an Alaskan who made 46 tackles and was a candidate to win the Outland Trophy, and sophomore defensive end Remington Peck, who recorded 4 TFL and 3 sacks to complement his 36 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries. Junior safety Craig Bills led the defensive backfield with 69 tackles, and tied with three others for the team lead in interceptions with two. Joining him in the secondary were fellow safety Daniel Sorensen, a senior who recorded 59 tackles and 4 TFL (as well as 2 interceptions), junior cornerback Daniel Robertson, who recorded 59 tackles as well as one each TFL, sack, and interception, and freshman cornerback Michael Davis, who in only eight games made 17 tackles. Junior Skye Povey, seniors Mike Hague and Blake Morgan, and sophomore Manoa Pikula also contributed to the defensive backfield, though did not start in the last game of the season.
Washington Huskies
Former Washington quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, who during the season served as the team's quarterbacks coach, was named the Huskies' interim head coach after Steve Sarkisian left the team to return to the USC Trojans, where he previously served as offensive coordinator. The announcement came after Washington closed its regular season on a two-game winning streak including defeating arch-rival Washington State in the Apple Cup. Prior to that, they had lost four of their previous six games, including three losses to top-15 teams (#13 UCLA, #5 Stanford, #2 Oregon). They won their first four games of the season. In total, their record entering the bowl game was 8–4. Prior to the bowl game, it was announced that former Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, whom an associate athletic director characterized as a "dream hire", agreed to be Washington's next head coach, however he would not coach in the bowl game.
Offense
Coordinated during the season by Eric Kiesau, the Huskies offensive staff was shaken up after the departure of Sarkisian – Tuiasosopo, who during the season was quarterbacks coach, was promoted to interim head coach, and Johnny Nansen, who during the season was running backs coach and special teams coordinator, departed to USC with Sarkisian; all other coaches remained in the same capacity for the bowl game. On the field, senior quarterback Keith Price recorded 20 touchdown passes to just 5 interceptions, while passing for 2843 yards. Though the passing game was successful, the offense was anchored by a strong rushing game, whose 243.1 rushing yards per game was 14th in the country entering the game. That rushing game was led by Doak Walker Award finalist Bishop Sankey, who "exceeded the hype this year and has been a workhorse back"; he recorded 1775 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns, as well as 25 receptions for 298 yards and another touchdown. Freshman Dwayne Washington, junior Deontae Cooper, and junior Jesse Callier, all running backs, also contributed to the rushing attack.
A trio of wideouts were the top three receivers – senior Kevin Smith, who emerged at the beginning of the season as a spark for the team's offense and totaled 45 receptions for 722 yards and 4 touchdowns, sophomore Jaydon Mickens, who recorded 62 receptions for 681 yards and 5 touchdowns, and junior Kasen Williams, who caught 29 receptions for 421 yards and a touchdown. Junior Austin Seferian-Jenkins, a "tight end that plays like a wide receiver", regressed from his 2012 campaign in which he caught 69 passes, but still managed to reel in 33 passes for 413 yards and 7 touchdowns. Senior Travis Coons handled the kicking game, and made 58 of 59 extra point attempts, and 14 of 15 field goal attempts, with a long of 48 yards. The Huskies' offensive line was more stable than in 2012, as it returned all five starters, however they were not effective in 2012, but did improve in 2013. Sophomore left guard Dexter Charles, junior center Mike Criste, and left tackle Micah Hatchie each earned honorable mention all-Pac-12 honors.
Defense