The 2014 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars, led by tenth head coach Bronco Mendenhall, played their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium. This was the fourth year BYU competed as an independent. They finished the season 8–5. They were invited to the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl where they lost to Memphis.

Before the season After a season in which the entire offensive staff was changed, BYU is expected to have stability in the coaching ranks as every coach is expected to return.

2014 Recruits The Cougars have signed 17 high school seniors, 2 junior college transfers, and 2 FBS transfer for the 2014 class. A few members will be going straight out onto their LDS mission. Details on each signee will be added within the next couple of weeks. The class includes 12 defensive and eight offensive players representing seven different states with seven recruits signing out of California, four from Utah, three from Texas, two from both Arizona and Kansas, and one each from Alabama and North Carolina. On defense, BYU adds six recruits at defensive line, three at linebacker and three in the defensive backfield, while signing four wide receivers, three offensive linemen and one tight end on offense. BYU also has two mid-year enrollees that will bolster their ranks.

2014 Returning Missionaries 18 return missionaries will join BYU for the 2014 season.

2014 Departures 5 BYU players were invited to the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine and will not return as they are graduating seniors. The five feature two of BYU's all-time leaders in Kyle Van Noy and Cody Hoffman. Uani Unga, Eathyn Manumaleuna, and Daniel Sorensen round out the list of Cougars invited to the Combine. All five are expected to be taken in the 2014 NFL draft. Only 13 programs had more than BYU's 5-players invited to the Combine, and out of those 13 only 3 had more than BYU's defense: Alabama, Florida State, and Florida.

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Jason Munns 11 QB 249 Kennewick, WA Graduated Kaneakua Friel 82 TE 261 Kaneohe, HI Graduated JD Falslev 12 WR 175 Smithfield, UT Graduated Cody Hoffman 2 WR 210 Crescent City, CA Graduated Skyler Ridley 17 WR 172 Murrieta, CA Graduated Manaaki Vaitai 79 OL 317 Euless, TX Graduated Mike Hague 32 DB 190 Salt Lake City, UT Graduated Adam Hogan 16 DB 180 Los Angeles, CA Graduated Scott Lefrandt 33 DB 190 Seattle, WA Graduated Blake Morgan 27 DB 195 Greeley, CO Graduated Daniel Sorensen 9 DB 208 Colton, CA Graduated Eathyn Manumaleuna 55 DL 305 Anchorage, AK Graduated Tyler Beck 45 LB 220 Murrieta, CA Graduated Spencer Hadley 34 LB 227 Connell, WA Graduated Austin Jorgensen 34 LB 232 Mount Pleasant, UT Graduated Uani Unga 41 LB 317 Rancho Cucamonga, CA Graduated Kyle Van Noy 3 LB 245 Reno, NV Graduated; Selected in 2014 NFL draft by Detroit Lions with 40th pick Justin Sorensen 37 K 243 South Jordan, UT Graduated Kevin O'Mary 96 DS 240 San Diego, CA Graduated Tanner Cox 96 LB 226 Pleasant View, UT Graduated Andrew Crawford 68 OL 222 Fairfax, VA Tui Crichton 52 OL 343 Provo, UT Michael Doman 93 DL 240 Portland, OR Transferred to Portland State Cole Jones 65 OL 282 Centerville, UT Benson Manwaring 31 WR 180 Boise, ID Ammon Olsen 15 QB 209 Draper, UT Transferred to Southern Utah Rylee Gautavai 46 LB 219 Bountiful, UT LDS mission (returning in 2016) Porter Hansen 38 LB 205 La Crescenta, CA LDS mission (returning in 2016) Trajan Pili 47 LB 225 Las Vegas, NV LDS mission (returning in 2016) Addison Pulsipher 71 OL 264 Temecula, CA LDS mission (returning in 2016) Thomas Shoaf 56 OL 255 Columbus, IN LDS mission (returning in 2016) Nephi Stevens 22 WR 190 Aiea, HI LDS mission (returning in 2016) Merrill Taliauli 46 DL 312 Salt Lake City, UT LDS mission (returning in 2016) Iona Pritchard 5 RB 232 South Jordan, UT Graduate Transfer to Oregon State Billy Green 10 QB 206 Woodway, WA Transferred JonRyheem Peoples 94 DL 339 Rigby, ID Transferred to Idaho State

Media Football Media Day Football Media Day is scheduled to take place in June 2014 and will air live on BYUtv and have player interviews conducted through byutvsports.com.

Cougar IMG Sports Network Affiliates

KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM- Flagship Station (Salt Lake City/ Provo, UT and ksl.com)BYU Radio- Nationwide (Dish Network 980, Sirius XM 143, and byuradio.org)KIDO- Boise, ID [football only]KTHK- Blackfoot/ Idaho Falls/ Pocatello/ Rexburg, IDKMGR- Manti, UTKSUB- Cedar City, UTKDXU- St. George, UTKSHP- Las Vegas, NV [football only]BYUCougars.com

Roster

Schedule

Game summaries UConn

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Uniform combination: white helmet, white jersey, blue pants. For the second consecutive season BYU opened up on the East Coast. This time they came not in a white-out fashion. Instead they came with a mixed white and blue uniform, and the lack of rainy conditions allowed BYU to strike early and often in the running game.

BYU would rush for 205 yards and two touchdowns, while Taysom Hill would complete nearly 80% of his passes for 308 yards. While BYU sat out many players due to suspensions, including top Running back Jamaal Williams, BYU's defense kept UConn in must pass situations as they limited UConn's rushing game to 94 yards on31 carries, an average of 2.3 per play.

BYU would walk away with a 1–0 start, but they would also walk away with 2 of the 3 FBS Independent player of the week awards. Taysom Hill would take his first FBS Offensive Player of the Week award, and Bronson Kaufusi would take the FBS Defensive Player of the Week award.

Game Stats: Passing: BYU, Taysom Hill 28-36-0-308; UConn, Casey Cochran 17-31-1-171, Chandler Whitmer 8-17-0-113. Rushing: BYU, Hill 12–98–2, Paul Lasike 9–49, Algernon Brown 6–35, Adam Hine 6–15, Mitchell Juergens 1–5, Nate Carter 3–4; UConn, Max Delorenzo 9–40, Josh Marriner 9–28–1, Arkeel Newsome 3–10, Ron Johnson 3–9, Blake Feagles 1–6, Cochran 1-(−6), Whitmer 5-(−13). Receiving: BYU, Mitch Mathews 5–62–1, Terenn Houk 4–58–1, Colby Pearson 3–47, Brown 4–44, Adam hine 3–25, Lasike 4–23, Jordan Leslie 2–22, Mitchell Huergens 2–19, Devin Mahina 1–8; UConn, Geremy Davis 7–96, Kamal Abrams 3–38, Sean Mcquillan 3–33, Alec Bloom 2–24, Noel Thomas 2–18, Newsome 1–18, Marriner 1–17, Johnson 1–11, Deshon Foxx 2–8, Jazzmar Clax 1–3, Tommy Myers 1–3. Interceptions: BYU, Craig Bills 1–0.

Texas

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Uniform combination: white helmet, white jersey, blue pants. Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes got his first collegiate start for the injured David Ash, who would later retire from collegiate football, and a lot of short passes allowed him to walk away with a high passing percentage. While Texas found itself unable to score often offensively, the defense pestered BYU and kept the game close until the third quarter.

BYU took the ball to open the third quarter and drove for a touchdown. Texas turnovers and an inability to stop BYU in the third turned a close game into a blowout. BYU converted four possessions into four touchdowns ad turned a 6–0 game into 34–0 before Texas was finally able to score.

The highlight of the night came in the third when Taysom Hill took off for a 30-yard touchdown run with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the third. During the run he leaped six feet in the air over one Texas defender. The highlight placed Hill on many people's Heisman watch list and caused Cougar fans to start calling Taysom Taysman.

The Cougars third quarter performance turned what had been a lackluster performance into a blowout and was enough to give Taysom Hill his second consecutive FBS Independent Offisive Player of the Week award. Meanwhile, many Texas fans started claiming they never wanted to see BYU on their schedule again. BYU improved to 4–1 vs. Texas and 6–1 vs. Texas & Oklahoma lifetime with their second consecutive blowout.

Game Stats: Passing: BYU, Taysom Hill 18-27-1-181; UT, Tyrone Swoopes 20-31-1-176. Rushing: BYU, Hill 24–99–3, Jamaal Williams 19–89, Adam Hine 4–29–2, Algernon Brown 6–29, Nate Carter 2–4, Paul Lasike 1–2; UT, Johnathan Gray 14–47, Malcolm Brown 14–28, Swoopes 7–7. Receiving: BYU, Jordan Leslie 7–85, Brown 4–40, Mitch Mathews 4–24, Terenn Houk 1–14, Williams 1–12, Devin Mahine 1–6; UT, John Harris 8–77–1, Jaxon Shipley 5–36, Lorenzo Joe 1–22, Marcus Johnson 2–20, Geoff Swaim 2–14, Gray 1–5, Brown 1–2. Interceptions: BYU, Michael Alisa 1–30; UT, Quandre Diggs 1–0.

Houston

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Uniform combination: white helmet with stars and stripes, blue jersey, white pants. On 9/11 both BYU and Houston came out with patriotic helmets, and BYU decorated the field with patriotic symbols to remind everyone we never forget what happened on 9–11. The decorations served only as a small distraction as a game was to take place.

BYU and Houston both swapped quarters in terms of offensive efficiency. For the game BYU owned most statistical categories. However Houston was able to keep it close due to turnovers. Houston forced 3 turnovers which they converted into 17 points, 14 of which came in the second quarter and turned a 23–0 game into 23–15 as time expired in the first half.

BYU countered by opening the game with a defensive safety on Houston's first possession. In addition to the turnovers, personal fouls kept a lot of Houston drives alive. BYU committed 11 penalties for 98 yards.

The close game led a lot of people to speculate BYU wasn't truly a top 25 team. However some of the doubters were silenced when Taysom Hill was awarded his third consecutive FBS Independents Offensive player of the week award.

Game Stats: Passing: UH, John O'Korn 30-52-0-307, Greg Ward Jr. 1–1–0–8; BYU, Taysom Hill 21-34-2-200. Rushing: UH, Kenneth Farrow 3–7, O'Korn 6–4, Ward 1–0, Ryan Jackson 3-(−1); BYU, Taysom Hill 26–160–1, Jamaal Williams 28–139–2, Paul Lasike 3–21, Adam Hine 3–7, Scott Arellano 1-(−1). Receiving: UH, Daniel Spencer 10–133–1, Deontay Greenberry 6–74–2, Kenneth Farrow 5–25, Markeith Ambles 3–32, Ward 3–24, Demarcus Ayers 1–14, Wayne Beadle 1–9, Jackson 2–4; BYU, Jordan Leslie 6–79, Mitchell Juergens 1–38, Mitch Mathews 4–22–1, Devin Mahina 1–16, Kurt Henderson 1–11, Williams 1–9, Lasike 2–8, Terenn Houk 1–7, Adam Hine 1–5, Trey Dye 2–4, Devon Blackmon 1–1. Interceptions: UH, Joey Mbu 1–0, Trevon Stewart 1–0.

Virginia

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Uniform combination: white helmet, white jersey, white pants. Virginia entered the game leading the nation in forcing turnovers. They were unable to take the ball once from BYU. However, the Cavaliers were able to limit BYU's offensive possessions. The Cavaliers doubled up BYU in almost every statistical category.

Virginia ran 102 plays to BYU's 60, held the ball 41 minutes to BYU's 19, and outgained BYU 519 yards to 332. However BYU was able to score on virtually every possession they had, and a 99-yard punt return from Adam Hine proved to be the backbreaker for the Cavaliers as BYU improved to 4–0.

For the fourth consecutive week Taysom Hill walked away with the FBS Independents offensive player of the week award, and Scott Arellano, who was awarded the game MVP thanks to his punts of 60+ yards, walked away with the FBS Independents special teams player of the week award.

Game Stats: Passing: VA, Greyson Lambert 21-35-1-188, Matt Johns 14-23-0-139; BYU, Taysom Hill 13-23-0-187. Rushing: VA, Khalek Shepherd 14–73–1, Lambert 5–49–1, Kevin Parks 11–24, Johns 3–22, Taquan Mizzell 8–17, Darius Jennings 3–11; BYU, Hill 17–72–1, Jamaal Williams 13–68–1, Paul Lasike 2–5, Mitchell Juergens 1–3, Adam Hine 1–0, TEAM 3-(−3). Receiving: VA, Miles Gooch 6–65, Parks 6–33, Canaan Severin 4–58, Andre Levrone 3–46, Doni Dowling 4–36, Jennings 3–35, Keeon Johnson 3–21, Kyle Dockins 1–11, Mizzell 2–10, Rob Burns 1–8, Shepherd 2–4; BYU, Devon Blackmon 2–55, Mitch Juergens 2–53–1, Jordan Leslie 4–41–1, Mitch Mathews 3–26, Terenn Houk 1–8, Devin Mahina 1–4. Interceptions: BYU, Robertson Daniels 1–32.

Utah State

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