Fresno, Calif. • For the third straight game, special teams play highlighted the first half for a beleaguered BYU team.
Punter Jonny Linehan was the first-half star against East Carolina, coverage specialist Brayden El-Bakri was the early star against San Jose State, and kicker Rhett Almond shined in the first two quarters Saturday night against Fresno State.
Almond booted a pair of field goals of 27 and 46 yards, the latter a career-long, to account for BYU’s only first-half points.
Almond’s previous career-long was 38 yards. The Cougars racked up 202 yards of offense to Fresno State’s 153 in the first half, but did not register a touchdown.
A long day
The Cougars flew into Fresno, Calif., on Friday afternoon, and the game did not start until 8:51 p.m. MDT Saturday night. What did they do all day?
They watched college football, of course. Some of the players did homework. They also had position meetings and ate meals.
“The harder ones are the late kickoffs on week days,” coach Kalani Sitake said. “You have to keep them busy with meetings and stuff. Our guys love football, and they will watch games, and enjoy the college football atmosphere.”
Thin at running back
BYU was without its full complement at running back for the 10th straight game, as sophomore KJ Hall (injury), junior Kavika Fonua (injury), junior Trey Dye (injury) and freshman Ula Toluta’u (suspension) were not available to play.
Sophomore Austin Kafentzis got the start at halfback and junior Brayden El-Bakri, whose parents made the trip from Sandy, started at fullback. Junior Squally Canada, who is from Milpitas, Calif., picked up 11 yards on his first carry and El-Bakri had some nice runs in the second quarter after getting stuffed on 4th-and-1 in the first quarter.
Staying in touch
Sitake said he has kept in touch with three of his coaching mentors — Utah’s Kyle Whittingham and former Hawaii and Oregon State head coaches Norm Chow and Gary Andersen — throughout this trying season.
“All those guys are available and with technology nowadays you can text and keep in touch with everybody, so those friendships were there before the season even started,” he said. “We are always going to lean on each other. There is a good fraternity of coaches that keep in touch.”
Briefly
BYU’s team flags were carried out by running back Austin Kafentzis, kicker Corey Edwards and defensive back Trevion Greene. ... BYU officials sold about 1,000 tickets through their website for the game.