Former USC and Pittsburgh quarterback Kedon Slovis threw for 348 yards and accounted for five touchdowns Saturday to lead BYU to a 41-16 win over visiting Southern Utah in Provo, Utah.
Slovis, who transferred to BYU this season, completed 22 of 32 attempts with one interception, tossed four TD passes to different receivers and ran for a score to lift the Cougars (2-0) over their instate FCS foe from Cedar City.
BYU’s offense, which only scored 14 points in its season-opening win against Sam Houston, totaled 394 yards. Isaac Rex caught four passes for 112 yards, including a 65-yard haul, and one score while tying BYU’s career tight end TD mark of 22 originally set by Gordon Hudson (1981-83).
Chase Roberts (six catches, 84 yards), Darius Lassiter (five catches, 73 yards) and Keanu Hill (three catches, 41 yards) also had touchdown receptions for BYU.
Justin Miller threw for 235 yards on 16-of-30 passing with one touchdown and one interception for the Thunderbirds (0-2). SUU, an FCS team from the Big Sky Conference, lost a second straight road game against an FCS team after giving Arizona State a 24-21 scare last week.
Southern Utah scored first with a 29-yard field goal from Tyler Graham, earning the first points against BYU’s defense this season.
The T-Birds’ Quadir Lockett-Smith then picked off a Slovis pass to negate a 41-yard punt return by Parker Kingston. BYU forced SUU to punt, and the Cougars dominated the rest of the first half with 27 straight points.
The Cougars went ahead on Rex’s 20-yard TD catch from Slovis. The Cougars settled for a 6-3 lead after Will Ferris missed the PAT.
Slovis added two more touchdown passes in the first half — an 8-yarder to Hill after a blocked punt and a 42-yard catch by Lassiter. Deion Smith made it 27-3 with a 2-yard touchdown run before halftime.
Southern Utah scored early in the second half — a 33-yard connection from Miller to Isaiah Wooden — to trim the lead to 27-10.
BYU answered with Slovis’s 6-yard TD keeper and a 39-yard scoring pass to Roberts to go up by 31.
Zack Mitchell caught seven passes for 135 yards and Wooden had six receptions for 87 yards as SUU compiled 346 yards of offense.
–Field Level Media
