GRR: BYU
Saint Mary's pulled away from the hard-charging BYU Cougars to win their D1A semifinal and book a place in the championship game May 4 in Houston.
Both teams looked to play fast and attack and the result was a 48-31 scoreline, almost double the total points scored in the other semifinal.
It’s Finals Week at BYU and while the Cougars have been preparing for a D1A semifinal, they are also deep into preparing for important exams and term papers.
“There are enormous demands on the players’ time,” said Head Coach Steve St. Pierre. “It’s a really important week.”
For the second year in a row, BYU rode a torrid first half to defeat Central Washington in the D1A playoffs.
The Cougars exploded for a 33-5 early lead before Central Washington was able to somewhat right the ship. Regaining the momentum, the Wildcats stormed back, but there wasn't enough time. BYU held on 40-24.
Cal Poly visited Cal for Round 1 in the Western Bracket and the Mustangs started the game on the front foot and using their kicking game to test the Bears.
A Coby Baker penalty attempt drifted wide, and after a few minutes Cal finally got into Mustangs territory. A short pass while being hit by Evan Weigold to Oliver Newall put Newall through for a 25-meter jaunt and try.
If there has been a knock on Saint Mary's it's been that they haven't played a lot of the major teams in the D1A Top 10.
That changed this weekend as the Gaels traveled to Provo and beat BYU 38-21 in a wild one where Saint Mary's seemed in total control, only to be reminded that there's no such thing.