The Cougars put the first points on the board for the 2018 season with a touchdown from Canada. A 30-yard pass from BYU quarterback Mangum to junior Aleva Hifo put the Cougars on the Arizona 27-yard line and propelled BYU into the blue zone. With the ball on the 1-yard line, Canada rushed for his ninth career touchdown and first of the season. Freshman Skylar Southam made good on the PAT putting the Cougars up 7-0 with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
The Wildcats answered back kicking a 24-yard field goal making the score 7-3 followed by a 15-yard passing touchdown from Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate to Tony Ellison just before halftime. The Wildcats went into the break up 10-7.
On the first drive of the second half, the 2017 freshman All-American Matt Bushman recorded his first touchdown of the 2018 season with a 24-yard pass from Mangum. A 22-yard pass to Dylan Collie, set up Bushman to get into the end zone. Collie had the ball tipped away but dove to secure the catch before hitting the ground. The Cougars took the lead again 14-10 with 8:25 left in the third quarter. Canada rushed for two more touchdowns, his first three-touchdown game, before the quarter was over. BYU ended the third quarter ahead 28-10, racking up 21 points in the third.
Arizona answered back with two touchdowns of their own during the fourth quarter cutting the Cougars lead to 28-23 with 3:23 left in the game. The Cougars put together enough first downs to let the clock wind-down and secured its first win of the 2018 season 28-23 over the Wildcats.
Squally Canada had 98 yards on the ground on 24 carries in addition to his three scores. He added two receptions for 29 yards. Quarterback Tanner Mangum completed 18 of 28 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown. Moroni Laulu-Pututau posted 24 yards on three receptions and Matt Bushman caught a 24-yard score.
The BYU football team returns to Provo, Utah for the home opener against University of California Berkeley, Saturday, Sept. 8 at 8:15 MDT.
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