BYU Football: Winners & Losers from the Week 13 Game vs. New Mexico State

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Despite a rocky start, BYU easily put away New Mexico State on Saturday with a 50-14 win. In the last regular season game for many Cougar seniors, it was a memorable afternoon in Las Cruces.

Quarterback James Lark capped off his first (and possibly last) career start with 384 passing yards for six touchdowns, and although several others had career days, many players did not perform well.

So here are the winners and losers from the regular-season finale.

Winner: Cody Hoffman

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Cody Hoffman caught 12 passes for 182 yards, a career high, against NMSU. Despite missing practice for the first part of last week with a separated shoulder, he did not let his injury affect him.

Hoffman found the end zone five times, which is both another career high and a school record. With nearly four weeks to prepare for the Poinsettia Bowl against SDSU, he should have plenty of time to get healthy and ready.

Loser: Justin Sorensen

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While Cody Hoffman had career highs in several categories last week, kicker Justin Sorensen faced a low point in his career.

For the first time since coming to BYU, he missed a PAT.

In fact, he did not only miss one but two. He also missed one of his two field goals. To think that this is the same Sorensen who made 60-plus yard field goals in high school is mind-boggling, and he needs to regain his kicking prowess.

Winner: BYU's Defensive Front 7

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Linebacker Kyle Van Noy finished a stellar afternoon with five tackles and a career-high three sacks. He was consistently getting in the backfield and causing havoc for NMSU's quarterback.

Defensive end Ezekiel Ansah recorded four solo tackles along with one sack. He deflected one pass while pressuring the Aggie passing game.

Winner: James Lark

Photo by Mark Philbrick/BYU Photo

James Lark is the first BYU quarterback to throw for 384 passing yards in his first career start, and that includes Marc Wilson's seven-touchdown performance in 1977. Lark is now only one of 10 Cougar QBs to throw six or more touchdowns in a game, and he surely isn't in bad company.

Completing 34 of 50 attempts, it is too bad that Lark is finishing his final season as a Cougar. Brandon Doman and his offense could surely use him taking snaps for years to come.

Loser: Bronco Mendenhall

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I would not like to be Bronco Mendenhall right now.

After nearly two years of sticking with "gritty" yet undersized and under-skilled quarterback Riley Nelson, it is apparent that there has been a good quarterback buried in the depth chart. In fact, James Lark may have been able to lead BYU to wins over Boise, Utah, Notre Dame, San Jose State and maybe even Oregon State.

Mendenhall is in a tough situation right now, as the decision to start Nelson in the bowl game would lead to a sure uproar, but starting Lark would look like a betrayal. Bronco needs to start Lark and admit that he made a mistake and move on (if he doesn't get fired first).

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