This season for the BYU football team has more closely followed a mid-day soap opera script rather than one written for a soon-to-be-Independent football program. There’s been controversy at quarterback; drama at wide receiver; players suspended and one kicked off the team.
Losses. BIG losses.
Then there was the firing of Jaime Hill, the team’s defensive coordinator.
This Cougar football squad has had enough drama to last an 8th grade girl through.......well, at least through lunch time.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more “Daniel Day-Lewis”, in rolls the Wyoming Cowboys with a quarterback whose name even sounds like a soap opera actor: Austyn Carta-Samuels.
Yes, TV Guide was on hand in the press box, and the E! channel had a studio set up in the parking lot. I think I even saw Ryan Seacrest complaining at the concession stand about the lack of Apple Martinis on the menu.
And if it hadn’t have been for two key first half turnovers, the Cougars may have escaped LaVell Edwards Stadium without any of the as-advertised theatrics (how many times do you write/read about BYU having to “escape” from their home stadium?).
Alas, this is the Year of the Dramatic in Provo, and October 23rd 2010 proved to be no different.
From my seat in the richly upholstered, plush press box high above the field and out of the cold rain I watched as BYU time and again had an opportunity to put the Cowboys out for good, only to let it slip away from them.
In the first half, the Cougars came out running, and HOW!
The opening play of the game was a deep pass to Cody Hoffman from Jake Heaps which Hoffman got his left hand on but wasn't able to reel it in. After that, I honestly don't remember another pass on the drive. I know there probably was one, but it wasn't pertinent. The Cougars marched down the field with Kariya, Quezada, and Di Luigi taking hand offs, finally sending Di Luigi around the left end and diving into the end zone for the touchdown.
The pass I do remember from the first half was the pick six that Heaps gifted to the Cowboys. BYU had the ball at their own 45 yard line or so, and they ran a bubble screen to their back. And that back probably would have gained a huge amount of yards had the ball made it to him. Heaps rolled left, eyed the open receiver, and promptly threw it right to the linebacker who had gotten between him and the receiver. Had he simply DUMPED the ball OVER the linebacker, it might have gone for a BYU touchdown. Instead, the frozen rope went straight into the white jersey of the defender, who then took it back to the house for a touchdown.
(The one bright spot in the passing game was a beautiful little number tossed into the corner of the end zone for senior WR Luke Ashworth, who corralled the ball for a touchdown, his first of the year)
Luckily for BYU, the Wyoming punting game was embarrassing. The Cowboys opted for a scrum/rigby style punting scheme, which backfired twice. Once for 15 yards, once for 8 yards. The second one actually hit the long snapper in the back of the helmet. Had Wyoming not wet the bed field-position wise, the Cougars might not be celebrating a victory today.
Just like any good play, movie, or soap opera, Saturday's episode had a happy ending for the Cougars. Wyoming drove the ball all the way down the field with only seconds remaining in the game. On 3rd and 10 inside the red zone and BYU leading by 25-20, Wyoming's Carta-Samuels threw a perfect pass to his wide receiver around the 5 yard line. I was standing on the sideline on that part of the field at the time, and had a wonderful view and angle of the play. Cornerback Brandon Bradley promptly reached around the receiver and knocked the ball to the ground. The crowd roared, Bradley celebrated, and Wyoming was livid. Bradley had in fact gotten away with "football murder." Pass interference. Bradley's right arm was wrapped around the Wyoming receiver's waist as he reached in front with his left hand. In fact, his arm wasn't just wrapped around him...Bradley got down right cozy with the guy! He cuddled with him in mid air! How he got away with it is beyond me. But on the very next play, 4th and 10, Carta-Samuels' pass was tipped up in the air and caught by an O-lineman, who tried to lateral it backwards as he was tackled to the ground, but it was no use.
The game was over, and the Cougars had pulled off a harrowing victory by a mere 5 points.
At home.
Against Wyoming.
Yes, THAT Wyoming.....
In all, it was a fun game to watch and study, and it made a rainy Saturday afternoon a lot of fun. BYU showed glimmers of promise and strength for the future, though there is still a lot of problems that need to be worked out.
"The Ghost of Drama Past" has not left their presence just yet. If you don't believe me, let me leave you with this one anecdote from today's game. The Cougars were called for a penalty in the 2nd quarter, the type of which I can't recall. That's not important. What is important was the number of the player who committed the foul. Or, rather, the number that the referee ANNOUNCED as the offender.
It was number 4. O'Neill Chambers. Mr Drama himself. Even though he's been kicked off the team, he still found a way to inject a little of his own drama into the game.
Coincidence? Omen? Either way, the bottom line is that it is evident that this team is still struggling to stay above water. Had they not pulled out that big stop at the end, giving Wyoming the victory....well, then we DEFINITELY would have received our Academy-Awards-level of drama to last us the rest of our lifetimes.
And that's the bottom line.
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