Texas-sized win

This wouldn't be my blog if I didn't share some thoughts about one of the biggest wins in the history of BYU football.

The good:

- Defense. Who saw that coming? The Cougs didn't look like a team in need of team speed one bit. They scared OU's line into a ton of false starts, hit hard, created confusion, and that goal-line stand was top notch. (Don't blame the Oklahoma backup QB for the delay of game either. Go back and watch. That one's on their fullback.) Oklahoma never put BYU's corners to the test with a deep route, so the jury's still out on them, but give the game ball to the new defensive coordinator for doing the lion's share of the work for Saturday's win.

- Bryan Kariya. It takes a special kind of player to step into the spotlight, make plays, avoid a big mistake and not draw added attention to yourself. Kariya may not want to be a star, but he's not going to have a choice in the post-Harvey Unga years.

- BYU's offensive line. Untested. Patchwork. Second string. Call them whatever you want, but don't call them ineffective. By the time we play TCU, this group will be solid.

- The game-winning drive. Just a thing of beauty. Great 3rd and 4th-down play calls. BYU put the game in Max Hall's hands and let him go to work with Pitta. When those two are the subjects of a Mel Kiper NFL Draft piece, the video highlights will come from that drive.

The bad:

- Mitch Payne. At some point in the season every good team needs its kicker to come through, and I'm scared for BYU when that moment comes. Not only was that second FG attempt atrocious, but all of his kickoffs were short, and hitting that last kick OB is inexcusable. 

- Hall's first three quarters. Hall said it was a long offseason, but it obviously wasn't long enough for him to learn when and where to take a risk with those two INTs. Hopefully the real Max Hall is the one who emerged when his team needed him most.

The good and the bad:

- It's the first game of the season.  No one will remember the Sam Bradford injury by next year, so this win boosts BYU's national credibility in the big picture. In the small picture, the only way to make this win count for something in 2009 is to win the next 11 games. It's TOTALLY possible, but after the "Quest for Perfection" debacle I'm trying to keep my expectations moderate and just enjoy each game as it comes.

- - - - - - - 

I can't lie. I was a little subdued about the win at first. As soon as the game was over, all I could think was "this comes with a big qualifier." Much to my surprise, BYU seems to be taking very little flack in the nation's eyes for beating Oklahoma "without Bradford," and ultimately I've decided to look at it like this:

- Injuries are part of the game. It's not like Bradford went out on a cheap shot or a personal foul or some bad-luck situation. Isn't the point of defense to hit guys as hard as you can, even to the point of knocking them out of the game (in a non-malicious way, of course)? 

- Considering the state of the game at the time of Bradford's injury, this came became less of a chance to pull of a huge upset and more of an opportunity to prove it belongs among the elite programs in the nation and can be worthy of a BCS bid. And if Sam Bradford isn't on this team to start the season, Oklahoma's still ranked ahead of BYU in the preseason poll, so in that respect its an upset win - on the road, mind you.

-The only thing to expect in season openers is the unexpected. Reporting on high school football for the past five years has given me some great perspective in this area. 

In other words, Thank you and congrats to Bronco and the boys in blue. 

(Interesting side note: One of the stories I read pointed out that Hall already had helmet stickers. I thought those were given out for in-game achievements only.)