BYU fans party like it's 1984
The magnitude of BYU’s stunning victory over No. 3 Oklahoma is beginning to sink in and as Dick and I await our flight here in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, there are plenty of Cougars fans wearing smiles that probably won’t go away for a while.
Anyone see this guy? One Cougar fan living in Omaha, Neb., told me in a story I did about a month ago that he is struggling financially, having recently graduated from law school. But came to Dallas anyway. He figured the trip could cost him upwards of $1,500, including $150 for his ticket to the game.
I asked him why he was going.
“This game is huge,” he said. “And yes, BYU can win it. Will they? I have no idea, but I will dance in the streets like a drunken baboon if they do.”
Some post-game thoughts: coach Bronco Mendenhall has got to feel vindicated on many levels. His team was criticized last year for being too slow, especially against TCU, Utah and Arizona. But Oklahoma is faster than any of those teams — in fact, it could have 7-8 first-round NFL draft picks on its roster — and the Cougars beat them. Mendenhall has always said that if his team executes, it can beat faster teams. It’s always been that way in all of BYU’s big upsets over the years. BYU has never been faster, but it has been able to out-execute the opponent. And that’s what we saw last night at Cowboys Stadium.
Who would have ever guessed that the Cougars could score 14 points and beat the Sooners, the team that averaged 50-plus points per game last season? And maybe that’s the key — that was last season. OU’s brand-new offensive line had its struggles against the Cougar defense. BYU’s ‘D’ deserves the credit for the win and what a debut for cornerback Brian Logan and for defensive coordinator Jaime Hill, who made the defensive calls for the first time at BYU.
It will be interesting to see where BYU lands when the rankings come out. Will they remain behind Boise State, which beat Oregon on Thursday? How will voters evaluate the Cougars, given OU played one half without Sam Bradford?