Cougars of Provo Win in Florida for First Time! First One Loss Season since 1996; Record Broken

 Ahhhh. The feelings of success, relief, and victory: triumph. And some vindication.

 

As shared before, I love college football. Perhaps many see it as an idle use of time, a waste of healthy, strong bodies towards a non-worthy effort... Is it too violent and damaging to other-wise well composed young men? Is it a waste of time and effort watching and following, compared to so many other worthwhile endeavors in the world, like serving the poor and educating the masses? Or even soccer, or tennis? Non-contact sports that usually do not break peoples' bones?

 

I feel like a part of the American id and ego need this. At least this American does. It is like chess, live and crazy. Fun. Injuries be darned.

 

Enough of the caveat, disclaimer, or mea culpa, back to last night...

 

Way to go, Cougs! The monkey is off your back in Florida. Finally!

 

Okay, sure, it wasn't a top team, but it was a top offense. You (we, I am an BYU alum) held the Knights to an ineffective 23 total points. BYU led at the half 35-10, 49-10 earlier in the third period, and at the end of the 3rd quarter 49-17. 

 

BYU could easily have broken their all time bowl scoring record of 52, but held off at the end and took a knee near the UCF goal line. The Cougar offense did break its all time yards gained (655), and could have have gained quite a few more. 400 yards at the half. A few broken up drives near the end of the game. A fourth down short advancement and one punt.

This was fun.

One article lists the opponents in Florida that BYU had heretofore lost to in the following paragraph:

 

"The Cougars have spent school history enduring futile trips to the state of Florida, losing to Florida State, Oklahoma State (twice), Miami, Memphis, South Florida, and about anybody else they tried to line up against."

( https://universe.byu.edu/2020/12/22/byu-football-ends-magical-season-with-49-23-win-over-ucf-in-boca-raton-bowl/)

 

I think that BYU also lost to Ohio State in a squeaker around 1986, too. The two losses to Oklahoma State would indicate bowl losses in the state of  Florida back to the 1970s. So this is vindication and compensation for ground not gained since the earliest days of the upsurging from the middle of the Inter-Mountain West church school, a college football phenomenon as there is a new school on the radar at least every decade. 

 

Schools, states, alumni crave this: relevance. My school matters. The principles of my institution have import. My education was accompanied by men and women of energy and enthusiasm.

 

In the 1940s it was the Catholic school eponymous Notre Dame, and of course Army, and the state school in the middle of no where Oklahoma. It was the University of Southern California, and maybe the other Western newcomers Oregon and Washington, versus the old traditional powers of the East, Syracuse or Penn State, the Mid-West with Michigan and Ohio State, and Wisconsin and Nebraska, or the deep South of Alabama and its neighbors, and of course culturally rich football giant Texas.

 

Major college football evolves and each new power adds to the social and geographic wonder of our country, our society. Is it a religious school like Southern Methodist, or Texas Christian, or a new secular power like Boise State or Appalachian State, or a service Academy in Navy and Air Force, or an academic power house with Northwestern or Standford? Is a private institution, catered to the pros, like Miami U., the new model of college success? Where do our values lie?

State, church, private, academic: they all are thrown into the fire through these coaches and young men, close to warrior, due to the physical duress endured.

Brigham Young, flagship of the oft mocked and sometimes controversially aligned Brigham Young University, was and still is a new kid on the block.

And last night was glorious for all those reasons.

Go Cougars. The past, present, and future look bright.

Thank you, college football, Coach Sitaki, and BYU admin and fans for making this year and all the other years happen. Especially during a deadly pandemic when hopes ran low.

Even my old home teacher Tom Bell, who played for the BYU Cougars and lost to my beloved Indiana Hoosiers in a crazy Holiday Bowl in 1979,  upon seeing all my Hoosier regalia in my Ashburn apartment in 2006 exclaimed: "You are not a BYU fan!"

 

Yes, Tom, I bleed BYU blue. And I am a fan of the Cougars, not just because they came out champs this year.

 

BYU is my football team. Win or lose, I am sticking with the Honor Code and the Cougar football team. 

Football means a lot more to some of us because of the causes of the school, its leadership, and its dedicated players.

Tradition. Spirit. Honor.  

Keep it up.