Cougs Tempt the Fates and Get a Fortunate Win

    Whew. Or, should I say: whewee!! The team was pretty much done in their own end zone. Fourth down, ten yards to go. Needing at least field goal position, more than half the field away. But at minimum ten impossible yards. The Cougar QB Retzlaff was sacked in the endzone. Game over. Undefeated season done in the second Saturday of November.

    But no! There was defensive holding on a Ute. By name of Zemaiah Brown, I think. Wow. The call gave BYU new life, in front of 50,000 frothing fans. The biggest ever in Rice-Eccles history. The city, and maybe stadium, of the future and past Winter Olympics. 2032? 2030? Whichever. This night, late enough to play into Sunday, it was the Holy War played out once more. First since 2021. Now BYU has won its own little intrastate rivalry streak. Two in a row. After their painful nine throughout the 2010s, against our religious school. Church versus state, the classic tail.

    The first half was riddled with errors and poor play. The favored Cougars of Provo trailed 10 to 21. If not for an interception that led to 3 points, and the fantastic kick-off return by Keenan Marion, the 3 consecutive touchdowns by the Utes would have meant a near-impossible come-back. Plus, BYU botched the clock at the end of the half, substituting poorly to lose precious time, lining up wrong to spike the ball. No chance at a field goal cut the lead a little.

    

    The second half started poorly, also, wasting timeouts to no avail, getting stuffed. Utah looked tough. They were. Especially on defense throughout the game.

    So, this was a lucky reprieve. Someone, today at work, walked by and said [BYU] stole it. I replied that sometimes "larceny is necessary."

    Kansas bombed away on formerly ranked Iowa State, so the next game, also a late nighter, may prove difficult in the Sunflower State. Manhattan? No, Lawrence! But, BYU handled the UCF threat, that beat (check that, narrowly lost to Arizona State) their opponent yesterday, so I think there is reason for optimism for the future.

    And more importantly, BYU football is now 9-0, highly ranked, and their dream season is alive. (Originally I thought that they had 10 victories, like IU. Three more games this month.)  Injuries? One more offensive lineman down, but maybe he could return. And targeting... Yes, did we? My other team, IU, lost a guy. More on another post about that. Maybe.

    Will Ferrin, the Cougar kicker, was the man to make the win finally count. After great movement to Roberts, Lassiter, and Ropati. More receivers needed to get involved. More should, like Kingston and a few more: Tight Ends Hill and Ma'ase, or Swanson.

    Wow. Lucky, fortunate, opportunistic. And alive in the leader position of the Big 12, undefeated and getting ready to go next. Game 11.

    What a year. Pretty flawless so far. This year, 2024, might just be the season to remember the most.

    Who knows? We do not, us loyal Cougar fans and followers.

    Kiem, the tackle or guard, was hurt. We now have a late-night game against Kansas, then Arizona State, and then Houston before a presumed Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas. I just read as of Tuesday that Connor Pay will come back to play the Jayhawks this Saturday, as Kiem may still be out.

    What can these Cougars do? Time will tell.

[EDITS added a few times]