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New Orleans
And then, after knocking off Oklahoma, the BYU Cougars advanced to the Sugar ...
Oh, wait. So maybe this setting indeed was New Orleans and the Superdome, but there was nothing imposing about the opponent or glamorous about the opportunity awaiting the Cougars in a building where the thermostat, the level of competition and the rewards for winning were all dialed down considerably from the event that showcased their in-state rivals eight months ago.
Yet in its own way, the unceremonious nature of Saturday's assignment made the way BYU played all the more impressive. A week after playing a national-profile game in a futuristic stadium filled with obsessed followers, the Cougars managed to
All the empty seats in the huge facility and even the temperature (stadium management intentionally kept things cool, anticipating the warmth of a sellout crowd for Sunday's New Orleans Saints regular-season opener), made for an eerie atmosphere, compared with last weekend in Arlington, Texas. It all required "a lot of self-motivation," said BYU safety Andrew Rich.
The Cougars had it in them, just when the rest of the world was expecting some kind of malaise to strike the country's suddenly No. 9-ranked team, between games with Oklahoma and Florida State.
There was numerical evidence of such a
They responded by scoring touchdowns on six of their next seven drives, while adding a defensive score. BYU never punted, with quarterback Max Hall's interception to open the third quarter and backup QB Riley Nelson's late kneel-downs resulting in the only empty possessions.
The Cougars posted 527 total yards and, more significantly, 206 rushing yards with a patchwork offensive line and only a brief appearance by running back Harvey Unga. But that was the minimum requirement against a poor defense.
The meaningful part of this game was BYU's defensive effort. Representing the offensive-minded Conference USA, the Green Wave managed only 162 yards and lost four turnovers, while never sustaining anything after that second-quarter drive to a field goal against BYU's defense. Take it from someone who studies defenses: These guys have improved.
"They're playing hard, and they're playing excited," Hall said. "We didn't see a lot of that last year. It's fun to watch our defense play."
Afterward, while several Cougars lounged on the Superdome sideline and ate their box lunches, the stadium crew was power-brushing the "Tulane" paint off the end zones, to be replaced with Saints logos. The home team's offensive players never reached that part of the field Saturday.
Besides being complimentary of the Cougars, Tulane coach Bob Toledo said, "I think we made them look a little better than what they really are, to be perfectly honest with you. You can't make that many mistakes against that type of team and even make it competitive."
Of course, Tulane's failure to keep things interesting was BYU's success. "No letdown at all," said defensive end Jan Jorgensen.
Hall agreed. "It shows that we're going come out every week hungry to play and eager to play because we love the game and we love playing and we love to win," he said.
So even if this all happened merely against Tulane, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall was determined to enjoy it. "It's too hard to win football games and it goes too fast not to enjoy the small moments, when you have them," he said.
Label it a little achievement, in a cavernous building. But if this exercise was no big deal, compared with last weekend's showcase, credit the Cougars for doing everything they were supposed to do.
