BYU's Bryan Kariya runs past Oklahoma's Ryan Reynolds during the first half of the game against Oklahoma at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday. (Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune)

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Arlington, Texas » BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall doesn't like to single out individual players for their perfomances, but he couldn't help himself Saturday night after the Cougars edged past shell-shocked Oklahoma 14-13 at Cowboys Stadium.

"Bryan Kariya, if it were up to me, he would be the player of the game," Mendenhall said. "No one knew that he could play at that level on this stage, except maybe us. We had complete trust in him."

Who's Bryan Kariya?

Just a former walk-on from Davis High who had the biggest game of his life in front of 75,437 fans and a national television audience.

Playing in lieu of star running back Harvey Unga, who re-injured a hamstring

"That guy is a warrior, man," said BYU quarterback Max Hall.

Kariya said he found out "about five minutes before the game," that Unga wasn't ready and that he would play a significant role.

"When you are called on, you have to do your thing," Kariya said. "Hopefully each of us are trained and able to make those plays when we are called on."

Kariya quickly pointed out that other Cougars had great games: Dennis Pitta had seven catches for 90 yards, Andrew George caught three passes for 26 yards and a touchdown and O'Neill Chambers caught four passes for 48 yards, although he did cough up a ball near the goal line.

"I told everyone -- fans, family, everyone -- that we were going to win this game," George said. "We knew all along we had a chance to win the game. Oklahoma has amazing talent, but we prepared like crazy all offseason and we knew we could win."

George called walk-ons such as Kariya, "the heart" of the program.

"This guy, Bryan Kariya, he steps up," George said. "We have confidence in guys like Bryan."

drew@sltrib.com