The kings of the Mountain West Conference fell 32-7 to inspired and revenge-minded TCU in front of a national television audience and 36,180 fans - many of whom left disappointed because they were cheering for the visitors at Amon Carter Stadium.
"We played like crap tonight. That's the bottom line," BYU defensive end Jan Jorgensen said.
Yes, but the 7-1 Horned Frogs - 24th in the USA Today coaches' poll and bound to move up and perhaps past BYU - were a big reason for that, which the Cougars quickly acknowledged.
"It was a humbling experience for us," BYU receiver Austin Collie said, "and they played an amazing football game."
Along with the aformentioned, the Cougs also lost their 18-game conference winning streak and probable opportunity to win the MWC for the third-straight year. They were swallowed up in a sea of purple speed unlike anything they had seen in rolling past six subpar opponents to rise as high as No. 8 in the polls.
They were greeted with more "overrated, overrated'" chants as they left Moncrief Field, and deservedly so.
Offensively and defensively, the Frogs were able to do pretty much anything they wanted to do against the overmatched Cougs (6-1), who looked like the 90th best team in the country on this night, rather than the 9th.
"If we would have been on top of our game, it would have been close," said Jorgensen, who provided one of the lone defensive highlights, a sack that tied him for MWC's career-lead (20.5) in that category.
The Cougs figured they would get a severe test from TCU's No. 1-ranked defense, and they did, as Hall was sacked six times and BYU had just 23 net rushing yards, when those negative 30 yards for sacks are factored in.
"It seemed like it was more [sacks] than that," Mendenhall said, taking the blame for not having the Cougars prepared as much as TCU coach Gary Patterson had his team prepared.
But it was a wrinkle TCU threw at them offensively - having swift receiver Jeremy Kerley take direct snaps from center and run with the ball - that surprised them the most. Kerley dashed in from the 16 midway through the first quarter to give TCU a 14-0 lead, and that pretty much was the ball game, given BYU's offensive struggles.
"We should have been better prepared....and it showed on the field," said Collie, who still managed his fifth-straight 100-yard receiving game (6 catches, 116 yards), an MWC record.
TCU finished with 29 first downs - to BYU's 19 - and were 11-for-16 on third down, a stat Mendenhall called the most decisive in the game.
The Cougars could only mount one good drive, a 15-play, 72-yard march to the end zone in which they needed Hall's 2-yard scramble on fourth-and-goal to score.
But that was like putting lipstick on a Horned Frog.
The Cougars couldn't stop TCU from going 76 yards in 11 plays on its next possession, and Joseph Turner's 5-yard run on the second-to-last play of the third quarter ended the scoring - but only continued BYU's Texas nightmare.
"They played like they had a chip on their shoulder," Collie said. "And they brought it, every single play."
Which was more than anyone could say about the Cougars.
