All the great ones make it look so easy, as if excellence comes without exerting any inordinate amount of effort.
Welcome to BYU football. No way around it, this is getting ridiculous.
What other explanation is there for a team that sleepwalks through the first quarter and still manages to blow away Wyoming 44-0? That’s what we had Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium, as the Cougars continue to steamroll the opposition on their way toward the program’s first BCS game.
At this point, Quest for Perfection doesn’t seem like a lofty enough goal. To be sure, we’re reaching the point of hyperbole, but I’m telling you, this team is that good.
Remember the 2004 Utes? We may have found the second coming.
Only three years ago the Cougars were celebrating a 6-5 regular-season during which one of the six came against a Division I-AA program. Since Bronco Mendenhall’s first season as coach, BYU is an incredible 26-4.
Since losing last season at Tulsa, the Cougars are 14-0. Over the last two games, they have outscored UCLA and Wyoming 103-0.
“We’re in a groove,’ said receiver Austin Collie.
Get a load of that – these guys are humble, too.
Divide the credit two ways, starting with Mendenhall.
The man who sometimes sounds like a cross between Billy Graham and the robot on Lost in Space has built a monster. Another conference championship, ho hum.
While I disagree with the purpose of BYU football is to bring people unto Christ, as Mendenhall has said, who cares what he thinks as long as Cougars continue to pack the stadium – the last nine games have sold out - and whip the competition?
Amen, brothers and sisters.
Mendenhall’s no-nonsense approach is the perfect fit for BYU. His consistent message resonates with the type of player the church-based institution attracts.
And the players deserve praise for buying in. With few exceptions, they trust the holy messenger.
Three years later, the program has become a finely-tuned machine.
Responding to my question in the postgame press conference, Mendenhall borrowed an analogy from a friend, comparing his program’s sustained success to a fly wheel.
“Once you get the momentum it kind of carries itself,” he said. “You walk by occasionally and spin it and it carries itself. That’s closer to what we’re becoming. We’re not having to turn and be afraid it comes right back at us.”
The trust starts with Mendenhall and extends from the assistant coaches to the players. Collie, who also praised the team’s leadership, pointed out the players accept each week’s plan without hesitation.
With preparation mixed in, all associated with BYU never doubt the outcome. It’s a level higher than expecting to win.
“There are very few unexpecteds,” Mendenhall said. “As you come into the game it usually plays out about how we prepared them. It usually sorts out just about how we think it’s going to sort out. They play just about how we think they’re going to play. And so I think there is a level of trust between the schemes, the players and the coaches.”
Perhaps the only real surprise is BYU’s defense, which was considered suspect going into the season. But after giving up 27 points to Washington, the defense has not allowed a score.
For the first time since 1985, BYU has had two consecutive shutouts (ironically, all four games had the same final scores).
BYU’s defense is actually outscoring the opponent’s offense. Against Wyoming, Scott Johnson (64-yard fumble return) and David Nixon (19-yard interception return) found the end zone.
“The biggest thing is just emotion,” Nixon said of the stellar defense. “College football is all about emotion.”
