BYU Over Oklahoma: Best to Be Lucky AND Good

It’s bad form to celebrate when a star player from the opposing team goes out with an injury.

Still, every BYU fan owes Coleby Clawson a Coke when they see him next. Caffeine free, of course.

Clawson’s hit on last year’s Heisman-winning, All-American, nation-leading in pass efficiency, Davey O’Brien Award-winning, AP Player of the Year-winning Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford injured his shoulder, putting him out of the game for the second half and probably several weeks as well.

But wait for the real story. BYU came back to win the game, 14-13, upsetting the Sooners and changing the landscape of college football in just its first week.

BYU quarterback and Heisman dark horse Max Hall led the Cougars on a 78-yard, eight minute drive to score the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes to play. Even more impressive, however, was his steely determination and leadership that willed the Cougars into converting third down after third down all the way down the field.

Shortly after the game ended however, ESPN.com’s front page was dominated by a photo of not Hall but Bradford, writhing on the ground in pain. The headline: Down and Out.

It might be easy to forget that BYU was already ranked 20th in the nation, and is now poised to be ranked much, much higher. And with a home game in Provo against #18 Florida State in two weeks, the Cougars could very quickly become a top-10 team.

And it’s possible. If you saw the game, you know that BYU’s defense was dominant in the first half, and the Cougars very well could have led at halftime if not for some major mistakes.

Oklahoma’s only touchdown of the game (when was the last time anybody said that?) came on a short field. McKay Jacobson fumbled Oklahoma’s punt after a three-and-out, and the Sooners took over the ball at the BYU 35-yard line. At no point in the game did BYU allow them to drive the whole field for a touchdown.

And on the flip side, minutes later BYU wide receiver O’Neill Chambers coughed up a fumble into the endzone. It was recovered by Quinton Carter of the Sooners to give Oklahoma the touchback and take 6 BYU points off the table. Those two turnovers meant a very abrupt swing of two touchdowns in OU’s favor.

And the halftime score was still only 10-7, Oklahoma.

It is, of course, impossible to say what Bradford would have done in the second half. But he did play one entire half of football, and it’s more of a commercial for BYU’s defense than for a Heisman re-run. He completed 10 of 14 passes for only 96 yards—and conspicuously only the one touchdown.

It’s a far cry from last year’s averages of 337 passing yards per game (which works out to 168ish per half) with almost 4 passing touchdowns per contest. Even his much-maligned replacement, Landry Jones, didn’t do much worse in completing 6 of 12 for 51 yards and getting the Sooners as far as the 1-yard line.

That goal-line stand by BYU in the fourth quarter, holding back a determined-looking-if-still-shorthanded Sooner offense, was perhaps the most impressive performance of the entire game and made the Cougars’ comeback possible. Oklahoma was stifled on seven straight plays inside the 8-yard line—a pass interference call gave them a fresh set of downs—and after a delay of game penalty the Sooners chose to kick the field goal from their own 6.

Had the Sooners gotten the touchdown on that possession, which seemed inevitable, Oklahoma would have likely iced the victory and survived the game on the strength of their two running backs who both had 1,000-yard seasons last year, Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray.

Score one for BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall and his defensive coordinator Jaime Hill, who was calling the defensive plays. And chalk up one big “oops” for Bob Stoops.

Oklahoma’s BCS Championship ambitions aren’t over, only hindered. If they run the table from here on out, including a Big 12 Championship and a win over the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry, the poll voters won’t look too poorly only a season-opening loss to a ranked opponent—especially one where Sam Bradford only played the first half.

Stoops’ comment in the post-game press conference rings true: Oklahoma has played for the championship with one loss before. They just need to step it up from here on out.

BYU, on the other hand, has everything to gain with the upset victory. With the season’s toughest challenge already vanquished, they’re set to take on three more ranked opponents—Florida State, TCU, and Utah—all at home. Winning them all could legitimately make BYU the first non-BCS team to play in the BCS Championship game.

Ultimately, did BYU get lucky that Sam Bradford went out before he’d done too much damage? Absolutely.

But were the Cougars competitive even when he was in? Absolutely yes again.

And in the end, it’s best to be lucky and good.