Back to basics was the idea.
Old-school and nostalgic, BYU looked sharp in its throwback royal blue uniforms as Saturday turned into a celebration for multiple reasons: beating Utah and honoring the 25-year anniversary of the Cougars’ national championship.
“I thought it would be appropriate first, to have a chance to do that to honor the national championship team, but this week it also turned into a chance to honor our seniors,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “It’s something they wanted.”
The idea to wear the royal blue uniforms has been in the works since August, but only a handful of people — Mendenhall, the team’s equipment managers and BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe — even knew about it. Mendenhall kept it a secret until Saturday morning, when he had the seniors come to the front of the room at a team meeting and open a box holding the retro surprise.
“It was awesome,” quarterback Max Hall said. “I think the jerseys are sweet, and we definitely wanted to win in them to honor the 25th anniversary of the national championship and all the players who have been here before us. It was really special. We played not only for ourselves, but for them tonight. Hopefully we made them proud and were able to play with the same passion and effort that they did.”
Trophy Presentation
At halftime, Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards and members of the 1984 championship team were presented with the AFCA Coaches National Championship Trophy, which has been awarded to the UPI or USA Today Coaches Poll winner since 1986. By the end of the season, all coaches’ poll national champions prior to 1986 will have received the current trophy. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who was BYU’s president in 1984, and Glen Tucket, who was BYU’s athletic director, made the presentation.
Magic Number 216
Dennis Pitta passed Austin Collie for first on BYU’s all-time receptions list. Pitta’s 216th career reception set up a 37-yard field goal by Mitch Payne that gave BYU a 13-7 lead going into halftime. Then, in the third quarter, Payne broke his brother’s MWC PAT record after Manase Tonga scored on a 1-yard touchdown catch from Max Hall. Payne now has 216 career PATs.
Coin Toss Surprise
BYU won the coin toss for the seventh time this season, but instead of deferring possession until the second half like they had each time before, the Cougars elected to receive the ball to start the game. The choice did not pay off as the Cougars were forced to punt after three plays.
Double Digits ... Again
Saturday’s win marked the fourth straight season that BYU has won at least 10 games, a streak that has never been accomplished at BYU before.
Half a Century’s Work
Long-time chain gang member Keith Mason retired following Saturday’s game after working for 46 years. During that span he never missed a single BYU game.
Feeds 
It sure was good to see the ol' royal blue again! I like the navy, but I'd also like to see BYU return to the blue in which they climbed to national prominence to begin with. For me, the color is as much a part of the tradition as the uniform itself. Back when the change was made, the reason I heard most often given to justify it was that not enough fans were wearing the school color on game day, and navy was easier to come by than royal. I suppose that is true, but part of the problem back then also was that 'official' outlets didn't sell much in royal. I recall going to the BY-Bookstore with the intent of purchasing a polo, rugby or something a little nicer than a t-shirt or sweatshirt for the BYU-Miami game. Imagine my chagrin as I perused the floor and discovered that the only royal blue things available were t-shirts & sweats. As for the rest, I found grey, white, black, green, light blue, purple, pink, various plaids and even--inexplicably--red. And they wondered why no one was wearing royal blue to games? Last time I checked that problem had been remedied. I wonder what stars would have to align to remedy the result of such past oversights and make a permanent return to the old color as well?
I completely agree. I would rather have our blue back than have Utah St's colors. Royal blue is BYU blue. I am all for the switchback!