By Jeremy Twitchell
ALBUQUERQUE — BYU and New Mexico may have similar ideas on how to run a defense, but as Saturday”s game showed, they have very different ideas on how to beat one.
Led by junior running back Reynaldo Brathwaite, who did a little bit of everything for an offense severely hampered by injuries, BYU used a combination of short passes and running outside the tackles to escape University Stadium with a 10-7 win.
The Lobos, relying on deeper passes and a bruising inside running game, kept the game close, but ultimately fell short in a game that lived up to its billing as a defensive showdown between BYU defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall”s old team and his new one.
After first-half injuries sidelined quarterback Matt Berry, fullback Tafui Vakapuna and center Scott Jackson, Brathwaite stepped up for the offense and led it to victory with 169 yards on 19 carries.
Brathwaite also threw a game-winning, 26-yard pass to senior receiver Toby Christensen with under a minute remaining, which allowed BYU to run out the clock and claim the win.
“I didn”t [expect to have such a big role],” Brathwaite said. “The role came to me because we had so many key players go down, and they were looking to me to step it up, so that was my role today – take over for the guys that were down and keep our team in it.”
BYU began the game throwing quick passes across the middle and out to the sideline. During the first half, the Cougars threw the ball twice as often (22 times) as they ran it (11 times), a strategy that led to all 10 of BYU”s points before halftime.
The Cougars” lone touchdown was a 29-yard pass from Berry to freshman tight end Phillip Niu, his first reception as a Cougar.
But the pass-oriented offense disappeared during the second half, when high winds and Berry”s injury forced co-offensive coordinators Robbie Bosco and Todd Bradford to alter their strategy.
“The wind was a big factor in game planning,” coach Gary Crowton said. “You just don”t want to lay the ball out, because both teams are very capable of big turnovers and the momentum could have shifted very easily. I don”t usually like to play those pound-it-up-and-punt-it games … but we won the game by field position.”
Junior punter Matt Payne was stellar for BYU, limiting New Mexico to an average starting position of its own 21-yard line. Eight of his ten punts pinned the Lobos down inside their own 20.
During the second half, both teams kept the majority of their plays on the ground, resulting in an increasingly physical game that caused player tempers to flare on both sides.
The Lobos appeared to be having more success during the second half, putting together a pair of drives that steadily marched downfield and chipped away at the BYU defense.
New Mexico scored its first points late in the third quarter after a 66-yard screen pass to Adrian Boyd set up a three-yard touchdown run by DonTrell Moore.
But the Cougar defense responded when it mattered most, forcing a fumble on one key third down and making a crucial fourth-down stop early in the fourth quarter.
After one such defensive stand gave BYU the ball on its own 30-yard line with 4:47 left in the game, the Cougars placed the ball in Brathwaite”s hands to run out the clock.
But when the drive was faced with a third and six with just under a minute left, Crowton borrowed the play calling reigns and dug deep into BYU”s playbook for something creative.
When Brathwaite got the ball on that play, he paused, looked downfield, and then lofted a 26-yard pass to Christensen for the game-winning first down.
“I was just thinking complete it, and if it”s not there, just run it,” Brathwaite said.
The win was BYU”s third straight in conference openers. Players said it was important to get the win to send a message out to the rest of the conference.
“[The win] was big, because they”ve got us ranked four, and that”s wrong …” Brathwaite said. “It”s big to start it off 1-0 and let the teams out there know that we”re trying to go back to being conference champions.”
The win was costly, however. Berry, who suffered a spiral fracture to the pinky on his throwing hand, will miss next week”s game and could be out for as long as three weeks. He was to be re-evaluated after surgery Sunday Sept. 14, 2003.
Jackson and linebacker Bryant Atkinson, who both suffered knee sprains, will miss 1-2 weeks each. Vakapuna, who sustained a mildly dislocated fibula, is expected to be ready for next week”s game against Stanford.
Game Notes
Junior quarterback Todd Mortensen completed 7 of 16 passes for 44 yards in relief of Matt Berry … Freshman quarterback John Beck, who suffered a concussion last week against USC, will resume practice on Monday Sept. 15, 2003 and will start against Stanford on Saturday Sept. 20 … After making 14 receptions in the first two games, freshman tight end Daniel Coats was shut out against New Mexico … The Cougars are now 39-13-1 against the Lobos.
