By Jeremy Twitchell
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It was a work that would have made Dickens proud: A Tale of Two Halves.
Fortunately, BYU got the worst of times out of its way in the first half, coming alive in the second and burying the Air Force Falcons, 41-24, behind four passing touchdowns from quarterback John Beck.
After mustering just three points through the first two quarters, the Cougars looked like a new team after the half, exploding for 21 points in the third quarter and adding seven more on the first play of the fourth. In all, the Cougars scored on every chance in the second half until running the clock out on their final possession.
“I was frustrated the first half,” said coach Gary Crowton after the game. “We were all frustrated. We felt like we were playing too nervous, too tight. The plays were there, the opportunities were there, but just little things [hurt us]. I think with confidence on our team, those things will go away, and I think our team gained a little confidence today.”
Facing a 10-3 deficit at the start of the third quarter, the Cougars wasted little time clawing back into the game, when on the second play of the quarter, Beck connected with receiver Todd Watkins for a 70-yard touchdown.
“I was telling coach that we had it open all day in the first half, and he went right back to it and we just made a play,” Watkins said. “I almost dropped it. All that was going through my head was just grab the ball.”
After making an awkward catch, Watkins bobbled the ball for a couple steps before pulling it in. But once he had it, the Cougars were rolling.
Following a missed field goal by the Falcons on their next drive, BYU took the ball at its own 33 and put together a surgically precise, four-play drive capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Beck to tight end Dennis Pitta.
Pitta, who notched his first touchdown reception as a Cougar and the first this year by a BYU tight end, seemed determined to prove that BYU”s tight ends have not gone quietly into the night. On the next series, he blocked a punt that was recovered by teammate Gary Lovely and returned for a touchdown. He also caught BYU”s final touchdown of the afternoon.
“It”s exciting that I was able to contribute today, and hopefully that will continue in the future,” Pitta said. There”s always a lot of plays scripted for [tight ends]; it”s just how the game goes that determines whether or not we”re able to run those things. Luckily, today we were.”
After Beck connected with Austin Collie for a 14-yard score on BYU”s next possession, the Cougars led 31-10. The Falcons, however, were not put off by the Cougar fireworks, and answered with a lightning-fast touchdown drive of their own, moving 80 yards in 34 seconds and scoring on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Shaun Carney to Greg Kirkwood.
Matt Payne followed that up with a 53-yard field goal to put the Cougars ahead 34-17 with just 11:09 to play.
The Falcons responded with another 80-yard drive, capped by a seven-yard touchdown run by Darnell Stephens, his second score of the night.
With a score of 34-24 and eight minutes left on the clock, it seemed the teams were headed for another shootout – something these two schools know a little about. And after BYU”s next drive had apparently stalled with a fourth and three at the Air Force 45, it was still anyone”s game.
Enter kicker/punter/whatever else Payne, who took the snap, then took off to his left and picked up 20 yards before a group of Falcons could wrestle him down.
“Through film, we”ve seen that they bail a lot on that side, just turn and run with our guys,” Payne said. “During the week, [coaches] said if it”s there, let”s do it. When I caught the ball, I just took a peek and they were bailing, so I just took off.”
By the time Beck found Pitta for the touchdown five plays later, BYU had put the game out of reach.
“You always have to be at you best when you play [here],” Crowton said. “I thought we had an outstanding second half, and were able to take control of the game, but it was still a dogfight right until the end.”
Payne credited Crowton for helping the team prepare mentally for the comeback.
“He just told us to get our butts in gear and get out there and play, because we weren”t playing to our potential in the first half,” he said. “We needed a coach and we needed some players to just step up in the locker room and get us fired up.”
The win improved BYU”s record to 4-4 (3-1, MWC) and moved the Cougars into second in the conference standings. The Falcons dropped to 3-4 (2-2).
At 4-4, the Cougars are just two wins from becoming bowl-eligible, a position that seemed all but impossible just a few weeks ago. And while the team is surely aware of that, they”re trying not to think of it too much yet.
“Right now, we”re 3-1 and we”re right in the thick of it,” Crowton said. “There”s a lot of games left, though. Our conference is so close, you just have to take every game one step at a time; [today] was a big step for us, but we”ve still got a lot of steps ahead of us.”
The Cougars will take a week off before hosting the San Diego State Aztecs on Nov. 6. Crowton said he plans to use the time off to allow the team to rest and work on some basics.
“We”re going to heal up, we”re going to really emphasize that these kids continue to work on their academics,” he said. “In practice, we”ll work on timing and rhythm, without doing a bunch of hitting, and then coaches will do a little recruiting.”
