By Michael Barzee
Kansas City Chief return specialist Dante Hall is nicknamed ?The X-Factor? because, with just one play, he can change the game.
Although the Chiefs are an NFL team, the Cougars got a sense on how special teams can be an ?X-Factor? in a game. Luckily for the Cougars, the offense and defense stepped up.
?Defensively, that is as good as we have defended the option ever,? BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said.
Through three quarters, the Cougar defense allowed the Falcons to score only 14 points and 136 yards rushing. Coming into the game, the Falcons were averaging 250 yards rushing per game. The Cougar defense changed schemes to a 3-4 formation from their typical 3-3-5 to stop the option.
BYU linebackers Justin Luettgerodt and Cameron Jensen led the way. Luettgerodt led the team with 11 tackles, a sack, and a first-quarter interception. His interception was the Cougars? first interception on defense since Dustin Gabriel picked one off against Eastern Illinois. Jensen, who leads the team in tackles this season with 45, contributed another six tackles and recovered a fumble in the end zone, ending a Falcon drive. As a team, the Cougar defense forced a season high five turnovers.
?It helps you control the feel of the game,? BYU defensive back Kayle Buchanan said. ?When you can take the ball away and go and score, it will bring the momentum heavily in your favor.?
Leading 41-14 going into the fourth quarter, it was the poor performance of the Cougars? special teams that allowed the Falcons back in the game. The first mistake came at the beginning of the fourth quarter when the Falcons blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. The Cougars? punting team is one of only a few college teams that put three players between the line and the punter. One of the other teams to post the same formation is Air Force. The Falcons have been successful in blocking punts in the past. In the last 16 seasons, Air Force has blocked at least three punts in 15 of those seasons.
The blocked punt wasn?t the only costly mistake for the Cougars? special teams. After the Falcons scored a touchdown to make it 48-27, Air Force recovered a fumble on the kickoff at the BYU 36-yard line. One play later, the Falcons scored a touchdown to make it 48-34.
However, the Cougar offense came to the rescue. After each of these two mistakes, BYU answered with touchdowns of their own. Both of the touchdowns went 74 yards and were capped off with a Curtis Brown touchdown run. The Cougars posted a season-high 683 yards of total offense with 300 of them coming on the ground.
?I think because of the TCU game, we should have learned our lesson,? BYU quarterback John Beck said. ?It doesn?t really matter how many points you?re up by because things can change. When they came back, we needed to put points on the board and we responded two drives in a row and put points on the board.?
Homefield Advantage: With Saturday?s victory against Air Force, the Cougars posted their 250th victory at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
?As I just look up there,? Mendenhall said, looking up at a picture of Coach Edwards on the wall, ?that is who deserves the credit. My hope is to live up to that standard and the expectations that Coach Edwards would have for this program. I am not responsible for that, he is responsible for that.?
Points pile up: The Cougars and Falcons combined for 103 total points. The last time the Cougars were in a game in which more points were scored was back in 2001 when Hawaii and BYU combined for 117. BYU lost the game 72-45.
