For the first time this season, BYU’s offense carried the defense to victory.
The defense had by far its worst outing of the season, allowing 35 points and 421 total yards of offense, with 269 of those yards coming on the ground. The Cowboys were 9 of 13 on third down and 2 of 2 on fourth down. If you showed BYU head coach Kalani Sitake those numbers before the game, he would have assumed that his Cougars would lose.
Fortunately for the Cougars, the offense answered the call every time. In the second half, BYU scored points on all four possessions. In the fourth quarter, it became clear that whoever got the ball last would win the game.
After a grueling eight-minute, 17-play, 76-yard touchdown drive, the Cougars found themselves down 35-31. In need of a game-winning touchdown drive to keep their perfect season alive.
It was a drive that encapsulated the magical season it has been for BYU so far this season.
Belief and confidence.
“Everybody believed it; two minutes is my thing. I love two minutes,” said quarterback Jake Retzlaff.
The drive started a little ugly, another theme for the Cougars this season. Winning ugly. And that’s exactly how the drive began.
1st and 10 with 1:13 left on the clock.
Retzlaff threw a pass to the left side of the field to Darius Lassiter but was broken up by Oklahoma State to force second down.
2nd and 10
Retzlaff surveys the field and dumps the ball off to Lassiter for a short gain, and Lassiter wisely steps out of bounds.
3rd and 7
Retzlaff throws a deep pass to Keelan Marion, but the pass is incomplete.
4th and 7
The play that kept BYU’s perfect season alive and the Cougars' chances at a 7-0 record hanging in the balance was a Retzlaff pass to Chase Roberts for an 8-yard gain. First down, Cougars.
“Chase made a great catch on fourth down, that was huge. He was doing jumping jacks he was so open at first,” said Retzlaff. “I was like that’s too easy, that was incredible. Hope you guys didn’t get nervous.”
Now it is 1st and 10 with a mere :44 seconds left on the game clock with 64 yards to score a touchdown. Retzlaff drops back to pass and finds Keanu Hill in the flat for a short gain. Hill cannot find his way out of bounds and BYU is forced to burn a timeout.
2nd and 8
The play that sets up THE PLAY.
Retzlaff scrambles to his right for 27 yards to the Oklahoma State 35-yard line.
“I remember the run up until I cut, i remember making the decision to cut inside, making the decision to slide,” said Retzlaff. “I remember seeing a lot of space in front of me and then I saw the linebacker trying to cut me off before I got to the sideline and there was nobody behind him. The safety was way back there. And I was like if he’s gonna give me the inside I’ll just take the yards.”
1st and 10
Retzlaff and the Cougar offense execute a spike in a minimum of two seconds.
“I knew the clock was going to stop, and then once I saw the sideline, I think everybody on the sideline was giving the clock signal,” said Retzlaff. “So that was a good reminder to clock the ball right there.”
2nd and 10 with 0:19 seconds left at Oklahoma State’s 35-yard line
The play of the season for BYU
Retzlaff drops back, looks left and finds Lassiter at the 15 yard line … then Lassiter does the rest, breaking two tackles on his way BYU immortality.
We'll be talking about this one for a looooooong time. pic.twitter.com/z3v3ZuRDtH
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) October 19, 2024
DARIUS. LASSITER. 🤯#Big12FB | #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/37wEoKbinn
— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) October 19, 2024
“Darius made a great play on the ball, went and got it,” said Retzlaff. “I just saw him open and threw him the ball… Darius just made an incredible play, that’s five [Lassiter] for you.”
“It was crazy, after I did my celebration I kinda blacked out… Originally it was a play to get Jojo (Phillips) open,” said Lassiter. “Once I ran my seam i looked back and nobody was in my spot and I seen jake looking this way. I didn’t see Jojo at the moment but once i ran back to the ball I started seeing him and I was like I don’t know who he’s throwing this to but i was like ‘I’m finna go make a play.’ I made the first guy miss and then after that I made one miss going into the end zone.”
It was an emotional finish to an emotional game.
"Emotions all over the place right now i don’t know whether to cry or be happy,” said Lassiter. “I’m just glad we was able to get the job done.”
“It’s magical, it’s spiritual. How can you not be romantic about this game?” said Retzlaff. “It’s a special experience, doing it at home makes it even more fun. That’s something that’s going to be talked about for a long time.”
