Baylor

[BoiseBYU]

If you told me Puka and Gunner were out, we’d average under three yards a carry, we’d miss two game winning field goals, we have 8 penalties and lose time of possession, I’d not been very optimistic. BUT we won and it was no fluke. Our defense came to play! Hall and Roberts came to play! Roderick’s play calling came to play! The ROC came to play! Last year we were outmatched and outplayed. Tonight we were the better team. Not by much but we were. A very enjoyable game to watch. And I hope Oldroyd knows he’s won games for us—AZ and TN—come to mind and it takes a strong person to go out there and compete at that level. CougarNation has his back.

[vancouvercougar]

Agreed regarding the Defense. That was my biggest concern.

[byufan4ever]

Man, I really want to see PFF's player grades for this game. Last week SI's BYU writer published the top ten for the game, but I haven't seen that yet for the Baylor game. As a stats lover I thought about subscribing to PFF to get the grades myself, but it's $10 per month. I don't expect everything to be free, but that's too much for me. It's too bad they don't have just a college football subscription because it looks like their main focus is the NFL and I could care less about that so I'd be paying for a lot of stuff that I'm never going to use.

My reactions to the game:

*Defense was huge. I want to continue to see this week in and week out before I heap too much praise on Tuiaki, but so far so good. The best stat: 4 sacks! BU tried to smash mouth us in the running game and while their running backs gained 174 yards (I'm excluding the QB's loss of yards due to sacks) it was on 48 carries for just a 3.6 AVE. I'd say job well done.

*Why did BU completely abandon the passing game? Shapen was really good at the end of last season so what happened? Was our coverage just that amazing? That's gotta be a huge blow to Shapen's confidence that almost zero pass plays were called in the last half of Q4 and OT.

*Our running game mightily struggled. 83 yards on 2.5 AVE. Yikes. I guess the blame starts with the OL. But Brooks looks like a strictly run up the middle guy. I don't see a lot of burst or bouncing off the first guy or trying to improvise.

*Chase Roberts stepped up BIG time. Hall was good, but Roberts is my MVP.

*Hall comforting Oldroyd after the game is what college football and BYU is all about.

*RGIII commentating the game was just awesome. He didn't seemed biased at all towards Baylor and he was nonstop throwing out on-liners. Anyone that was at the game needs to watch it on TV for his commentary alone.

[scott715]

I hope to find a replay of the game. I was there in Provo and now in Oregon. Will be going to that game too.

[nuk13]

Man, I really want to see PFF's player grades for this game. Last week SI's BYU writer published the top ten for the game, but I haven't seen that yet for the Baylor game. As a stats lover I thought about subscribing to PFF to get the grades myself, but it's $10 per month. I don't expect everything to be free, but that's too much for me. It's too bad they don't have just a college football subscription because it looks like their main focus is the NFL and I could care less about that so I'd be paying for a lot of stuff that I'm never going to use.

My reactions to the game:

*Defense was huge. I want to continue to see this week in and week out before I heap too much praise on Tuiaki, but so far so good. The best stat: 4 sacks! BU tried to smash mouth us in the running game and while their running backs gained 174 yards (I'm excluding the QB's loss of yards due to sacks) it was on 48 carries for just a 3.6 AVE. I'd say job well done.

*Why did BU completely abandon the passing game? Shapen was really good at the end of last season so what happened? Was our coverage just that amazing? That's gotta be a huge blow to Shapen's confidence that almost zero pass plays were called in the last half of Q4 and OT.

*Our running game mightily struggled. 83 yards on 2.5 AVE. Yikes. I guess the blame starts with the OL. But Brooks looks like a strictly run up the middle guy. I don't see a lot of burst or bouncing off the first guy or trying to improvise.

*Chase Roberts stepped up BIG time. Hall was good, but Roberts is my MVP.

*Hall comforting Oldroyd after the game is what college football and BYU is all about.

*RGIII commentating the game was just awesome. He didn't seemed biased at all towards Baylor and he was nonstop throwing out on-liners. Anyone that was at the game needs to watch it on TV for his commentary alone.

This is a very good commentary. I'd like to see the player grades as well. Doesn't the Herald do that?

4 sacks against a top 10 team is better than great! Keeping them under 200 yards rushing is also good.

I agree that Roberts was the MVP. He may soon rank up with some of the great receivers BYU's had. He isn't just a receiver, he's a football player. We'll see other teams put their best DBs on him.

The Hall Oldroyd hug shows unity and Oldroyd will come back.

[scott715]

Get Gunner and Puka back and we have 3 WR that need double teams.

[TulaneVandyRiceCoug]

One of the better complete games I have ever seen from BYU. I think we all knew that we needed to have a near flawless game to win. A few TVRC thoughts:

We won't face another defense like this one. Yes the running game struggled, but it got just enough. Lopini's dive for the go-ahead touchdown was huge. I have thought about how to react to the offense's struggles, and I conclude with the fact this was the best defense we will see all year. Hats off to Baylor, they may go sweep the Big12 again, but we'll see what OK State has to say about that.

Stubbornness. When both teams are tired, and it's overtime, and the game is just a brawl of physical effort, the more stubborn team wins. We found a way to win, even after two field goal misses. Teams that can find a way to win in spite of their own mistakes are high caliber. See for example, Alabama v Texas.

That "gadget" play. I love that ARod reached deep into the playback at the perfect time. Baylor had us with several 3 and outs, and our run game just about completely stuffed. To anyone trying to defend the lateral pass to Jaren, who ran behind a monster of a man 6'6" 325 Kingsley Suamataia...good luck. As that play developed and I saw the O-line out in space blocking, I thought nothing could stop BYU from getting the TD. That brings a confidence that the team can always find a way to advance the ball. Huge call ARod. Incredible execution of that play.

No turnovers. This team knows how to protect the ball. Even 1 fumble from BYU = a loss. This one needed ball security for 60+ minutes, and the team delivered.

Stepping up. Apparently fellow fans, our team has depth. This is one part of the whole to getting to that next level, with NY6 bowls, or contending in the Big12. Kalani is building a better program and the ceiling is getting higher.

Recruits. I was never a D1 caliber athlete, but if I was, and I attended this game with dozens of others, oh man it would be hard to experience what these recruits did on game night, and to say, nahhh. I love that we got another 4* recruit committed. We need it. We need every one. I see success bringing more success. Having so many recruits being at this game was huge for the program, and seeing a W against the defending Big12 champion, amidst a loving and supportive program culture...that is where I would want to go.

BYU is on the up everyone. It feels like the floor for this season is now 9-3, but with what we saw late Saturday night, I think anything is possible.

The season outlook. We beat Baylor, so I am feeling much more confident about Oregon. I'll go out on a limb and as of 9/12 say we may only drop 1 of ND, Arkansas, and Oregon, which means a very special season. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cougs do run the table, but there is a lot of ball left to play.

Go Cougs. Incredible game.

[scott715]

Well said.We’re going to the Oregon game. I hope to have my voice back in time for it.

[byufan4ever]

Here it is, the top ten graded players (grades come from PFF, the top ten from SI):

The 10 Highest-Graded Players from BYU's Win Over No. 9 Baylor

1. Chase Roberts
2. Max Tooley
3. Keenan Pili
4. Jaren Hall
5. Payton Wilgar
6. Kaleb Hayes
7. Ben Bywater
8. Jakob Robinson
9. George Udo
10. Lopini Katoa & Malik Moor

[scott715]

You beat me to it. I really like seeing the grades. No OL made the top 10 which is disappointing. I would like to see those grades too.