BYU football: Big block for Cougars
Cougars claim win with controversial, drama-filled finish
To do it, the No. 15 Cougars borrowed from their dramatic ending in last December's Las Vegas Bowl against another Pac-10 opponent. Once again, the difference was a blocked kick.
Eerily similar to BYU's last-second blocked field goal against UCLA by Eathyn Manumaleuna, Jan Jorgensen managed to knock down a 35-yard extra point attempt by Washington's Ryan Perkins to seal a thrilling 28-27 victory over the Huskies.
In the end, BYU didn't care how it earned the win, only that it did.
"It's big," Jorgensen said of the victory. "From my point of view, I'm just tired of hearing that we can't win on the road early in the season. We knew we could do it. Now we don't have to listen to that any more.
"It just battle-tests you. It's always nice to get into a close game like that and know you can pull it off. Later in the season, when we get into another one — maybe against TCU or UCLA or Utah or anybody else on our schedule — we know we can pull those close games out."
"We've had that monkey on our back for quite some time," said linebacker David Nixon. "(Defensive) coach (Barry) Lamb came into the locker room and told me, 'This is one of those turning-point games for us.' To show that we can win on the road and that we are a great team. We're going to take this momentum and carry it throughout the season."
On the ensuing PAT, Jorgensen penetrated Washington's line and got his hand on Perkins' potential game-tying PAT kick.
"It was a very similar situation (to the UCLA game)," Jorgensen said. "I thought about that right when they scored. I was like, 'We're going to block it. We've been here before, we're going to do it.'"
With the win over Washington, the Cougars not only snapped their dubious nine-game non-conference road losing streak, but they also extended their overall winning streak to 12 games and gave Bronco Mendenhall his first 2-0 start as a head coach.
"It just demonstrates how hard it is to win on the road against a good team," Mendenhall said of the narrow win. "This was just the next game to improve our program. It just shows that we're not there yet. But we're getting closer. Our players will compete hard and try hard. We have not arrived but we're making progress. We're learning a lot more about this year's team.
"For them to come on the road, in this stadium, against that football team, I'll be glad to take a one-point win or any win we can get."
Recent comments
Hey, last year byu didnt look good in their first three games, this…
Put your worries on hold | Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:01 p.m.
Wow. 737 comments (and counting) on this game, if you include the…
dwight | Sept. 11, 2008 at 2:25 p.m.
I hate to have to say this by my Cougs are simply over rated. Oregon…
BlueCoug | Sept. 9, 2008 at 10:04 a.m.
