A fitting tribute

PROVO — The day and the stadium belonged to LaVell Edwards. The game belonged to Brandon Doman.

Fueled by the emotion of Edwards' final game in Provo, and the presence of LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, the BYU Cougars throttled New Mexico, 37-13, Saturday before 62,308 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

That's right, LaVell Edwards Stadium. Prior to the game, President Hinckley announced that Cougar Stadium will now bear the name of the coach who has guided the Cougars for the past 29 years. Not only that, President Hinckley entered the BYU locker room before the game and addressed the team.

"It brought chills through my whole body," said Doman, who made his first start as a BYU quarterback. "I was sitting there in the locker room and in walked my idol. He tells us there was no option, we had to win the game today."

The prophet spoke. Doman and the rest of the Cougars listened and obeyed.

Doman became the third QB to start for BYU this season, and he delivered an impressive outing, completing 21 of 35 passes for 349 yards and one interception. A junior who was an option quarterback at Skyline High, he also rushed for 51 yards.

Not that he did it alone. The victory was a total team effort. It took 11 games, but BYU finally played four full quarters for the first time all season.

"I've been waiting for this one," Edwards said. "I kept saying one of these days we were going to put it all together, play hard and play well and execute. We did it tonight. I was very glad to see it happen."

"We finally found something that works," said senior defensive tackle Hans Olsen. "We found a quarterback that works. We found a defense that works. We found a spark today on the field, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Well, it could have come in the Florida State game and stuck with us the whole year. That would have been nice."

"This was the most emotion we had this year," said senior receiver Jonathan Pittman. "Everybody played hard. There was no way we were going to lose this game. Everyone played their hearts out."

While the BYU defense limited New Mexico to 268 yards, senior placekicker Owen Pochman booted three field goals, including a career-best 56-yarder at the end of the first half. And the heretofore punchless offense rolled up 512 yards against the Mountain West Conference's second-best defense.

Doman's performance elicited disparate reactions from two of his receivers. "I was kind of shocked," said Pittman, who caught three passes for 63 yards. "I thought he'd have jitters. He's been waiting his turn, waiting patiently. Now it's his time to shine."