Grand finale: Cougars send Edwards out a winner with last-minute drive

PROVO — It was fourth-down-and-hopeless. Actually, it was fourth-and-13. But it didn't seem to matter at the time.

Trailing by one point, with about one minute remaining in the game, the season and the career of coach LaVell Edwards, the BYU Cougars were huddled up in the shadow of their own end zone, with the Utah crowd screaming in their earholes. They knew they had one last chance to pull out a victory for Edwards in his final game. But it didn't look promising.

Edwards was on the sidelines, wondering if this was how it was going to end, with another heart-wrenching loss to the Utes. "I was dying inside," he said.

The play was called, but senior wide receiver Jonathan Pittman knew it was going to come down to this: "Throw it up and hope for the best," he said.

That's exactly what quarterback Brandon Doman did. Pittman did the rest, catching the ball for a 34-yard gain. Pittman then caught another pass for 36 yards. Two plays later, Doman ran into the end zone from four yards out to lift the Cougars to a 34-27 triumph over Utah Friday at Rice-Eccles Stadium before a crowd of 45,064 — the third-largest crowd in school history.

"I knew in my heart we were going to complete it (on fourth down)," Pittman said. "I wasn't going to let my team down."

SRC="/img/xclear.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" VSPACE="4"> HREF="http://deseretnews.com/gallery/display/1,3535,50000078,00.html"> SRC="/i/gallery_link.gif" WIDTH="116" HEIGHT="43" BORDER="0" ALT="Photo gallery"> HEIGHT="1" VSPACE="4">

SRC="/img/xclear.gif" WIDTH="7" HEIGHT="1">

After the breathtaking win, BYU players hoisted Edwards upon their shoulders and carried him to midfield. The victory all but erased the painful memories of past failures in Edwards' farewell season — such as embarrassing defeats to Syracuse and Colorado State. "I can't think of a more fitting ending like that," Edwards said.

The Cougars improved to 6-6, avoiding Edwards' first losing season since 1973. What's more, BYU finally won back-to-back games for the first time all year.

Edwards, the man who has seen his team win plenty of amazing games in his career, added that Friday's victory "may be the best one ever."

"It's a great sendoff," said senior defensive tackle Hans Olsen. "A great ending to a crappy season."