No offense ... Stanford wins despite Y.'s defensive effort

PROVO — For much of three quarters at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the first meeting between BYU and Stanford was about as enthralling as watching grass grow or paint dry.

Pick your metaphor.

It wasn't so much a defensive struggle as it was a display of offensive ineptitude. That shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, though, considering both teams started freshman quarterbacks who were making their first career starts.

Still, the Cougars and Cardinal packed a game's worth of drama into the final quarter and treated the 61,446 fans in attendance to a thrilling finish that saw Stanford escape with an 18-14 victory.

While Cardinal quarterback Trent Edwards struggled overall, completing just 10 passes for 25 yards, he scored what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown with 3:51 remaining on a 14-yard run.

BYU's freshman QB, John Beck, tried to rally the Cougars on their next possession, marching them 68 yards to the Cardinal eight-yard line, but the drive was halted in inglorious fashion when, with under 30 seconds remaining, on a last-ditch fourth-and-18 play, he was sacked by Stanford's Jared Newberry.

No, it wasn't a conference game, but the pain of the defeat stung just the same for the Cougars, who fell to 2-2 on the season.

BYU coach Gary Crowton has been seen frequently on a series of television commercials since last summer, but his best acting performance came during the postgame chat with the media. He tried hard to hide his acute frustration.

"You're talking to me right after a loss, and I am so angry," Crowton said. "I'm trying to be poised here. To be honest with you, I'm just eaten up inside because I hate losing and I know the team's that way."

Crowton stressed over and over again that he doesn't want to make excuses. BYU entered the contest without starting quarterback Matt Berry, who broke his hand during last week's win at New Mexico, and center Scott Jackson missed the game with a knee injury.

No matter, Crowton said.

"We are who we are," he explained. "If we go out making excuses like we're young and this and that, we're not helping our team get any better. If we're young, then we have to learn fast. If they're an older guy, they've got to help. We had a young quarterback and (Stanford) did, too. It was a close game. They won and we lost — that's the bottom line."