Dick Harmon: What BYU had here was a failure to execute

In the first half, Heaps attacked a lot of spots in the Texas secondary. With a 13-3 halftime lead, however, he never really attacked those same spots in the second half.

In the first half, he hit Ross Apo twice, once for a touchdown. He didn't complete a pass to the lanky Texan at all in the second half. Same with tight end Austin Holt, who had two catches in the first half and none the second. Wideout McKay Jacobsen had two catches in the first half, just one in the second.

Heaps did not challenge Texas' safeties in the second half, choosing to go for short passes in the flat. Texas quickly ran those down and stopped many for short gains.

Meanwhile, BYU's defense managed a dramatic fourth down stand inside the Cougar 15 but started to wear down as Texas got mean and dirty with power plays and passes with a rotation of three different quarterbacks.

Heaps and Company did manage an impressive 12-play 97-yard drive in the second quarter and had everyone believing that threw out a statement to the Longhorns that they were going to just take over the game.

But it wasn't their field, their home, or their momentum to keep.

Texas outscored BYU 14-3 to win this game as the Cougar offense hibernated the last two quarters.

Credit Texas for stopping BYU's run game and chasing down short, harmless passes the second half.

"We weren't that far off," said Reynolds. "It wasn't the same guy every play, we had a missed block here, a missed assignment there and it was enough to cost us. We do have a very good team. Texas has a very good team, but we are very good as well."

Well, perhaps. If they execute.

If it was any consolation in a loss, as the Cougars walked off the field, a middle-aged, distinguished looking Texas fan yelled down from the rail in the stands, "You belong in the Big 12."

Well, somebody has to execute that.

email: dharmon@desnews.com