BYU football: Cougars hit a wall in final 7 games

PROVO — For BYU, it was like two different seasons.

In the first half of the campaign, the Cougars feasted on what turned out to be bad football teams, extended their nation-leading winning streak and jumped into the national rankings' top 10.

In the second half, though, against stiffer competition, BYU was mediocre.

The Cougars opened the season 6-0, playing against a Football Championship Subdivision team, Northern Iowa, and five Football Bowl Subdivision teams that finished with a combined record of 15-45 — Washington (0-12), UCLA (4-8), Wyoming (4-8), Utah State (3-9) and New Mexico (4-8).

Then came an ill-fated trip in mid-October to TCU, which exposed BYU's weaknesses. The Cougars were never really the same again — in their final seven games, they finished 4-3.

While the non-conference schedule turned out to be a weak one, the league slate was perhaps the toughest BYU has ever faced, with both TCU and Utah finishing the regular season ranked in the top 11.

The Horned Frogs, who had lost two straight games to BYU, clobbered the Cougars, 32-7. BYU then squeaked past UNLV and Colorado State, defeated a beleaguered San Diego State squad, beat Air Force on the road, then fell at Utah before getting thumped by Arizona in the Las Vegas Bowl last week.

Including TCU, the record of BYU's final seven opponents: 53-34 (and that includes the 2-10 Aztecs and the 5-7 Rebels). The Cougars dropped their three biggest games of the season — against TCU, Utah and Arizona — by a combined score of 111-52.

Perhaps BYU became overconfident, or complacent, after its early-season success, particularly its 59-0 thumping of UCLA at home in mid-September. The Cougars could do no wrong that afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium, dominating the Bruins in every facet of the game.

As it turned out, it marked the high point of BYU's season.

"I think UCLA spoiled us a little bit," quarterback Max Hall said after a 21-3 victory over New Mexico, days before the setback at TCU.

In its three losses, the BYU offense turned the ball over 13 times, compared to only 15 times in its 10 victories. Those turnovers compounded the problems for the Cougars' defense, which had a propensity for surrendering a lot of yards and points to fast, athletic opponents.

BYU players admitted they never realized their potential.

"We've just hit a wall as a team, being good, not great," said wide receiver Austin Collie. "We have a lot of work to kind of push us over the edge and become one of the great teams."