BYU football: Texas' Jacobson has perfect homecoming

ARLINGTON, Texas — What a homecoming it was for Dallas-area native McKay Jacobson.

Playing in his first game since returning home from a mission last January, the BYU wide receiver fumbled a punt early on, but he atoned for his crucial mistake and finished a hero by catching a game-winning, seven-yard touchdown pass from Max Hall with 3:03 left in the Cougars' 14-13 upset over No. 3 Oklahoma Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium.

Facing third-and-seven from the Sooner 7-yard line, Hall figured OU would be focusing on stopping BYU tight end Dennis Pitta. That left Jacobson alone in the back of the end zone.

"(Oklahoma's defense) sucked in on Dennis," Hall said, "and left McKay wide open."

"I was just trying to find a spot," Jacobson said of what will go down as one of the biggest touchdowns in BYU history. "The play kind of slowed down and I saw the ball slowly coming to me. It was kind of in slow motion."

Said coach Bronco Mendenhall, "It was not a broken play, it was one that took extra effort."

The night did not start auspiciously for Jacobson, however. After the Sooners were forced to punt on their second possession of the game, Jacobson tried to field a punt that was kicked away from him.

Jacobson mishandled the ball and OU's Brandon Caleb recovered at the BYU 35. The Sooners scored five plays later to take a 7-0 advantage with 4:56 left in the first quarter.

But in the end, Jacobson redeemed himself in a big way.

"No matter what happens, you can't get down," he said. "You've got to learn from it and fight back."

In the second quarter, Jacobson caught a 49-yard pass from Hall and finished with four catches for 69 yards.

DROUGHT OVER: With the win over Oklahoma, BYU won its first game over a ranked non-conference opponent since 1998, when the Cougars downed Arizona State at home, 26-6.

Saturday's victory halted a 12-game losing streak to ranked non-conference teams. Mendenhall now has a 2-6 mark against ranked opponents. The last time BYU beat a ranked team was in nearby Fort Worth, where the Cougars downed No. 15 TCU, 31-17, in 2006.

FACES IN THE CROWD: Standing on the BYU sidelines during Saturday's game were former Cougars Austin Collie, Bryan Kehl and Reno Mahe. Among those who attended Saturday's game — BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson, former Cougar quarterback Gifford Nielson, BYU basketball coach Dave Rose, Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson, former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, Oklahoma basketball coach Jeff Capel.

Some BYU fans wore blue shirts that read, "Remember the Copper Bowl," a reference to BYU's 31-6 victory over Oklahoma in the 1994 Copper Bowl in Tucson, Ariz.