BYU and its smallest guy rise to occasion in big win

Brian Logan might have been the shortest guy on the field in BYU's first conference win, a 42-23 victory over Colorado State in LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday.

But this is one guy who can hit.

They list him at 5-foot-6, but he has to be shorter. Opponents try to isolate tall receivers on him and it works if Logan doesn't have leverage or fails to get in position to time his jump. But what Logan gave up in size and a few pass interference calls against the Rams, he made up for in precision open field tackling.

He locks on receivers like one of those monster crabs in a Japanese horror movie.

Logan simply makes plays. He's a shin bruiser.

Logan made two huge plays early in BYU's win over the Rams. His heads-up interception off a tipped ball led to the Cougars' first score. His hit on CSU receiver Rashaun Greer on the Rams' next possession rattled Greer enough that he lost the handle on the football, which ended up in the hands of BYU safety Andrew Rich.

"I told him that was his interception," said Rich.

Of course, BYU immediately scored and took a 14-0 lead.

"Some guys are short and play big," is how BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall put it.

In a sense, Logan's play is representative of this BYU team in 2009.

Exploitable, but capable.

And sometimes, as with Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, it can punish.

The win over the Rams gave the Cougars a successful start in MWC play. This looms large especially after Florida State embarrassed the Cougars a week ago. Logan and his buddies could have moped around and pouted, let it get to them.

On Saturday, however, BYU rebounded just fine.

The Rams racked up 438 total yards and CSU quarterback Grant Stucker had a career 372 yards passing. But the Cougars limited CSU, which had 15 more offensive plays, to just 23 points, one less than Mendenhall's goal.

A year ago, the Cougars gave up 42 points to the Rams, who came to Provo a much-improved team riding a 6-0 win streak.

A year ago, CSU got into the Cougars early, forcing a BYU turnover; this time BYU raced to 21-0 with three turnovers gained, including a blocked punt.

A year ago, this game was a battle to the last play; this time the Cougars fought hard to keep composure and interest after racing to a three-touchdown lead before some folks had found their stadium seats.

A year ago, BYU needed highlight catches from tight end Dennis Pitta late to pull off a win. This game, Pitta had one catch through 21/2 quarters and BYU's offense gained just 12 yards in the second quarter and stalled on five consecutive drives in the middle of the game.

And it didn't matter.