This Dennis is a menace to defenses, best TE ever

SAN DIEGO — It is time to proclaim the unspoken obvious.

BYU senior Dennis Pitta is the best tight end ever at a school that's produced a metric ton of them over the years.

From Gordon Hudson and Clay Brown to Itula Mili, Chad Lewis, Dave Mills, Todd Thompson, Chris Smith and all the rest, in Pitta, folks in Provo may be witnessing the very best.

In BYU's 38-28 win over San Diego State on Saturday, Pitta continued to make huge plays look a part of his routine — an act that is proving a disaster for opposing defenses.

The guy is a monster. He attracts defenders like a video-game bad guy. Yet, he makes clutch catches look so routine it's almost expected. Third downs have become his specialty. And the other guys know it and still rarely stop it.

Pitta caught six passes for 72 yards Saturday. That act pushed Pitta past Hudson, an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, as BYU's all-time leading yard gobbler from the tight end position Saturday.

He now has 2,543 career receiving yards. He also passed Brown, of 1980 "Miracle Bowl" fame, as the second-most productive touchdown tight end at BYU with 18 career scores. Ironic, it was on the field Brown made that storied touchdown catch against SMU.

But the most telling figure is Pitta now ranks No. 3 among all BYU receivers who ever played in catches (193). The only guys ahead of him are Matt Bellini (204) and Indianapolis Colts rookie Austin Collie (215).

He's got six games left. I'd wager the opponents he's played against are more formidable than those BYU played in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. Today's MWC defenses are better than the old WAC where a poor UTEP, New Mexico and even Utah routinely struggled to make stops, cover and tackle.

That tells the big story.

Pitta and Hall are part of the winningest and longest-ranked BYU teams of all time.

In Qualcomm Stadium, Pitta was deadly in extending drives, breaking the back of Aztec defensive coordinator Rocky Long, who has definitely injected attitude on that side of the SDSU line and knew every play Pitta could be involved in beforehand.

Pitta's tip-toe boundary catch of a Max Hall pass in the fourth quarter put the Cougars up 35-21. Play it in slow motion and put music to it.

To put it in perspective, Pitta's performance came against the nation's 11th-ranked pass defense, 31st-ranked pass-efficiency defense and 33rd-ranked total defense.

Even when Max Hall doesn't pick on Pitta, his brother-in-law, like he did Collie a year ago, Pitta draws defensive coverage, freeing other playmakers.