There is a reason why they play the game

There's a well-worn sports cliche — "That's why they play the game ..." — that gets thrown around whenever a surprising upset takes place.

We certainly heard it when BYU knocked off heavily favored Oklahoma in this year's season-opener.

That's why they play the game ....

And during a 2009 football season that's been full of surprises, that ol' saying has certainly rung true again, time after time.

I mean, who would've ever imagined that an unheralded Utah freshman quarterback named Jordan Wynn would have thrown more touchdown passes this season (5) than Sam Bradford, last year's Heisman Trophy winner? Indeed, Bradford threw just two TD tosses before his season ended with a shoulder injury first inflicted in the Sooners' season-opening loss to BYU.

Or that a relatively unknown Ute running back named Eddie Wide, given his opportunity to shine due to a season-ending injury to Matt Asiata, would wind up with more yards rushing this year than BYU's career rushing leader, Harvey Unga?

That's why they play the game ....

And who would've imagined that a perennial powerhouse like Oklahoma would suffer five regular-season losses? Or that another proud program, USC, would get humiliated twice in a three-week span, losing 47-20 to Oregon and, two weeks later, getting stomped on by Stanford, 55-21? Or that the top two teams in the Pac-10 Conference this year would be — what's this? — Oregon and Oregon State?

Yep, that's why they play the game ....

Who woulda thought that BYU, which came into the 2009 season with an 18-game winning streak on its home field, would get embarrassed at LaVell Edwards Stadium — not once, but twice this season? The Cougars got clobbered in September by Florida State, 54-28, and then got trounced at home again, this time by TCU, 38-7, five weeks later in BYU's homecoming game in October.

Nobody — and certainly not BYU fans — could've seen that double-whammy train wreck coming. Not on their home field, where the Cougars had been seemingly invincible for three straight seasons.

But, like they always say, that's why they play the game....

It holds true in the National Football League as well.

Who, 11 weeks into this NFL campaign, would have picked two teams, the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, to still be undefeated? The Colts, maybe, but the Saints? No way.

Who could've predicted that the Tennessee Titans, one of the best teams in the league last year, would open this season with six straight losses?