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BYU football: Players rise and doubt not

First, you make it sound like BYU was so confident that they knew they would block PAT but then Jorgensen said they were spent. It was a lucky play and BYU was on the receiving end of it. Yes, it was a win for the Y but can BYU fans stop blaming everything on the refs even during wins. Several times during the KSL broadcast I had to hear the broadcasters scream about holding and other infractions while plays were still going on....Paul James where are you? I had to hear KSL go on and on about the PAC10 refs until they enforced a pretty stupid rule. Good teams wins by luck sometimes and BYU is a good team and a win is a win but DH stop making it sound like the Cougs knew they were going to block it.

It unfortunate that rules state that throwing the ball in the air is considered a "foul", but a rule is a rule.

I wish BYU had won by stopping the touchdown on any number of plays, and they had many chances on that final drive.

Also, consider if Unga hadn't fumbled at the 1 yard line, BYU would have had a lead that Washington wouldn't be able to come back from.

The point is, a game isn't won or lost on one controversial call.

The game was in fact one on a blocked extra point.

Would the dynamics have been different without the penalty? Perhaps, but, if BYU had won in Overtime (assuming the extra point was hit) there wouldn't be such a national uproar.

I do agree with the commentators on ESPN, the rule needs to be changed, I don't honestly believe the spirit of the rule was broken, just the letter.

We shouldn't let the controversy around a penalty take away from the fact that BYU won based on a blocked extra point, not due to an ill advised/poorly called penalty.

BYU must win against UCLA, this win will give BYU the emotional catapult they will need.

The Cougars were very fortunate that the penalty was called, otherwise Locker runs the two point conversion and it's all over.

Congrats on a squeaker of a win over a team that will probably only see 2 more victories.
And a warm welcome to the "can win a non-conf road game club".
It took a while, but we all knew you could do it.

Warmest regards,
Jimmy

As a BYU fan, I too, felt that the 'unsportsmanlike conduct' penalty at the end was unfair to the Huskies. It's a ridiculous rule.

However, I have always maintained that one play does not win or lose a game. The Huskies cannot blame one poor call on their loss; nor can the Cougars feel too smug about their win because of one blocked kick. Games are won or lost because of many factors created during the entire four quarters.

Exciting game and nice win, but a last-second one point win over one of the worst teams in the PAC10 means that we are not the 15th best team in the country. (Look at East Carolina). BYU should drop in the rankings after this one.

Great article. This win showed a lot of character and heart from BYU. There were so many positives to take away from this game. I am proud of the BYU players. However, there are definitely some concerns that I have in watching the game:

1.Defensive inconsistencies; and
2.Special Teams (esp., the kicking and punting)

Obviously our defense struggled to contain the QB and gave up huge plays (e.g., 3rd and 23, 4th and 10 etc...)when it really mattered. Lost in the thrill and excitement of the win, however, was our kicking and punting struggles. I thought Sorenson had a booming leg that could kick the ball into the end zone almost every time on kickoffs. Surprisingly, that did not happen once against Washington. Is he injured? Was it playing at sea level? Santiago also has obviously struggled averaging 27.5 yards per punt with a long of 31 yards. What is going on?

Field position may not seem that important, but with a young defense, it may prove to be BYU's downfall against a more quality opponent. Hopefully this was just a fluke and not a growing trend. Either way, it needs to be addressed.

I am in Florida and surprisingly the BYU game was rebroadcast at Midnight here so I watched it. I had to endure ESPN for a couple of hours after the came complaining about the call. What they failed to point out was that it was a PAC-10 officiating crew, not an MWC crew. This wasn't a make up call or anything. Finally, it did not cost them the game. I have seen plenty of last minute 35+ field goals in waning seconds of a game to know that it isn't only makeable but more often than not, it doesn't get blocked. BYU made a tremendous play to win and should be absolutely credited for the effort. Every pundit complaining about the "no-call" which wasn't a judgment call like the missed holdings plays (5 on the final drive by my count). Give BYU the credit they deserve in making an incredible play. Ala Urban Meyer, "Good teams create their own luck."

Not true: "nonconference road win streak (0-9 before Saturday),"

Both Vegas bowl wins (Oregon and UCLA) were nonconference and road wins.

I thought I saw Willingham put up two fingers before the flag was thrown. Dumb rule, yet still poor judgement by the refs.

It's not just the Washington fans that are complaining about this call. ESPN radio and TV people are pretty outraged about the call as well. Someone here in Indiana (w/ no connection to Utah, UW, or BYU) mentioned it to me last night and was pretty angry too. Locker didn't "throw the ball into the lights" as Harmon put it (Harmon has such a man-crush on the cougs, it's amusing). He was excited to score what was (nearly) the tying touchdown for a team that has really struggled over the past few years. He was extremely classy when interviewed about it. I would have been very upset. Props to the line for getting through to block the kick, but you have to agree the ridiculous 15 yard penalty put a lot more pressure on the kicker and affected the trajectory of the kick. Congrats on a win (albeit to a team that has lost 11 of 13), but you have to admit that's kind of a cheap way to win, as most objective people would agree.

Reality is Locker did throw the ball "into the lights", he threw the ball very high into the air. While I agree with the sentiment that it shouldn't be in the rule-books, it is. Get over it, game won on blocked kick.

I can't believe all the Harmon bashing from BYU fans. If you don't like his style just swallow it and if nothing else try basking in a huge PAC-10 road win. The penalty should not detract from the blocked single in any way. It was a great play so give the D their props. We are way too guilty as BYU fans at looking at the negative; just give it a rest. Throwing the ball into the lights is not inaccurate. The tossed ball went sky-ward plain and simple. Great win Cougars. Bring on UCLA.

Bomar is a day dreamer. If Locker... He had four quarters to do it and the last 2 seconds would save him, is this your dream? Let's play if. If Unga had not make his only mistake by dropping the ball the game would be out of reach way sooner.

By the way the rule would be applied for both teams and they knew it - that is a fair rule.

It was still a straight ahead, chip-shot field goal. And the kicker didn't send it straight into the line. No, BYU shoved right through the line and blocked it. Did I mention we racked up nearly 500 yards of offense?

I agree that the rule is stupid and that the referee could have easily let it go and I for one never would have thought about Locker's celebration as excessive. However, it was called and certainly within the written rules. Locker clearly threw the ball in the air at least 15 to 20 feet. My real issue with all this is that the talking heads at ESPN refuse to give any credit to BYU for making the play after the fortunate call. Mark May is so biased that he keeps saying that Locker merely flipped the ball over his shoulder. I wish that ESPN and their representatives would at least be factual. The way this game is being reported is as if WAshington would have won the game if not for the call. The game would have gone to overtime and who knows what would have happened. I listened to Coach Willingham's interview and he stated that they would have kicked the pat regardless of the call, so those stating that Locker would have simply run the ball in for 2 and the game are merely stating their own desires and not reality.

B Williams and all others: How about the game in it's entirety? Why didn't WU just stop the Cougars from scoring one of their earlier touchdowns? Put the skids on Harvey Unga from shredding their D-line? Make one extra TD of their own? Or, maybe they should have recruited better in the off-season? Or, are they ill-coached as some in Washington already suspect? No, it wasn't a cheap win, it's FOOTBALL.

Several commentators before the game mentioned that
the Pac 10 schools will only use their officials in
these games. They will not use a split crew or a
crew from a non MWC or Pac 10 conference. Why are
they now complaining about the officiating. It was
their people who called the penalty according to the
rules. Sad that a fantastic game, well played by both teams has now been tarnished. Another sad day for
sports

Who was doing the KO's. Did JS make the trip? Or can he only kick in the mountains. Those were terrible KO's, way too short.

Dick, this has got to be your worst article ever...