Santiago was exactly right.

Indeed Saturday’s win served as a microcosm for the entire 2025 season, all factors considered. Take your pick, whether it be BYU’s 24-21 win over Colorado, where the Cougars were beset by a shocking 14-0 deficit at the start, a similar 33-27 comeback win over Arizona when they appeared to be stuck in neutral for much of the second half of play, or perhaps most fittingly the 41-27 rally over Iowa State where LJ Martin left the game early with injury.

The win over the Yellowjackets felt abundantly familiar while exemplifying what this Cougar football team is all about.

“I think we have a lot of heart. We’ve got a lot of love for each other, got a lot of love for our coaches and for our fans and for our program,” explained BYU senior safety Tanner Wall. “I think there’s a lot of things that can’t be measured in statistics, the kind of intangible things that just make us who we are, and it shows in the way that we find ways to win games all the time.”

Finding those ways in the win over Georgia Tech wasn’t easy by any means.

There was the prospect of overcoming the absence of both running back LJ Martin, who was named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, and linebacker Jack Kelly, who is well considered BYU’s top defensive player. Adding significantly to things the Cougars had to make do without was quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who managed to complete the game bereft of almost all of his extraordinary running ability due to a gimpy ankle injury that he reaggravated during the game’s second possession.

And then there was the actual gameplay, where BYU was clinging to a 10-7 early lead before lightning struck in what proved to be a brutal sequence.

Right after Georgia Tech capped off a long scoring drive with a Haynes King 5-yard pass to Eric Rivers to take back the lead at 14-10, BYU receiver Cody Hagen muffed the following kickoff, setting up the Yellowjackets with prime opportunity to add their newly-acquired lead. Sure enough, King hit tight end J.T. Byrne with a 6-yard scoring strike just one play later to put the Cougars in a 21-10 hole.

That 21-10 score held through the third quarter as Georgia Tech still appeared to be in control and primed to take the win. Adding to the Cougar frustration were several missed opportunities, perhaps most notably Georgia Tech stuffing a run in a fourth-and-goal situation from the 1-yard line and Bachmeier making an ill-advised throw that was intercepted in the endzone to stunt an otherwise promising drive midway through the third quarter.

“The coach in me is frustrated about the turnovers, because we gave them the ball on the 5-yard line off of the kickoff. Then, we walked away with no points on the interception,” said BYU Coach Kalani Sitake. “We are still learning, and we are still getting better, but that is the game.

It’s Football, it happens…What I do like is how they responded. It is not like we are not going to throw the ball anymore, because Bear threw a pick. We have to keep doing it.”

The game turned on a dime in the fourth quarter.

During the timeout after the third quarter clock mercifully expired the Camping World Stadium blasted the song ‘Turbulence’, which has been played at BYU home games as teams enter the fourth quarter for a while now. Cougar players were seen jumping up and down, busting dance moves while seemingly recapturing the focus and drive that perhaps alluded them through the first three quarters of play.

“It just made us feel at home, so we were ready to go,” said BYU cornerback Evan Johnson. “We don’t lose at home.”

Leading off the fourth quarter resurgence was seldom-used running back Enoch Nawahine, plunging into the endzone from two yards out to cut the lead to 21-18 after a successful two-point conversion. Aiding Nawahine in his scoring run was tight end Carsen Ryan, who lunged into the running back from behind to help push him into the endzone.

As for Ryan, he provided the best game of his career, leading the Cougars with eight receptions for 120 yards.

“It’s the best game I’ve had in my career in college,” Ryan said. “I’m just so grateful and grateful for the opportunity to be here and for this coaching staff and the players and the teammates I have just helping me get to this point.”

As for the two-point conversion, it was Bachmeier converting on just one of his two runs from scrimmage, where he hesitated briefly before opting to forge ahead, using his familiar strength to bull over a defender to cut the deficit to just three points. The reason why Bachmeier was so limited in his usual great threat to run the ball was his aforementioned ankle injury, which rendered him as a straight back pocket passer, for the most part.

While Bachmeier was typically brief and non-specific regarding his injury, Ryan spoke for his ailing quarterback.

“He’s a fighter. I give him so much credit. He’s pretty banged up,” Ryan said. “For him to run and get in the endzone, I know that hurt his ankle, hurt him a lot. He’s just such a fighter, dude. It’s so good to play with him and to see the maturity and the grit. I’m just so proud of him.”

For the game Bachmeier was nearly flawless, save for his one interception thrown. The true freshman went 27-38 through the air for 375 yards and doing as much without a productive rushing attack for the better part of the game while changing his style of play fairly significantly.

“It is a testament to coach A-Rod (Aaron Roderick) and the guys around me and them making plays and doing their job,” Bachmeier said. “All I have to do is do my 1/11th. So yeah, it worked out.”

The game-winning score was provided about nine minutes later when Jovesa Damuni ran the ball into the endzone from two yards out to retake the lead at 25-21, which proved to be the final.

But Georgia Tech still had two minutes remaining on the clock, and set up itself in prime position when King hit a streaking Rivers down the field for a 66 yard gain on a 4th-and-15 situation. Johnson was in coverage on the play, but was beat by a perfectly-thrown pass which set up the Yellowjackets on BYU’s 18-yard line with just over 30 seconds remaining.

Fittingly it was Johnson more than atoning for his error in intercepting a pass in the endzone just four plays later to effectively end the game while exemplifying the redemptive spirit of his team.

“Coach (Jay) Hill gave a great call, and I got my opportunity to go make a play,” Johnson said. “I had a play like that at Texas Tech that I didn’t go get. So, my only thought in my mind at that moment was to go get that ball, and that is what I did.”

Yes, Johnson got it done, much in the same fashion his entire team has gotten things accomplished en route to a truly remarkable 12 win season which will surely go down as one of the more accomplished seasons in BYU football history. It was a fitting end of the season for all involved, but perhaps most for the team’s seniors, which includes Wall, who spoke eloquently regarding what the game and indeed the season meant for him and his teammates.

“It’s amazing to end the college story on this note,” Wall concluded. “As I already mentioned, coming out with our 12th win of the season, first one in 25 years, over the last two seasons to go 23-4 — it’s amazing to see all that we’ve been able to accomplish and I’m just grateful for everyone who’s had a small part of that…I’m just so grateful that we could end it on a win and be out there with the confetti falling on us and celebrate that moment with the boys and look at each other and tell each other how much we love each other because we really do. That was an amazing way to end it tonight.”