That overlooked facet would be the sellout crowd of 64,494 which packed LaVell Edwards Stadium to watch the Cougars take on a relatively weak and uninteresting FCS opponent.

“The biggest highlight for me, as a coach, and for our program was the fans,” Sitake said. “We keep talking about it, and I hear the players talking about it…the buzz is how amazing our fans were. School isn’t even in session yet and our (student section) was amazing and so (were the rest) of the fans. They were loud, too. That was really impressive. To have that type of atmosphere…is special.”

As for the players, they made themselves engaged throughout the contest, much like a lot of the fans that stayed despite the extremely lopsided nature of gameplay.

“It was really good to see the backups come in and…get reps, and not just get reps, but have success on the field,” Sitake said. “Then I was really excited about the energy we got from the fans that were still there, the majority of them. And then the energy that we got from the players on the sidelines. You know that sometimes they lose interest in the game, but our (starters) were all in it and the biggest cheerleaders of them all, and that was special.”

Freshman of the week

Although he only played one half of football, BYU starting freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier showed enough to be named as the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Bachmeier accounted for five touchdowns in the Cougar’s win over Portland State, completing touchdown throws of four, five and 22 yards and running for scores from four and 12 yards out, respectively.

Bachmeier proved to be in rare company with his three touchdowns scored through the air and two on the ground in a freshman debut, becoming the first player to do as much since Antwaan Randel El back in 1998 when the former Pittsburgh Steeler standout called signals in his freshman debut for the Indiana Hoosiers.

“I was really pleased with how he took the field,” Sitake said. “Obviously it was a bit of a slow start…but I thought he was able to settle down and get used to the environment. That’s a crazy environment for anyone to go into, especially for a true freshman…I liked the performance he had.”

Solid foundation

The apparent theme throughout Saturday’s win was a consistent team identity that played out for the entirety of the 60 minutes played on Saturday. It’s an identity formed largely by coaching retention, where BYU returned all of its coaching staff intact from a season ago, which can prove as both a plus and a negative, according to Sitake, as his team prepares to take on Stanford this coming Saturday.

“The benefit is that we have all our coaches back and all our staff,” Sitake said. “The negative part is that everything you saw on film last year is (from) the same guys calling the shots this year on offense, defense and special teams. So you have a lot of film to look at.”

Conversely the Cardinal will present relatively new systems under first-year Head Coach Frank Reich, who will have two weeks to prepare for the Cougars following this past week’s bye.

A unique connection

Always affable, BYU center Bruce Mitchell spoke positively of his connection with BYU freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier during Monday’s press conference, jokingly pointing out just how close a quarterback becomes with a starting center throughout the course of the season.

“It’s coming along well,” Mitchell said of his relationship with Bachmeier. “I think there’s a special bond between a center and quarterback. They go places nobody else goes on me, so it’s always a fun situation. But Bear is doing great. He has a great chemistry with the offensive line. We all love him and love blocking for him.”