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BYU's Tommy Prassas (22) and the rest of the Cougars walk off the field in Tucson after a 28-23 loss to Arizona State on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Here’s what’s going on inside Darnell’s head while I try to understand why there is a 15-foot-tall Abominable Snowman in my front yard.

It’s inflatable, one of my wife’s Christmas purchases that she couldn’t wait until the season to put out. She also wanted to set up the Christmas tree on Sunday. Five days before Thanksgiving.

Apparently she’s in holiday mode already.

I am on high alert.

Who are these guys?

There’s an infamous line from former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green that’s been replayed over and over in reference to a loss to the Chicago Bears in 2006: “They are who we thought they were!”

BYU football was exactly who national pundit thought they were in a face-plant of a first half against Arizona State: A fraud that lucked its way to a 9-0 start and didn’t deserve consideration for the college football playoffs.

In the second half, the Cougars were who their fans hoped they were: A mentally tough and talented group that battled back from a 21-0 deficit to give themselves a chance to win.

In the end, BYU dug itself too big a hole to come back all the way. Jake Retzlaff missed a wide-open Jojo Phillips late in the fourth quarter, a play that would have resulted in the go-ahead touchdown, then overthrew Darius Lassiter for an interception that pretty much ended the Cougars chances to win.

Pretty much, because BYU did have one play from midfield for a Hail Mary but Retzlaff was pressured and threw short of the end zone. Chase Roberts caught the ball but a few yards short of the end zone (even though the official book shows the pass as incomplete) and the Arizona State fans got to rush the field for a second time.

You’d think five 300-pound offensive linemen and a running back in pass protection could give Retzlaff enough time to throw a proper Hail Mary against a three-man rush, wouldn’t you?

So who do we think BYU football is now?

I think they are who I thought they were.

Saturday was Game 11. This is BYU football in 2024: Good enough to compete, not good enough to win going away to earn style points or pass the eye test with the national media. In the Big 12, that means it’s pretty much 50-50 you’ll get a win or a loss. So the Cougars, at 6-2 in league play, have beaten the odds in that way, at least.

BYU isn’t completely out of the picture for the Big 12 Championship Game but had control of its own destiny.

Not anymore.

Now it’s time for Perfectly Rational Overreactions (PRO’s)

PRO No. 1: The loss was all Jake Retzlaff’s fault.

Yeah, quarterbacks have a tough life. They can be a hero and get all the credit, or they can be the villain and get all the blame. Retzlaff has been struggled lately and we learned an injury suffered against Utah slowed his efforts last week against Kansas. He was very good in the second half against Arizona State when, interestingly, BYU abandoned the initial offensive game plan. The Cougars don’t get close to having a chance to win unless Retzlaff is hitting receivers and leading the team down the field for three touchdowns. Yes, he did miss Phillips and threw a pretty big interception. It’s easy to blame the quarterback but there are many other problems: A soft offensive line, bad tackling, dropped passes, bad penalties, etc. The Cougars played hard in the second half but they also executed much better. Not sure where that was in the first half. Maybe senior defensive end Tyler Batty, who gave an impassioned speech to the team at halftime, needs to do that BEFORE the game next time.

PRO No. 2: The BYU coaches have lost the players.

After that abomination of a first half, I would probably have said yes. Or more accurately, the coaches had the Cougars so ill-prepared for the biggest game of the year that the players had lost confidence in them. I have to admit, I thought BYU was toast. That they found a way to get back in the game speaks a lot about leadership and desire. However, there are no moral victories in football. The loss is still a big blow to BYU’s post-season outlook. Sorry, but “they tried hard” is little consolation for losing a game that could have earned you a trip to the Big 12 title game. And no one wants to hear “If you knew before the season that BYU was going to be 9-2 after 11 games, would you have taken it?” at this point. It’s time for good teams to seize their opportunities and the Cougars couldn’t do it.

PRO No. 3: There were multiple penalties that could have been called on Arizona State’s last offensive play and BYU’s last offensive play.

Let’s count them up.

Sam Leavitt’s fourth-down heave, based on what I know of the rules, was intentional grounding. He wasn’t outside the tackle box when he let the ball go, he threw the ball away to avoid a sack and threw it 30 yards out of bounds with no receiver anywhere near the ball.

Having to wait 15 minutes for the crowd to leave the field after storming it the first time should at least be a 5-yard delay of game penalty, right?

We also got to witness Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham losing his mind on the game officials while we waited for the crowd to clear, behavior that would have certainly earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the game. The officials were clearly overwhelmed and intimidated by the situation of being surrounded by thousands of Arizona State fans who had stormed the field and by Dillingham himself.

On BYU’s final Hail Mary, Roberts was clearly grabbed before the ball got there. Pass interference is rarely called on a Hail Mary, but it was there.

I understand the last part of the game wasn’t played under normal circumstance, and none of that might have resulted in a BYU win. But are officials just supposed to ignore penalties late in the game? Is it just a free-for-all?

Finally, PRO No. 4: The season is over and it’s not worth going on living.

From 9-0 and No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings to 9-2 and no idea what will happen in the post-season is a pretty big fall. Losses to Kansas and Arizona State came down to the final play, but that’s no consolation. Maybe the players and coaches will try to sell fans on “Hey, we’re going bowling!” and the advantage the extra practices will be for next year. But the only way to truly salvage the season is to get to the Big 12 Championship Game. A bowl game in a cold weather site won’t be enough.

From what we can figure out, BYU needs to beat Houston and have Kansas State beat Iowa State or Arizona beat Arizona State to get into the Big 12 Championship Game. If that happens, maybe it will breathe life into the team and the fan base.

The Cougars were hit with another late one for Houston (8:15 p.m. MT kickoff) so the they will know if they have a shot at the Big 12 title game or not.

Who Carried the Boats and the Logs?

Keelan Marion scored two rushing touchdowns and Isaiah Glasker was a playmaker on defense, including a fourth-down stop to give the Cougars a chance in the fourth quarter. But no one carried their weight completely in this game. No one.

I’ve got a feeling

A big play early in the game was Kalani Sitake opting to go for it on fourth down from midfield on BYU’s first possession. The Cougars failed to convert and gave the Sun Devils a short field for a touchdown drive. I suppose Sitake was trying to show the offense he had faith in them, but with the way they had been struggling, wouldn’t it have been better strategy to punt and pin Arizona State deep? Sitake always says he feels good about going for it on fourth down. Maybe it should be based on more than a feeling?

What is up with the offensive line?

I saw an appalling lack of execution and at times, effort from this group, especially in the first half. They were failing to sustain and missing blocks. They were getting pushed off the ball consistently by Arizona State. ASU won the line of scrimmage. By a lot.

There were many reasons why the Cougars lost the game, but the poor play by the offensive line was a big one. T.J. Woods and the boys have some real work to do this week with this group.

This is the Big 12

Kansas became the first program with a losing record to beat three consecutive Top 25 teams (No. 17 Iowa State, No. 7 BYU and No. 16 Colorado). This league is simply ridiculous.

Tell me how you really feel

My wife and daughter did the double dip on Saturday by going to BYU women’s volleyball at the Smith Fieldhouse and Cougar women’s basketball at the Marriott Center. The good news is my wife added two new BYU t-shirts to her vast collection by catching them at those respective games.

The bad news is that because of the football loss, she came into the house with the BYU flag she puts outside our front door on game day and threw it on the floor.

BYU is a cross-country school

Saturday was a day, huh, BYU fans? It started off with two national championships (men’s and women’s cross country), a women’s volleyball win, a women’s basketball overtime loss, a last-second football loss and an easy men’s basketball victory.

Congrats to Ed Eyestone, Diljeet Taylor and the athletes for coming up big in the biggest moment of the season.

That’s all for now, but for this: It’s Thanksgiving. Have a second helping of turkey and be grateful for one of the things you have: A 9-2 football team that was picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 with a shot at more. Enjoy the holiday.