Here’s what’s going on inside Darnell’s head after another amazing BYU sports weekend.

Seriously, are any Cougars teams going to ever lose another game?

Tough love

BYU’s 35-31 victory at USC Saturday night was a “gut check” if there ever was one.

It seemed as if an injured Cougar player was being helped off the field on every play. Guys were beat up but kept coming back for more. The defense was down to walk-ons and third string players without a lot of reps when the game was in the balance but BYU came up with the big stop it needed to win the game.

Everyone send Kaleb Hayes a “thank you” text, OK?

Add another one for running back Jackson McChesney, who scored what proved to be the game winner. He didn’t put up as many yards as his younger brother, Crew, did for Lone Peak in the 6A title game but still came up pretty big.

Late in the game I saw a BYU player wearing No. 19 with “Brown” on the back of his jersey come up in run support from the secondary. I literally had to go to the Cougars roster and find out who it was (redshirt freshman Javelle Brown).

Think about how many 4 and 5-star recruits are on the USC side (46, according to WestCoastCFB) and how many are on the BYU side (3), and a Cougar victory would seem pretty unlikely.

I know there’s been a lot of discussion about whether a 10-2 Cougar team deserves to be invited to a New Year’s Six bowl game.

Hear me out on this … maybe playing a ranked team in a bowl game isn’t such a good idea right now with BYU resembling a walking MASH unit. Most of its best defensive players are hobbled or out for the season. On offense, the Cougars have lost tight end Isaac Rex for the season, Tyler Allgeier is all bruises and the offensive line is playing freshmen where they had All-Americans starting the season. It seems it would almost be better for BYU to play in the Independence Bowl or some other mid-level bowl game against an average opponent.

If the Cougars were the same team that started the season, for sure clamor for a New Year’s Six bowl game.

As currently constituted, maybe it’s better to have a good chance at a bowl win for momentum into next season.

Just a thought.

If you see my eyes glazed over …

I wonder how many hours in a week I waste ignoring the ads that pop up on YouTube, on my Twitter timeline and every time I play a game on my phone?

I enter this fugue state that lasts anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, then I resume viewing whatever I intended to see.

Maybe the ads work subliminally on me, but I don’t think so.

Winning

So, apparently, “No-Loss November” is a thing.

As many have pointed out, BYU sports teams are on a roll. Women’s volleyball (7-0), women’s basketball (7-0), men’s basketball (6-0), women’s soccer (6-0) and football (3-0) combined to go 27-0 in November.

I’ve never heard of such a thing.

BYU fans on social media must feel like they have unlimited “scoreboard” against anything anyone else throws as them.

I know football is the money maker and draws the most interest. But to me, “No-Loss November” represents a ton of hard work and dedication by the athletes and coaches from all sports.

Remember also that BYU fans made South Field the most attended women’s college soccer facility in the country (2,378 per contest) and women’s volleyball averaged 2,937 fans per home contest at the Smith Fieldhouse.

It’s pretty incredible how BYU football fans have turned opposing venues into home games most of the season.

The players and coaches are grateful for that support and every time they go on the road and play at a half-full venue, they realize just how blessed they are.

Everything they’ve got

I can’t tell you how much I love rivalry week in college football, and how much I wish BYU-Utah was part of it.

Things have obviously changed since the Utes went to the Pac-12 and we’ve been treated with Cougars-Utes early in the season the past several seasons. But watching so many great rivalry games on Saturday (Ohio State-Michigan, Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, Virginia-Virginia Tech, Washington-Washington State, Oregon-Oregon State) was just … uplifting.

Each game ran the scale of importance in terms of college football but man, those games mean so much to both sides, no matter what’s at stake.

This is the way

The BYU men’s basketball team isn’t the 3-point shooting, finesse-heavy Cougars you’ve seen over the years.

This iteration of the Cougars is tough defensively (hasn’t given up more than 63 points in the first six games) and ferocious rebounders. The outside shooting has been slow to come around but man, Mark Pope’s guys really compete on the defensive end.

On Saturday at Utah, BYU looked out of sorts on offense and fell behind Utah early. But the Cougars responded with a great second half on both ends of the floor by picking up the pace and challenging every offensive catch by the Utes.

Utah was pretty much face guarding Alex Barcello so BYU used their leading scorer as a decoy, which led to a ton of dunks and easy baskets for his teammates in the second half. Barcello still ended up with 17 points but other guys – Te’Jon Lucas, Gavin Baxter and Caleb Lohner, among others — made Utah pay for smothering Barcello.

This team is in a really good spot (No. 21 in the KenPom ratings) with some excellent opportunities awaiting on the schedule. Utah Valley and Utah State are off to great starts. Neutral site contests against Creighton and at the Diamond Head Classic will be challenging as well.

Passage of time

According to BYU sports historian Ralph Sokolowsky, Ty Detmer is currently listed for two NCAA records. He originally held 63. Taysom Hill has four and Gordon Hudson has three. Three players hold two: Dick Felt, Matt Payne, and John Walsh. Seven players are listed with one: Jim McMahon, Jamaal Williams, Vai Sikahema, Stacey Corley, Golden Richards, Dennis Pitta and Curtis Brown.

One of the best

There have been some great athletes at BYU, but one that might be a bit overlooked is Mikayla Colohan.

She’s one of the top women’s soccer players in the country and a three-time All-American who could have easily started her professional career after the spring season (she was selected No. 14 in the NWSL draft by the Orlando Pride) but elected to come back to BYU for another shot at a Final Four.

She scored two goals and had an assist in the Cougars’ 4-1 victory against South Carolina in the Elite Eight on Saturday. The first goal of the game was an absolute stunner. Colohan took the ball at the BYU 18-yard line and sprinted with it the length of the field in a beautiful counter, feeding Makaylie Moore with a perfect pass that resulted in an early 1-0 lead.

She has 18 goals and 15 assists this season, 53 goals and 39 assists for her career. More importantly, she’s led the Cougars to a place they’ve never been: The Women’s College Cup. BYU plays Santa Clara in the Final Four on Friday.

Colohan, by the way, is engaged to former BYU baseball player Jackson Cluff, one of the brightest young stars in the Washington Nationals organization.

Power couple indeed.

Take a picture

Poor Gonzaga.

The Zags lost a game to No. 5 Duke last week, so they won’t have another undefeated regular season.

The key for the Dukies was getting Drew Timme into foul trouble.

The last time Gonzaga lost in the regular season?

Feb. 22, 2020, at the Marriott Center to BYU.

That’s all for now, but for this: You know, A cool sport would be called “Hockey but Eventually Water Polo” where they keep turning up the temperature throughout the game.

Have a terrific week and don’t lose your cool in December. It’s a crazy month.

Darnell Dickson

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