That is what Virginia head coach and former BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall expressed, though his current team fell short in Provo Saturday night, 66-49.

“I was grateful (for the ovation he received prior to the game). I’m grateful to have been a coach here,” Mendenhall said. “BYU is really a unique place. To be selected to be a coach here is a really small sliver of the world’s population. I was given a chance to learn, grow and develop in an amazing program. I am grateful and appreciative. And it really allowed me to be considered for another school, and that wouldn’t have happened without my start here. And I’m thankful for where I am now.”

Mendenhall felt, much like University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham did after the Utes lost to BYU, that physical play was key to the Cougar success.

“They’re very physical,” Mendenhall said. “Seldom did we have anyone beating a block, and when we did, No. 25 (Tyler Allgeir) ran by us, through us or around us. In my view, they (BYU) were the most physical team we played all year long,”

In a game where both offenses seemingly moved the ball at will, Mendenhall ultimately felt the three Virginia turnovers where BYU had none was the difference in the game.

“It’s hard to say what would for sure have happened with those three chances, it’s certainly three chances for them to get the ball,” Mendenhall said. “They were earned. It wasn’t accidental and you have to give them (BYU) credit for that. Ultimately you make a team punt, or take the ball away, or you hold them to a field goal, so they (turnovers) really mattered.”

Mendenhall still felt there were some encouraging things about how his team played Saturday.

“After we fell behind 21-0, we kept our poise and fought back to even take the lead,” the Cavalier head coach said.

Virginia does have a bye next week but things won’t get any easier after that as the Cavaliers host No. 8 ranked Notre Dame in two weeks. Then Virginia finishes off the season with a contest against at No. 25 ranked Pittsburgh and then hosts its rival Virginia Tech in its final game of the regular season.

Statistical superlatives

Allgeir tied a BYU record for touchdowns in a game with five. Five other players have scored five touchdowns in a game for BYU including Luke Staley, who did it twice. The other players were Cody Hoffman, Ronney Jenkins, Eric Lane, and Jamaal Williams.

Incidentally, Hoffman was one of the alumni flag bearers for this contest.

Joining Hoffman with this honor were Braden Brown, JD Falslev, Bryan Kehl, Ului Lapuaho, Brady Poppinga and Uani Unga.

Allgeir also had 267 yards rushing on 29 carries, which was a career high, and the Cougar running back star went over 200 yards rushing for the second time this season. With 25 yards receiving, Allgeier had 291 total yards of offense and averaged 9.2 yards per carry.

Though Allgeir’s 9.2 yards per carry is mind-boggling, it actually pales in comparison to Taysom Hill’s 15.2 yards per carry (259 yards rushing on 17 carries) in BYU’s 2013 win against Texas. Jamaal Williams holds the all-time Cougar record for yards in a game with 289.

The 1,297 total yards was the most combined total yards in game at LaVell Edwards Stadium history, eclipsing the 1,278 total yards BYU and Toledo accrued in 2016. The 115 combined points alo surpassed that BYU-Toledo game total where the Cougars and Rockets lit up the scoreboard for 108 points.

BYU went over 700 total yards for just the 12th time in program history. The Cougars tallied 734 total yards Thursday, just 43 yards short of the all-time record of 777 BYU set in a game against New Mexico in 1980.

BYU’s 385 yards rushing Saturday is indeed an impressive number but it’s not even close to the all-time rushing total of 550 yard ground assault the Cougars exhibited against Texas in 2013.

Points, points and more points

BYU’s 66 point total against Virginia is noteworthy, but BYU once scored 83 points in a game against UTEP in 1980. BYU also scored 70 points against Utah in 1989 and Tulane in 2001. And no Bronco Mendenhall led team has given up 66 points in a game.

The 66 points scored by BYU was the most the Cougars scored against a “P-5 program” though BYU did score 68 against UCLA before the term P-5 was coined to indicate the Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12 and SEC) that exist today.

When Virginia scored 35 points in the second quarter, that was the highest point total BYU has ever given up in a single quarter of play. By the way, BYU did one point better than that on offense against Washington State in 1990. BYU scored 36 points in the final quarter to secure a 50-36 come-back win over those other Cougars.

The 52 combined points in the second quarter (35 Virginia, 17 BYU) was the most scored in a quarter in BYU football history.

The combined 80 points (Virginia 42, BYU 38) both teams scored in the first half is the most in any college game so far of the 2021 season.

Winning milestone

Depending on whatever historical source one uses, BYU either secured its 600th win in program history or its 596th. But this significant milestone came in the first ever game BYU had against one of its former head coaches. Out of those 600 wins, Mendenhall coached 99 of them in 11 seasons.

In-state scorers

BYU, Utah and Utah State all broke out offensively. The Utes were on the low end posting 44 against UCLA, but Utah State scored 51 against Hawai’i and BYU went for 66 against Virginia. All total, the three FBS schools in the Beehive State scored 170 points Saturday.

There were other noteworthy individual performances

The brothers Nacua (Puka and Samson) both had 107 yards receiving. Each also tallied a touchdown.

Virginia’s two quarterbacks (Brennan Armstrong, Jake Woolfolk) combined for 364 yards passing while Cougar signal caller Jaren Hall had 349, a career high. Besides 349 yards passing, Hall had 49 yards rushing on just 6 carries for 398 total yards. He tossed for three scores and ran for another.

Rankings Watch

BYU took advantage of several teams ranked just ahead of them falling in the rankings. BYU moved up in the AP Poll from No. 25 all the way up to No. 17. Houston, who will be joining BYU in the BIg 12, got a big win over undefeated SMU and also entered the Top 25 at No. 19.

Even if you take out Oklahoma who is set to leave the Big 12 in 2025, the future Big 12 has Cincinnati (No. 2), Oklahoma State (No. 11), Baylor (No. 14), BYU (No. 17) and Houston (No. 19), all in the Top 25.

Official attendance for the game was 57,685.