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Cougar football head coach Kalani Sitake directs the BYU Marching Band in the fight song following a 36-14 victory against Colorado at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.

Jaron Wilkey, BYU Photo

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From the left, L.J. Martin, Waylin Laupaho and Hinckley Ropati celebrate a Alamo Bowl win against Colorado in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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When ABC announcers actually took a break from their breathless praise of Deion Sanders, Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders during the Alamo Bowl television broadcast on Saturday, they referred to something Cougar center Conner Pay said after an interview on Friday.

“Talk about BYU just a little bit, would you?” Pay asked.

Seriously. Dave Pasch and Rusty Dvoracek gave Colorado so many flowers Saturday night you would have thought it was prom night in San Antonio.

In the end, even Pasch and Dvoracek couldn’t ignore what BYU did to the Sanderses, Hunter and the Buffs, a dominating effort from start to finish in a 36-14 victory.

BYU’s offense had some nice moments but also made a lot of mistakes in an uneven performance. A cleaner bit of work by the Cougars with the ball would have resulted in an even wider margin of victory. But it didn’t matter because the defense and special teams were excellent and consistently overwhelmed Colorado.

Cougar fans expecting a letdown after getting the lead? They never got one.

BYU beat the best team Utah played this year (as voiced by Utes coach Kyle Whittingham) handily and never seemed to be in any danger.

The moments following Ralphie the Buffalo running onto the field before the game almost all belonged to the Cougars.

Now it’s time for Perfectly Rational Overreactions (PROs).

PRO No. 1: The Cougars ran too many trick plays in the first half.

There are two schools of thought here. One is, “Hey, it’s a bowl game, have fun with it.” Then there’s my thought: The goal is to win the game. Playing fast and loose with your play calling when it isn’t really necessary (BYU was dominating the line of scrimmage) seems reckless to me and the opposite of good strategy. Of course, trick plays (or “specials”) are great when they work and terrible when they don’t. The option pass thrown by Parker Kingston should have been a touchdown but was dropped. The onside kick was perfectly executed. The double quarterback pass was open but not thrown well by Gerry Bohanon. The shovel pass that Colorado intercepted should have been caught by BYU. So I guess you kind of roll the dice and live with the results. I just didn’t see any reason to empty the bag with specials in the first half.

PRO No. 2: Will Ferrin is the best kicker in BYU history.

Ferrin is putting together a spectacular career and I could see him getting a chance to do the same thing in the NFL. He is extremely accurate and has a powerful leg. What more could a pro team want? In two years as BYU’s starting kicker, Ferrin is 72 of 73 on extra points and 33 of 37 on field goals. When you think about great Cougar kickers of the past, you bring up Lee Johnson and the Payne brothers, among others. But Ferrin could be No. 1 right now.

PRO No. 3: Jay Hill is the best defensive coordinator in the country.

If you were wondering why Hill was smiling so much during Friday’s news conference (Dvoracek described BYU’s defensive coordinator as “giddy” on the broadcast) it was because he had three weeks to prepare for Colorado’s pass-heavy offense. The results were impressive. Ponder this: Colorado had five pass plays of 15 or more yards (three came on a meaningless drive late in the fourth quarter) and one rushing play of more than 10 yards for 194 yards. On the other 36 plays the Buffs ran, they managed just 16 yards. Hunter broke loose a couple of times but Shedeur Sanders was harassed, chased and hit on every possession. I never really felt like the Cougars were ever in danger of losing control of this game, and that’s all on the defense.

Take a bow, Coach Hill. Your defense was “prime.” (It’s a play on words on Coach Prime. I felt like I needed to explain because someone online read it and didn’t get the joke)

Finally, PRO No. 4: This bowl win will catapult BYU into the top of the Big 12 in 2025.

Bowl games are what they are: A glorified exhibition. Maybe that’s why the ABC announcers spent so much time talking about Colorado. In the end, the result of the Alamo Bowl isn’t going to affect Hunter being selected No. 1 in the NFL draft in April, or Shedeur Sanders going in the first five picks, or Coach Prime dominating the college football news cycle every time he breathes. BYU still didn’t get an invite to the College Football Playoffs, even if they appear now to deserve it even more.

While BYU’s convincing win in the Alamo Bowl puts a nice exclamation point on the 2024 season, I think the Cougars built even more momentum throughout the year, not just on one night in San Antonio. Winning nine straight games and putting themselves in a position to win the Big 12 was a huge step for a program that failed to make a bowl game in Year 1 in the league.

Who Carried the Boats and the Logs?

BYU got the ball to sophomore running back L.J. Martin 19 times and he produced: 17 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns, two catches for 33 yards. He’s such a big, strong back and the offensive line, even with a few guys in different positions, did a nice job of blocking. Plus, Martin got to show off in his home state (he’s from El Paso). I feel like I should highlight somebody from the defense, too. I saw Isaiah Glasker play a few times at Bingham High and was immediately struck by the fact that he was easily the best athlete on the field. He was a safety and wide receiver for the Miners but has found a real home at linebacker for the Cougars. He’s a terrific playmaker and is a star in the making. I also thought seniors Tyler Batty and Jakob Robinson were excellent in their final game in a BYU uniform.

Friends for life

I enjoyed the lovefest this week between Coach Prime and Kalani Sitake, an odd couple if there ever was one. The mutual respect was obvious. They may differ in their approach and public persona but they are both a great fit for their respective schools. Boulder and Provo are lucky to have them.

That’s special

Another BYU coach that earned his salary this year was Kelly Poppinga with special teams. The Cougars had five returns for touchdowns: Two each by Keelan Marion and Kingston, one on an onside kick by Talan Alfrey. The discussion about “complementary football” always involves special teams and Poppinga brought it in 2024.

That’s all for now, but for this: BYU rings in the new year with an 11-2 record after playing the most difficult schedule in program history, which puts this team in the Top 5 of the best Cougar teams ever, in my opinion. The blueprint for another season just like it (or better) in 2025 is clear: Keep developing young players to step into new roles and reach into the portal for key positions and depth.

BYU will miss the outgoing seniors but returns plenty of talent next season. There are some spots that the portal will need to provide (defensive line, offensive line and cornerback, to mention a few). Another important memo: BYU was picked to finish 13th in the preseason Big 12 poll and tied for first, Utah was chosen No. 1 and finish tied for 11th. Arizona State was picked dead last (16th) and won the darn thing. Take nothing for granted just because you are returning good players.

The hard work begins the first week of January with conditioning.

Have a great week and enjoy the New Year.