Here’s what’s going on inside Darnell’s head as I rewatch the BYU-Southern Illinois football game on ESPN+.

My daughter, Shelby, plays saxophone in the BYU Marching Band. I asked her how things went in Game 1 and she said, “We got to play “Celebrate” (by Kool and the Gang, ask your grandparents) after it was over because BYU won. We didn’t get to play it much last season.”

It goes against the grain for most college football fans to appreciate wins, no matter who it comes against. Beating Southern Illinois probably isn’t a big enough win for some Cougar fans to celebrate, but it should be, for a number of reasons.

Here are five of them.

No. 1, the 41-13 victory on Saturday over the Salukis broke a five-game losing streak dating back to last season. Coaches NEVER take a victory for granted and players and fans shouldn’t either. Southern Illinois has beaten several power conference teams, including Northwestern in 2022.

No. 2, BYU’s less-than-impressive 14-0 victory against Sam Houston to open 2023 was a harbinger of things to come. On Saturday, Big 12 games against FCS opponents including thrilling moments for Iowa State (21-3 over North Dakota), Colorado (a 31-26 win against North Dakota State), Cincinnati (a 38-20 winner against Towson), Texas Tech (a 52-51 overtime victory against Abilene Christian) and Oklahoma State (44-20 over South Dakota State).

No. 21 Arizona had to score a lot of points late to beat New Mexico and the fighting Bronco Mendenhalls 61-39, and Houston got beat up by UNLV 27-7.

So, relatively speaking, BYU’s win against Southern Illinois was quite impressive.

No. 3, I looked up the participation list and 75 players on the BYU roster got into the game for some reps. That’s a big deal. Coaches need game references, not more practice references. Again, that’s what you want to do in an opener against an FCS opponent.

No. 4, now that the Cougars are in the Big 12 and scheduling like a Big team, they did exactly what they were supposed to do. In independence, the Cougars kicked off the season eight times in 12 seasons with power conference programs. Getting a relatively easy win in a tune-up game is going to be the norm.

And No. 5, more than 63,000 fans showed up to LaVell Edwards Stadium on Labor Day weekend and BYU gave them a show. Saturdays in the fall rock.

Now it’s time for Perfectly Rational Overreactions (PRO’s) from BYU’s victory against Southern Illinois. Man, I am really into lists for this column, aren’t I?

PRO No. 1: The Cougars should have been more dominant and left points on the field.

It was not as consistent a performance as fans may have hoped. BYU was sharp in the first quarter on both sides of the ball but not as much in the second. Despite a big advantage in yardage and time of possession, the Cougars led just 14-6 with less than a minute to go in the half.

The drive for field goal right before half was good and BYU scored on its first two possessions in the third quarter to open up a big lead. The offense showed some explosiveness but timing seemed off on other plays, especially when BYU was trying to get the ball to tight end Keanu Hill. For a first game, it was much better than last season but left plenty of room for improvement as well. Just as a Game 1 against an FCS foe should be.

PRO No. 2: The running game is still broken.

The Cougars rushed 47 times for 179 yards, an average of 3.8 per carry. LJ Martin averaged a healthy 5.2 yards per carry (13 carries, 67 yards), Hinckley Ropati 4.4 (13 for 57) and Miles Davis 5 for 24 (4.8). The fly sweep didn’t produce a lot for Chase Roberts, Parker Kingston or Keelan Marion and Reztlaff never really broke loose in the run game.

It seemed like the offensive line still has issues staying engaged with defenders. I saw plenty of times when the running back was taken down by a defender and several offensive linemen were looking for someone to block. I hope that gets better.

So I wouldn’t say the running game is “broken,” but I will say I’m still a bit skeptical that BYU can put up similar numbers against Big 12 defenses.

PRO No. 3: Two sacks? Not good enough, darn it, not good enough.

I did like that the BYU defense seemed to put Southern Illinois in a lot of third-and-long situations. Much easier to get off the field when it’s third-and-10 or more and much easier to pin your ears back in the pass rush.

There were a ton of subs on the defensive side so that probably influenced the number of chances Sitake was willing to take with the blitz. Plus, SIU quarterback DJ Williams was pretty elusive as a runner and burned the Cougars several times.

I think the quarterback pressure was decent but tougher competition is coming. We’ll find out more as the season progresses.

Finally, PRO No. 4: We’re still not sold on Jake Retzlaff and Kalani Sitake should have let Gerry Bohanon throw the ball.

Retzlaff started really well. On BYU first scoring drive, he made laser-sharp throws to convert a third down and two fourth downs. He wasn’t as sharp in the second quarter and his receivers had three or four drops on passes they should have caught. His numbers — 20 of 30 for 348 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions — were really good, with the yardage total a BYU career high. He likely would have been over 400 yards if not for the drops.

Look, Retzlaff was rated as the No. 16 quarterback (out of 16 teams) in the Pro Football Focus rankings of Big 12 signal callers. I think he proved he’s much better than that.

It’s not Sitake’s style to throw the ball with a big lead, so Bohanon didn’t get a passing attempt in his two series as quarterback late in the game. That’s too bad, because Bohanon hasn’t played in a game since the 2022 season. It would have been good to loosen up his arm a bit.

Who Carried the Boats and the Logs?

As a reminder, I appropriated this phrase from former BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy as a way to honor the player or coach who made a big difference on Saturday. This week, I’m giving it to the emotional center of the Cougars’ effort, defensive coordinator Jay Hill.

Hill had a heart attack on Thursday but is recovering well and was in the press box at Saturday’s game, with Sitake taking over play calling duties. Sitake said Hill didn’t want anybody to make a fuss out of his situation or to have his condition be a distraction for the Cougar players.

Emotion can be a great motivator but can also keep players from focusing on their jobs. It appeared to me that the Cougars handled the situation very well. For Hill’s first thoughts to be about his players and the team is a terrific lesson for those athletes about what they mean to him, and what he means to them.

Traffic count

Hey, when did game day traffic start on Friday? I was driving back from Provo to Orem on Friday afternoon and had to take side streets to get home. Where were ya’ll going?

High school high

I watched Lone Peak beat Corner Canyon 28-21 on Friday night, an upset because the Chargers were coming off a victory against IMG Academy (then No. 4 in the country) and ranked No. 6 in Max Preps.

The Knights defense is legit and coached by former BYU and NFL defensive end Ryan Denney. After the game, Lone Peak head coach Bart Brockbank said, “Denney is a genius,” and he’s right.

It was also cool to see Connor Pay, BYU’s starting center, attend the game and congratulate his younger brother, Austin, a 6-foot-7, 295-pound offensive tackle for the Knights who is getting a lot of recruiting attention.

Three-for-one

Due to the crazy nature of scheduling, Saturday included a BYU football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium at 6 p.m., a Cougar women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. And a BYU women’s soccer match at South Field at 8. I wonder if any Cougar fan managed to hit all three events?

Volleyball, ranked No. 16, lost the first set to High Point but won the next three to go 3-0 to start the season.

A couple of observations: Freshman setter Alex Bower is really good. As good as her sister, Whitney, who was a starter for five seasons (including a COVID year)? We’ll see. Also, the addition of Kjersti Strong, a middle blocker out of the portal from Saint Mary’s, is huge. She a versatile player who adds a lot both offensively and defensively. Sophomore Claire Little was amazing over the three matches of the doTERRA Classic, averaged 4.5 kills per set and hitting a robust .494.

Then there is freshman outside hitter Elli Mortensen, who started and averaged 3.90 kills per set and hit .392 in the three matches. She’s the daughter of former BYU All-American Nina Puiknonen and its apparent she’s been well taught. She’s already a six-rotation player who passes well and could be BYU’s next big star.

As for soccer, it’s been a difficult start for the Cougars, who are really young. Two of its best offensive players, Allie Fryer and Erin Bailey, were out on Saturday and BYU lost to a ranked Utah State team 2-1 to fall to 1-2-2.

That’s all for now, but for this: I had an “Oh, I see now” moment, literally, a few weeks ago. My wife bought me some glasses (readers) for my birthday as a joke. I put them on and suddenly, everything up close seemed like it was in 3D. It’s nice to be able to see what I’m reading.

Remember, BYU-SMU football is Friday night. Stay cool and have a terrific week.