46. 9/20/97 – Cougar D Holds Ranked Team Scoreless in Second Half: BYU – 13, #14 ASU – 10

             When the BYU Cougars (0-1) traveled south to play the #14 Arizona State Sun Devils (2-0), most experts were predicting another Sun Devil victory. After all, Arizona State held a 20-5 advantage in the all-time series against their former conference rivals. Even during the Edwards era, the Cougars had little success (2-7) against the perennial WAC champions of yesteryear. In fact, the Cougars had lost 9 straight games to PAC-10 teams. On a night when the Sun Devils would honor QB legend Danny White, the spectre of the past seemed to cast a large shadow over the Cougars’ chances.

            On their opening drive, the Cougs advanced to the ASU 24, where they attempted to kick a field goal. They missed. The Sun Devils marched the other way into Cougar territory, but their 44-yard FG attempt was successful. Back came the Cougars, marching to the ASU 32, where their FGA missed again. On their third drive, QB Kevin Feterik led the Cougars to the ASU 6 as the first quarter came to a close.

            On the first play of the second quarter, Feterik handed off to RB Brian McKenzie, who powered his way into the end zone to give the Cougars the lead. When the Cougar D forced another Sun Devil punt, things were looking good along the Cougar sideline. They were moving the ball well, while the Sun Devils appeared to be struggling. Unfortunately, the Cougars fumbled the punt and ASU recovered at the Cougar 13. Four plays later, Michael Martin bulldozed his way over the line as the Sun Devils retook the lead. Following a Sun Devil fumble, BYU drove into FG range again. On fourth down, they again turned to Owen Pochman, who this time booted the pigskin through the uprights for a 45-yard FG to tie the game at 10-10.

            BYU received the kick to start the second half. Feterik and company embarked on a trek that landed them on ASU’s doorstep. Unfortunately, they fumbled away their chance to take the lead. Luckily, the Cougar D was more successful, holding the Sun Devils in check and forcing punt after punt. Near the end of the third, BYU had entered the Blue Zone again. From the ASU 13, they attempted another field goal; but for the third time that night, they came up empty as the 31-yard FGA was blocked.

            With the score still knotted at 10, the Cougars took another long trip deep into ASU territory. Facing fourth down at the ASU fourteen, the Cougar brass tried to decide whether to go for it or risk missing another FG. In the end, they sent out the FG crew and Pochman rewarded their faith with a 32-yard FG and a 13-10 lead. The Cougar D then made the small lead stick, not allowing the Sun Devils to even enter Cougar territory in the final period.

Ben Cahoon
Courtesy of BYU Photo

            Ben Cahoon racked up 219 receiving yards (9th) in the victory. Although the win sparked a 3-game win streak, the Cougars never reached their potential during the 1997 season, failing to garner a bowl game for only the second time in two decades. The Sun Devils went on to finish the season with a 9-3 record, including a 17-7 win over Iowa in the Sun Bowl. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cougar Centennial preview

 This blog is dedicated to highlighting the 100 greatest games in BYU Cougar football history. I've been a BYU fan since I was a little kid, and attended the university from 1992-1996. When I realized that 2022 was the 100th anniversary of BYU's first official football game, I decided to compile a list of the 100 greatest games in the program's history (from 1922-2021) and do a write-up for each of those games. I did something similar for the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and figured I'd share my efforts with other BYU fans out there. Throughout the blog, I will be referring to Top 25 (or Top 20 prior to the expansion of the polls) rankings of either BYU or the teams they played. I realize that there are a couple of major polls, and even a few less famous ones, but for consistency sake I've decided to use the AP poll as the official ranking (even though BYU tends to be appreciated more by the coaches' poll). Also, many posts refer to the...
Read more

#98 - 11/1/80 – Most points in a game: #17 BYU – 83, UTEP - 7

Image
Junior QB Jim McMahon didn’t like to share the limelight with anyone. Yet that is exactly what he’d had to do in Provo. When Jim arrived in 1977, he found himself the backup to Marc Wilson, who enjoyed a spectacular sophomore season. The next year, the two QBs shared time behind center. That didn’t work out so well, so McMahon redshirted in 1979 - Wilson’s senior season. The result was the first undefeated regular season in team history. Now, it was Jim’s turn, and he wanted to break every single one of Wilson’s records, as well as set a bunch of new ones. Unfortunately, the Cougars started the 1980 season with a surprise loss to lightly regarded New Mexico. The loss served as a wake-up call to BYU, who were universally picked to repeat as WAC champions. The Cougars rolled out six straight victories, including a 28-3 win over Wisconsin on Sept. 20. These were convincing wins - with a minimum margin of victory of 16+ points. However, the Cougs didn’t break into the Top 20 until Oct. 18,...
Read more

#100 12/28/74 – BYU's first Bowl game: Oklahoma St. - 16, #17 BYU – 6

Image
               When the BYU Cougars (7-3-1) started the 1974 season with a 0-3-1 record, nobody would have guessed that they’d come back and win the WAC. However, since their 3 losses were against non-conference schools, they successfully won the conference title with a 6-0-1 record by knocking off two ranked teams (Arizona & Arizona State). As the winner of the WAC, the Cougars were invited to their first bowl game, to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-5) of the Big 8 in the fourth annual Fiesta Bowl.                In the first quarter, the Cougar D corralled the Cowboys, forcing punts on each of the Cowboys first 5 possessions. The Cougar offense, meanwhile, moved the ball well early on. Senior QB Gary Sheide led the Cougars to the Cowboy 13, where Mark Uselman booted a 30-yard  field goal. Although they punted on their second possession, the Cougars took advantage of good field positi...
Read more