Leaving Logan with a chippy attitude: Good

The Cougars extended the nation’s longest winning streak and kept a 5-0 season record in the excursion to Logan Friday night.

But, as predicted Friday morning in this space, it would get ugly. The 34-14 BYU win was an ugly win. But teams have those, even ones ranked high in the polls and the Cougars are no exception.

The good part of this win is BYU left the field unsatisfied, frustrated and a little chippy. You could see it after the final play when at least a dozen, perhaps 20 BYU players including Max Hall quickly left for the locker room. They wanted to get out of dodge. They were summoned back onto the field, made it part way and then came back to the dressing room.

Players, to a man, expressed frustration over execution and the desire to crank it up against New Mexico in Provo this Saturday. That will set a tone for the work week ahead.

Now some quick observations.

BYU-USU games that are expected to be lopsided, have a way of getting ugly with penalties, nasty play and some injuries. We saw all of that. Just count how many helmets came off and the seven penalties called in the final three minutes. And didn’t Max Hall start screaming at the bench when a FG was called instead of a poke at a TD in the third quarter? Didn’t Max get an unsportsman penalty for venting his frustration after a QB sneak?

Yup, not surprising and a part of this package with the Aggies. Not to take anything away from USU, whom I thought fought with a lot of passion and skill, but this game often turns warty.

I can remember John Walsh throwing for a school record 619 yards in Logan in 1993, a record that still stands. But the Cougars lost 58-56. Get the picture?

Credit USU. BYU’s going to get tremendous shots from everybody they play from on now, especially on the road at AFA, CSU, TCU and Utah. Some it will be very effective, some will not.

They’ll just have to be ready.

Another item. BYU’s offense was stinky, compared to what we’ve seen in most of the four previous games, but they were working with a game plan that did not uncover some formations and plays they want to use against some league foes, particularly near the goal line.

For what it’s worth, the trip to Logan actually did BYU a lot of good. Humility is a great teacher. Ask Southern Cal.