Hall and the Cougars deploy the stinger against OSU

Tiger Woods has a patented shot he rolls out when facing a strong wind that might do all kinds of tricks to a golf ball in flight. He sets the ball back in his stance, closes the club face a little and hits what he calls a stinger. It’s a shot that tears through the wind on a low trajectory, minimizing that element on a course.

The Cougars had a lot of stinger plays in Tuesday’s win over Oregon State in the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl.

From Riley Stephenson finding a way to punt the ball down the field in winds gusting to 55 miles an hour to Max Hall gutting out an 84-yard game tying drive on BYU’s third possession, it was evident the Cougars had more determination to work the cold, biting wind that tore through Las Vegas that night.

How bad was it?

Dennis Pitta, BYU’s All-America tight end said the situation was about as bad as anyone could imagine. Wind chill factors in the stadium were reported to be 30 degrees.

“It was brutal out there. It was freezing. The wind made things a lot worse. Our hands were freezing. I give credit to our team for battling the elements and winning a game like that. It hurt to block. It hurt to catch the ball. Everything hurt. It was so cold.”

The stinger shot. BYU had it, OSU did not.