BYU highlight of the week

For this week I chose BYU @ TCU 2006. At the time, BYU was slowly climbing back towards excellence, but still fighting the ghosts of 2002-2004. It had been a long time since the team had beaten a really good opponent, and they hadn't even come close to doing so on the road for years.

Along came 2006. The team was looking to do well in Bronco's second year, but started out 1-2 after losing at Arizona and at Boston College. John Beck's ankles were taped, and he spent the fourth game of the season, a home game against Utah State, on the sidelines.

Going to Texas, the Cougars were 2-2, with one of those wins coming at home against a team that should be Div-II. Fans were restless, it seemed to be taking longer than it should for BYU football to get back to where it was in the glory days.

TCU was coming off an 11-1 season in 2005, and had gone undefeated in conference to win the MWC championship. The Horned Frogs were 3-0 in 2006. In short, this was a good team, on a roll, at home.

And here's the result:




Final tally:

Beck finished with 321 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-37 passing with no interceptions. He was simply on fire, completing laser pass after laser pass on TCU's vaunted seconday. Texas Christian fans to this day say they would have won this game if not for Beck's ridiculous accuracy and power.

BYU went undefeated the rest of the season, and pummeled Oregon in the Cougars' first bowl win since 1996, when Sark beat KSU in the Cotton Bowl.

The Cougars went 11-2 that year and then 11-2 last year. It appears the magic is back, and the turning point, in my opinion, was this game.

And let's not forget this game's effect on Beck's career. Before TCU, fans were calling for his head and questioning his abilities and mental toughness. After TCU? Never again.