Ty Detmer. Not the biggest guy, not the strongest arm, but his guts and winning attitude took him far at BYU.
He's the only Cougar to ever win the Heisman trophy, and BYU vs. Miami in 1990 is a major reason he did. Miami started off with a preseason #1 ranking. The game in Provo was their first of the year, though BYU had beaten UTEP 30-10 the week before.
My family moved back to Utah the summer of 1990. Though I personally didn't care about football at this point in my life (I was seven), I later came to discover how big this game is in BYU football history.
One note is that Miami was really good this year. They weren't a bad team given a #1 preseason ranking because of their "legacy." The Hurricanes went on to finish 10-2, with a #3 national ranking.
BYU finished 10-3 after losing games to Oregon, Hawaii and Texas A&M (a brutal 65-14 loss in the Holiday Bowl where A&M's linebackers destroyed Detmer).
But in this game, BYU showed it could hang with and beat schools from bigger conferences. Here's hoping the Cougars can do so again in 2008. Beating Washington and UCLA in the second and third games of the season will go a long way to establishing the program under Bronco.
Anyway, here's the highlight. Detmer's scrambling ability, better-than-average arm and willingness to take a big hit if it meant a great pass make him pretty awesome in my book.
Of course, having receivers like Matt Bellini and Andy Boyce didn't hurt much.
6 comments:
Star Wars topped off by Nickleback..... lol Good game.
Brandon, I'm ashamed of you. When I was seven, I followed sports very closely. Even if it was 2004 and they went 5-6, I still believed.
But then again, you didn't have an older brother to teach it to you. I'm surprised dad didn't teach you about it.
Detmer has good vision
Right music composer, wrong movie.
And yes, it is weird that I didn't really like sports until I was 13.
I've never really considered blaming Dad for that. Maybe I should. :)
Well, all that matters is that you like sports now
You nailed it. The attitude is exactly what made Detmer great and Beck mediocre. Detmer had mental toughness to spare, and that's what made Max Hall able to come in and do well in his first year starting. You've got to have that edge, and physical gifts are a bonus. Brandon Doman is another example.
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