20 August 2008

BYU football highlight of the week, Wednesday edition

The year is 1996. The date, August 24. It's early for college football, but Texas A&M is visiting Provo to play in the Pigskin Classic, the first of 15 games BYU would play over the next three months.

A&M was a good team, going 10-0-1 in 1994 and 9-3 in 1995. And this was the first meeting between the teams since the 1990 Holiday Bowl, where A&M destroyed Heisman winner Ty Detmer's Cougars 65-14.

Returning quarterback Steve Sarkisian passed for 3,437 yards, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 1995. Not world-beating numbers, and not enough that fans expected him to torch the Aggies like he did in this game.

Sark threw for 536 yards, six touchdowns and only one pick in the 41-37 win, finding Chad Lewis, Kaipo McGuire, Itula Mili, James Dye and K.O. Kealaluhi for strikes through the air. As you watch the highlight, note the precision on Sark's throws. Many, many times Aggie secondary players are playing the Cougar receivers well, but the ball is placed perfectly.

It'd be nice to see the same kind of offseason jump by Max Hall this season. If he can be lights out against Washington and UCLA, 2008 and 2009 are going to be big, big years for BYU.

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