After quite the shaky start (and by shaky I mean a lot of people were pretty sure the world was going to end) the Cougars bounced back and held on for the win.
Was it a dominating performance? Not in the least bit.
Was it a good win against a decent opponent? Absolutely.
Do I need to do less stress eating during the games so that I don't die at the age on 37 due to football related trauma? Undoubtedly.
But enough about me and my eating habits. Let's get to the rankings.
WEEK 6 POWER RANKINGS
10) The ROC
I'll be the first to admit that I bemoaned the fact that BYU decided to give the student section the moniker of The ROC (or Roar of Cougars). Strange name aside, I couldn't be more impressed with the student section on Saturday night. The stands were packed and to much to my surprise the majority of them were wearing royal blue. Good job y'all.
What a game. Thanks for making Lavell Edwards Stadium the best Gameday atmosphere around. #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/md7SqD2OH0
9) Michael Davis
I know what you're thinking. How could you include a defensive back in the power rankings when the opposition threw the ball for 350+ yards on Saturday night? Well let me just say this. Michael Davis played his butt off regardless of the outcome on each play. Pretty much every play (aside from one where he lost his footing) Davis was right there with the receivers, challenging them for the ball. The ECU receivers came up with the ball more often than I would have liked but he played pretty tight coverage. I found myself saying "dang, that's just a great catch" as opposed to "Mike could have played it better". I would like to see him make some improvements but I like what we're seeing out of him.
8) Mitch Matthews
As is the case with Mr Matthews every single week, we see Good Mitch and we see Bad Mitch. Good Mitch went up for a ball in the first half, catching the ball at it's highest point. Good Mitch also had a nice touchdown catch where he caught it short of the goal line but then fought hard to get into the end zone. On the other hand Bad Mitch dropped a pass on third down that hit him directly in the hands, and the following play resulted in a blocked punt. Obviously the blocked put was not his fault but he still should have caught that ball. Aside from that blunder from Bad Mitch, Good Mitch wins out this week.
7) Kai Nacua
I know, I know. Another defensive back makes the list? When you consider the fact that the secondary was depleted due to two suspensions and an injury, you realize how they could have struggled. I was impressed with the fact that Kai was able to move over to cornerback and do a serviceable job. Hopefully that will never have to happen again but in the interim, it was good to see his versatility.
6) Bronson Kaufusi
"OK I SEE YOUR BLOCKED PUNT EAST CAROLINA. I, BRONSON F. KAUFUSI, WOULD NOT BE A GRACIOUS GUEST IF I DID NOT RETURN THE FAVOR. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR VISIT WITH US."
5) Jason Beck
Before I go about professing my undying love and appreciation for Tanner Mangum, we need to recognize the great job that Jason Beck is doing in preparing and instructing Tanner and the rest of the quarterbacks. Each week we have seen Tanner grow in almost every aspect of the game and that probably doesn't happen without Coach Beck. The fact that Tanner is playing so well, so soon off of his mission is a testament to Beck's ability to prepare. That being said, we'll really find out how great a coach Jason is if Beau Hoge has any significant playing time this week against Cincinnati. If Hoge plays and does well, Coach Beck should be given free In-N-Out Burger for life.
4) The Royal Blue Uniforms
These throwback beauties speak for themselves. My ONLY complaint with this uniform set is the chrome face mask and Y logo that they use on the helmet. It takes away from the feeling that it's a throwback and just feels a little forced.The standard helmet or matte finish would look fine here.
TD #24 Algie Brown!! http://t.co/RbIL9QrMTG #byufootball #BYUvsECU #thisisy pic.twitter.com/LQWq9E6atb
3) Devon Blackmon
Every week it seems like a new BYU receiver steps up their game, and this Saturday belonged to Devon Blackmon. They guy had some huge catches and made some beautiful moves to get a few extra yards. My only hope is that we can get this guy at TD catch ASAP because the world deserves to see the type of dances moves that Devon has planned for us. Hopefully we can all witness it this Friday against Cincinnati.
2) Algie Brown
It's really hard for me to put this guy in the number two spot because he scored FOUR touchdowns and did it with relative ease. My personal favorite was the 53 yard run where once he got into the secondary there wasn't a single player within 30 yards of him. For a second it looked like Algie was confused as to where he was supposed to be going. He probably thought to himself "I don't get it, isn't the defense supposed to stop me from going into the end zone? Maybe they will show up once I get closer? We'll see I guess." All around it was a great game for the big fella.
1) Tanner Mangum
I could write at least 5,000 words on Tanner's performance against ECU that would detail his passing accuracy, undeniable leadership and championship level smile. There were two things that I loved seeing from Tanner. The first was on his touchdown pass to Algie Brown in the first half. You could see that Tanner was looking through his progressions and didn't really see anything too promising. Instead of doing the freshman thing and trying to force a throw that wasn't there, he checked down to Algie Brown who was dangerously open and took it in for a score. Two weeks ago Tanner would have thrown the ball away or would have tried to force something. He's showing progress and will continue to get better. How scary is that?
The second thing I wanted to bring up is seen in the video below and I'm not going to attempt to describe my emotions while watching this play because I can't. My face melted off because it was STRAIGHT FIRE. That pump fake to get the blitzing linebacker in the air, and then throwing a TD pass was a gosh dang Rembrandt. I'm feel like a basic white girl right now because I JUST CAN'T EVEN.
STAT OF THE GAME
Hat tip to @BYUstatsMAN for this week's stat of the game. We all knew Tanner was on fire Saturday night but that stretch in the 2nd and 3rd quarters was something else. 13 consecutive completions to eight different receivers, including seven completions for 10+ yards (two of which were for 30+ yards). It's easy to dink and dunk for easy completions but Tanner was throwing the ball downfield on a lot of these.
Tanner completed 13 passes in a row vs ECU Saturday. The longest streak w/o an incompletion by a BYU QB this year. pic.twitter.com/EGzN7xgtKE
TWEET OF THE WEEK
We've all been looking for a way to perfectly articulate the manner in which Tanner Mangum has been performing on the field and I'm pretty sure our good friend Jody Genessy said it best.
Tanner Mangum led that game-winning drive like an A.P. in charge of Zone Conference.
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) October 11, 2015
WELL THAT WAS WEIRD
BYU had a punt blocked? I feel like I've seen that before. BYU coming back and BLOCKING a punt and then FAKING A PUNT? Special teams always seems to be an adventure with BYU but it's a lot more fun when it's a good adventure.
This has nothing to do with BYU football and it's not so much weird as it is amazing. After Washington State beat Oregon on Saturday night, their twitter account dropped the mic with this tweet.
#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/X4txXBLoqd
UP NEXT: Cincinnati
According to their vine account, Cincinnati is the #HottestCollegeInAmerica. This is news to me and probably everyone who lives in America. This would be like Taco John's saying they have the best taco in America. Very few people have been there but they all know that a claim like that is completely unbelievable. Hottest college in America? Nah. Hottest college in Hamilton County, Ohio? Maybe.