This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo
Former BYU quarterback Steve Young stood at midfield and handed a microphone to LaVell Edwards, who immediately wished he had prepared something to say.
Edwards recovered nicely, and his words seemingly were about all the Cougars left unscripted Saturday evening in a 23-17 victory over Washington.
I mean, who made up this stuff?
Alternating quarterbacks Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps passed for exactly the same number of yards (131), while performing in front of BYU's eight All-America quarterbacks — including Steve Sarkisian, Washington's coach —who gathered for a fundraising reunion.
Allowing the suspense to build, each QB failed to finish a fourth-quarter drive and left BYU with only a six-point lead against the Huskies and their senior quarterback, Jake Locker.
BYU's defense repeatedly responded, finally finishing off the Huskies when defensive lineman Eathyn Manumaleuna deflected Locker's fourth-down pass — with his helmet.
Mix in the history of Manumaleuna's blocking UCLA's short field-goal try (with his hand) to preserve a one-point victory in the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl, his most recent game before a church mission, and it all added up to more than what Edwards described as "a remarkable weekend."
That declaration came at halftime, even before the Cougars would recover by holding Washington scoreless in the second half and taking a lead with Nelson's 48-yard touchdown pass to tailback J.J. DiLuigi in the third quarter.
The defense made it stand.
That's the story of this game, if not necessarily what everybody will be talking about through the holiday weekend. While the quarterbacks played adequately, 23 points never should have been enough to beat the Huskies, who turned 394 yards into only 17 points.
BYU's defense did benefit from incredible field position. Washington's average starting spot was its 16-yard line, thanks to some combination of BYU's offense moving the ball regularly, punter/kickoff man Riley Stephenson and the coverage teams doing their jobs well and the Huskies fumbling two kickoffs.
Sarkisian also could have ordered a field goal, trailing by six midway through the fourth quarter, and potentially tied the game later.
Instead, his two fourth-down gambles failed.
On fourth-and-2 at the BYU 23, cornerback Brian Logan broke up Locker's pass in the end zone.
Two possessions later, the Huskies drove from their 25 to the BYU 27 in the last two minutes. On fourth-and-7, BYU defensive coordinator Jaime Hill called for a drop-eight coverage, a look he had not employed all night.
It worked, although we'll never know what would have happened if the ball had sailed over the 6-foot-2 Manumaleuna's head, instead of caroming into the air and harmlessly landing behind him, much the way the ball fluttered and fell short of the goalposts in Las Vegas.
"I don't usually worry about the defensive tackles," Locker said.
The 295-pound lineman claimed to have jumped higher than he did in Vegas, yet blocking the pass was the furthest thing from his mind.
"It's all luck, I guess," Manumaleuna said.
Either that, or BYU had this season opener mapped out from start to finish.
While some questions about the new quarterbacks, tailback and tight end were answered, the defense's effort saved BYU in the end.
"We love being out there in that situation," said linebacker Jordan Pendleton.
And the defense played its role nicely, during a weekend designated for the quarterbacks.
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