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The BYU football season was filled with ups and downs. It provided ecstasy and despair. Now it has come and gone, but all is not forgotten.
BYU football was a roller coaster this season. New coaches, new schemes, tough schedule and high expectations. The Cougars brought their share of heartbreaks in 2016, but there were just as many bright spots.
And there’s no denying that for all the ‘what ifs’ fans have discussed, the future is very bright for Kalani Sitake and the BYU Cougars.
In 2017, the Cougars will play 13 teams (thanks to an NCAA rule allowing teams with a road game against Hawaii to schedule an extra opponent). Four of those teams are from Power 5 conferences (Utah, Wisconsin, Mississippi State and LSU). Overall, BYU football’s 2017 opponents are 64-82 (pending some bowl games).
But let’s not move on to 2017 quite yet. Let’s savor the good that BYU football brought us in 2016.
These are the five best moments of the Cougars’ 2016 season.
Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
No. 5: The almost-comeback against Utah
I know that this game fulfills every requirement of a heart-breaker, but it’s still making the list. Why? Here’s why.
Firstly, everything about this edition of the Holy War felt different. Sitake brought a new level of respect and sportsmanship to the rivalry game, but he also made the game feel bigger than ever.
One of my biggest gripes about Bronco Mendenhall was that he downplayed the rivalry. To him, it was just another game. I believe that showed in his team’s play. Sitake didn’t shy away from the rivalry talk.
Considering the tempers that were flaring off the field the last time the Cougars and Utes met, it was nice to see the players hug it out after the game – and seeing Sitake at the center of it all was great.
Secondly, the final moments of the game were nothing less than stellar.
The Utes ripped off a 19 play, 76 yard drive that lasted more than 11 minutes to start the fourth quarter. Rice Eccles Stadium was rocking (it was the loudest I’ve heard a venue). The Cougars got the ball trailing 20-13.
Taysom Hill led the Cougars on a drive and silenced the deafening Ute crowd. Hill scrambled for a seven yard touchdown run, pulling the Cougars to one point. Sure, the two-point conversion failed and Utah won for the sixth-straight time. But, Hill silencing the crowd on his touchdown run was one of the best moments of 2016.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
No. 4: Kai Nacua‘s INT against Wyoming
Seems fitting that BYU football’s most clutch defender came up with the biggest play of the season. In the Poinsettia Bowl against Wyoming the Cougars were doing their best to cough away what should have been an easy win.
Jamaal Williams broke off a 36-yard touchdown run with 14:07 remaining in the game and the Cougars took a 24-7 lead. It should have been over. But BYU let Wyoming get right back in the game. The Cowboys scored two unanswered touchdowns, bringing the score to 24-21. With about two minutes remaining, Wyoming got the ball and had a chance to win the game. On 1st-and-10 from the BYU 32-yard line Wyoming QB Josh Allen dropped back to pass. He found a receiver and chucked it downfield.
Enter Cobra Kai.
Nacua read the play, worked his way in front of the Wyoming receiver and picked off the pass.
The pick sealed the win for the Cougars and provided one of the many highlights of the season. Nacua will now be trying to carve out a role in the NFL, but he’ll never be forgotten in Provo.
Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
No. 3: Jamaal Williams sets single-game rushing record
Jamaal Williams was the best part of BYU football this season.
Williams missed a few games, but he was the undeniable central cog of the Cougars’ offense. He ran for 1,375 yards and 12 touchdowns and paced the BYU offense.
Perhaps no single game was more impressive than his Week Five explosion against Toledo in Provo.
In front of 60,000 Cougar faithful in LaVell Edwards Stadium, Williams carved the Rockets and etched his name into the BYU football record books.
J-Swag Daddy ran for 286 yards and five touchdowns in the 55-53 victory.
After the game? His personality shone through.
“I have to give credit to everyone blocking for me tonight,” Williams said after the game. “Linemen, fullbacks, wide receivers. I’m grateful for them.”
Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
No. 2: Sitake’s first career victory
The Kalani Sitake era of BYU football started on a high note.
The Cougars traveled to Glendale to take on the Arizona Wildcats at University of Phoenix Stadium. It was a big game and anxious BYU fans were already eyeballing the Week Two matchup with the Utes.
The stadium was electric and well more than half the fans in attendance were there for the Cougars. What we thought might have just been a slow start for BYU football ended up being the norm of the season.
The defense led the way and the offense relied on Williams. Also fitting, the game came down to the final plays, as Jake Oldroyd knocked home a 33-yard field goal with just four seconds left. Oldroyd hadn’t made a kick in a game in years and didn’t even have team-issued cleats.
The kick made him a hero.
But for as exciting as the Cactus Kickoff was, the game wasn’t the most impressive thing I saw that night.
It was Sitake’s post-game press conference.
Sitake was asked about his first win. How did it feel? How excited was he? How proud?
He deflected everything. Said it was all about the players.
We turned our attention to Taysom Hill, but quickly went back to Sitake.
“These guys deserve it,” Sitake said after the game. “I wish you would ask them more of the questions. I’ve been really impressed with the leadership on this team.”
If you weren’t sure Sitake was the right man for the job going into the game, there were no questions after it was over. He clearly loves BYU and every one of his players and his comments – on a night that could’ve been all about him, no less – prove that.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
No. 1: Jamaal Williams becomes BYU football’s all-time leading rusher
It’s only right that the Cougars’ No. 1 player got the No. 1 spot on this list.
And boy, did he earn it.
Williams broke Harvey Unga‘s career rushing total on Oct. 14 against Mississippi State. Williams took 26 carries for just 76 yards, but the Cougars defeated the Bulldogs 28-21 in double overtime.
The ROC student section at LaVell Edwards Stadium raised a giant flag in his honor. Everyone erupted on the carry that put him over Unga’s 3,4055 yards.
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After the game, the man with smooth dance moves and smoother jukes said he wanted every lineman’s name on the record with him.
Williams leaves Provo with 3,901 yards and 35 touchdowns. He’ll be playing in the NFL next season, which is exactly where he belongs.
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