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Show DAILY HERALD POSTGAME REPORT: BOSTON COLLEGE 20, BYU3 Kehl’s blockedpunt helps Cougars avoid shutout | Altitude, heat can’t stop Boston College Neil K. Warner DAILY HERALD. toe the betterpart of three and half hours,the 58,000 fans JaredLloyd DAILY HERALD at LaVell Edwards Stadium were begging for something to After three teams from happen so they could get out of = Seats and cheer. east of the Mississippi River cameto Provo andlost to BYU in three consecutive ryan Kehl, a sophomore linebacker,finally gave the fans @ reason to roar. Kehl drew the loudest ovation of the day when he cameup with BYU's biggest season openers, Boston College head coach Tom O’Brien line, you could see them with their hands ontheir hips,” tion out of the equation. pound them.” Porter, however, did have to make some adjustments was determined to take loca“From thestart, we talked about whatwehadto do to play of the be ready forthealtitude,” O'Briensaid after the Eagles 20-3 win over the Cougars. “Weeliminated that as an GAME NOTEBOOK excuse. Westarted hydrating JEREMY HARMON/Daily Herald BYU's John Beck (12) comes underpressure from the Boston College defense as the Cougars face forced the Eagles to punt. Boston College during theirfirst home gameof the season. punt. The ball bounced out of As Meikle hit the ground, the ball came loose,but the officials ruled Meikle was down when Kehl charged up the middle and blocked Johnny Ayers’ bounds at the Eagles 25 before a BYU playercould get a hand on the ball, but it did set upa field the ball popped free. Boston College challenged ae BYU'sonly score in a 20-3 the play, butit was ruled in- “We suspected wecould get one,” said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall.“I believe that conclusive and BYU avoided a turnover. was our first opportunity we * had to block one. I have great confidencein our punt blocking team. Coach Patrick Higgins does an outstanding job.” On a day where BYU's offense sputtered with drive-killing penalties, and started with an averagefield position ofits own18-yardlinein thefirst half, having the defense set up the offense on the Boston College 25 was the keyto avoiding the shutout. This is the first year the Mountain West Conferenceis using instant replay. The Mountain West is oneofnine conferences using instant replay. The Big 10 started the trend last year whenit was the first conference to try instant replay. ) Losing streak to ranked teams continues: The 20-3 loss to Boston College, which cameinto the gameranked No.22, extended BYU'slosing streak to 11 D Upon further review:It didn’t take long forthe first instant replay ruling to come down, and whenit did the ruling went for an interception. Horned Frogswill likely crack the top 25 after they opened the season with a stunning 17-10 upset of Oklahoma. openers. The last time BYU lost a season-opening game at home was in 1997, a 42-20 loss to Washington. en away because the ball was The only other play reviewed during the game came when BYU's Nathan Meikle was tack- led after receiving a short pass. Christensen sions we havedeified people and Continuedfrom D2 but then the laughter got nervous as religious institutions throughout the country in NFL cities made adjustments in their meeting schedules so that their congregate could follow their anitGibbons in his “Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire” pointed out that one of the major contributors to the decay of that society was the frenzy of sports and the maniacal thirst for greater and moretitillating events that could not be slaked.It is redundantto furtherthis point as it is manifest in everything from The homage wepay to the athlete should simply be the price of the ticket as too many occa- a 12-play drive that chewed up over four minutes and ended up in a Boston Collegefield goal. “It was a mistake.If we had to doit again, we would have goneforit,” Mendenhall said. “My thinking was to pin them deep and get a three-and-out and maybe block a punt.” » Beck ties Sheide for most 300 but he did connect on 41-of-60 Mahon,whohadjust half that numberwith17, is in second, followed by John Walsh(16), Robbie Bosco (15), Marc Wilson games that are unworthy of such adulation. It has beensaid that “... there is only one sin andthatis the sin of ingratitude.” The visuals from the Katrina devastation, if nothing else, should cause us to view our own travails withless trepidation and to “... rejoice in our portion.” The games will continue and wecan be thankful that welive in a place wheresuch events can occur devoidofthe inherent strife that so many other coun- tries ;. And while my own vista of sports with life is found between game andreligion I am reminded that the “Book of Mor- mon”prophet Jacob had the best advice in encouraging us to“... see thingsas they really are.” ) Todd Christensen be reached at dhsports@heraldextra.com. WwW.kengarffford.com “The Easy Way To Buy” 801-TRY-FORD ZaneBerry Has found a new homeat de AUTO SALES Zaneis inviting all of hisprevious customers to visit him & find the. best kept secret in auto values in Utah County! "565 N. State * Orem, UT tor.” Boston Collegealso used a away BYU's deepthreat. After the game, Watkins didn't seemed pleased with the lackof activity. When he was asked on twodifferent occasions if he should have got the ball more, he offered, “No comment.” “B.C. played rolled cover- age. The safety was over the top the majority of the time,” difficult to get big plays on.” Quarterback John Beck hesaid. “They were focused on Todd. They knew he was a deep threat.” D LaVellsighting: Former BYU coach LaVell Edwards was one ofthe first ones to congratulate Boston College coach Tom six different tackles,five different defensive ends andsix different linebackers. “We rotated players in every six plays,” O'Brien ex- held theball in the third, so weplayed ourones morein the fourth because they were fresh.” The extra energy was put to good use whenever BYU started threatening. The Eagles always found a reserve that forced a sack or a holding penalty and drove the Cougarsback. “That's the staple of this defense,” said Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka. “We answerbig plays with big plays. We stepped it up when we needed to and flying.” Porter didn’t have to worry working sowell. Part of the credit went to cornerback/ wide receiver Will Blackmon, whoconsistently made Cougar tacklers miss. “BYU keptsitting back,” Blackmonsaid. “Whyrun deep routes whenthey're just sitting there? I was just hav- ing funout there, getting the ball and making plays.” Blackmonfinished with 100 yards on eight catches Porter said having a weapon like Blackmon onthe flank makes everything-easier. “It’s something we didn't have too much in 2004,” Porter said. “He brings a new dimension.” Blackmonsaid he also Still, O'Brien said hefelt “This is a difficult place to comeplay, especially if you think you can hold BYU to three points,” O'Brien said. “With thatoffense, I think played 10plays ondefense and returned.kicks for the Eagles,but didn’t feel drained by the heat or the they're going to bepretty good down the road once altitude. they figure out wh. they're “This is the cleanestair I've ever breathed,” Blackmon said. being in Provo, which has “gorgeous scenery,” but ad- » Jared Lloyd can be reachedat 344-2552or fourth quarter. “Our guys were fresh and just fine.” “Theball sails here,” Por- lucky to “escape with a win.” shakehands with O'Brien. and was preseasonfirst-team out how toget the ball to his receivers through theair. ter said. “I wouldn't put that much onit and it would go got in the backfield.” O’Brien was gracious with the compliment and responded with, “You guysare going to be Biletnikoff Award candidate The Boston College quarterbackalsohadto figure Wefelt good athalftime. We ) Watkins quiet day: BYU wide Boston College locker room to “Wewereable to rotate becauseof our depth, but I didn't get a break,” Porter said. “After a couple of runs, I wasn't able to breath, but you just work through that.” long passes because the Eagles short passing game was BYU, 20-3. LaVell visited O'Brien in the (11) and Grifford Nielson(9). due to wherehe wasplaying. as muchaboutthe effects on particularlyin thefirst half. (14), Steve Young(13), Steve Sarkisian (12), Kevin Feterik OBrienafter the Eagles beat Porter said. “We were able to plained. “That was ourplan, doing. They’re going to be tough.” The Eaglesalsoused their size to wear down the BYU defense, and quarterback QuintonPortersaid he could receiver Todd Watkins is a D Unpopularcall: With nine minutes left in the gameandtrail- paintball to ultimatefighting. theball at the 20 and went on added his take on the subject. “The offense is designed to take whatthe defense gives you,” a 50 recordin its last five home ruled to havehit the ground. Boston College promptly took passes for 330 yards on Saturday, his fifth career 300-yard passing game whichties him with Gary Sheide and Sean Covey. Ty Detmerholds the team record for most 300-yard games with a whopping 34. Jim Mc- b Home openerspoiled: BYU had Not so fast. Upon further review, the interception was tak- the end zone,starting another round of boos. led the Mountain West with 1,042 yards last year, but in Saturday's opener, Watkins had a quiet afternoon. He caught just two passes for 19 yards. He did have a 22yard reception wiped out due to a holding penalty, but Boston College was determined to take over No. 23 ColoradoState in 1999, hosts TCU onSept. 24. The caughtthe ball over the middle. The ball popped upin the air andinto the arms of Vince Feula McLaughlin's puntsailed into College Football Review). He Mendenhall explained. “They're against BYU. widereceiver Larry Lester who fourth-and-three at the Boston College 36. Thedecision brought out a chorus of boos. Fans wanted BYU to goforit. Derek All-American (Phil Steele's yard passing games: John Beck didn’t throw for a touchdown, first quarter, BYU's Dustin With 10 minutes left in the ing 17-3, BYU opted to punton and kept hydrating. I don’t think thealtitude was a fac- platoon scheme on defense to avoid wearingout, playing straight games to ranked teams. The last time BYU beat a ranked team was a 34-13 win The Cougars probably won't haveto wait long to get another shot at a ranked team. BYU Gabriel tackled Boston College In the opposing Locker room see the differencein the whenyoulooked across the Kiwanukasaid he enjoyed mitted getting a winwill help him have positive memories. jlloyd@heraldextra.com |