This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Miami • History will show BYU lost 55-48 to Memphis on Monday afternoon in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl when the Cougars failed to match the Tigers' touchdown in the second overtime.
But there were many BYU failures before the final one, including in the entire third quarter when the Cougars blew a 28-24 halftime lead.
Memphis took the opening kickoff in the second half and marched 71 yards in 14 plays to take a 31-28 lead. When BYU finally got the ball in the third quarter, after being backed to its 11 by a holding penalty on the kickoff, Bobby McCain intercepted Christian Stewart's pass and the Tigers were in BYU territory again.
"Surprised me, because I thought we were gaining momentum going into the half, and yeah, it surprised me a little bit as we went into the third quarter," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We thought they were very skilled on offense and that played out exactly as what we thought. They made a lot of plays with an execution level that was ahead of ours in many cases."
BYU is now 71-10 under Mendenhall when leading at halftime, and 5-2 this season. Memphis had lost both games it trailed at halftime before Monday.
The Cougars gained just 17 yards and one first down in the third quarter. They had outscored opponents 125-52 in the third quarter before Monday's game.
That's a wrap
After the Cougars had their four-game winning streak snapped and lost their bowl game for the second straight year, Mendenhall was asked to frame the 2014 season.
"Tough," he said. "A good season, but tough. A lot of opportunities and a lot of growing and maturing. Yeah, tough. Ups, down and a swing of one or two plays changes the outcome. One or two plays in this game, and my answer might have been different to you."
Lots of empty seats
The inaugural Miami Beach Bowl was not well-attended at Marlins Park, baseball home of the Miami Marlins.
Announced attendance was 20,761, but there were far fewer people in the blue seats. Memphis fans outnumbered BYU fans by an estimated 2-1 margin.
The game kicked off at 2 p.m. EST in Miami.
BYU officials say about 3,000 tickets were sold through the school's website.
Briefly
Temperature at kickoff was 86 degrees, with relative humidity at 63 percent. … BYU won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, but Paul Lasike fumbled the ball away on the third play … Offensive lineman Solomone Kafu carried out the team flag and defensive back Skye PoVey carried out the special teams flag. The alumni flag-bearer was Robert Saunooke, a center in the mid-1980s. … The teams combined to run 48 plays in the first quarter and scored 52 points in the first half, the most points in a half in any BYU bowl game ever.
Twitter: @drewjay