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MADISON, Wisc. — Did that just happen?
Squally Canada for 118 yards and two touchdowns, and Skyler Southam booted the game-winning 47-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give BYU an upset win over No. 6 Wisconsin, 24-21 Saturday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium.
BYU (2-1) held the Badgers (2-1) to a season-low 394 rushing yards, and stunned the college football world for one afternoon in a nationally-televised game on ABC.
The Cougars used a little trickeration and a lot of defense to hold off No. 6 Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in a victory that many will call the biggest of the program's independence era.
But before we look at the big picture of the win, let’s look at a few things that had to happen for the win. Here are three thoughts on the Cougars’ second road victory of the season.
The jet sweep is BYU’s run game
Through the first half of play, BYU was tied 14-14 with the Badgers. Furthmore, the Cougars had a lead until Alec Ingold’s 2-yard TD plunge with 1:17 left pulled the hosts level.
And they carried the load of the offense on the ground — just not in a traditional way.
The Cougars out-rushed the Badgers 134-98 in the first half — and 65 of those net rushing yards came on Wisconsin’s final scoring drive before the break — but Squally Canada was not BYU’s only ball carrier. Of the Cougars' 208 yards, all but 128 of them came from wide receivers.
Aleva Hifo carried the ball a team-high five times for 45 yards in the first half, and finished with the second-most carries behind Canada.
“The jet sweep is a big part of what we do,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “Running-wise, I was pleased with how we were doing. We have to run the ball; that’s our deal. We exhaust a lot of scholarships in the O-line and D-line to get our guys as big (as Wisconsin). The only thing we don’t have is the cheese here to get those guys so big.”
Even when the jet sweep didn’t work as predicted (the Cougars averaged 9.83 yards per run by a wideout), the horizontal rushing game made Wisconsin respect Canada’s grace up the middle.
The senior who once transferred from Washington State had four carries for 62 yards and a touchdown before the break. His first carry went for a wide-open 44 yards on an off-tackle run that set the Cougars up for a 7-7 tie with 4:02 left in the first quarter, also on Canada’s 3-yard TD dive.
Grimey ball
Of course, the jet sweep is only as good as it keeps opposing defenses off balance.
BYU ran plenty of balance in its offensive game — and the Badgers had trouble defending it.
An offensive line coach by trade and experience, Jeff Grimes was expected to run the ball hard and fast and always downhill.
Senior quarterback Tanner Mangum completed just 12 passes for 89 yards, but the defense and the run game kept him from having to make too many plays down field. His game-high completion went for 21 yards — 10 fewer than Aleva Hifo had on his reverse-touchdown to Moroni Laulu-Pututau in the second quarter.
Instead, after three games of his first season in charge, the veteran offensive coach who mentored under Dan Hawkins and Matt Canada (among others) has shown he’s capable of more than four-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust.
But those jet sweeps? Yeah, they are here to stay.
“Those help a lot, not only in the jet sweeps but downfield blocking,” Canada said. “From the O-line to the receivers, those guys block hard and I respect that. Now I have to do a better job in pass protection so they can make plays.”
Biggest win in independence?
Since the Cougars left the Mountain West Conference and went independent in football in 2011, the big-name road games against ranked opponents haven’t gone their way.
Finally, in front of a national television audience on ABC and ESPN, the Cougars were the delight of the college football world.
It’s been nearly 10 years since the Cougars beat a top-five opponent, when Max Hall threw for three touchdowns at Jerry’s World
“That’s how you’ve got to approach it: it’s about being able to stay present … and not thinking too far ahead,” Mangum said. “That’s how I feel about my career, and I’m just going to enjoy it.”
