Simon shines: Cougar receiver Micah Simon making the most of his final opportunities

PROVO — It’s somewhat easy to ascertain just how much playing football for BYU means to Cougar receiver Micah Simon whenever he’s involved in a postgame press conference.

“It’s fun and I love the aggressiveness from our coaches. Every week they put in some different wrinkles for us to execute, and it worked tonight.” — BYU wide receiver Micah Simon

Following the loss to Utah to begin the season, the senior from Dallas had trouble holding back his emotions after taking another crushing defeat to the Utes. On Saturday, following much happier circumstances that came with a 31-24 win over Liberty, Simon again expressed just how much his BYU football experience means to him.

“We only have two games left in this stadium, and that’s something that really hits home,” Simon said, reflecting on conversations he’s had with his fellow upperclassmen leading up to Saturday’s win. “It really makes it special, and now we only have one more.”

Simon certainly made the most of his second-to-last outing at LaVell Edwards Stadium in the win.

Sure, he proved the go-to receiver, hauling in seven receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown, but what had him beaming considerably was the 44-yard touchdown pass he threw to Matt Bushman off a trick play. It was the second touchdown pass for Simon this season in as many throws, which has his passer rating reaching the ridiculous number of 504.4.

“It brought back memories of high school,” said Simon, who played quarterback in high school. “It’s fun and I love the aggressiveness from our coaches. Every week they put in some different wrinkles for us to execute, and it worked tonight.”

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When informed of his astronomical passer rating, Simon grinned big, stating, “Wooo, I love that!” to which BYU coach Kalani Sitake jokingly chided the media to quit informing Simon of such things. “I’ll let the guys know about it — especially Zach (Wilson),” Simon then said.

As Simon’s pass plays have come to fruition in the playbook, it wasn’t due to any particular campaign by the senior, but by a somewhat unusual competition administered by BYU receivers coach Fesi Sitake.

“We’ve had tryouts, and I won the tryouts,” Simon began to explain. “A few times after practice — especially on Thursdays or Fridays — Coach Fesi has us do a little competition...and I’ve won those, so I think it was just a unanimous decision to have me throw those.”

Regardless of how he contributes to any win, Simon is just grateful for the opportunity to execute whatever responsibility he’s assigned.

“Winning is everything to me,” Simon said. “I don’t care how it gets done. I could have a night like I did tonight or ... other games where I had a coach, or two, and it’s truly not about that. It’s about doing your job and doing what’s expected of you.”