...it can sharpen them and build their confidence for the next season or it can crush them and cause them to start losing in droves. In 2004 BYU remained competitive all year and finished their MWC schedule with a winning record at 4-3. They got crushed by two Pac12 schools and by the MWC champ and #5 ranked Utes but they were competitive in every other game including on the road vs #14 ranked Boise St.

It's an interesting question how Crowton might have done with another season. I've read that new incoming BYU Pres Cecil Samuelson gave Crowton an ultimatum at the beginning of the season that he had to go bowling to save his job. Had Matt Payne made that fairly easy 30+ yd FT at the end of the game vs Boise St and BYU won 30-28, they would've finished at 6-5 having played one of the toughest schedules in the country. Could that big finish have acted like a springboard heading into 2005 with an experienced QB behind an exp OL and vaulted BYU to a really big season playing such an easy schedule? Who knows, Crowton seemed traumatized by the pressure on him to win following the Legend and had been kinda all over the place during the losing seasons (not the same coach as the guy who put together the #1 offense in 2001 leading BYU to a 12-2 record). I wonder if he was kind of broken at that point and been used up? Hard to say.