...as a team and they had a lot of freshman and sophomores in the 2 deep that needed more experience. Sophomore John Beck playing vs the #11 toughest SOS compared to junior John Beck playing vs the #73rd toughest SOS was really the difference between the 2 seasons. John had another year of time and development and experience and a significantly easier schedule. Our scoring improved by nearly 10 pts a game while our defense actually got worse. John's pass efficiency rating improved by nearly 10 pts, his completion pct improved by 8.5%, he nearly doubled the number of TD passes, BYU had it's first 1000 rusher since Luke Staley etc.

I know it's a popular fan narrative but we were a young team in those years after 2001 and a mess for a few years at QB. Things didn't really turn around until John Beck solidified himself as the QB1 and got a couple seasons under his belt. That's pretty much the way it goes success-wise at BYU. We typically struggle with freshman starting QB's or in years where we don't have a clear QB1. Then in 2005 John Beck hits his junior year and we get a super super easy schedule after 2 of the most difficult in program history and *voila!* it's a miracle!

No, just the formula for winning at BYU.