PROVO — After leading the majority of the game, the Cougars walked away with a defeat in Los Angeles as the 10th-ranked UCLA Bruins eked out a 24-23 victory. The heartbreaking loss was a bitter defeat for a team that had come from behind and won its first two games in miraculous ways.

Where does the loss rank in terms of toughest losses under head coach Bronco Mendenhall? Here is my top five list.

No. 5: No. 10 UCLA 24, No. 19 BYU 23 (2015)

The Cougars came into the game as heavy underdogs despite being ranked in the top 25. Almost no national pundits gave BYU any chance of winning. The Y came out swinging from the get-go. On UCLA's first drive, the Cougars forced a three-and-out and then scored on their ensuing offensive drive. After the touchdown, BYU perfectly executed an onside kick. Though that drive stalled, the onside kick proved the Cougars meant business. BYU bottled up UCLA's true freshman phenom quarterback Josh Rosen in the first half and forced him into throwing three interceptions. The Cougars went to halftime up 10-7.

In the second half, UCLA found its rhythm in the running game, and BYU had no answer for the Bruins' stud running back Paul Perkins. Still, the Cougars held tough enough to be up 23-17 late in the fourth quarter. With just over three minutes left in the game, UCLA scored a touchdown to go up by a point. BYU drove to the UCLA 42-yard line, and it looked as if they might be able to, once again, pull out magic to win a ball game. On fourth-and-7, Cougar quarterback Tanner Mangum threw an interception to end the Y's hopes of an upset. The loss hurt because the Cougars controlled most of the game and should have won. It would have been a big-time win for a program trying to prove it can play and beat teams from Power 5 conferences. Still, voters took notice of how well the Cougs played and the team only dropped three spots in The AP poll.

No. 4: Utah 24, No. 25 BYU 21 (2012)

In 2012, BYU looked like it was going to get back to national relevance by starting the season with a beat down of the Mike Leach-led Washington Cougars and handled business against Weber State in the second game. However, not all was well in Happy Valley. Unbeknownst to BYU fans, quarterback Riley Nelson had suffered a major back injury against the Wildcats. From the very first play of the game in Salt Lake City, Nelson looked off. His passes were errant, and he was not running with the same explosiveness he had shown in previous games. BYU's defense did enough to ensure that the game was tied 7-7 at the half. In the third quarter, the U. put up 17 points and took a 24-7 lead going into the final quarter of play. Nelson led a furious comeback and got the Cougs set up for a field goal with a second remaining in the game. The field-goal attempt was blocked, and it looked like the Utes had won the game. Fans rushed the field only to find out that the ball was still alive. The fans rushing the field earned the U. a penalty and BYU again had a chance to tie the game. The ensuing field goal clunked off the goal post, and the Cougars walked away with a disappointing loss in the rivalry game. The game was a good example of what the rest of the season would look like for BYU: defensive stalwartness mixed with offensive ineptitude.

No. 3: Utah State 35, No. 18 BYU 20 (2014)

BYU came into the game riding high at 4-0, including a dismantling of the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas. The Cougars showing some cracks, particularly their pass defense, but statistically had the highest possibility of finishing the season undefeated. The suspect pass defense was on full display in the first half against the Aggies, but BYU's all-everything Taysom Hill was throwing the ball well and running at will on Utah State's defense. The game looked like it was going to be a shootout until Hill got tackled awkwardly and left the game with a serious leg injury. The Cougars never rebounded. Christian Stewart did the best that he could, but the Cougs looked lost without their leader under center. The loss was BYU's first of the season and ended any hopes of a magical year.

No. 2: Florida State 54, No. 7 BYU 28 (2009)

The 2009 campaign started off brilliantly for the Cougars. As heavy underdogs, BYU played the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners, the previous season's runner-up for the national championship, and beat them 14-13. After that huge victory, the Y demolished an overmatched Tulane team 54-3. When the Florida State Seminoles rolled into town for the Cougars' first home game, expectations were high that BYU would win big against an ACC opponent. That could not have been further from what happened, however. Florida State had its way with the Cougars and ran all over them to the tune of 54 points and 313 rushing yards. The loss, again, ended BYU's hopes of going undefeated and all but cost them a BCS season.

No. 1: TCU 32, No. 9 BYU 7 (2008)

Prior to the TCU game, the Y was on a roll. The Cougars started the season 6-0 and were living up to their preseason slogan of "The Quest for Perfection." Leading up to the contest against the Horned Frogs, BYU had only been in one close game and also pitched an impressive 59-0 blowout over Pac-10 opponent UCLA. However, things did not go well from the very start in Fort Worth, Texas. TCU jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter. By halftime, the Cougars were down 23-0. BYU never really ended up making a game out of it and lost 32-7. The loss ended BYU's hopes of going to a BCS game. The Cougs never fully rebounded after the shellacking and ended the season with disappointing losses to Utah and Arizona.

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Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com contributor and can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com or via twitter @DylanCannon11.

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