BYU's statement win extra sweet for Houston native Leslie

AUSTIN, Texas — Sept. 6 was circled on their calendars. It was the day Texas players had envisioned serving up payback to a BYU team that had humiliated them and sent one of their coaches packing.

Saturday night’s matchup at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in front of 93,463 fans was supposed to be the Longhorns' moment to begin their transformation, which they would mark by getting back at the bullies from last year.

But none of that materialized in a 41-7 BYU win. Instead, BYU flexed its Big 12 worthy ability, and new Texas head coach Charlie Strong learned firsthand how Mack Brown must’ve felt.

“It is an embarrassment,” Strong said in a postgame press conference. “An embarrassment to this program and an embarrassment to the university.”

Jordan Leslie didn’t care about what happened in 2013. He wasn’t a part of BYU then. What he knew was that Texas had passed on him out of high school.

Like the other big-name schools near where Leslie prepped in the metropolitan area of Houston, Brown and the Longhorns deemed him subpar to the athletes they recruited.

On top of that, Leslie endured three years at UTEP that saw him and his Miners teammates lose to Oklahoma and Texas A&M. They even fell to the University of Houston.

So when he stepped onto what many Lone Star State youngsters must consider hallowed ground, his focus wasn’t on revenge but sending a message that he belonged.

“It was amazing to go back to Texas and have such a huge win against UT,” Leslie wrote on Twitter following the win. “Always my dream to go and show them what they missed out on.”

When Brown and his staff passed on Leslie, they missed on a reliable receiver — he led UTEP in receptions last season — and someone who won’t settle for what an observer would classify as a good game.

“Thanks everyone for the tweets but I'm no where close to where I want to be,” he later wrote. “I hope to do much bigger things. This is just the beginning.”

Despite a highlight-reel worthy catch that bailed out his quarterback and quite possibly ignited BYU on its torrid stretch that turned a two-possession game into an insurmountable advantage, Leslie is haunted by mistakes.

“Def can't have another easy drop like that,” he wrote in his next tweet.

Leslie is a different breed of college athlete. He obtained a degree from UTEP in three years. And it wasn’t some stepping-stone to the NFL type of studies. Leslie’s degree is in electrical engineering.

It could be argued that everyone is trying to portray a better version of themselves on social media. But if someone in the public spotlight is masking another side to their actions, it usually comes out one way or another.

With Leslie, there’s nothing to hide. He frequently invites his Twitter followers to ask him questions.

He’ll provide a link to an application that essentially creates a forum that populates his responses and the queries to which he’s replied.

It’s almost as though he’s embraced a location that can surely be difficult to navigate for someone not of the predominant religion lacking in experience about a society where the LDS faith is common.

And he seems to be enjoying his time in Provo, especially when he gets to witness how much residents love their college football team.

“Come home at 2 am and fans are waiting at the airport,” he wrote on Twitter. “There is no other place like BYU.”

Celebratory fans greeted Cougars players at Provo's Municipal Airport upon their arrival home early Sunday morning.

It was a display of passionate fans who appreciated a statement victory that shot BYU into the AP Top 25 Sunday.

Leslie is currently tied with Mitch Matthews for the most receptions on the new No. 25 team.

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