Who is this team? BYU puts up 679 yards on offense

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PROVO — That moment when BYU fans were back on the bandwagon. Fans, casual observers and even the Cougar-haters found themselves reevaluating their whole view of the team they had formed after the week one loss to Virginia.

Mouths were agape looking at the stat line. BYU ended the night with 679 yards of total offense. Who is this team? Certainly this was not the team that was so unproductive just seven days previous. This became a huge win for BYU, and posting 40 points on a Texas team that came as such a definite favorite should be a huge relief for Bronco Mendenhall.

Robert Anae did okay, too. It was 2009 in the Las Vegas Bowl that BYU last bested a ranked opponent when they dismantled Oregon State. This win means so much more.

The 40-21 win started a lot like the sloppy play of last week. First, there was a drive that showed potential, stalled by a procedure penalty. A bad snap that led to a punt. Taysom Hill was somehow throwing even worse than he did in Charlottesville. But as the clouds broke on the storm that delayed BYU for a second time in as many weeks, so to opened the huge gaps in the field where the field seemed to transform into a track meet.

I guess the trick is that you have to have a two-hour delay before the game. With 259 yards rushing and three touchdowns, Hill was a changed man. Never mind the 9-for-26 completion-to-attempts stat. You can whine about that next week.

Then there was Jamaal Williams, who had another beastly performance of 30 carries and 182 yards. Then and there BYU went from being inept on the offensive side of the ball to breaking records in an epic way. It was the most yards Texas had ever given up on the ground in a game. It was the most powerful output on the ground in a game for the Cougars at 550 yards.

Oh, the defense wasn't too shabby either. Three-and-outs came in abundance on the night, and despite giving up a considerable amount of yardage (445), the Texas offense never found a rhythm. After stifling the Longhorns all night, after a fourth down stand that sealed the game for BYU, Bronco Mendenhall was the first person on to the field to hug his defense and smack them around like he had suited up himself.

Hill has a lot of work to do. Certainly the Cougars won't feel comfortable with so many rushing attempts from a guy who is coming back from knee reconstruction. The inaccuracy of Hill was alarming, but was easily forgotten with the work he did on his feet.

As the Cougs go into the bye week preceding Utah on the 21st of this month, they have to realize that things are looking up and are going to get even harder the rest of the season. What offensive line problems?