BYU got exactly what it needed, if not wanted, in last-minute trip to Coastal Carolina

PROVO — With only three seconds on the clock, Zach Wilson knew he only had one play.

After a season of promise, a whirlwind of top-25 rankings, and talk of the College Football Playoff, New Year's Six bowl berths, and Heisman conversations, the season came down to one play against No. 14 Coastal Carolina (No. 18 CFP).

Trailing 22-17 near the end of the fourth quarter, Wilson snapped the ball, dropped back to pass, and checked off a defender. He found his favorite target— Dax Milne, the speedy wideout he first met (and competed against) on the football field, basketball court and outdoor track in the Salt Lake Valley — and let the ball fly up the seam.

Milne caught the pass that flew off the Coastal 18-yard-line and began darting toward the end zone. He nearly made it, too — past the 10, the 5, inside the 1-yard line. And then, like wrestling legend "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, redshirt freshman Mateo Sudipo flew over the ropes, grabbed Milne, and with a spin move to beat all spin moves stopped the junior wide receiver one yard from the goal line.

One yard. So close — but a lifetime away.

Final score: Coastal Carolina 22, BYU 17.

Milne finished with six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, a feat only topped by Wilson's 240 yards passing and equaled by Tyler Allgeier's 106 yards rushing. But Milne needed 107.

"It's always tough to lose, especially in that fashion where we have a chance to win and come up short," said BYU linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi after the game, a hint of emotion still catching in his voice. "A lot of different emotions, feelings, all good — it's good for guys to feel these. It's just part of the game."

The New Year's Six dreams of No. 8 BYU (No. 13 CFP) came crashing down Saturday night on the Surf Turf in a game that wasn't on the schedule even 72 hours before kickoff, let alone at the beginning of a pandemic-ravaged season of college football.

But in committing to a game on short notice, traveling across the country quicker than any team has — even in 2020 — and playing a top-20 opponent on ESPNU with "College Game Day" and the biggest event in Coastal Carolina's four-year history in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Cougars (9-1) and Chanticleers (10-0) gave college football exactly what it needed.

What BYU wanted was a win to help validate their record and prove they belonged with the elites of college football. What they needed, though, was a chance to hang with one of the top programs in the sport.

On the game's biggest stage, the Cougars came up five points — or one yard — short.

With a limited-capacity crowd of 5,000 fans watching from the stands, dozens more peering over the fence, and hundreds of thousands gazing through the ESPN broadcast, BYU and Coastal Carolina played the best game of the weekend — and one of the best games this season.

In a year where nothing makes sense, where games are canceled or lost every week by a microscopic virus that has killed more than 280,000 Americans, two teams from opposite sides of the nation provided the "Game of the Year," to borrow the line from ESPN's David M. Hale.

At least one of them will continue to move up in the rankings. It likely won't be the Cougars.

"When it came down to it, they're a good team," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. "They're undefeated for a reason. I don't want to take away from them. They executed well, and they were in a position to win it.

"I want to make sure everyone understands: Coastal Carolina is a really good team. They showed us tonight, and they outplayed us."

As the visitors watched Coastal Carolina improve to 1-0 against AP Top 25 competition on their home turf near the outskirts of Myrtle Beach, the Cougars got exactly what they needed. It wasn't necessarily what they wanted — a 10-0 resume booster capable of projecting them to a $4 million payday and the school's first NY6 bid in the playoff era — but to paraphrase a line from the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, sometimes you're the chanticleer, sometimes you're the fox.

"I think we backed up the 'any time, any team, any place.' We just want to play football, no matter where it is," Kaufusi said. "We'll take anyone. Regardless of what our future is, we're very grateful to be playing football.

"I couldn't have told you that five months ago when we had no season. We persevered through that initial storm. That's just us. We'll show up when someone calls our number. We'll be there and be ready to play."

The Cougars were not the baddest rooster in the barnyard Saturday night in Brooks Stadium, a former high school field that started the last century as a watermelon patch. Their story was not the one that captivated America with postgame dances, dramatic celebrations that often included costumes and props, and staged victory chants that always referred to the team's weekly mantra.

"You know, we heard all week that we're going to get killed," Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell said after he navigated a maze of celebrating players to find ESPN's sideline microphone. "We're 'not big enough.' We're 'not ready.'

"Our small guys have been tested all year … There's no words that can explain it."

The Chanticleers are the loudest, bravest roosters in the barnyard — at least for another week — and they remain the only undefeated team in South Carolina, which is also home to the defending national champion and fourth-ranked Clemson Tigers.

It's easy to think about the "what-ifs" from BYU's sideline: What if Isaac Rex hadn't been called for holding as Neil Pau'u bobbed the length of the field for a first-quarter touchdown? What if Gunner Romney hadn't dropped a pass on fourth down after Wilson found him on a reverse before halftime?

What if Milne had gotten one more yard on that final play?

None of those questions matter to Kaufusi. What matters is this team — the one that still has a chance to finish with 10 wins with a win next Saturday over San Diego State, a win that would send the Class of 2020 out as winners.

"I love my team, man. I love these guys," Kaufusi said with emotion in his voice. "I love what we stand for, who we stand for. The pandemic has taught us to not take things for granted. It's a blessing to be out there with my guys, my brothers. They've changed my life."

Coastal Carolina likely won't be going to a New Year's Six bowl — they'll need unbeaten Cincinnati to lose at least once in the next two weeks to even think of that. But neither will BYU after Saturday's loss.

The next thing BYU can do is finish the season right, with a win over the Aztecs on Senior Night.

It won't be easy.

"It's hard for everyone. But as a team, we played our butts off," Allgeier said. "We played our heart out and got the short end of the stick.

"A loss is a loss, but the best thing we can do as a team is learn from the loss and start 0-0 coming in this Monday."

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