Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — After riding high in the Associated Press and Coaches polls, the BYU football team's undefeated season crashed into the turf next to the Myrtle Beach surf spot on Saturday night.
After the Cougars' 22-17 loss to Coastal Carolina, BYU took a precipitous drop in both polls. The Cougars spent five weeks in the AP's top 10 before a 22-17 loss on the Surf Turf dropped them six spots to No. 14.
Similarly, the USA TODAY Coaches Poll dropped BYU eight spots from No. 8 to No. 16, while pushing the Chanticleers — one of just two 10-0 teams in the country — up to No. 13.
The drop marks BYU's lowest entry in the AP poll since coming in at No. 15 after Week Six on Oct. 11.
The top seven entries in the AP poll remain unchanged, including the College Football Playoff contenders of Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Clemson. Indiana slid into the No. 8 spot vacated by BYU, followed by Miami (Fla.), Iowa State and No. 11 Coastal Carolina in the AP poll — just ahead of two-loss SEC power Georgia (7-2).
The Cougars rolled the dice on a trip to Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina, becoming the first top 25 to visit the former high school stadium built on a watermelon patch. And while the roll didn't come out the way BYU wanted — being doubled in time of possession and out-gained 281 yards to 165 on the ground may explain why, at least in part — the voters still kept some respect for a team willing to travel across the country during a pandemic on just three days' notice for what many are calling the game of the year.
The game revealed some things about BYU — some good, though with plenty of weaknesses. But it also revealed some things about Coastal Carolina, which jumped to its highest ranking in program history and should be in prime position for a New Year's Six bowl game if Cincinnati loses one of two games to Tulsa or goes to the College Football Playoff.
"We were ready to play and were looking forward to the matchup. We had the same amount of time that Coastal Carolina had," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "When it comes down to it, they're a good team. They're undefeated for a reason. I don't want to sit here and take away from them because they executed and did well and put themselves in a position to win it. We had to come from behind and come up with a long drive, and we were backed up with not a lot of time left, but they made the plays. I want everyone to understand that Coastal Carolina is a really good team and they showed it tonight.
"They outplayed us and got the win."
The Chanticleers' unique spread option offense from a pistol formation flummoxed BYU's defense, even though redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall threw for just 85 yards on the night. His decision-making, quick passing, and athletic abilities were also on full display in engineering Coastal's ground game.
"It was definitely tough, it's always difficult to prepare for an option team," said BYU linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi, whose team faced an option-based offense for the first time since a Labor Day win over Navy. "For Navy, we had three weeks to prepare for that and were really dialed in, but at the end of the day it's football—it just comes down to blocking, tackling, and scoring more points, and that's where we came up short.
"I'm really proud of the team though. They fought and we left it out there. That's the one thing that I hope you guys know, we left it out there and people are going to say all sorts of things, but at the end of the day we just came up short and I'm real proud of this team."
BYU closes the season Saturday against former Mountain West rival San Diego State. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT in Provo.
