No excuses: No. 25 BYU handled elements, distractions before handling business vs. USF

TAMPA, Fla. — No. 25 BYU had every reason to come out flat in its first game of the season.

There was the Associated Press preseason Top 25 ranking — its first since 2009 — that would've put pressure on the Cougars' shoulders unlike any they've seen in 14 years.

The weather in South Florida was supposed to be different, warmer than the arid desert of Provo and more humid than the dry wasteland that they normally call home.

BYU's record in the state of Florida was also — well, just say not good — with losses up and down the panhandle in the form of 1-8 all-time, and a streak that was much, much worse before the Boca Raton Bowl victory over UCF during the pandemic-affected 2020 season.

And then there was the weather delay, a 2 ½-hour pause that sent both teams to their locker rooms underneath Raymond James Stadium to watch No. 3 Georgia blow out No. 11 Oregon and other college football games on their mobile phones while thunder, lightning and a steady deluge descended on the home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

None of that seemed to matter within about 10 minutes, when Puka Nacua scored twice, Max Tooley intercepted a pass for a touchdown, and Jaren Hall hit Keanu Hill for a 21-yard touchdown strike that gave BYU a 28-0 first-quarter lead en route to a 50-21 rout over South Florida.

"That was huge for us," BYU running back Lopini Katoa said of that fast start. "I feel like it lifted up the sidelines. Puka just did his thing, it was a great call; they like to bring pressure at the start of the game, and they went for it. There was no better way to start a game than that."

Forget the excuses; BYU certainly did. The Cougars (1-0) simply went out and did what a top-25 team is supposed to do to an overmatched opponent, which was start fast, absorb a blow via attempted comeback, and hold steady the rest of the way.

"We talked about the weather beforehand, about the potential for a lightning delay," Hall said. "We had one in 2019 against Utah and didn't respond well. Last year against UAB, we didn't respond well. So we knew we had to do it, and I think it speaks to the maturity of our guys to just kind of put it past us and put it away."

All of those things — excuses, many will call them, or distractions, as Tooley does — had to be shifted by the wayside, but not so much so as to leave the visiting Cougars on edge after traveling from Provo on Thursday to acclimate to the time change, the heat and the humidity.

All those things can be a double-edged sword when kickoff gets pushed back less than four minutes from the originally scheduled start time, after both teams had warmed up and been fired up with the Week 1 game day rituals.

"There's a lot of distractions, a lot of things in a locker room that can take you off course from the team," Tooley said. "But I think it's just a matter of staying focused, and I think we did a good job during that two-hour delay; just kept busy, stayed on our feet a bit when we had to, and stayed focused on the goal."

Hall, who threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, knows he has weapons. He threw passes to a dozen different receivers, found a versatile Nacua in the backfield for two scores — including the first play from scrimmage to score from 75 yards — and continued to apply pressure, minus star receiver Gunner Romney, with Katoa, Jackson McChesney, Kody Epps, Chase Roberts, Dallin Holker and Brayden Cosper, as well.

But when Hall couldn't find any of those guys, he turned to Christopher Brooks, the Cal graduate transfer who ran for 135 yards and a touchdown in his first game in a BYU uniform.

With the backfield duo at the helm, BYU's offense that ranked No. 19 nationally in total offense last year and propelled Tyler Allgeier to the Atlanta Falcons may be — just maybe — at least as good. There was always that potential for the No. 1 most experienced returning offense, according to ESPN's SP+ rankings.

On Saturday night, that potential showed a brief glimpse of reality — including for Brooks.

"The sky's the limit, man," Hall said of his tailback. "Chris is such a versatile player, and you add Lopini to the mix right there with him, it's a 1-2 combo. Combine it with the offensive line that we have, and you end up the night with 103 yards for one guy and 300-something yards in team rushing."

And about those weather derailments, the postponements, the long waits for lightning to clear from the sky over a metallic structure designed with modern-day gladiators in mind?

BYU admits they haven't always handled those waiting-out periods very well. Results back up the claim in losses like the ones to UAB or Boise State last year, where coaches didn't make excuses but play was clearly affecting a BYU team playing in the same soggy weather as their opponent.

"I've been through a couple of those before," offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick recalled of weather delays prior to Saturday night. "When I coached at Utah, we had a long one against Michigan and I thought we handled it pretty well. We had one here against Utah that I thought we didn't handle well.

"That is something we've talked about."

Weather. Misfortune. Travel, heat and humidity. These Cougars are ready for anything, their head coach said.

"We were ready for the heat, we were ready for the late kickoff," Sitake said. "I thought the guys' mindset all through fall camp was right, so that when we got into the delay, it was pretty cool. We had our sports medicine staff, sport scientists and strength coaches all collaborate together with what to do.

"The boys never were told until it was time to go. I'm glad we had the staff to let them do that."

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