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PROVO — Marcus McKenzie heard a "thud."
The BYU freshman immediately recognized the unmistakable sound of a football caroming off the Southern Utah punt returner's pad. Already in the area after one of Ryan Rehkow's shorter punts, the former Pine View track star knew exactly what to do.
McKenzie made sure the contact was made, helped force the muffed punt, and lunged to recover the ball on the 39-yard line in the fourth quarter. One play later, Kedon Slovis hit Chase Roberts for a 39-yard touchdown to propel the Cougars to 2-0 with a 41-16 win over FCS foe Southern Utah.
"I should've taken it to the house," McKenzie said with a smile, adding he was probably the most upset that he fell on the ball instead of picking it up. "But it was fun."
In a "get-right game" for a BYU offense that featured 348 passing yards and four touchdowns from Slovis and 394 yards against the Thunderbirds — closer to 400 until backup quarterback Cade Fennegan took a knee on a pair of possessions to wrap up the win — the Cougars' special teams still excelled.
That included Rehkow, who had a light days' work punting four times for 186 yards and a long of 64 from the junior boomer, and Oregon transfer Harrison Taggart, the former Corner Canyon High standout who blocked the first punt for BYU since Keanu Hill against Idaho State in 2021.
But the star of the specialists was McKenzie, the son of former BYU running back Brian McKenzie who is finding there's more than one way to make an impact with the Cougars.
"I'm just grateful for the opportunity," McKenzie said. "Coach gave me the opportunity to go out and play, and I have an easy job: Run down there and try to tackle the guy. And Rehkow makes it even easier, punting the ball 20 seconds in the air. I'm just grateful."
Marcus McKenzie. DAWWWGGG. 😤 pic.twitter.com/gZfoOY5PcH
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 10, 2023
BYU is a team of "energy," on offense and defense, said linebacker Max Tooley, who totaled five stops and shared a tackle for loss. But the surge of energy provided by the specialists like McKenzie can't be denied.
"You hear the crowd every time Marcus has made a big play; I feel like every time he's running down there, something big is about to happen," Tooley said. "Our coaches talk about it all the time: the sideline is going to feed off the energy, the crowd is going to feed off energy, and it changes the whole momentum of the game when we got big plays on defense and special teams. Just play to the next play."
BYU is unbeaten through the first two weeks of the season, but wins over Sam Houston and Southern Utah have left plenty to be desired.
Offensively, the Cougars averaged just 2.0 yards per carry for 46 yards, led for the second-straight week by freshman LJ Martin's 27 net yards on six touches. On defense, BYU has just one sack against two teams that were competing in the Western Athletic Conference (now United Athletic Conference for football) last year.
Keeping points off the table may be the most important thing for a defense which gave up just 10 total points before former Timpview standout Targhee Lambson's two-yard TD dive with 5:15 in the fourth quarter Saturday.
But BYU acknowledges that the pack rush has plenty of room to grow.
"We trust our scheme. We trust our defense," Tooley said. "It's going to take trusting each other to do their job, you know? We saw tonight that the quarterback wanted to get rid of that ball quick. So you know, when a guy is trying to get rid of the ball like that, it's going to be harder to get sacks, regardless of what we got going on. We've showed that we can hit the quarterback the last couple of weeks; I think as we are all more in tune with the defense, you'll see a lot more pressure and a lot of sacks on the stat sheet."
Still, there's no denying that special teams play has given BYU a boost.
The Cougars are no stranger to unearthing a special teams "ace in the hole," from former punt returner James Dye ("You Punt, You Dye") to punters like Jonny Linehan and Rehkow, an early Ray Guy Award contender. But McKenzie's emergence is special, if for no other reason than the youngster's gunner position and immediate impact after returning from a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Little Rock, Arkansas.
"He is a playmaker," said BYU coach Kalani Sitake of McKenzie, whose twin brother Dominique returns home Dec. 2. "When his brother gets home from his mission, it is going to be nice because we will have two McKenzies doing work. They have great genetics. I blocked for his dad, and his mom was a track athlete here. He is almost beating the kick down the field, and that is hard to do. He has a ton of speed and a lot of confidence. He is going to be a great player for us. Good things happen when he is in the game."
The next step for McKenzie, of course, will be contributing more at cornerback. The freshman had a career-high two tackles in Saturday's win, but he knows he sits on the depth chart behind a group that includes former FCS All-American Eddie Heckard, fellow Weber State transfer Kamden Garrett, and rising BYU star Jakob Robinson.
His time at corner will come. For now, McKenzie just hopes to make the most of his time — on defense or special teams, bringing the energy wherever he can.
"It's just trying to keep the momentum going," he said. "Even with the commercial breaks and the other team trying to change tempo, being able to have the opportunity to go out and get the momentum on our side is exciting."
