Estimated read time: 4-5 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 — As we taxied out of a Denver International Airport terminal on my connecting flight home from Detroit to Salt Lake City, the pilot informed the crew there was a "sensing error" on one of the wings' spoilers. He said it was a minor problem, and we would be on our way in a few minutes.
Fast forward three hours and three more attempts later to fix this so-called "sensing error," and we finally took flight on our way home.
I was feeling the same thing BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall and his offense must have been feeling against Michigan in the first half: confused, frustrated and merely hopeless.
It ended up being a bigger setback than the pilot had made it out to be. Mechanics were called in to diagnose the problem and ended up doing some repairs on the wings' spoilers. Many missed connecting flights; others were scared the plane would malfunction during flight and most were tired or angry because of the delays.
Rewind to a day earlier.
The Michigan football team was playing the role of the "spoilers" for BYU, ruining the chance for the Cougars — who lost multiple impact players during the game with injuries — to move up in the national rankings, and likely eliminating BYU's top-tier bowl game wishes.
"I feel like I got hit by a train, but I'll be all right," BYU defensive back Micah Hannemann said on Monday. "Just small things — everywhere."
An aggressive and physical Michigan offense set the game's early tone with a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped off by a 3-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Jake Rudock.
From the resiliency shown in the first three games of the season, it was almost certain BYU would respond with something positive.
Things worsened as the game went on and deeper problems were discovered. BYU was outplayed from start to finish, allowing 448 total yards of offense to the Wolverines while only putting up 105 total yards.
Adam Hine, Algie Brown, Michael Davis, Harvey Langi and Kyle Johnson were injured and did not play the second half. Hine and Brown are still questionable for Friday's game against UConn.
BYU dropped out of the national rankings and is going to have to fight its way back into postseason consideration over the next eight weeks. Bowl games in either Las Vegas or Hawaii are the contracted destinations for a bowl-eligible BYU squad.
Who is to blame for this unforeseen and nightmarish loss?
The coaches? They probably could have game-planned better.
The players? They probably should have played more physically.
The prior three games against tough opponents? That played some factor.
The absence of Taysom Hill, Jamaal Williams, as well as Brown, Hine, Davis, Langi and Johnson? Of course we must consider those, among other injuries.
Wide receiver Terenn Houk said this loss is on the players.
"Coaches can only do so much. As players it is our job to step up and be as physical as we can," Houk said. "I think we didn't do that and didn't get the job done."
Hannemann said it was a combination of many factors.
"They (the Wolverines) are definitely one of the most physical teams we have played," he said. "I think it is just that every team we play has been very physical for the past couple weeks, it's been taking its toll on everybody's body, with injuries especially. I am not blaming it on that, but that is just how it is."
Mendenhall said he is trying to look at it with the perspective of still having a successful season.
"We have played four games, played well in three and not well in one," he said. "It is a new start to the rest of the year."
The new start is Friday against a 2-2 Connecticut team that is coming off a 28-18 home loss to Navy.
Listen to audio from Monday's postpractice media availability from Mendenhall, Hannemann and Houk in the "Cougar Cuts" section below. Tanner is a student at Brigham Young University studying Business Management. He is from the great northwest of Portland, Oregon. He hopes to find a profession that combines his passion of sports broadcasting and marketing.
