New Mexico coach Dennis Franchione thought it was good.
BYU defensive tackle Randy Brock said it could have been called either way.BYU coach LaVell Edwards wasn't sure.
The "it" in question here was a 40-yard field goal that would have left BYU 0-0-1 instead of a 1-0, 34-31 victor Saturday night over a much-improved New Mexico team.
Lobo kicker Nathan Vail tried the field goal with 1:06 left in the game, after a final New Mexico drive stalled.
"I think it's one of those things that when you're a bottom team and going against the team at the top, the bowl team gets the close call," Franchione said.
"He could have called it either way," Brock said. "It was right over the goalpost."
"It looked pretty close to me," Edwards said. "The official came over to me and said, `You don't know how close that was.' "
Somehow, a missed - or made - field goal that close was an appropriate ending to a game that featured more than its share of quirky plays. As Edwards said, it wasn't an unusual season-opening performance.
"It was a typical opening-night game," he said. "We were a little out of sync."
It didn't help the Cougs that they lost halfback Jamal Willis on their second offensive play, to a sprained ankle. It also didn't help that the Lobos were playing in front of the first sellout crowd - officially 33,659 - in the history of University Stadium.
"They came out a little more pumped up than they have been," BYU cornerback Patrick Mitchell said of the Lobos. "And we just didn't execute the way we needed to."
That lack of execution was evident from the start. The Cougs, whose game plan obviously involved running the ball, stumbled a little when Willis joined starting fullback Kalin Hall on the sidelines. Their replacements, fullback Hema Heimuli and halfback Steve Christensen, ran the ball decently but had problems in other areas, like picking up blitzes. Partly as a result of that, quarterback John Walsh was sacked six times and spent much of the night trying to elude blitzers.
Despite that, Walsh had a good night statistically. He completed 24 of 38 passes for 384 yards, with four TDs. He also looked stronger than last year, several times shaking off Lobo defenders.
"We just couldn't take Walsh down, he is so strong," said Lobo defensive tackle Damon Burrest. "We . . . collapsed the pocket, but he stepped up well and dodged tacklers well."
Like the rest of the team, however, Walsh started slowly. The only points he put on the board in the first 27 minues came when BYU started a drive on the UNM 19-yard line after a fumble. That first Cougar touchdown of the season was a 19-yard TD strike to Bryce Doman (more on him later).
That score made it 7-6 for BYU, because the Lobos had scored earlier on an option-play dash by quarterback Stoney Case from the BYU 11.
The turning point for Walsh came late in the second quarter after he fumbled a snap that resulted in the Lobos' second TD and a 14-7 UNM lead. On BYU's next possession, Walsh opened with a 34-yard completion to Eric Drage. He closed the six-play, 1:26 drive with a 29-yard TD pass to Doman.
After the BYU defense once again stuffed the Lobos, Walsh came back with another impressive series. Starting from his own 21, he completed five of six passes in an eight-play drive that ended with an unusual play. On 2 and 10 at the UNM 11, Walsh connected with Heimuli at the one, but Heimuli was hit and fumbled - right to Doman, kneeling in the end zone. The extra-point try was blocked, but BYU had a 20-14 lead and the kind of momentum that usually tends to finish off the WAC's lower-rung teams.
The Lobos, however, didn't realize they were finished, even after they fell behind by 10 points in the third quarter. UNM scored first in the second half, on a 41-yard field goal by Vail. But BYU came right back with a 65-yard drive, including a 44-yard pass to Drage and a five-yard draw counter touchdown run by Heimuli.
Five plays later - one of which was a 51-yard run by Lobo running back Winslow Oliver - Case rolled right from the BYU eight-yard line, saw a clear path to the end zone and used it. UNM 27, BYU 24.
On the ensuing kickoff, BYU returner Tyler Anderson fumbled at the 25 and UNM recovered at the 30. On third-and-goal at the 12, Case drilled Turhon O'Bannon at the three and O'Bannon scampered in untouched. As the third quarter ended, the Lobos were ahead, 31-27.
BYU got its final score with 9:52 remaining in the game on a broken play. Walsh dropped back to pass from his own 48, eluded one guy, dodged a couple others, moved here, moved there, while blockers tried desperately to give him roughly 30 minutes to throw, then gunned the ball to Tim Nowatzke over the middle. Nowatzke made the high grab, then sprinted right into the end zone for a 52-yard TD to make it 34-31.
BYU dodged its first bullet on the next series, which UNM started on the Cougar 33 because of a long return by Oliver. On third down at the Y. 14, linebacker Nathan Hall hit Case and caused a fumble that Brock recovered.
After a punt exchange, BYU started its next-to-last possession at its own 22. On fourth and inches at the UNM 46, Edwards almost made - GASP! - a huge blunder.
"Maybe one of the all-time worst decisions I ever made," Edwards said.
What he decided was to go for it. Instead of a first down, a bad snap ended up in New Mexico's hands with 2:04 left to play. The BYU defense stopped the Lobos at the Cougar 23, setting up the final field goal that missed - maybe.
Like the rest of the Cougars, Edwards realized how fortunate he was, and how good the Lobos are becoming.
"Dennis Franchione is an excellent coach," he said. "They're going to do some things."