Finally, after four straight tension-filled WAC games to open the season, the 3-1 BYU football team will play its first non-league opponent of the year, Utah State, tonight (7 p.m. kickoff) in Cougar Stadium.
Don't think for a minute the Cougs are taking the 1-3 Aggies lightly, even if the game has no bearing on the conference race and Holiday Bowl derby.BYU has a certain score to settle.
Oct. 30, 1993. Romney Stadium. Utah State 58, Brigham Young 56.
It's bad enough losing to an underdog in-state foe, whose fans, naturally, go nuts. (Aggie faithful celebrated the rare victory over BYU in recent years by tearing down the goalposts, cutting them up and selling the pieces).
It's even worse to put eye-popping offensive numbers up - including the all-time BYU-best passing yardage stats - and still lose.
"It was embarrassing," Cougar defensive tackle Greg Pitts said of last season's game. "To score 56 points and still not win is ridiculous. Utah State is a big game for us. Our defense definitely has something to prove."
While the Cougar defense looked much improved during the first three games of the '94 season, last Saturday's 49-47 victory over New Mexico looked like '93 all over again - when BYU's defense was last in the WAC. New Mexico had 599 yards of total offense and scored seven touchdowns.
"I really think our defensive problems against New Mexico were an aberration, or at least I hope so," Cougar coach LaVell Edwards said. "Even against New Mexico we played well defensively at times and we've shown in other games that we're capable on defense. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."
The Aggie offense may be the perfect remedy for what's ailing BYU's D. With star quarterback Anthony Calvillo now throwing passes in the Canadian Football League and the offensive line depleted due to injuries, the Aggies have scored just one more point in four games this year than they did in the game against BYU last season.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Wells, who lost his starting job last week but won it back with a fourth-quarter rally against UNLV, is completing just 45 percent of his passes for 124 yards per game. The running game, which was supposed to be a Utah State strength coming into the season, has garnered a paltry 39 yards per outing.
The Cougar offense broke out last week with its best all-around game of the year. John Walsh, who threw for a school-record 619 yards against USU last season, completed 75 percent of his passes against New Mexico (18-of-24) for 228 yards and three touchdowns.
Jamal Willis is almost a shoo-in, barring an injury, to become the all-time Cougar leader in rushing. The senior halfback had a personal best 204 yards last week and needs just 296 yards the rest of this season to pass Lakei Heimuli (2,710 yards) as the career-leader at BYU.
GAME NOTES: Due to NCAA rule that Friday games cannot be televised live because of conflicts with high school football, tonight's game will not be on T.V. until a 10:30 p.m. taped showing on Channel 5. It will also be shown tape delayed on Channel 11 Saturday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 10:30 p.m . . . The BYU-USU series is tied at 33-33-3, but the Cougars have dominated during the Edwards Era. BYU has won 16 of the last 19 meetings. The last time Utah State won back-to-back games against BYU was when the Aggies won four straight from 1971 to 1974 . . . The game is being played on Friday night because of LDS General Conference Saturday.