PROVO — The day and the stadium belonged to LaVell Edwards. The game belonged to Brandon Doman.
Fueled by the emotion of Edwards' final game in Provo, and the presence of LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, the BYU Cougars throttled New Mexico, 37-13, Saturday before 62,308 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
That's right, LaVell Edwards Stadium. Prior to the game, President Hinckley announced that Cougar Stadium will now bear the name of the coach who has guided the Cougars for the past 29 years. Not only that, President Hinckley entered the BYU locker room before the game and addressed the team.
"It brought chills through my whole body," said Doman, who made his first start as a BYU quarterback. "I was sitting there in the locker room and in walked my idol. He tells us there was no option, we had to win the game today."
The prophet spoke. Doman and the rest of the Cougars listened and obeyed.
Doman became the third QB to start for BYU this season, and he delivered an impressive outing, completing 21 of 35 passes for 349 yards and one interception. A junior who was an option quarterback at Skyline High, he also rushed for 51 yards.
Not that he did it alone. The victory was a total team effort. It took 11 games, but BYU finally played four full quarters for the first time all season.
"I've been waiting for this one," Edwards said. "I kept saying one of these days we were going to put it all together, play hard and play well and execute. We did it tonight. I was very glad to see it happen."
"We finally found something that works," said senior defensive tackle Hans Olsen. "We found a quarterback that works. We found a defense that works. We found a spark today on the field, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Well, it could have come in the Florida State game and stuck with us the whole year. That would have been nice."
"This was the most emotion we had this year," said senior receiver Jonathan Pittman. "Everybody played hard. There was no way we were going to lose this game. Everyone played their hearts out."
While the BYU defense limited New Mexico to 268 yards, senior placekicker Owen Pochman booted three field goals, including a career-best 56-yarder at the end of the first half. And the heretofore punchless offense rolled up 512 yards against the Mountain West Conference's second-best defense.
Doman's performance elicited disparate reactions from two of his receivers. "I was kind of shocked," said Pittman, who caught three passes for 63 yards. "I thought he'd have jitters. He's been waiting his turn, waiting patiently. Now it's his time to shine."
"I wasn't surprised at all by what Brandon did," said Ben Horton, who caught three passes for 54 yards. "I don't want to take away from the other quarterbacks' abilities, but I thought Brandon was a gamer all along, and I was very excited to see him get in there today. His confidence and ability was outstanding. I'm glad he got the chance to prove what he can do tonight."
For Doman, who started the season third-string behind Bret Engemann and Charlie Peterson, it was a long time coming. "I've been patient. I've respected the coaches, I've respected the players who played in front of me," he said. "I was honored to get my chance.
"I don't know if this validates me. I never second-guessed myself," he continued. "I always knew the team would play well and I would play well. The offensive line, I have to give all the credit to those guys. They guys had blood and sweat all over them."
While the Cougars opened the game the way they have so many times this season, with a couple of punts on their first two drives, BYU drove 93 yards on its third possession, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Luke Staley. It marked the Cougars' first first-quarter TD since Sept. 23 against UNLV.
On three consecutive plays on that drive, Doman completed a 24-yard pass to Pittman, scrambled for 29 yards and hooked up with tight end Tevita Ofahengaue for 23 yards. All game long, Doman leaned on his strengths — working out of the pocket.
"Coach Reynolds utilized me for what I believe I can do," Doman said. "He got me out of the pocket. That's a weapon I think that you just can't replace. I'm not saying I'm this great quarterback, but I like to move around. I like to run."
The Lobos came into the contest leading the league in sacks (29) but had zero sacks against Doman. "Sacking the quarterback hasn't been a problem for us this year, but it was tonight," said New Mexico coach Rocky Long. "They were very familiar with our defense and we paid for it. I think they were a lot quicker and fresher than we were. We knew Doman was a good scrambler, but he also proved to be tough to tackle."
When the game was over, amid the post-game celebration, Doman smiled and soaked up the moment. "Coach Edwards is an icon. He's going to go down in history forever," he said. "What an honor to play in his last home game here. It's a dream come true."
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com