PROVO — Yeah, this Gary Crowton guy should fit in pretty well at BYU.
The new Cougar coach unveiled — or maybe unleashed is a better word — his offensive attack on Saturday afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium and it merely produced 70 points, 734 yards of total offense, 437 rushing yards and four scoring drives that took less than 60 seconds.
Yet the stat Crowton seemed most happy about in the aftermath of the Cougars' 70-35 victory over Tulane before 49,008 fans in the Black Coaches Association Classic was this: 1-0. As in, a 1-0 record.
"It's good to get that first win," Crowton said.
Sure, it was a smashing debut. But what does he do for an encore? Is this what BYU fans can expect on a regular basis from this offense, or is it downhill from here?
"I think we can improve," said running back Luke Staley. "There's more to come."
Crowton was more guarded in his assessment. "Seventy points was great for this week," he said, "but next week is a totally different day and a totally different game."
Not that BYU's next foe, Nevada, will find much comfort in that comment.
Granted, Tulane was one of the worst defensive teams in the nation a year ago, but 70 points is 70 points.
Crowton is known for exploiting his opponents' weaknesses. Against the Green Wave, he drew up a game plan that saw the bigger, more physical Cougars rush 49 times. That strategy produced three 100-yard rushers, including 115 by the BCA Classic MVP, quarterback Brandon Doman. He also threw for 286 yards (his longest completion of the day was just 28 yards), with three touchdowns and no interceptions — in only three quarters of action.
That he rushed so often didn't surprise Tulane coach Chris Scelfo. "We felt he was going to run the ball," he said. "The biggest thing with him is he's a winner." Indeed, Doman improved to 3-0 as a starter, dating back to the final two games of the 2000 season.
Staley (10 carries, 142 yards) and fellow running back Brian McDonald (18 carries, 103 yards) ran wild, too.
"Our offensive line did such a great job for us," Staley said. The 6-foot-2 junior scored all three of BYU's first-quarter touchdowns, including a career-high 65-yarder that saw him streak past Tulane's secondary and into the end zone.
While the Cougar offense was consistently good, the Cougar defense had its problems early on. Tulane opened in the fast lane about one minute after kickoff as running back Mewelde Moore sprinted 75 yards for a TD, shedding three would-be BYU tacklers along the way.
The two teams traded three touchdowns in the first quarter, which lasted nearly one hour. BYU and Tulane also combined for 555 yards in the first period.
In the second quarter, the Cougars began pulling away and turned a shootout into a blowout. Doman found tight end Spencer Nead with an eight-yard TD pass just four seconds into that period, then hit another tight end, Gabriel Po'u Reid, from 13 yards out for another score. On BYU's following series, a Doman pass bounced off wide receiver Reno Mahe's hands, then bounced off Tulane free safety Adrian Mitchell, and into the hands of Nead, who lumbered 27 yards for a touchdown.
That made it 42-21 for the Cougars. They added seven more points on a 26-yard gallop by McDonald. "At halftime we had 49 points," Doman said, "and I was thinking, 'This is crazy.'"
Those 49 points were the most scored by a Cougar team in the first half since 1989 against Utah. In fact, before Saturday, BYU hadn't scored 70 points since that same game against the Utes.
It could have been worse for Tulane. When Charlie Peterson entered the contest in the fourth quarter, the Cougars were up 63-35. Doman left the contest having completed 25 of 31 attempts. "It was everything I've dreamed of since I was six years old," he said of his performance.
His counterpart, Tulane's Patrick Ramsey, meanwhile, was 20-of-43 for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Ramsey picked on the Cougar secondary early, but BYU's defensive front seven kept him at bay.
BYU defensive end Ryan Denney was one of the defensive stars, recording seven tackles (including three for minus-22 yards), a pass breakup and two sacks. "Their quarterback has a great arm," Denney said. "But we put pressure on him."
The Cougars host Nevada next Saturday at 7 p.m.
NOTES: BYU had five players with more than 100 all-purpose yards — Doman, Staley, Mahe, McDonald and receiver Mike Rigell . . . Mahe gathered in a team-high 12 catches for 96 yards. He became the first Cougar to have 10 receptions in a game since 1997 . . . Punter Aaron Edmonds' first punt came with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. His punt was a 50-yarder that pinned Tulane back at its own 6-yard line.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com