FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Consistently inconsistent.
That oxymoron phrase best summarizes the BYU football team's 2002 season so far — and the Cougars' latest setback, a 37-10 Mountain West Conference loss Thursday night at Colorado State.
Flashes of brilliance followed by flashes of frustration. Defense lapses interspersed with defensive stands. Offensive drives speeding along and those that sputter. Few sustained successes. Ever-present errors.
It's a team that at times teases — and at others looks troubled.
Even the game's scoring — CSU's 17 first-quarter points, BYU's 10 in the second, followed by the Rams' 20 from there on out — underscores the Cougars' streaky, struggling nature.
You know BYU — the team that opened 2002 with home victories against Syracuse and Hawaii, only to drop five of its next six games and now carry an uncharacteristic 3-5 overall record. The team that used a 28-point second half to rally for a 35-34 victory at Utah State earlier this month, only to muster a total of 22 points in the three games since. The team that at times shows enough defensive presence to allow thoughts of a potential victory, only to give up an average of 32 points a game.
Never have the 2002 season's potential and problems been so intertwined and apparent as they were before a Hughes Stadium crowd of 29,457, in a chilly, late-night Thursday game broadcast by ESPN2 featuring BYU's not-quite-ready-for-prime-time players.
"At times, I was pleased with them and at times I think they can step up and play better," said BYU head coach Gary Crowton, speaking specifically of his defense but quick to include the entire squad. "I think the whole team — every area I look at is that way — we do some real good things, but there's inconsistency."
The inconsistency has resulted in consecutive losses to a trio of Mountain West opponents — Air Force, UNLV and CSU — and sends BYU (3-5 overall, 0-3 MWC) into a tie with Utah (2-5, 0-3) in the conference standings.
Meanwhile, CSU is a contrast to the Cougars — an example of success and consistency. "I liked the way our team performed tonight in every area," said CSU coach Sonny Lubick, whose Rams are now 7-2 overall. "Offensively, we did an excellent job running the ball. I thought we had a nice plan for them." And with its 3-0 conference record, CSU is tied for top honors in the MWC standings with Air Force, setting up next week's showdown of the two league leaders.
BYU started Thursday night's game slow and suddenly behind — a frighteningly similar fashion to other games this year.
After CSU took a 3-0 lead five minutes into the game on a 31-yard Jeff Babcock field goal, two fumbles by BYU quarterback Matt Berry — the redshirt freshman was making his second consecutive start — led to two Rams touchdowns and a 17-0 lead before the first quarter was complete.
The first fumble came as Berry was leveled in a sack by CSU end Peter Hogan, giving the Rams the ball at the BYU 19-yard line. Three plays later, Cecil Sapp scampered seven yards for the score.
Three plays into the next BYU drive, Berry fumbled the snap at the Y. 32, with CSU quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt later scoring on a three-yard rollout.
However, BYU rallied to draw close and even survived another turnover scare. An 84-yard Cougar scoring possession — keyed by a 39-yard run by Marcus Whalen — concluded with a 1-yard Berry dive into the end zone. Matt Payne's PAT made the score 17-7 two minutes into the second quarter.
After forcing CSU to punt, BYU quickly returned the ball to CSU again in Cougar territory on a Whalen fumble. But the Y. defense shut down the Rams, with safety Jon Burbidge knocking down a fake field-goal pass at the Cougar 16.
Another sustained drive resulted in a 25-yard Payne field goal, cutting the Cougar deficit to 17-10 with 3:44 left in the half. And the Cougars halted an touchdown run in the making and regained possession after safety Aaron Francisco ran down Sapp after a 64-yard gain and knocked the ball out of the back's hands, with Bill Wright recovering on the BYU 12.
But BYU was forced to punt with 99 seconds left, and CSU needed only four plays and 53 seconds to score — a 21-yard run by Rahsaan Sanders, helping CSU to a 24-10 lead at intermission.
BYU's defense allowed only a Babcock field goal in CSU's first three second-half possessions, but the Rams chewed up valuable time. And the Cougars couldn't muster much of an scoring threat through the entire half, as BYU possessions ended punt, punt, failed fourth-down play, interception and punt.
In the fourth quarter, Sapp added his second TD — a seven-yard off-tackle run to the left — and Babcock added a PAT and a 40-yard field goal for the final 37-10 victory.
For CSU, the triumph avenged last year's 56-34 rout in Provo, resulted in the Rams now being bowl-eligible with seven wins and provided the Rams their largest margin of victory this season. CSU's six previous wins were all by eight points or fewer.
Sapp finished with 164 yards and two TDs on 25 carries, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the season. The Rams finished with 342 yards rushing, four run TDs and a per-carry average of 6.1 yards.
Crowton said he thought BYU defenders did "a decent job" against Van Pelt, the Rams' double-threat quarterback who gained 69 yards running and 97 more on 8-of-17 passing.
Whalen ended with 77 yards rushing, but the Cougars only netted 65 yards total, stymied by four sacks and 11 tackles for losses by CSU.
"You've got to execute — we put our defense in tough spots all the time," said Whalen, bemoaning turnovers and adding that "we get good drives going but we can't finish them . . . I don't really know what the problem is — we just can't finish."
Berry at times showed a flair for accuracy, completing all seven of his passes in the first half and having only two imcompletions through three quarters before finishing with 17-of-26 passing. However, most of his throws were the short variety — he finished with 148 yards, three yards fewer than the CSU passing twosome of Van Pelt and reserve Justin Holland.
Berry ended the game banged up — with a possible broken left hand. Postgame X-rays of the nonthrowing hand were inconclusive, with more planned for Friday afternoon. Berry didn't think it would keep him out of the Nov. 2 game against San Diego State.
"Even if it's broke, I'm gonna put a cast on it and I'm gonna play," he said. "That's the bottom line."
E-MAIL: taylor@desnews.com