LAS VEGAS — Senior cornerback Ben Criddle stood on the field at Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday night, surrounded by delirious fans, trying to put into words his final game in a BYU uniform, particularly the final play of his collegiate career.
Moments earlier, with three seconds remaining in the Las Vegas Bowl and the Cougars nursing a tenuous one-point lead, UCLA lined up for what appeared to be a chip-shot 28-yard field goal. The potential game-winner.
It appeared BYU was about to go 0-2 in 2007 to UCLA, 10-1 against everybody else.
Instead, true freshman Eathyn Manumaleuna and sophomore Brett Denney partially blocked Kai Forbath's field goal attempt, which fell just short of the crossbar as time expired. And with that, the No. 17 Cougars claimed a dramatic 17-16 victory over the Bruins.
"It's a surreal feeling. We had to block a field goal to win the game," Criddle said. "I was just thinking, 'We have to make a play.' Eathyn and Denney got a hand on it. And that's the story of our team — everyone makes plays."
"It was ugly, but I'll take it," said senior Bryan Kehl. "That was close. Too close for comfort. We needed to make one more play and our will, our heart, our desire won the game."
That last play was emblematic of the team philosophy instilled by coach Bronco Mendenhall. "What I saw was an incredible surge. We sent all 11 (players), which is a desperation block," Mendenhall said. "They looked at each other before they went back out and a couple of them thought they would be the one to get it.
"I saw enough of the tip to see it start spiraling," Mendenhall continued. "But I wasn't sure then if that would be enough. It was close to the crossbar and I didn't know if it went through or not at that point. It will be a great play to use as an example for our program for a long time, because it was a play of will."
Prior to the snap, Denney was shouting encouragement to Manumaleuna, who had been planning on redshirting prior to the season and is scheduled to depart
for an LDS mission next month. "He was giving me inspirational advice," Manumaleuna said. "He told me to go all out. He pumped me up and I was able to get a good push. I don't know how I jumped, I don't have a high (vertical) ... (Forbath) is a great kicker. I'm just surprised."
"Eathyn got a good amount of (the block)," Denney said. "I think they'll split the credit but I don't care. I turned around and saw a dead duck going to the ground. That was good enough for me."
UCLA's reaction was much different, of course. "I feel they got lucky," said Bruin defensive back Chris Horton.
That aside, BYU extended its winning streak to 10 games and finished its second straight season with an 11-2 record. UCLA fell to 6-7.
The Cougar offense was stifled for much of the game by an inspired Bruin defense that allowed only 17 points and 265 yards of total offense.
"I credit UCLA," said quarterback Max Hall, who completed 21 of 35 passes, for 231 yards and two touchdowns. "I think they're the best defense we've played all year, in my opinion. My hat's off to them."
The Bruins shut down BYU's ground game as Harvey Unga gained 16 yards on 17 carries.
Just like the last meeting between the two teams, turnovers played a big role in the game. A fumble on a punt by UCLA's Terrence Austin, which was recovered by BYU's Matt Bauman, gave the Cougars the ball on the Bruin 14 in the second quarter. One play later, BYU capitalized on a touchdown pass from Hall to bowl MVP Austin Collie to lift the Cougars to their first lead, 10-3.
With 19 seconds before halftime, BYU took over on its own eight-yard line, holding a 17-6 advantage. Instead of running out the clock and going into the locker room with a somewhat comfortable lead, Hall handed the ball off to Unga, who fumbled. UCLA's Dennis Keyes recovered. On the final play of the half, McLeod Bethel-Thompson connected with Brandon Breazell for a four-yard touchdown to cut the Cougars' lead to 17-13.
"I didn't consult with coach Anae but I trust him completely," Mendenhall said of the questionable play call. "I'll defend the call. It's easy to say right now we should have taken a knee. We would do it next time. But I'm not going to second-guess our coaches."
UCLA shut out BYU in the second half and the offense started its final drive at its own two-yard line. The Bruins marched down to the Cougar 11. The key play was a 36-yard pass completion from Bethel- Thompson to tight end Logan Paulsen as safety Kellen Fowler tried to knock down the ball but failed. That set up the final play.
"When they lined up with that field goal, I couldn't allow myself to think about losing that game," said defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen.
"It was the same thing with everybody else."
Jorgensen added that this victory was more enjoyable than last year's 38-8 rout of Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl. "This is definitely more gratifying to win like that. It was just incredible. It goes down with the Utah game last year. To win the game by a blocked field goal at the end, I don't have words for it."
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com