We were not looking looking for a shutout, we didn’t talk about a shutout, to me a shutout is an unrealistic goal. We just took it one play at a time and the focus was on every single guy doing their very best. – BYU defensive coordinator Nick Howell
PROVO — BYU shut out Savannah State 64-0 and held the winless visitors to a school-record low of 63 total yards Saturday in the rain.
So, what does it mean?
Well, it counts.
Athletic teams aren’t always judged by their best moments. Their entire body of work, the full gamut of their product, is what gets on record, naked for the world to assess and adjudicate.
The two best performances of BYU's 2014 defense came earlier in the season: a 41-7 win over Texas on a hot afternoon in Austin, Texas, back in September and a 27-7 victory over Middle Tennessee on an almost-freezing day in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in November.
But the numbers that BYU's defense produced Saturday will stick in the Cougars' record book beyond this season — regardless of the opponent being 0-12 and struggling. This one surpassed BYU’s 59-0 shutout of UCLA back on Sept. 13, 2008.
For a 7-4 BYU team headed to Berkeley, California, next week for a season finale with Cal, nobody spoke of a shutout, but coaches were impressed by the play of second-, third- and fourth-string defensive players. Many of those guys got their first taste of action this season and hustled to the end when the natural thing would have been to let the moment pass in a tinge of mercy or lack of focus.
The 63 total yards gained by Savannah State were the fewest since Western Michigan got 66 on BYU in 1964 before we’d heard of Vietnam.
BYU defensive coordinator Nick Howell huddled under the back wing roof in the east side of LaVell Edwards Stadium outside BYU’s locker room taking to his brother and family members after the Cougars’ 64-0 win over Savannah State.
During this game, he was jumping and yelling and making a clamor as if he was in Austin and his troops were battling John Harris and Tyrone Swoopes in that 41-7 win.
I asked him what his eyes saw in the second- and third-stringers and did it mean something to register a shutout even against a foe that was significantly undermanned.
“I thought there was good energy out there,” said Howell. “Especially from the ones and twos. I was happy that our guys put their best foot forward. We were not looking looking for a shutout, we didn’t talk about a shutout, to me a shutout is an unrealistic goal. We just took it one play at a time and the focus was on every single guy doing their very best.”
Even with defensive players focused on the work, shutouts can be spoiled without the defense even being on the field. That nearly happened in this game when BYU’s center snapped the ball over the head of backup quarterback McCoy Hill. In the ensuing scramble, Savannah State’s Marcus Lee Jr. jumped on the ball, then picked it up and ran for an apparent third-quarter touchdown.
Officials ruled the play down where Lee jumped on the ball, negating the score. BYU fans booed the call. "Hey, give these guys something,” was the stadium sentiment.
That’s how shutouts get erased. Nobody had shut out Savannah State all season until North Carolina A&T last week, then the Cougars Saturday.
“I enjoyed watching that part, seeing the reserves out there, guys appreciating the opportunity to get in. Credit to our guys, but it is what it is,” said Howell.
And what it was could have been worse. Defensive backs Jordan Preator and middle linebacker Zac Stout dropped what looked like pick-sixes, and linebacker Alani Fua did grab an interception and return it 20 yards before getting tackled just 5 yards short of a defensive touchdown.
Walk-on wide receiver David Kessler blocked a punt that rolled around in the Tiger end zone before punter Ker-Sean Wilson kicked it out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
But Saturday, in the words of Howell, was what it was. And it was against who it was against.
Now BYU’s focus is on Pac-12 territory and a practice week through the Thanksgiving holiday.
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said he felt his first-line players gained momentum while they were in the game.
But he wouldn’t want to schedule such a game again.
The record, however, will stand.
Dick Harmon, Deseret News sports columnist, can be found on Twitter as Harmonwrites and can be contacted at dharmon@desnews.com.