Micah Simon produces career game in BYU’s 2OT win over Vols

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — BYU senior Micah Simon stood tall in SEC country Saturday night. His heroic plays came early and late. And they were properly rewarded in BYU’s 29-26 win over Tennessee in Neyland Stadium.

Simon had a career night in BYU’s two-overtime victory over the Volunteers. He was as clutch as BYU’s been hoping for in a receiver the past several seasons.

At a critical time that demanded poise and execution, BYU had it in droves in Knoxville.

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As graduate transfer Ty’Son Williams pushed his way for a 5-yard touchdown to seal BYU’s comeback win, an impressive BYU contingent of some 15,000 fans roared to their feet and Cougar players raised their hands and kept jumping and hugging in an emotional celebration that lasted 15 minutes as the home crowd left for the exits.

It was a reaction over a much-needed victory for the BYU football program. It wasn’t perfect, there were plenty of mistakes, but a stingy defense rose up when it counted. Simon made the longest play of BYU’s season on a game-tying drive, a 64-yard catch and run on BYU’s last-gasp desperation drive at the end of regulation.

Quarterback Zach Wilson doesn’t hit Simon for a big gain, the game is over and Tennessee celebrates hard.

Simon was one of the last BYU players to leave the field, shaking hands with delirious BYU fans. A moment deserved.

“He was in a little funk last year, but a breakout game like this is just what he needed. He showed everybody outside of this team what he is all about. I couldn’t be more proud of him.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake, on Micah Simon

On the night, Simon had eight targets and caught seven passes for 127 yards. None were bigger than his 64-yarder in the waning seconds of regulation.

Facing a third-and-seven from BYU’s own 19, Wilson dropped back to pass. “He knew he needed to buy time and space by scrambling,” said receiver coach Fesi Sitake. “What happened was all Matt Bushman. He commanded so much respect from the defense that two defensive guys rushed to cover him and that left Micah wide open. He caught it and ran another 30 yards.”

That play led to a game-tying 33-yard field goal by Jake Oldroyd with one second left in the game, forcing the first overtime.

Sitake said Simon’s play represented a hardworking and deserving Simon.

“He was in a little funk last year, but a breakout game like this is just what he needed. He showed everybody outside of this team what he is all about. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He is a great leader and great man. I love that guy. He deserves it more in terms of stepping up and making plays and (with) those big moments I’m super happy to see him break out.”

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BYU’s offense struggled with mistakes in a loss to Utah and had its share of slip-ups and miscues early as Tennessee took a 16-13 lead and looked to just seal the win. But BYU’s defense began locking down the line of scrimmage and Wilson, Simon, Williams and an offensive line really buckled down and executed down the stretch.

The receiver coach said BYU battled with operational issues early in the game because of the crowd noise. Coaches had to change things and calm players down. At times, players could not hear the count, had illegal motion penalties and in the second quarter had a hiked ball hit Aleva Hifo, who was in motion on a jet sweep. It looked ugly and unpolished.

“But we worked through it,” said Sitake. “We had no dropped balls in this game from the rest of our guys. We had great blocking downfield on screen runs. I love this offensive team and I’m so proud of these guys. This was so important for our team to put adversity behind them and get a win.”

Simon had a smile as wide as the nearby Tennessee River as he left the field.

He, too, credited Bushman for drawing the defense away from him on the strike from Wilson.

“I think it was all props to Matt Bushman. He’s such a great tight end, he had two guys come to him and I popped open. So Zach saw it and made a great play.”

Wilson’s pass to Simon was his best of the season so far. It was on a rope, a strike that perfectly found Simon.

“We always put ourselves during fall camp in tough situations like that, two-minute drives, having to go the length of the field. And you know, it’s kind of good to see a payoff and even though we had some struggles at the beginning of the drive, we just kept fighting. We stuck with it.”

Simon said the Tennessee win meant everything.

“This is this is what we work for. This is what we dream up, you know, traveling, great stadiums like this, playing great teams like this, and just battling all the way until the end of the year. This did us good. Personally, I’ve had my struggles, I’ve tried to do everything I could to help this team win and my teammates have had my back all the way. I’ve had my struggles in past games the five years I’ve been here, but guys never lost faith in me. That’s the kind of support you need from your team.”

BYU’s win wasn’t pretty, but it was dramatic. A week ago BYU had three turnovers. This Saturday there were none.

And in the end, it contained enough big plays to push this 1-1 team forward in a brutal September schedule that now brings Southern Cal to town next Saturday.