Analysis: BYU gets its first big Big 12 football moment, stunning No. 13 Kansas State on an unimaginably crazy night in Provo

BYU has been searching for a defining moment in its young Big 12 football existence for more than a year now, and on a wild and woolly night in Provo, head coach Kalani Sitake’s crew delivered it in some of the most unimaginable ways possible.

When it was over, these plucky, overlooked Cougars had an improbable 38-9 win over No. 13 Kansas State in front of 64,201 at sold out LaVell Edwards Stadium, the win that just might have signaled to the Power Four league that they have arrived, after so many frustrations, in Year Two.

With apologies to Earth, Wind & Fire, this 21st night of September, 2024, was flat-out absurd.

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Among the unlikely jaw-dropping occurrences:

• A scoop and score from a seldom-played freshman safety, Tommy Prassas.

• An interception by a defensive lineman, Tyler Batty, and another by a linebacker, Harrison Taggart, both career firsts.

• A twisting, turning tackle-breaking 21-yard touchdown run by freshman Sione I. Moa, who shares the same first and last name with a linebacker.

• An absolutely mind-boggling sequence when the Cougars scored three touchdowns in the space of three minutes, 7 seconds of game time.

• A fourth-down trip-up of nimble-footed Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson that not only turned the ball over on downs, but quite possibly prevented the dynamic sophomore from taking it to the house.

• And last, but not least, that incredible 90-yard punt return for a touchdown by Parker Kingston that Sitake described as “a mistake, and (then) a mistake made right.”

Suffice it to say Kansas State isn’t calling it that, after the speedster grabbed the loose ball, ran within yards of the BYU goal line and then picked up some blocks from Isaiah Glasker and company — the same Glasker whose shoestring tackle of Johnson probably saved a touchdown — and took it to the end zone, the ball apparently so heavy that he dropped it after barely crossing the goal line.

And then he went to the sidelines and dropped his lunch, captured for everyone by ESPN cameras.

“Not error-free, but the energy and the effort was there. If we can play like that, with that type of effort, good things can happen for us,” Sitake said.

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Of the five-minute stretch at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half when BYU (4-0), which might just be ranked Sunday when the new polls come out, Sitake said it “is kind of what we planned on happening, with this defense with Jay Hill and the defensive staff.”

Yeah, right.

Nobody outside of Nostradamus could have seen it coming. The turnover-fueled scoring spree, that is.

As for the victory, and holding KSU out of the end zone for the first time since a 45-0 loss to Iowa State in 2020, Sitake took his usual humble approach.

“We had a lot of things go our way,” Sitake said.

No kidding.

Kansas State piled up 122 more yards — 363 to 241 — and ran for 224 yards to just 92 for BYU. The Wildcats reeled off 72 plays, and BYU just 48. Time of possession favored the visitors by more than six minutes, and yet the Wildcats lost by 29 points.

Simply unbelievable.

“Still some work to do, but we are going to have fun and enjoy it,” Sitake said. “Excited about the win, but we gotta get ready for our next statement, which is Statement 5 next week, and stay humble and keep working.

“The work is not done yet. We didn’t come this far just to win this one game. I think the guys understand where we are going.”

Asked what kind of statement BYU made in recording its first Big 12 moment since the men’s basketball team upset Kansas last winter, Sitake referenced some of the naysayers who thought BYU’s 3-0 start was a product of a weak schedule.

“I will have to watch the film and everything, but we showed that we can play,” he said. “I think the question was, ‘What kind of team is this?’ I think there are a lot of unknowns, but it is OK. Maybe people know a little bit more now.

“We are not going to surprise anybody anymore, so we gotta be ready for this next game and keep working and being humble, so that is going to be our key.”

Or watch the first 20 minutes of game time, when Kansas State was dominating in the trenches and making everybody remember the beatdowns at the hands of TCU, West Virginia, Texas and Iowa State last year.

Talk about flipping the script. At one point KSU had 122 rushing yards, and BYU had 1.

The scoop-and-score by Prassas and a 30-yard TD return after Jack Kelly forced a fumble turned out to be the turning point.

“The defense can create some chaos, and I am glad that it showed up tonight against a ranked team and heavily favored against us, even though we were at home,” Sitake said.

“If we can keep pushing along and grinding it out, good things will happen for us. … That is what they are supposed to do, create momentum and help us win the game.”

Much-maligned quarterback Jake Retzlaff outplayed his more-hyped counterpart, Johnson, by completing 71% of his passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, for a passer rating of 162.5.

Johnson’s passer rating was a putrid 78.3, but he did run for 74 yards on 11 carries.

“We just wanted to let people know who we are. This is who BYU is,” said Batty when asked what kind of statement the Cougars made.

Added Moa, who ran for 76 yards on 15 carries: “A lot of people were surprised by this. A lot of people didn’t think we could do this, but as Kalani said, it didn’t come as a surprise to us.”

Another key turning point was Kingston’s return, which came after KSU’s first punt of the game. It will surely go down as one of the greatest plays in program history. Some on social media were calling it the play of the year, to date, in college football.

“Another fantastic play tonight. Kelly Popping has done a great job with special teams and having them believe they can impact the game,” Sitake said of BYU’s first punt return for a TD since JD Falslev in 2013 against Middle Tennessee State.

After Kansas State’s first two possessions, which resulted in a pair of Chris Tennant field goals when they should have produced touchdowns, it looked like it was going to be a long night for the Cougars.

BYU punted on its first two possessions, and Retzlaff looked rattled and lacked the composure he displayed in the 34-14 win over Wyoming last week.

After some early misfires, Retzlaff redeemed himself with a 23-yard strike to Chase Roberts, the receiver’s first TD catch of the season. That lifted BYU to a 17-6 lead just before halftime and set the stage for more weirdness in the second half.

“We have a good reputation of performing well in the dark,” Sitake said in his pregame radio remarks.

Now, that’s the absolute truth.