If No. 2-ranked BYU was an ocean liner sailing the high seas, someone might call out, “Iceberg ahead!” But since the Cougars are playing in 80-degree sunshine in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday, I’ll go with, “Trap game ahead!”
The Big 12 battle at UCF (1:30 p.m. MDT, Fox) has every ingredient you can find in a trap game. The Cougars (6-0) just beat No. 2 Notre Dame in front of their largest home crowd since 2004 and with up to 12.3 million people watching on television.
The dramatic victory bumped BYU up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 — their highest ranking since 1984. The win also put the Cougars in the driver’s seat to reach their first College Football Playoff and quarterback Bear Bachmeier into the Heisman Trophy conversation.
With all of that going on at BYU, here comes UCF. The Knights (3-3) will welcome the Cougars to the East Coast and into Acrisure Bounce House Stadium, where they are 3-0, but playing as a touchdown underdog. UCF coach Scott Frost set their tone for the week on Monday — “It’s an awesome opportunity for us on homecoming to go shoot our shot.”
Yes, for BYU this is the ultimate trap game — and isn’t it fantastic?
What scenario would Cougar fans prefer — a downtrodden team that gave up a last-second touchdown to the heavily favored Irish and dropped in the polls or the one that is doing exactly what they are doing?
BYU is beating the odds and living its best life, and that life does come with the challenge of maintaining it while someone else is trying to take it away. It’s on the Cougars to stay focused and do their job to win the game.
But for the fans, this is like having Disney World all to themselves, with unlimited churros. Most dream scenarios only come up with half the stuff BYU is pulling off.
This 6-0 start, even with injured star runner LJ Martin missing a chunk of it, does pose a dilemma as the Cougars kick off the second half of the season. What kind of fan are you going to be — an optimist or a pessimist?
The optimist lives in the moment. Fully aware that things can change in a flash, they celebrate Bear Bachmeier’s unexpected 18-2 start. They salute Kelly Poppinga’s first year as defensive coordinator and admire the depth and physicality of his group.
They also believe the punt returner won’t drop another kick, eating a second Cougar Tail is OK, and that Kalani will coach at BYU forever.
The pessimist lives in fear and assumes the worst is lurking around every corner. Their joy lives next door to worst-case scenarios. When Bachmeier takes off on a run, they scream for him to “get down” or “run out of bounds” to avoid a catastrophic injury.
They constantly clamor for “style points” and wouldn’t dream of eating a second Cougar Tail — and when the blue bloods come for Sitake, they are convinced he’s out the door.
There is no right way or wrong way to fandom. What makes Cougar Nation so special is that optimists and pessimists are often married to each other or bound together by family. They might also be strangers who only see each other six or seven times a year.
Additionally, optimists and pessimists enjoy the freedom to switch back and forth — especially on a third-down pass when it’s “No! No! No!” on the toss and “Yes! Yes! Yes!” when it’s caught for a first down.
What makes it all work are those moments when the optimist and the pessimist find middle ground, like when Notre Dame’s last pass fell incomplete on the final play. The unity and shared joy — and field storming — was a slice of royal blue heaven.
For those few seconds the optimists and pessimists were one — and it was glorious.
Nobody knows what is going to happen in Orlando on Saturday. BYU could win as easily as they could lose, but that’s on them. The Cougars practiced all week to be ready to take UCF’s best shot. Four quarters of combat will reveal their worthiness to remain among the unbeaten.
For the fans, watching it is just another installment of seasonal bliss that is going better than expected. BYU is in a great place — in second place in the polls. They are like a vice president. Nobody takes them too seriously until something happens to the president. Should misfortune find No. 1 Miami on Saturday against Pitt and BYU beats UCF, the Cougars could be No. 1 on Monday.
That’s how close they are to the top, but this is being written by an optimist who wouldn’t hesitate to buy a second Cougar Tail (when they are chocolate) or any number of churros at a Disney theme park.
Let’s play the trap game and see what happens. Should the Cougars prevail, do you know what that would mean? Arizona State will become the next “trap game” on Halloween before facing Utah — and so on.
Bring them on! Battle tested fans remember a time, not long ago, when BYU didn’t have any trap games — that’s when the optimist hoped for this day and the pessimist doubted it would ever come.
Fortunately for both, that day is here.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.