Jamie and I both graduated from Brigham Young University the same year from the same department, played volleyball together at the same complex and had many common friends but never met until several years later. We’re both proud BYU alumni but he especially bleeds blue when it comes to BYU sports. This season, he’s been glued to BYU Sports Nation on BYUTV and can’t get enough of all the preseason coverage. As for me? I love BYU (albeit I am not a fan of watching sports on TV) and went to many, many, many games with my friend Garritt when I was a student.
My good hubby invited a handful of friends over to watch the first game of the season vs. the Nebraska Cornhuskers this afternoon. I had a good chuckle when our friend Ariel–a true blue BYU fan from Bolivia–was among the first to RSVP while his wife responded she had family in town so he’d better not RSVP, which made me think football would not be the most exciting part of that game.
Turns out I was wrong. (And Ariel wisely didn’t defy his wife on this one. In-laws won over BYU today).
There were several things that were remarkable about the game. The Huskers haven’t lost a season opener since 1985– the nation’s longest winning streak. Jamie was confident BYU could take them with the return of our superstar quarterback Taysom Hill who had broken his leg last season. He was having a fantastic game until he fractured his foot on a 21-yard touchdown run in the first half. Despite this, he still came back and played until he got hit hard on an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter. Amazing.
BYU turned to their backup quarterback Tanner Mangum and I thought “we’re done for.” Not only is he a freshman but he hadn’t played in an organized football game since 2012 because he just returned in June from his two-year Chile Antofagasta.
BYU was down by one point when Mangum heaved a 42-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Mathews with only one second on the clock for a 33-28 victory Saturday. Shock. Had that just happened? Then sheer jubilation. What an amazing victory!
Of course, BYU fans everywhere are celebrating the Hail May win against Nebraska but what really hit home for me when I saw a something Mangum had posted to Twitter two years before his mission:
Tonight, he proved putting God first can never be wrong.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 