Dear Bill Belichick: Watch More BYU Football

After seeing how the final minute of Super Bowl XLVI completely unfold, one hidden lesson for New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is to watch more Brigham Young Cougars football games.

The Patriots held a slim two-point lead with a minute to play in the game. The New York Giants had the ball just six yards away from the end zone. Figuring a 20-25 yard field goal was as good as guaranteed, Belichick ordered his players to let the Giants score a touchdown and take a four-point lead. The final play of the game was a hail Mary to tight end Aaron Hernandez in the end zone that fell incomplete.

The field goal may have appeared automatic, but BYU football gives reason to believe otherwise.

On December 22, 2007, BYU played UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl. With time running out, BYU clung to a one-point lead. BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall was faced with the same dilemma as Belichick. The Bruins had the ball and were closing in on the goal line. They were going to run the clock down and kick a field goal on the final play.

UCLA kicker Kai Forbath was a second-team Freshman All-America selection by The Sporting News and an honorable mention All-Pacific-10 conference selection. He had made 25 of 29 field goal attempts (86%) on the season, and was 3-for-3 in the game, thus far. Rather than give UCLA the free touchdown, BYU played UCLA straight up. UCLA called a timeout with three seconds left and lined up for a 28-yard chip shot field goal.

The snap was good, the hold was good, and Forbath made the kick. It never reached the uprights. Unknown, freshman defensive lineman Eathyn Manumaleuna got just enough of a hand on the ball to keep it from going in. BYU won 17-16.

The next season, BYU held a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter against the Jake Locker led Washington Huskies. Locker was too much for the BYU defense to handle, and with two seconds left in the game, he scored a touchdown to pull his team within one point. Overtime was imminent, and then the game took a surprising turn.

Locker in his jubilee threw the football high over his head. He was flagged for excessive celebration, and Washington was forced to kick the extra point from 15 yards further back. The odds were still highly in favor of Washington to make the 35-yard extra point (88% chance) and send the game to overtime. Once again, the kick never reached its destination. Jan Jorgensen blocked this kick, which sealed a 28-27 win for the Cougars.

These aren’t the only examples of failed last-minute field goal attempts in recent BYU history. The 2004 and 2010 seasons have cases where BYU finished on the other side of the fence (but this is a pro-BYU website, so nothing more will be said to avoid dredging up bad memories).

In addition to knowing about the multiple failed field goals in pressure packed situations, watching BYU football would have made Belichick more familiar with 2009 consensus All-American tight end Dennis Pitta. The Patriots passed over Pitta in the 2010 NFL draft and chose Florida tight end Aaron Hernandez. Not to take anything away from Hernandez, but Pitta just may have come down with that hail Mary on the final play. Just look at this catch he made in 2008.



Pitta’s membership in the BYU tight end fraternity could have caused some unexplainable cosmic intervention that would have guided the football into Pitta’s hands. Look how similar the final play of Super Bowl XVLI was to the final play of Holiday Bowl III in 1980.



That is BYU tight end Clay Brown coming down with the touchdown catch that enabled BYU to win the game.

So, there you have it. The New England Patriots could be celebrating like BYU was in the second video if Belichick knew a little more about BYU football. This needs to be on the top of his offseason to-do list.

EDITORS NOTE: If this "analysis" bothers you, please don't let it. The conclusion I have drawn isn't to be taken very seriously. It is just my creative way to point out the parallels I noticed as an avid BYU fan. I realize there are many, many other factors that influenced the outcome of the Super Bowl and the BYU games noted.

The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment