Defense -- Hicks. He was in on tackle after tackle. Offense -- A tough choice for me. I'd probably cut it in half and give it to Harsin/Applewhite. They made the choice to make a change at QB, and called the slickest offensive half I've seen from Texas in I don't know when. Special Teams -- Steve Edmond. Several really solid tackles and one forced fumble that BYU recovered.
On O definitely Jax. That was a clutch catch in a pressure situation. That catch may have been the catalyst for the win.
I'm still just giddy that we have another Shipley out there tearing **** up. And catching passes from a McCoy, at least for now. Ship is so ******* money, like his brother. It's almost eerie.
After the game, Mack spoke about this being about family, everyone together. Putting individuality aside. Maybe set a game ball somewhere and just write TEAM on it. All in. Coaches, players, everyone. Heard Case after the game talking up Garrett after he stayed on the sidelines with a headset. Case said he stayed in the game, kept his head in the game and showed leadership even on the sidelines doing his part there. Freshmen, red-shirts, sophs, those sidelines; coaches, everyone. It's getting really hard to single out someone over everyone else. Just so many. Overall, I think the Defense as a whole really took this game on their shoulders. They had to fight off BYU while the offense sputtered in the first half. And then lock BYU down the entire second half while the Horns found the combination that would put 14 on the board and take a 14-0 second half to seal the game. EDIT: correction... 14-3 in the second half. Thanks. It was 13-3 at the half, then Horns get 14 to make 17, and BYU got 3 more to make 16. By the way, Texas has only given up one touchdown in two games. I'm not sure BYU crossed midfield in the second half and had barely 65 total yards. Maybe little over. It was in the 50s at one time, and BYU ran two more plays after that and then punted. Game over.
For a player, it's tough. Shipley for all the reasons others have mentioned. Maybe Ashton Dorsey - before tonight, all we heard was that the second DT was a concern, but he seemed to do a great job against some stout O linemen. Malcolm Brown made some clutch runs and clearly showed something we haven't had the last couple of years. For coaches, Harsin for that 3rd down pass to Ash in particular or Diaz for a D that played well in the 1st half considering the amount of time they were out there and shut BYU down in the 2nd half. But really, last night to me showed the strength of the whole staff. Akina had a young secondary ready to play and they used great technique. Both the OL and DL played much better than last year's versions and were clearly better coached than last year.
