Kirk Herbstreit: BYU Could Go Undefeated This Year, Maybe Enter Playoff Conversation

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland – BYU arrived in the DMV area (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) on Monday and put out an impressive 55-3 win against a Navy program that was 11-2 last season.

Whelp @BYUfootball is REALLY good!

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) September 8, 2020

Regardless of what Navy becomes in 2020, BYU’s win over the Midshipmen puts the Cougars in the national conversation after a lackluster week one schedule amidst COVID-19.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit was on the call for the BYU’s impressive performance and he couldn’t help but like what he saw from the Cougars during his first-ever call from Annapolis.

“This is a good football team,” Herbstreit said to Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter. “I know we’re kind of looking at the score but –I don’t how much of the game you saw– they are a good team. They don’t play anybody all year. But they could be sitting there undefeated at the end of the year wondering, they should throw their hat in the ring in the [College Football] Playoff if we have one.”

Van Pelt responded, “They came right out of the gates throwing it and running it. You don’t see Ken [Niumatalolo]’s team lose like that ever. They don’t get their butt just dominated like that, so I get your point. And look to their credit, BYU had to go out and scramble and figure out, how can we put together a schedule? And they’ve done that.”

Pure domination. @BYUfootball racks up 304 yards of total offense and 31 points in the 1st half against Navy. The offensive line is as good as advertised. #BYUvsNAVY #BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/osGEA3FXq0

— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) September 8, 2020

BYU and the Playoff? That might be a little bit premature as Kalani Sitake pointed out in his postgame press conference he would “like to build on this” win to elevate the program going forward. But one game does not define a team. There is still a lot of work to be done. Especially when you consider the Cougars dropped games to Toledo and USF after defeating Tennessee and USC last season.

BYU reminded Kirk Herbstreit of an NFL team

The atmosphere at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium was definitely unique. With no fans in the stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it made for an atmosphere that was anything but a typical College Football game.

ONE HOUR from kick here in Annapolis! @BYUfootball @NavyFB @espn pic.twitter.com/WPpAfXhf67

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) September 7, 2020

How teams handle these unique atmospheres will go a long way towards determining the success of a particular team in 2020. BYU handled the unique environment with flying colors and reminded Herbstreit of how a professional squad would handle these circumstances.

“BYU, to their credit, mature team, veteran team, man, they reminded me of almost an NFL team the way they came in,” Herbstreit said on SportsCenter. “They weren’t worried about the stadium. It was just put the ball down and let’s play. I think the teams that are going to have success this year are going to be those teams. They’re not worried about the crowd, they’re not worried that it’s different. They’re prepared and they want to go out and play. And tonight, anyway, BYU definitely demonstrated that.”

BYU is now 1-0 to open up the 2020 season and is now scheduled to play Army West Point coming up on September 19th in New York.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.