Shannon Sharpe, Ochocinco Rave About Athleticism Of BYU In Bowl Win
Dec 30, 2024, 6:44 PM | Updated: 9:36 pm
PROVO, Utah- The BYU Cougars faced off against the Colorado Buffaloes in the Valero Alamo Bowl, leaving San Antonio with a resounding 36-14 victory, good for their first 11-win season since 2020.
The Cougars showed off some incredible skills that led to some exciting plays. The BYU defensive line sacked Shedeur Sanders four times, Parker Kingston returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown, and LJ Martin won Offensive MVP with 17 carries and two touchdowns, as well as other great moments throughout the game.
The dominance that BYU showed over Colorado had some in shock, including NFL legends Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe, who on their podcast “Nightcap,” praised the Cougars for their athletic showing.
Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson raved about BYU’s speed and athleticism during Saturday night’s episode of their podcast, Nightcap. pic.twitter.com/KGSvnpoXxv
— Nate Slack (@nateslack5) December 30, 2024
“For some reason, BYU just looked faster, more dominant at the point of attack… they were more physical,” a surprised Chad Johnson remarked.
“I thought my TV had glitched,” joked former Tight End Shannon Sharpe about Parker Kingston’s punt return for a touchdown, “There ain’t no way they moving that fast.”
PARKER. KINGSTON. ALL. THE. WAY.
📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/2pEIP3iHgR
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 29, 2024
Dominant 36-14 victory to cap off the 2024 BYU football season
The sold-out Alamo Bowl crowd of 64,261 got a glimpse of how good BYU’s 2024 squad truly was.
“Well, it wasn’t anything against Colorado. It was just that we knew what we were going against,” said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. “I think there are a lot of coaches and a lot of people who have said this is a very talented roster on Colorado’s side. They’ve had a lot of success, and you see the things they were able to do, especially on the offensive side. I think sometimes you forget that they play a complete game, defense, and they create some turnovers. They did tonight. We just had a plan. We just wanted to execute it and wanted to stay aggressive.”
Saturday’s victory was a complete game.
The offense was creative in digging into the deep bag of “special” play calls in Aaron Roderick’s playbook.
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BYU was dialed into the game plan
BYU’s defense was chomping at the bit throughout the week to cause havoc on Shedeur Sanders, and they did it all night. The Cougars held Colorado’s offense to two yards rushing and only 210 yards for the night.
“I think, looking at our game plans this season, I think this was one of the ones where we definitely were top-loaded, especially under a lot of pressure. Trying to get him to move,” BYU senior defensive end Tyler Batty on the game plan for Colorado’s offense. “I think our secondary also did a great job kind of disguising what we were doing. We did have a lot. We did have a lot installed, and again, the dudes did a great job of executing everything that we had in.”
Then, the special teams continued to be “special,” booting two 50-plus-yard field goals from “Big Game Bill,” Will Ferrin, a successful onside kick, and a punt return for a touchdown.
Alamo Bowl champs is reason to celebrate. 🎈 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Fax16RqBWb
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 29, 2024
Despite the 22-point victory, BYU left some points on the field with three turnovers.
But BYU’s physicality on both sides of the ball was too much for the Buffs.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio.
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