The 2009 season had no slogan that may or may not have meant 'BCS or Bust,' but they just wanted to go out and just be able to compete against the Oklahoma Sooners. Well, we all saw what happened after the injury to Sam Bradford which subsequently somewhat assisted BYU to the first major upset of the college football season. After, that huge win (or what was perceived at the time) made BYU a darkhorse for a national title contender by being ranked seventh in week three, but then BYU went out and were destroyed by Florida State.
The Florida State loss did bring in a lot of questions about BYU's season since the Cougar since Florida State was able to run for 313 yards. Then there was the Cougar faithful questioning how good Max Hall was in big games as he had three picks in yet another big game. Never mind the fact that Hall prior to that game had a 23-6 record and then by the end of this year he ended up being the all time quarterback winner in BYU history.
The concern of Max Hall's picks was a tale of two seasons as in the first half of the year he had 10 picks in the first five games, but then only four in the last eight games. Being a senior quarterback is a special thing, because the past ten starting senior quarterbacks won a conference title. Some fans and others felt that was going to happen again, because BYU had a great back in Harvey Unga and possibly the best tight end duo in the country with Dennis Pitta and Andrew George.
Their concern as the offensive line that lost most of their returning talent, the wide receiver loss of Austin Collie, and as usual the BYU defense. The line held up all right, the defense was a hit in miss, and the receiving corp was basically the tight end with a little bit of McKay Jacobson and O'Neill Chambers.
After that Florida State loss the Cougars do what they do best and whip up and some bad teams, and then came the TCU game which fans and coaches insisted would be different then last year. Well, it was actually worse then last year because the game was at LaVell Edwards Stadium, ESPN's Gameday was in town, and one minor detail in the score which was worse this year then last year.
Then after that loss BYU was an after thought as they piled up big wins, but they had an unexpected hiccup by nearly losing to New Mexico who ended up 1-11. Had the Lobo kicker been able to make a kick they would have had one of the biggest upsets in all of college football.
The Holy War between Utah and BYU is always a close game and this years game was a classic with BYU defeating Utah in overtime, but the game will forever be overshadowed by Max Hall and his post game comments. Hall went off calling everyone associated with University of Utah classes, he did apologize shortly after but he just ended up trying to rationalize his comments.
Then BYU just went about their business and beat the wind and Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl quite handily and finished the season in the top 15. This season to some BYU fans may have felt like a disappointment because of the hype and hope surrounding the team with the big Oklahoma win and then the two beat downs by Florida State and TCU. The season can be summed up in that it was a very good year but not a great year.