CougarFan.com Staff

PROVO, UT – In BYU’s season-opening victory over Washington, senior quarterback Kevin Feterik and BYU’s coaching staff made good on their promise to throw the ball more this season.  In fact, they kept their word so well that the game will go down in the annals of Cougar football history as one of the most prolific aerial attacks ever launched by the team.

Completing 39 of 59 passes for 500 yards, 3 TDs and 1 interception, Feterik set a new Cougar Stadium record for pass attempts, bettering the 57 attempted by three different quarterbacks in the past.  It was also a stadium record for the most passes attempted by a team, edging the 58 that Gifford Nielsen and his backup combined to put up against Utah State in 1976.  

Feterik’s completions were second in stadium history only to Jim McMahon’s 40 versus North Texas in 1980.  The 500 yards passing are the most by a BYU quarterback since Steve Sarkisian’s 536 yard outburst in the 1996 Pigskin Classic.

On the strength of Feterik’s 500 passing yards, BYU currently has the #1 ranked passing offense in the nation, surpassing previous leader Kentucky (446 yards).  Individually, Feterik is ranked #1 in total offense with 493 yards, well ahead of Kentucky’s Dusty Bonner (409 yards).

You may remember that this is the same Kevin Feterik who was practically booed off the field by BYU fans in last September’s contest with Murray State.  When asked to contrast his feelings now with what he felt that day, Feterik shrugged it off, saying that he tries to stay steady and not let things like that bother him.  

“You can’t get too high, and you can’t get too low.  You just have to do things the best you can and not worry about what other people think.”

Perhaps the most defining moment of his game, and of his career for that matter, was Feterik’s ability to step onto the field with just over two minutes remaining and drive his team 89 yards for the victory.  

“When we got the ball back on that last possession, all of my teammates had that same look in their eyes.  We all knew we were going to score.  We have a lot more confidence than we did last year.  Every one of us believes that we can score at will.”

Feterik drove the team the length of the field in seven plays, hitting Ben Horton and Luke Staley for first downs before stalling at midfield.  After three incomplete passes, 60,000+ prayers were answered as he hit Horton on 4^th and 10 for a 14 yard pickup.  

A pass interference call on the next play gave the Cougs 1^st and 10 at Washington’s 38, and the rest is history.  Feterik took the snap, rolled out to his left, and found true freshman Chris Hale in the back of the endzone for the game winning score.  A two-point conversion pass to Doug Jolley finished the scoring for the night at 35 – 28.

  Maintainer: webmaster@CougarFan.com