First Loss, A Stress Relief

By Jacob Sorenson

Something a real sports fan must actively look forward to is the first loss of the season. This is true in any sport and any season, but specifically in college football. How the team responds to the first loss is an indicator of their character. The stresses and pressures holding a team stationary are relieved after a loss and how they progress or digress moving forward gives professional scouts and fans reason to have hope in the present or hope for better days ahead. Improvement can even lead to national recognition and championships. But the loss is almost always a relief and a reason to settle down and play the great game of football, solely for the love of the game.

I remember looking back years ago when BYU played an impressive 12-0 season. With Brandon Doman at quarterback and impressive running back Luke Staley, BYU was destined for greatness. BYU had coaching great Gary Crowton at the helm and their season was moving forward, until they met Hawaii on the road. A blowout was the result of the game. BYU had been stunned by a somewhat lesser team in Hawaii putting in shambles everything that they had begun. Between the Utah game and the Hawaii game the Cougars looked like two completely different teams, a possible national championship contender only to turn out to be a total flop. What had led to such a firestorm? Well, exhaustion, hype, pride, and injuries all piled up for certain. BYU ended up losing in the Liberty Bowl that year and the 12-2 Cougars ended the year on a down note.

In 2014 the Ohio State Buckeyes seemed poised with a bright quarterback to take a dynasty back to where it should have been since a national championship win over Miami years earlier. With Urban Meyer on the board as head coach Ohio State entered non-conference play at Virginia Tech in great shape. However, the result was anything but pretty. A big loss and a drop in the polls. Florida State faced a similar fate late in the season with a loss to Oregon in the semi-finals of the first ever college football playoff after the longest win streak in the nation had led them to a national championship the year prior. The loss after so many wins was a humbling and in a turn a growth for the future. The loss at Virginia Tech proved important as Ohio State improved week to week from that game, and then as a 4^thseed in the playoff won the National championship once again.

There is one similarities between all of these losses and every team in the college football scene. The first loss is refreshing. After so long of living through hype and pressure, teams that are passing through such great success must arrive at a Climax and decline before they finally can grow again. Much like the many losses in between championships for the Ohio state buckeyes, those were certainly in place for them to grow. Similar situations faced Michigan and their loss to Appalachian state which led the dynasty of the wolverines to crumble and now rebuild. Alabama losing to Auburn on the miracle return for touchdown that shocked college football and many other plays have shocked the landscape and changed destnies and overall outcomes. Teams must lose in order to grow again however, if they desire to win in the future. So what is it about the first loss that allows a team to settle down? Simply stated the reflection and humbling which accompanies it. 

So back to this year, 4 weeks into the season we are asking ourselves, who is better than who, and who will show up to play this week. BYU opened the season 2-0 before heading into Pasedena to play UCLA. A close game throughout led ultimately to a last minute 4^thand 7 play from tanner magnum which resulted in the game ending interception and a 24-23 Loss. But what did we learn? BYU had battled one of the best teams in all of Division one to the wire, and likely should have won had the defense not failed them in the final minutes of play. The crowd seemed dejected, the players exhausted.

Events had led up to this early season hype and pressure. Two last minute hail mary touchdowns for wins led BYU to 2-0. BYU was riding a high into the game which eventually led to deflation. A local rapper had even created a hype video for the football team about all of their miracles and success. Pride may be one word used to describe an unpredictable football team led by a true freshman recently returned missionary. 

The loss of Taysom hill early in the first game of the season had altered the course of the regular season and created yet again a year of growth and learning from experience, but wait, was it possible for miracle magnum to really lead the improbably skilled cougars to a college playoff game? Not likely. They needed to come back to earth. This is a growing year, not a championship year. Or was it? Early in the 4^th quarter of the game held in Pasadena that seemed like a possibility. BYU was up 20-10 and UCLA had the ball. The game slowly concluded in painful fashion and BYU fans slowly parted. 

Harvey Langi (Left BYU) is outrun by Paul Perkins (Right UCLA)

Growing up in a mixed home of BYU and Utah fans, I chose to follow my mother in choosing BYU. I slowly learned at a young age that the team is unpredictable. As is any team. The let downs and pain and sadness of loss had caused me to find a middle ground between the love for my team and the love for the game. Thankfully time allowed me to find the happy middle ground and unlike many who left the game that day saddened, I saw the loss through different eyes. It was an opportunity for growth and learning, a reason to believe that better and brighter days are ahead. This is not only true of my favorite teams, but any favorite team, of any person. We can all learn a little more from the losses in life and the failures of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Every time they happen can be cause to reflect, until one day we reach the top and conquer the challenges of the day and the cycle begins again.