It would be easy to say that fortune finally betrayed BYU on Saturday night, that after so many hugs, so much good love from Lady Luck all season, up to and including the 9-0, the Cougars were left heartbroken, crying, rejected and scorned.

But no, it was BYU – nothing or no one else – that betrayed the Cougars against Kansas at LaVell Edwards Stadium, resulting in a 17-13 loss, a defeat the Cougars deserved through their own mistakes, mistakes that confirmed what so many had done. suspect: Namely, that BYU is not as good as its record suggested.

In that way, the Cougars fought two battles against the Jayhawks on this occasion, and while one might have been enough to take care of the other… well, maybe not.

First and foremost, they had to beat the Jayhawks. No duh. Second, they had to perform enough better to get what that undefeated score still had to offer them, at least not to the degree they sought: respect.

As it turns out, they got neither here. They were kicked in the kneecaps, they received defeat and the doubt that came with it, doubt from within and without, from themselves and from all those who thought they were some kind of mirage.

Still in the shadow of last-minute wins over two bottom-ranked players – Oklahoma State and Utah – in a league that seems to have settled into a second-tier competitive status relative to the SEC and Big Ten, BYU couldn’t make a move on its home court find a way to beat a Kansas team that had a losing record and might not even qualify to play in a no-name bowl game. Those who said the Jayhawks were the best 3-6 team in the country… come on, man.

In the lead-up, the Cougars seemed outwardly convinced of their own eminence, even after the narrow victories of the past. But Saturday night they had their problems, some caused by the Jayhawks, some born of their own ineptitude.

Kansas’ initial possession was about as simple as football possession gets, a mix of passes and runs that made BYU’s defense look slow and vulnerable. It didn’t help the home team at all that it only had 10 players on the field when Kansas scored its first TD. Additionally, the Cougars have traditionally, if not this season, struggled with mobile quarterbacks who can also run it. Kansas QB Jalon Daniels presented that challenge, but he also presented another: a dog point that changed the outcome of the game. More about that in a few paragraphs.

BYU’s first TD came in the second quarter, overcoming a 7-3 deficit. It was clear that the Cougars could move the ball on the ground and through the air, and Jake Retzlaff’s 30-yard throw to Hinckley Ropati made it 10-7. A related issue: Could they stop or slow the Jayhawks’ offense? That meant containing Daniels and pushing back Devin Neal.

All told, the Jayhawks threw for just 169 yards and ran for 73 yards, with Neal becoming Kansas’ all-time leading rusher along the way.

BYU, on the other hand, passed for 192 yards and ran for 162. It yielded 23 first downs, compared to just 13 for Kansas.

However, the Cougars made key mistakes, both players and coaches. An example of this came in the final minute of the first half when BYU flew off the field with a chance to take the lead, 17-10. The Cougars could have easily run the ball for a touchdown. The attacking front had assessed the road and two timeouts remained. Instead, a stupid fade pass was called from close range – does that play ever work? – and Retzlaff foolishly made a pick in the end zone that negated that opportunity, setting the count at 10 points apiece at the half.

If BYU hadn’t blown off its own toes multiple times throughout, including turnovers, that score would have remained comfortably in its favor. Either way, the final two quarters would settle the battle.

By then, BYU no longer cared about impressing anyone. This game was all about survival, about achieving victory, be it beautiful or grotesque.

As mentioned, the Cougars could move the ball, sometimes with ease, when they got their act together. But they didn’t, not often enough.

They consumed most of the third quarter with one drive, a move down the stretch that ended in a field goal, and a lead that didn’t last. That drive was partially hampered by additional curious plays, with the Cougars seemingly inattentive to what would almost certainly work and confusing some things. Sometimes they passed when they should have run, and they ran when they should have passed.

Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick is a smart man who has probably forgotten more about football than most of us ever knew, but his decisions, at least from this angle, seemed somewhat confusing.

In a game where the margin for error was slim, BYU’s defense also made a few mistakes, including blown mid-range coverage that extended drives. The worst came at the 13:23 mark of the fourth quarter, when Daniels took that aforementioned punt on fourth-and-14. The kick deflected off defensive back Evan Johnson, who had turned his head in coverage, making the ball loose and alive. Cornerback Jakob Robinson jumped for the ball, but couldn’t reel it in. All of this allowed the Jayhawks to jump on it and take control near the Cougars’ goal line. A touchdown followed, giving Kansas a four-point lead.

So it was that fortune… oops, no, the Cougars themselves dealt a dirty hand to what could have been an unblemished regular season. Difficult, difficult moment.

What remained in the remaining time required a double-barreled effort by BYU: a stop by the defense and a touchdown by the offense. The stop came with five minutes to go, the touchdown? Well, that could have come on a Retzlaff pass to Chase Roberts, a Keelan Marion run, a pass to Roberts, an LJ Martin run, a Ropati run, a Martin run, a Ropati run, a Ropati- run, and finally on fourth-and-11, a pass from Retzlaff to Roberts on a puzzling route that required the receiver to gain a few yards short of the line, just seven yards from the goal line.

And so, BYU’s quest for perfection, and the respect that could come with it, came to an end. And it wasn’t Lady Luck’s fault. There was no one and nothing to blame but the Cougars themselves.