Confession: I responded on a prediction thread that CO would probably move the ball up and down the field on us with their high octane offense and win by multiple scores. In other words, I predicted exactly the opposite of what happened.

Having said that, what an incredible game, for a lot of reasons, including these:

--Right from the get-go, we were ahead schematically. We didn't execute well on our first offensive series, but the plays were there. Defensively, we were nails all night and caused Sanders all kinds of problems

--We brought the fight to Colorado. The media hype etc., with almost sole focus on the Buffs, made it feel like they were coming in with all the momentum of a freight train and would smash into the hapless Cougs with their two superstars and stellar supporting cast. The opposite happened. We got after Colorado all over the field and were on the giving end of big hits and collisions all night.

--BYU swung for the fences to get the W. Post-game mentioned 17 different looks the D gave Shedeur et al. A perfectly executed and timely onsides kick. An offensive attack that kept CO off balance (when we weren't self-destructing in the red zone). It was BYU, not Colorado, that was hades bent on winning this one

--Special teams awesomeness. Kelly Poppinga's crew was stellar all over the field. The blocking on PR was impressive all night, not just on the TD.

--Tweaked the nose of essentially all of ESPN plus commentators all over the country. Despite the considerable CO hype, the nation watched our coach graciously but unapologetically repping our school, its sponsoring church, and what both stand for in a decisive win.

The Miracle Bowl and Michigan stand out as obvious exceptions, but it's tough to think of a ton of bowl games that have clearly been better for BYU than the one we just watched.