BYU football: The five best moments of Cougars’ 2016 season

No. 2: Sitake’s first career victory

The Kalani Sitake era of BYU football started on a high note.

The Cougars traveled to Glendale to take on the Arizona Wildcats at University of Phoenix Stadium. It was a big game and anxious BYU fans were already eyeballing the Week Two matchup with the Utes.

The stadium was electric and well more than half the fans in attendance were there for the Cougars. What we thought might have just been a slow start for BYU football ended up being the norm of the season.

The defense led the way and the offense relied on Williams. Also fitting, the game came down to the final plays, as Jake Oldroyd knocked home a 33-yard field goal with just four seconds left. Oldroyd hadn’t made a kick in a game in years and didn’t even have team-issued cleats.

The kick made him a hero.

But for as exciting as the Cactus Kickoff was, the game wasn’t the most impressive thing I saw that night.

It was Sitake’s post-game press conference.

Sitake was asked about his first win. How did it feel? How excited was he? How proud?

He deflected everything. Said it was all about the players.

We turned our attention to Taysom Hill, but quickly went back to Sitake.

“These guys deserve it,” Sitake said after the game. “I wish you would ask them more of the questions. I’ve been really impressed with the leadership on this team.”

If you weren’t sure Sitake was the right man for the job going into the game, there were no questions after it was over. He clearly loves BYU and every one of his players and his comments – on a night that could’ve been all about him, no less – prove that.