BYU Starts Season With Style

Steve Sarkisian wrecked the “Wrecking Crew.”

The Brigham Young quarterback threw six touchdown passes Saturday as the Cougars upset No. 13 Texas A&M;, 41-37, in the Pigskin Classic, the opening game of the college football season.

“One thing to remember is when BYU gets rolling on offense, it’s kind of hard to stop the train,” said Sarkisian, who completed a career-best 33 of 44 passes for 536 yards against A&M;’s vaunted “Wrecking Crew” defense.

Sarkisian, a senior from West Torrance High and El Camino College, hooked up with K.O. Kealaluhi on a 46-yard pass play for the winning touchdown with 1:03 remaining.

“Once we got in the groove and got people going, we were all right,” Sarkisian said. “They didn’t give this to us; we went out and won it.”

Two of Sarkisian’s touchdown passes against the Aggies’ sophomore-laden secondary went to Kaipo McGuire, who finished with seven catches for 146 yards. Kealaluhi had 151 yards on six catches.

“This was a great victory for us . . . [but] we’ve always stepped up for big games,” Brigham Young Coach LaVell Edwards said, referring to upsets of Miami in 1990 and Penn State in 1991.

The loss was the first in eight season-openers for Texas A&M; Coach R.C. Slocum.

“We knew going into the ball game that we had a real vulnerability in the secondary,” he said. “We lost three out of four of our starters.”

The upset ruined Branndon Stewart’s heralded debut as Texas A&M;’s quarterback. He finished with 232 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-28 passing.

The loss also overshadowed fine running by Aggies Eric Bernard (108 yards) and Sirr Parker (101 yards).

Trailing 37-34 after Kyle Bryant’s third field goal for A&M--a; 51-yarder with 1:31 left--Sarkisian needed only 24 seconds to complete the winning drive.

Starting at his 22-yard line, he moved the Cougars to the Aggies’ 46 with quick down-and-out strikes of 11 and 21 yards to McGuire before throwing the touchdown pass to Kealaluhi.