Much needed life for Cougar Cagers

There the Cougars were. A record of 10-2. A spot in the national rankings.
Then came the first major dent in the resume. A 73-70 road loss to Boise State.
Then the wind went out of the Cougars' sails with a 17-point embarrassment against an average ACC squad in Wake Forest.
Finally, the Y hit rock bottom. A 70-41 road loss at UNLV. That 10-2 record a thing of the past, BYU found itself losers of three out of five games. The bandwagon fans were long gone. The Cougar faithful found their enthusiasm waning.
How soon is football season?
Not so fast my friends.
Saturday's 55-52 road win at Utah breathed some much-needed life into the Cougars' game. The road losing skid was haulted. And a favorable Mountain West stretch awaits.
If the Cougars can sweep San Diego State and New Mexico at home this week and beat Air Force and cellar-dwellar Wyoming on the road, they'll be 6-1 in conference and 17-5 overall. A home win over TCU and a road win over a bad CSU squad would make that 8-1 and 19-5.
Not too shabby.
If that plays out, BYU should be able to exact revenge on UNLV on Feb. 16 and complete a season sweep of Utah four days later.
So even if the Cougars stumble at SDSU or UNM late in the year, they would still be poised for a 13-3 league mark, which is probably go enough for the MWC title.
Considering the sad state of affairs after the UNLV debacle last week, that's a pretty decent forecast.
Now the Cougars just have to make it happen. But if they display the defense they showed at Utah, they'll be fine.
After all, BYU won while scoring just 55 points, getting only six points from Trent Plaisted, while Jonathan Tavernari had an oh-for-the-game shooting day.
Thank goodness for Lee Cummard's monster game and the timely 3-pointer shooting of Sam Burgess.
If Cummard continues his torrent pace and Plaisted and Taverani show more consistency, the Cougars could get back to the level of play displayed in late November and early December. And freshmen Jimmer Fredette and Chris Collinsworth are playing with more confidence and aggression each time out.
The pieces are in place one again.
All aboard the bandwagon.