Beck Named National Player of the Week

PROVO -- BYU senior quarterback John Beck has been named the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the week after leading No. 21 BYU to a 33-31 come-from-behind victory over Utah on Saturday.

Beck, a native of Mesa, Ariz., completed 28-of-43 attempts for 375 yards and four touchdowns, including a game-winning, 11-yard pass with no time remaining to complete the comeback. After completing 8-of-9 attempts for 178 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, Beck completed just five attempts through the second and third quarters as Utah took a 24-14 lead into the final quarter. In the final 15 minutes, Beck completed 15-of-20 attempts for 156 yards and three touchdowns to overcome a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

Dan Coats, who added six receptions for 80 yards, including a critical two-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, said Beck was confident and poised as the Cougars began their game-winning drive.

"He came in the huddle and said, 'We're going to get this done. We are going to go down and score.' He was just cool, calm and collected. John Beck was a man in there."

After driving 64 yards in nine plays, the Cougars faced a first-and-10 from the Utah 11-yard line with just four seconds remaining. On the final play of the game, Beck took the snap and started to drift to his left, directing traffic. With only a three-man rush, Beck was eventually flushed to the right when senior tight end and Mackey Award candidate Jonny Harline broke free on the left side of the endzone. Running to his right, from the right-side hash mark, Beck flung the ball all the way back across the field to Harline who was wide open in the left side of the endzone. The last-second play capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took up the final 1:19 in the game and gave the Cougars their first victory over Utah since 2001.

The play, which took over 12 seconds to complete, was selected as the ESPN SportsCenter top play of the day.

"I've been involved in so many backyard games to know if you can take some time and run one way, someone else may have a chance to sneak out the other side," Beck said Saturday night. "I took a deep breath and told myself I'd been preparing all my life to make a play like this and to just find a way to win."

The victory improved BYU to 10-2 on the season, including a perfect 8-0 record against conference opponents.

Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp, a former Yale University athlete and football coach, is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of foals and tries and the restriction of eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation, a New Haven-based all-volunteer group, was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.