SAN DIEGO _ It seemed like someone stuffed BYU's San Diego bowl pedigree into a blender and poked puree.
This is BYU, Quarterback U _ a defensive back's soaked-sheets nightmare. This is the bombs-away birthplace of Heisman Trophy-winning Ty Detmer, Super Bowl architects Steve Young and Jim McMahon, and slingers Robbie Bosco and Marc Wilson.
What in the name of fly patterns is going on?
The suddenly land-loving Cougars felt even more grounded Wednesday during a soggy 24-21 win against Wyoming in the Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. It mattered little.
"I'll take wins," coach Kalani Sitake said, "no matter how they come."
BYU traditionally has been a program tugging at Don Coryell's heave-it heart with five guys under center who finished third or higher in Heisman voting. Detmer once chucked it 59 times for a record 576 yards during the dizzying 1989 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm.
The new-age Cougars, coincidentally under the control of now-offensive coordinator Detmer, ran 109 times more than it threw leading into the collision with the Cowboys. They gained nearly as much via handoffs (2,399 yards) as through the air (2,477).
On Wednesday, BYU's initial trio of first downs came on the ground.
Welcome to the trenches.
The steady, stubborn rain made the prospect of passing as appealing as zig-zagging on a local freeway during rush hour at 100 mph. The teams combined to go 0-for-7 on third downs in the opening quarter.
Yet amid the muck, it became clear that much most people know about the Cougars has changed.
BYU finished the first quarter with eight passing yards. Detmer used to gobble that many out of the first huddle or two alone. The Cowboys gained more on BYU passes than BYU at the point safety Andrew Wingard returned an interception of Tanner Mangum 20 yards with 10:22 to play in the first half.
The lone score in the first half belonged to Mother Nature, when Cowboys punter Ethan Wood juggled a snap _ gyrating to locate the ball like a spirited "Dancing with the Stars" tango _ to set up BYU at the 3-yard line with 1:25 remaining.
The result: 2 plays, 3 yards and 47 seconds worth of touchdown-scoring traction.
Then in the third quarter, after the skies turned down the spigot, BYU resolved to revisit its past.
Mangum planted a foot in the pocket and found Nick Kurtz down the middle of the field with Wyoming's Antonio Hull draped across him. The pass interference penalty was declined, the 39-yard catch counted and suddenly all play-calls again seemed possible.
Then, the impossible became possible.
On third-and-goal at the 5, Mangum tossed a ball to the middle of the endzone like an NBA runner in the lane. It bounced off a Cougars receiver, deflected off Cowboys cornerback Hull and settled into the unlikely arms of BYU tight end Tanner Balderree.
The dramatic round of endzone tip drill seized sizable momentum, pushing a tight, weather-strangled game into a 17-7 Cougars' lead.
Wyoming used a key third-down completion on its next drive, then scored on a 9-yard scoring pass from quarterback Josh Allen to Tanner Gentry to trim it to 24-14 with 7:35 to play.
Then BYU embraced its present, trying to ice the clock on the ground. When Jamaal Williams scooted 30 yards on the first snap, it started a run of three consecutive handoffs.
The resilient Cowboys turned it into a 24-21 game on Allen's 23-yard touchdown pass to Gentry with 2:11 to play. Wyoming threated to win it after a BYU three-and-out, but Kai Nacua's interception of Allen inside the 10 sealed it with 1:22 to play.
When all the smoke and mist lifted, it revealed a very un-BYU roadmap.
The Cougars rushed for 216 yards _ 210 of those from Williams, the second-most in Poinsettia history behind San Diego State's Ronnie Hillman (228, 2010) _ and threw for just 96.
"Better than (playing in frigid) Utah," Williams said. "I'd rather have rain than snow. ... But my whole body feels like a raisin."
The Cowboys, who lost their final three games of the season to finish 8-6, more than doubled the air production of BYU in the slick and the slop.
BYU cared little about how it got to 9-4, only that it got there.
A bowl win, after all, is nothing to pass on.
