“I think the score is one thing and if what I was hoping to show, meaning people that won’t quit, that will support and believe in each other, and try as hard as they can, then yeah, I think this was pretty close [to BYU tradition],” Mendenhall said. “You have to kind of have it look like this first before it looks like something else.

“I think the bottom line is that until you just surrender the outcome of what this might look like and just throw our whole heart and soul into every play, you don’t have a chance for it to look any different at the end,” Mendenhall said. “I think that’s about as close [to the BYU winning culture] that we have been a part of today, a group of guys just throwing their bodies around and really supporting and really wanting for each other to have success.”

The drama of Saturday’s scenario could have suffocated lesser teams. Most feared that after losing to Boston College and Pitt, that UVa had blown its chances of reaching a bowl after starting 5-1.

Faced with what the ESPN Index rated as the toughest remaining schedule in the nation (Georgia Tech, at Louisville, at Miami, and Virginia Tech), there was reason to be concerned.