BYU senior cornerback Jakob Robinson is evidently a difficult man to impress — at least when the Orem High product is doing the impressing.
After his interception of Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita drastically turned the momentum of Saturday's game in BYU's favor the first play of the second half, Robinson said the deflection and pick ranks only among the best in his career in Provo.
"I would say maybe top five," Robinson said. "OK, definitely top five."
Set up at Arizona's 9-yard-line, Jake Retzlaff threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Chase Roberts that was tipped at the line of scrimmage to give BYU a two-touchdown lead, and the Cougars cruised from there to a 41-19 win over the Wildcats in front of 64,420 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
It was the same end zone in which Robinson made an interception at the beginning of last season that kept Sam Houston from scoring and preserved BYU's 14-0 win in that opener. That one was big; this one felt 10 times bigger.
Here's how Robinson described it:
"Man, it was crazy. We were in a corner blitz from the boundary. I always love it, because when coach (Jay) Hill calls a corner blitz, he knows we are probably either going to get home or make a play.
"Yeah, he just called it, and I saw the quarterback look at a tight end in motion and he just tried to throw, so I stuck my hand out and caught it."
Safety Tanner Wall and linebacker Isaiah Glasker also picked off Fifita — the first time the Arizona QB has been intercepted three times in a single game — and Glasker returned his interception 21 yards for a touchdown to complete the scoring.
"Honestly, coach Hill puts us in the best position to make plays. He scouts (opponents) super good," Robinson said. "He knows what plays are coming, and then he will try to put us in the best call to make a play. Everyone just does their job and it just takes you right to the play."
Robinson said the game plan was to get Fifita to scramble to his left, "because he is not as good at scrambling left, but he is really good at scrambling right."
Head coach Kalani Sitake said Hill has a variety of blitzes dialed up and ready to go, taking advantage of each defender's strengths. The Cougars had Fifita dead to rights at least a half-dozen times, but only sacked him once.
He's as slippery a QB as the Cougars have seen this season, and they have seen some really elusive ones.
"Jakob has done an amazing job of always getting ready for the games, and then he just has really good instincts. You guys have seen that for many years now, him making plays," Sitake said.
"The only thing I can say about that one is just score next time, but yeah, what an amazing player and great leader."
Robinson is the type of player who leads by example, instead of his words, Sitake said.
"He is a soft-spoken guy, but man, he makes a lot of noise when he is on the field, and makes a lot of plays," the coach said. "Really proud of him being able to do that and just kind of set the momentum for the rest of the game."
Wall's pick was also impressive, because it saved points and it also set the Cougars up for a 99-yard touchdown drive that made a statement that the offense could move the ball on an Arizona defense that gave up only 10 points to Utah.
"Tanner has really improved, like crazy. So he was actually shading over to (one) side, but he made the play on the other side," Robinson said. "That is just him using his good eyes and reading and going to make plays."
As far as making a statement with the sixth win, Robinson said the Cougars are far from finished.
"We are bowl eligible, but that is not really what I have been thinking of," he said. "I want to get to the national championship for us, so that is definitely my thought."
