Rivalry game 'definitely lived up to hype' for BYU's Aussie punter, down to his crowdsurfing kicker

PROVO — Sam Vander Haar grew up in Australia, and until recently was a semi-pro Aussie Rules Football player until accepting a Division I scholarship to punt at Pitt prior to transferring to BYU.

But in all his life, he has never seen anything quite like college football — or the No. 7-ranked Cougars' most recent game at rival Utah — and he can't get enough of it.

"It's bananas," he said Monday after the Cougars' 22-21 win that "definitely lived up to the hype" that his local teammates had explained to him. "I've said to the guys back home, my friends, that until you're in it, you don't really know what it's like with the atmosphere. And I kind of like the animosity that we had on the weekend, because it just gets the juices flowing. It's very different to anything that you would experience back home, so I love it."

Vander Haar has had a unique view of BYU's 9-0 start to the season. The 6-foot native of Melbourne, Australia is averaging 43.2 yards on 25 punts, and he also saw his number called during a fake punt that helped lead to a 34-28 road victory.

He's also the team's primary holder — something he had never done before transferring to Provo — and he had a unique view of Will Ferrin's 44-yard game-winning field goal with three seconds left that left the facility-record crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium either gobsmacked, angry (for those wearing red) or jubilant (for those in blue).

Ferrin did the hard part, Vander Haar admits, though the Kaysville-born kicker who transferred from Boise State was quick to credit his holder and long snapper Dalton Riggs for the smooth-as-ice finish in the rivalry game.

The trio has spent "a ridiculous amount" of time practicing the snap, the hold and the kick for the past 10 months to make the operation look as seamless (though it wasn't) as it did Saturday night.

"I remember when I got here in January, I said to Will and Dalton that, I want to spend every day, twice a day, going out and practicing holding, just because I'd never really done it before," said Vander Haar, who averaged 38.5 yards per punt in 11 games at Pitt. "I knew that, you know, obviously, there could be an opportunity where I would be the starting punter and starting holder.

"So I treated it as such, and I gave it the effort that it required because I knew that there might be situation like we had on the weekend where I'd want to be confident, and confidence comes from practice. I think we definitely did our due diligence with how much effort we put in and how much work we've done since January, since I got here."

The kick set off celebrations across the state, from the field-level at Rice-Eccles to the Cougars' locker room underneath the new luxury suites in the south end zone to thousands upon thousands of spill-over fans in Provo that met the team bus at nearly 3 a.m. Sunday morning to welcome the team back.

"Oh, it was insane," said linebacker Harrison Taggart, who led the team with eight tackles. "We couldn't even get off the bus because there were so many fans. There's no fan base like this one. It amazes me every single week."

BYU coach Kalani Sitake noted the "awesome" crowd of "literally thousands and thousands of students and fans" that swarmed the bus as it dropped off players, coaches and staff members near the Cougars' indoor practice facility in Provo.

"I was really happy for the players," he said. "I want to thank all of those fans that were here. We felt that energy. I am really happy for the players and even more happy for the fans and how they enjoyed that win.

"I alway slook at how we can get better each week. It was a lot of fun, so now we have to separate it and move on."

Ditto for Vander Haar, who came up through Prokick Australia that has produced dozens of college football and NFL punters including Utah grad Mitch Wishnowsky, now with the San Francisco 49ers.

But the best part of the evening, recalled Vander Haar as he turned the page toward Saturday night's home tilt with Kansas (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN) didn't involve him. It was seeing his quiet, reserved punter hoisted over the shoulders of hundreds of BYU fans to crowd surf alongside venerated mascot Cosmo.

"That was juicing me up," he said. "I mean, he deserves all the credit in the world. Will's obviously a phenomenal talent, and it's been cool to just kind of be by his side through it all, and to watch him develop as even as the season progresses.

"I knew he would have been uncomfortable doing it," he added, cheekily, "which also made it even more funny for me to see."

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