It's mostly a blur for Terrance Hooks.

Eight months have passed -- the first two being particularly difficult -- and the junior BYU linebacker finally played a football game again.

Not that he could remember much of that, either, after a business-like 21-3 win against New Mexico that won't offer many indelible images other than No. 47 sneaking his way onto the scene.

Way, way ahead of schedule.

"It's had its ups and downs, but it feels good to have hard work pay off," Hooks said.

No one had any reason to be looking to scout his progress at LaVell Edwards Stadium, because head coach Bronco Mendenhall felt like Hooks wouldn't be ready until at least next Thursday's huge game at TCU.

"I had about five plays," Hooks said. "It was the third quarter. Well, maybe the fourth. I'm not exactly sure, to be honest."

He will not show on in the statistics sheet.

"I had a missed tackle," Hooks quipped. "I was there, I just couldn't wrap him up. I had a pretty good lick. My excuse there is I am still catching up to the game."

In BYU's most physical game so far, one in which the Lobos hung around valiantly against the country's ninth-ranked team, the Cougars had 21 players record 97 tackles (31 solo, 66 assisted). UNM used a second-string quarterback -- on third downs his backup often came in -- and a standout running back returned from injury and still it was a tight game until a phantom illegal block-in-the-back call with about seven minutes left secured BYU's 6-0 record.

Not a bad story line, really: the gritty team against what should have been a much better one, with the brave player.

The one thing Hooks remembers was assistant coach Paul Tidwell telling him to get ready. Teammates surrounded him, not exactly trying to pump him up for the violence that awaited.

It was a celebration, one that the honoree didn't want right then.

"I don't need to smile," Hooks told his friends. "I need to get focused."

If his mind rushed through the high notes and the low ones of this journey, who could blame him?

But also, where to start?

This life lesson started April 3, during a spring football practice, when he became a surprise non-contact casualty while going for an interception. One moment he's trying to prove his worthiness of a starting spot, the next he's got a knee that's in more tatters than the current stock market.

Without the intact patellar tendon, the patient is unable to straighten the knee. That means being unable to stand.

That lasted for two months, everyday a bad one.

His surgery was delayed because he absentmindedly ate four Oreos when he was supposed to still be fasting at 5 a.m. He missed a couple of workouts later on because he just couldn't bear to go, the plateau of his progress hurting more than the injury itself.

Hooks returned home to Arizona during the summer. That's when he trained near hurt NFL standouts like Donovan McNabb and Hank Baskett.

In Phoenix, Hooks confirmed he could rise again.

The day that means the most to him was when he actually ran again. With the help of some harnesses, which let him run without carrying all of his 225 pounds (now 235), he was borderline asthmatic from atrophy.

But always, amazingly, ahead of schedule.

"I couldn't walk for two months, but then you do it and then you want to run," Hooks said. "Then you start to get confident with running. Then you start getting excited about playing."

That the trainers, then Mendenhall, allowed him to suit up for this one says how far he's come. This Mountain West Conference showdown was not for the faint of knee. This was a game built on three yards and a cloud of wet sod. This game in the season's coldest conditions, yet tested everything about Hooks, and he passed.

He says the knee feels no different than April 2, which is a good thing. He was cleared to practice earlier in the week, did some drills and never suffered swelling. His one concern about gameday, like everyone else among the sold-out crowd, was its bone-chilling cold. He couldn't ride the stationary bike enough, and had Cougar staff return it to the sideline for the second half so he could stay ready.

In a 15-minute interview, Hooks said "blessed" six times.

"Just to get Terrance in there, I think, was a nice transition for him," Mendenhall said. "And I know he's smiling a lot."

And gearing up. A much bigger challenge looms, on short notice, and Hooks intends to be prepared to play -- not just surprised and thrilled.

"I think by TCU I'll be in a groove," Hooks said. "I'll be studied up, ready to go."

• Jason Franchuk can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it