Principles Over Feelings: What the Quietest Night at LaVell Edwards Stadium Taught Me About Human Behavior

As I watched the BYU vs. UCF game, something felt off before the ball was even kicked.

The night before, Cougar fans had already learned that BYU was locked into the Big 12 Championship Game regardless of what happened Saturday. With that context, you would expect the stadium to be electric. A fan base that prides itself on loyalty, tradition, and intensity celebrating the last home game of the season with everything on the line emotionally, even if not on paper.

Instead, it was the quietest home game of the year.

Now riddle me that.

BYU has rabid fans. Anyone who has spent a night inside LaVell Edwards knows exactly what that means. Late kickoffs. Cold temperatures. Noise that shakes the press box. And yet here we were, with everything already decided, and the energy hit a new low.

That is not a diss. That is psychology.

I study human behavior every day. I work in addiction recovery. I am in a Master of Social Work program. I sit with teenagers who wrestle with motivation, identity, discipline, and meaning. And the same principle that shows up in recovery showed up in that stadium.

When we believe the outcome is already secured, effort becomes optional.

When certainty replaces urgency, the nervous system downshifts. The brain chooses the path of least resistance. Energy drops. Intent drops. Engagement fades.

The Cougars mirrored it perfectly on the field.

They came out slow. Flat. They got punched in the mouth fast and went down 14–0. From a psychological standpoint, it tracked exactly with what was happening in the stands. The environment reflected belief. Belief shaped behavior. Behavior shaped the early outcome.

Then something shifted.

Pressure returned. Reality showed back up. The game was no longer theoretical. It was happening now. Energy returned. The Cougars responded, locked in, and ultimately took control and won.

That is not just sports. That is life.

In recovery we say it simply. Principles over feelings.

Feelings rise and fall. Happiness does not last. Sadness does not last. Motivation does not last. Neither does fear. Neither does apathy, at least in theory. But principles do not fluctuate.

The principle is what holds you steady when your nervous system wants to coast.

The principle is what gets you up when you do not feel like it.

The principle is what keeps you honest when no one is watching.

The principle is what reminds you who you are when the outcome feels guaranteed or pointless.

Even fandom operates on principle.

As fans, the principle is not winning. The principle is showing up. Supporting. Creating energy. Holding the standard. Being present. Being invested. Being part of something larger than yourself. Not when it feels good. Not only when it matters on paper. But because that is who you are.

When we switch to feelings over principles, behavior shrinks. Effort becomes conditional. The story becomes, I will show up when I feel like it. I will work hard when I feel motivated. I will care when it benefits me directly.

That mindset always works until it does not.

The quietest game of the season was not about laziness or entitlement. It was about certainty dulling urgency. And that same pattern plays out in finances, health, relationships, recovery, and purpose every single day.

I know this is going to work out, so I will coast.

I know the outcome already, so I will disengage.

I do not feel like showing up, so I will not.

That is the psychological trap.

Principles do not ask how you feel.

They ask who you are.

This week, whether you wear royal blue on Saturdays or not, the real question is not what you cheer for. It is where in your life you have let certainty replace effort.

Where have feelings replaced principles.

Where have you gone quiet when your presence still mattered.

Energy is a choice.

Standards are a choice.

Identity is a choice.

BYU showed us that momentum can flip fast, both on the field and in ourselves. But it only flips when someone decides to stop waiting on the feeling and start acting on the principle.

Go Cougs 4 ever. We riot if BYU is not in the CFP..