For the heck of it, I applied to the Bleacher Report for BYU football. Highly doubt I'd get accepted, or would do it even if I was. But, I always thought being a sports writer would be awesome.
With 2012 just days away, I have been thinking of some New Year's resolutions I will set (which I will most likely give up on in a few days). I also have some resolutions I want the BYU football team to set for next year (with hopefully more resolve than myself).
Resolution #1: Win a Big Game
This year's team has the potential to win ten games with a bowl win over Tulsa. However, it might be the least satisfying ten win season anyone in Cougar Town can remember. The only "quality" win was a comeback victory, at home, against a Utah State team that finished 7-6. BYU did not beat anyone else with a winning record and went 0-3 against the other bowl bound teams it faced. Next year, the Cougars will have great chances to make a statement in games against Utah, Boise State, and Notre Dame. Winning these games will keep fans interested in the otherwise uninteresting match-ups against WAC teams in the latter half of the season.
Resolution #2: Get the Ball to the Tight Ends
Granted, this year's team was much more effective in getting the ball to our tight ends. The emergence of Riley Nelson made a clear difference in the spreading of the ball across the field. While this year's by-committee approach yielded better results (55 catches, 4 touchdowns) than last year's non-existent tight end production (34 catches, 0 touchdowns), it is still well short of the typical tight end production in Provo (by comparison, tight ends in 2009 accounted for 93 catches and 13 touchdowns). I look for Richard Wilson to have a big 2012 if Doman utilizes the tight end more in his schemes.
Resolution #3: Get to the Quarterback!
When Bronco Mendenhall came to BYU as a defensive coordinator, he was known for his go-for-broke, aggressive scheme. In the last few years, he has utilized more of a traditional bend-but-don't-break scheme that fans in Provo are used to. While this has minimized points allowed, it has also steadily declined BYU's sack total (tied for 79th in 2011). As we saw against UCF and Ole Miss, getting to the Quarterback can quickly change games in favor of the boys in navy.
Resolution #4: Beat Utah
After last year's heart breaker and this year's travesty, BYU has now lost three of four to the hated Utes. BYU gambled by going and then staying independent. Continued losses to the team up north after they moved to the PAC-12 will hamper recruiting and lead to widespread discontent in Happy Valley. BYU needs to avenge this season's ugly loss when they travel up to Salt Lake next year; there is perhaps more riding on this game for the Cougs than any other "Holy War" in decades.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Season in Review
This year was in a word: weird. The Wonder Kid became Ben Olsen 2.0. The lefty duck thrower became a hero in our best win of the season (vs a bowl bound Utah State team). In another game, a backup quarterback came in and shredded our defense (which led to the starter also transferring). The normally solid Oregon State and Central Florida turned out to be really bad. We coughed the ball up 7 times against Utah, with the majority of those turnovers being unforced. Against TCU, our punter forgot how to catch snaps and BYU's Tim Tebow decided it was a good idea to throw the ball (he did this numerous times) when he was getting tackled by three or four people. We then played a bunch of WAC teams that nobody's ever heard of or ever will hear of, again. In the islands, we started off terrible and then regrouped and made a mockery of Hawaii. All this culminated into a wild 9-3 season that has us voted as the 26th best team in the nation. As with everyone else, I am not sure what I think about the season we've had. But, here are my awards and grades for the season.
Offensive MVP: Cody Hoffman. Hoffman finished the regular season with 53 catches for 821 yards and 7 touchdowns. While he struggled with Jake as the QB (no touchdowns in the first four games), Hoffman exploded over the latter half of the season and became our most consistent playmaker. He had some circus catches and knows how to use his height to his advantage. He also was solid as a kick returner, saving the day against UCF.
Defensive MVP: Kyle Van Noy. Van Noy was a beast, this season. He had 58 tackles (10 for a loss), 5 sacks, 3 picks for 79 yards, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery for a TD to save the game at Ole Miss, and he even blocked a punt (later, to add insult to injury, he literally injured the punter). I think he could be a good NFL player if he beefs up some. He's fast, aggressive, athletic and just makes plays.
Special Teams MVP: JD Falslev. I was tempted to give this to Hoffman, as well. However, a colleague of mine and I just don't understand why Hoffman and Chambers before him look like they are running in slow motion the first ten yards of the return. JD played well and had a great return against TCU for a score.
Freshman of the Year: Ross Apo. He started the season off by scoring our first three offensive touchdowns...in three games. He was slowed a little bit by a concussion against Utah State and seemed to struggle initially with the QB change. He came on late, though, with 5 TDs in the last three games. Maybe breaking his thumb, last season, was the best thing that could have happened for him (as weird as that sounds). Jake really would have benefited from having to sit out a season.
Biggest disappointment: Jake Heaps. Heaps was bad this year. Really bad. His QB rating was awful, his accuracy was awful, his TDs to INTs was bad. More than anything, though, he just looked scared after the Ole Miss game. That first play against Utah, he just looked like he didn't want to get hit, so he gave up a touchdown rather than taking any punishment. That really was the beginning of the end, for me. For a lot of people (many teammates included), the beginning of the end was when he hired a PR man to film "The Decision" ala LeBron James. I honestly don't think he's going to do much wherever he goes.
A distant second for me was McKay Jacobson. I really thought this guy was going to be a stud after a solid Freshman season. I don't know if he lost a step or what on his mission, but other than his TD against Oklahoma, he's been a non-factor his last three seasons. This season, he had only the sixth most catches on the team and again only had one score. He probably led the team in drops, as well.
Offensive MVP: Cody Hoffman. Hoffman finished the regular season with 53 catches for 821 yards and 7 touchdowns. While he struggled with Jake as the QB (no touchdowns in the first four games), Hoffman exploded over the latter half of the season and became our most consistent playmaker. He had some circus catches and knows how to use his height to his advantage. He also was solid as a kick returner, saving the day against UCF.
Defensive MVP: Kyle Van Noy. Van Noy was a beast, this season. He had 58 tackles (10 for a loss), 5 sacks, 3 picks for 79 yards, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery for a TD to save the game at Ole Miss, and he even blocked a punt (later, to add insult to injury, he literally injured the punter). I think he could be a good NFL player if he beefs up some. He's fast, aggressive, athletic and just makes plays.
Special Teams MVP: JD Falslev. I was tempted to give this to Hoffman, as well. However, a colleague of mine and I just don't understand why Hoffman and Chambers before him look like they are running in slow motion the first ten yards of the return. JD played well and had a great return against TCU for a score.
Freshman of the Year: Ross Apo. He started the season off by scoring our first three offensive touchdowns...in three games. He was slowed a little bit by a concussion against Utah State and seemed to struggle initially with the QB change. He came on late, though, with 5 TDs in the last three games. Maybe breaking his thumb, last season, was the best thing that could have happened for him (as weird as that sounds). Jake really would have benefited from having to sit out a season.
Biggest disappointment: Jake Heaps. Heaps was bad this year. Really bad. His QB rating was awful, his accuracy was awful, his TDs to INTs was bad. More than anything, though, he just looked scared after the Ole Miss game. That first play against Utah, he just looked like he didn't want to get hit, so he gave up a touchdown rather than taking any punishment. That really was the beginning of the end, for me. For a lot of people (many teammates included), the beginning of the end was when he hired a PR man to film "The Decision" ala LeBron James. I honestly don't think he's going to do much wherever he goes.
A distant second for me was McKay Jacobson. I really thought this guy was going to be a stud after a solid Freshman season. I don't know if he lost a step or what on his mission, but other than his TD against Oklahoma, he's been a non-factor his last three seasons. This season, he had only the sixth most catches on the team and again only had one score. He probably led the team in drops, as well.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
The WAC-12 and Conference Realignment
So, the University of Utah absolutely choked against one of the worst teams in the nation, Colorado. Colorado had lost 26 straight road games coming into the game. What's amazing is that had the U won the game, at 8-4 (with 4 WAC-12 losses), they would be the second ranked team in the WAC-12 (we'll just rack up an L to Oregon for them to push them to 8-5). Now, soon to be 6-6 UCLA will be headed to the WAC-12 Championship game where they will certainly be pummeled by Oregon. With the loss in the conference championship game, UCLA will not even be bowl eligible. Which brings me to a point that's been harped on, again and again: why does the BCS exist?
The WAC-12 has two good teams that can play in a bowl (Oregon and Stanford with USC being banned for paying players...and will most assuredly be on probation again in the future with Kiffen at the helm). Other than that, they have 6-6 Washington, 6-5 UCLA, 6-6 Arizona State, 7-5 California, 7-5 Utah, 3-8 Oregon State, 4-7 Washington State, 3-10 Colorado and 3-8 Arizona. In other words, the rest of the conference is mediocre if not downright pathetic.
The Big Least is living up to its name, as well. 7-5 Louisville is going to get the BCS bid, this year. Which leads me to say, why did anyone think it would be a good idea for BYU to go there? Not only would we be 1,000 miles away from all of our opponents besides Boise (who we have a contract to play against, anyway), but we'd get frequent flyer miles to play pathetic teams in a conference that will soon lose its AQ status. While there has been much anger at BYU staying independent, I think any move into a conference other than the SEC is not a good move right now. And no, the SEC is never going to come knocking, so that one is out. The Big 12's infrastructure is still unsteady. The Big 10 isn't a possibility. The PAC-12 is bad and doesn't want a religious university. So, let us continue to celebrate Independence!!!
The WAC-12 has two good teams that can play in a bowl (Oregon and Stanford with USC being banned for paying players...and will most assuredly be on probation again in the future with Kiffen at the helm). Other than that, they have 6-6 Washington, 6-5 UCLA, 6-6 Arizona State, 7-5 California, 7-5 Utah, 3-8 Oregon State, 4-7 Washington State, 3-10 Colorado and 3-8 Arizona. In other words, the rest of the conference is mediocre if not downright pathetic.
The Big Least is living up to its name, as well. 7-5 Louisville is going to get the BCS bid, this year. Which leads me to say, why did anyone think it would be a good idea for BYU to go there? Not only would we be 1,000 miles away from all of our opponents besides Boise (who we have a contract to play against, anyway), but we'd get frequent flyer miles to play pathetic teams in a conference that will soon lose its AQ status. While there has been much anger at BYU staying independent, I think any move into a conference other than the SEC is not a good move right now. And no, the SEC is never going to come knocking, so that one is out. The Big 12's infrastructure is still unsteady. The Big 10 isn't a possibility. The PAC-12 is bad and doesn't want a religious university. So, let us continue to celebrate Independence!!!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Some Thoughts About the BYU-NMSU Game
First of all, the major thought on my mind is Matt Edwards is a champion. One catch, one touchdown in his last home game. As my brother Geoff said, if there was a WR rating for a game, Matt's would be like 10000. That was awesome.
Secondly, about Jake Heaps (it always seems to come back to him). He is such an enigma. It's infuriating. One play, he'll look off the defender and throw a beautiful pass right in the receiver's chest. The next play he'll stare at the WR and throw it 100 MPH and out of reach. That's why his final completion percentage for each game is average while he also has some good youtube highlights. Another major problem is that he completes a lot of four yard passes. Those are terrible.
Everybody keeps saying that Doman keeps calling only outs and timing routes for Heaps and that's why he's struggling. I've learned from an insider (I've always wanted to say that) that there are plenty of routes called over the middle for Heaps but he struggles looking that way. The interception he threw in this game was an out that he never took his eyes off of Apo. When Jake does keep teams honest with the utilization of the middle we're a much more effective team. That last TD to Falslev keeps hope alive that Jake might finally put it together (how many times have we said that before?)
Third, our defense is really tough. I wanted to go back through the season and see how many TDs given up were actually the defense's fault. The only TD Ole Miss scored was on defense. Against Texas, they had a scoring drive of 19 yards after Jake's pick. BYU gave up multiple defensive TDs to Utah and the U had a drive that was 3 yards and a drive that was only 35 yards after turnovers. One of UCF's TD was scored on a 17 yard drive after a Heaps pick. While Utah State's drives to the end zone wee long, it can be argued that the defense spending exorbitant time on the field due to offensive ineptness contributed to that. Against Oregon St, Riley had a pick six. TCU had four touchdown drives under 50 yards (including one that was only 8 yards). Factor this all in, and it's pretty impressive how few points the team has given up overall.
Fourth, I feel like it has been a pretty good year, so far. We've won every game we should have. We have a good record. We have a chance to beat a decent Hawaii team next Saturday and then we'll probably play Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl. Tulsa is a quality opponent who I think will be a good measuring stick for how far we've come. Hopefully, we'll get enough momentum going to have a year to really remember, next year.
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| He even outran someone to get in!!! |
Secondly, about Jake Heaps (it always seems to come back to him). He is such an enigma. It's infuriating. One play, he'll look off the defender and throw a beautiful pass right in the receiver's chest. The next play he'll stare at the WR and throw it 100 MPH and out of reach. That's why his final completion percentage for each game is average while he also has some good youtube highlights. Another major problem is that he completes a lot of four yard passes. Those are terrible.
Everybody keeps saying that Doman keeps calling only outs and timing routes for Heaps and that's why he's struggling. I've learned from an insider (I've always wanted to say that) that there are plenty of routes called over the middle for Heaps but he struggles looking that way. The interception he threw in this game was an out that he never took his eyes off of Apo. When Jake does keep teams honest with the utilization of the middle we're a much more effective team. That last TD to Falslev keeps hope alive that Jake might finally put it together (how many times have we said that before?)
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| Such good form...why can't you complete them at a higher percentage? |
Third, our defense is really tough. I wanted to go back through the season and see how many TDs given up were actually the defense's fault. The only TD Ole Miss scored was on defense. Against Texas, they had a scoring drive of 19 yards after Jake's pick. BYU gave up multiple defensive TDs to Utah and the U had a drive that was 3 yards and a drive that was only 35 yards after turnovers. One of UCF's TD was scored on a 17 yard drive after a Heaps pick. While Utah State's drives to the end zone wee long, it can be argued that the defense spending exorbitant time on the field due to offensive ineptness contributed to that. Against Oregon St, Riley had a pick six. TCU had four touchdown drives under 50 yards (including one that was only 8 yards). Factor this all in, and it's pretty impressive how few points the team has given up overall.
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| One of my all time favorite BYU pics. |
Fourth, I feel like it has been a pretty good year, so far. We've won every game we should have. We have a good record. We have a chance to beat a decent Hawaii team next Saturday and then we'll probably play Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl. Tulsa is a quality opponent who I think will be a good measuring stick for how far we've come. Hopefully, we'll get enough momentum going to have a year to really remember, next year.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
BYU to the Big East?
This sums up how I feel about the possibility of going to the Big East:
For more BYU football cartoons, check out http://www.bloodrunsblue.com/
Friday, November 11, 2011
BYU and Big Games Under Bronco
With another loss to TCU, I heard the common refrain that Bronco does not beat good teams. I have heard this over and over again, so I decided to investigate Bronco's record vs. bowl teams and non-bowl teams. While making a bowl game no longer necessarily qualifies you as a good team (remember how in 1995 BYU went 7-4 and didn't go to a bowl game? That seems ridiculous, now), it does mean that you at least have won 6 of 12 games. Here's what I found out.
Since 2005, BYU is 33-3 against teams that did not make a bowl game (or are D-II). In contrast, during that same span BYU is only 21-18 against teams that made a bowl game. This number was ugly to me when I first saw it. However, I took a closer look and it is not as bad as I originally imagined. Let me explain.
In 2005, Bronco took over a team that was made primarily up of players from the Dark Days with He Who Must Not Be Named as Head Coach. In that year, BYU went 1-5 against teams that ended up making a bowl game. Not great, by any imagination, but we also had 7 or 8 walk-on defensive players starting (because He Who Must Not Be Named decided it was a good idea to recruit like 25 WR's the year before). Throughout the season, BYU got consistently better and lost two heartbreakers to Utah then Cal.
In contrast, not surprisingly, BYU has done well against bowl teams in the year where we also had a quality team. In 2006, we were 5-1 against bowl teams. In 2007, we were 5-2. I would argue that 2008 was our worst 10+ win team since Bronco took over, and not surprisingly, they were 2-3 against bowl teams. In 2009, we were 5-2 against bowl teams. Last year (Bronco's biggest down year since his first year) we were a mediocre 3-5 against bowl teams.
It is yet to be seen how many bowl teams we have beaten, this year. Right now, it looks like there may be none. Central Florida, inexplicably, has gone down the tube but only need to win two out of three to get into a bowl game. Utah State has a more uphill battle with needing 3 of 4 games (although their schedule is pathetic from here on out. Remember how these guys should have beaten us, CSU, Louisiana Tech, and AUBURN?) Whatever happens, this probably will not be one of our great years to remember. However, with the above statistics, it might not be fair to say that Bronco doesn't beat good teams...and hey, there's something to be said for almost always beating the teams you should.
Since 2005, BYU is 33-3 against teams that did not make a bowl game (or are D-II). In contrast, during that same span BYU is only 21-18 against teams that made a bowl game. This number was ugly to me when I first saw it. However, I took a closer look and it is not as bad as I originally imagined. Let me explain.
In 2005, Bronco took over a team that was made primarily up of players from the Dark Days with He Who Must Not Be Named as Head Coach. In that year, BYU went 1-5 against teams that ended up making a bowl game. Not great, by any imagination, but we also had 7 or 8 walk-on defensive players starting (because He Who Must Not Be Named decided it was a good idea to recruit like 25 WR's the year before). Throughout the season, BYU got consistently better and lost two heartbreakers to Utah then Cal.
In contrast, not surprisingly, BYU has done well against bowl teams in the year where we also had a quality team. In 2006, we were 5-1 against bowl teams. In 2007, we were 5-2. I would argue that 2008 was our worst 10+ win team since Bronco took over, and not surprisingly, they were 2-3 against bowl teams. In 2009, we were 5-2 against bowl teams. Last year (Bronco's biggest down year since his first year) we were a mediocre 3-5 against bowl teams.
It is yet to be seen how many bowl teams we have beaten, this year. Right now, it looks like there may be none. Central Florida, inexplicably, has gone down the tube but only need to win two out of three to get into a bowl game. Utah State has a more uphill battle with needing 3 of 4 games (although their schedule is pathetic from here on out. Remember how these guys should have beaten us, CSU, Louisiana Tech, and AUBURN?) Whatever happens, this probably will not be one of our great years to remember. However, with the above statistics, it might not be fair to say that Bronco doesn't beat good teams...and hey, there's something to be said for almost always beating the teams you should.
Bowl Teams Non-Bowl Teams/D-II Total
2005: 1-5 5-1 6-6
2006: 5-1 6-1 11-2
2007: 5-2 6-0 11-2
2008: 2-3 8-0 10-3
2009: 5-2 6-0 11-2
2010: 3-5 4-1 7-6
21-18 33-3 54-21
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Bronco's Prophecy
All week long, Bronco said the difference the last few years against TCU was turnovers and special teams. Turnovers I understood, for sure, with Mad Max and Jake Heaps finding wide open TCU cornerbacks with ease the last three years. However, I hadn't thought about special teams...until last night. The special teams absolutely lost us the game (as well as Riley's two awful interceptions. But, we all knew that's how he plays; he'll make some great plays and he'll make some decisions where you wonder how Utah State even wanted him). Riley Stephenson single-handedly decided he did not want to beat TCU. Those snaps weren't great but they should have been caught. The one that was partially blocked was awful protection. The kick returns defense was bad, as well. The only reason I haven't gotten to the point where I say just go for it every fourth down and get rid of our special teams unit all together is both Hoffman and Falslev played well in the return game.
Geoff thinks this is Bronco's fault (he always does). I don't think it's Bronco's fault that our punter doesn't catch snaps, all of a sudden. I'm sure Stephenson gets to punt over and over again in his own practice segments. Gap protection on kick returns might need some tweaks (especially with how fast TCU's returners are). It's also not Bronco's fault that Nelson thinks a pick is better than a two yard loss...or that the number one high school QB recruit is a bust. However, the fake FG early in the first half was weird, mostly because there was no covering of what we were trying to do (we didn't leave the special teams in there or just have the offense stay in) and the clock management by both Bronco and Nelson at the end of the second quarter for that awful FG attempt was bad. We should've just taken the five yard penalty and ran a route that took us down the sideline. Or anything quicker would've been a good decision.
All in all, I thought we looked pretty good other than Special Teams. There always seems to be something against TCU. With exception of last year, they are not this much better than us. They just have our number. But, hey, they had been in the top 10 the last three years and I still think they'll be a Top 20 team by year's end. Could have a worse team to have your number (so, let's not let that be Hawaii).
Geoff thinks this is Bronco's fault (he always does). I don't think it's Bronco's fault that our punter doesn't catch snaps, all of a sudden. I'm sure Stephenson gets to punt over and over again in his own practice segments. Gap protection on kick returns might need some tweaks (especially with how fast TCU's returners are). It's also not Bronco's fault that Nelson thinks a pick is better than a two yard loss...or that the number one high school QB recruit is a bust. However, the fake FG early in the first half was weird, mostly because there was no covering of what we were trying to do (we didn't leave the special teams in there or just have the offense stay in) and the clock management by both Bronco and Nelson at the end of the second quarter for that awful FG attempt was bad. We should've just taken the five yard penalty and ran a route that took us down the sideline. Or anything quicker would've been a good decision.
All in all, I thought we looked pretty good other than Special Teams. There always seems to be something against TCU. With exception of last year, they are not this much better than us. They just have our number. But, hey, they had been in the top 10 the last three years and I still think they'll be a Top 20 team by year's end. Could have a worse team to have your number (so, let's not let that be Hawaii).
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
BYU-Idaho St. What We Learned
What we learned...BYU looks good against really bad competition. Idaho St. did what they were supposed to do: collect a paycheck for getting their butts kicked and making us look good. We played so well that Jake Heaps and Matt Edwards got into the game!
What we learned...Jake is definitely not our guy this year; if ever. I know we kept the offense very simple for him and weren't looking to throw downfield. But, every single pass he threw was an out (one of which was terrible for an interception). We all know he can throw an out. There are two real questions I have with Jake: is he afraid to get hit and can he utilize the whole field? Against the Bengals, he still rushed his throws (even his completions he was throwing way before his receivers were out of their break) suggesting that he's got happy feet. And, again, there was no indication that he can successfully use the whole field.
What we learned...Kyle Van Noy is a freak. Add a punt block to his stats. Is their any stat he hasn't accumulated this year that I'm unaware of? Put him in as a quarterback and then do a trick play pass to him. That always seems to get Heisman voters' attention (for whatever reason). If we were 8-0, he'd be an All-American.
What we learned...Cody Hoffman continues to separate himself as our go-to receiver. McKay Jacobson again has disappointed me (he might be the biggest disappointment at WR that I've seen at the Y). Ross Apo had a solid game but it's apparent he's still learning the game and getting a feel for it. With Riley in, Hoffman has been unstoppable. I hope by next year he breaks out as a 100 yard a game WR. He has the potential.
What we learned...Riley Nelson as the quarterback makes us a lot more dangerous on first down. Our yardage gained per first down yards has drastically increased with Riley. This leads to much more manageable second and third downs (if we even need them). This obviously helps our offense but it also keeps our defense a lot more fresh.
What we don't know...Can Riley beat a team with his arm? I've got a feeling TCU isn't going to let him run wild like he has against everyone else. While their D is a little down, it's still TCU and it's still Gary Patterson. Riley has thrown plenty of TDS (11; 3 each game as a starter), relatively few picks (only 3 even though all were pretty ugly), has a very solid yard per attempt (9.3 compared to Jake's 5.8) which has lead to a very good 174.5 QB Rating (which would be 6th best in the NCAA if he had enough attempts). However, this has come against bad competition and his 61% completion percentage is still worrisome to me. That's not terrible but against our competition, it still implies that he is not a fantastically accurate quarterback. This could hurt us against TCU if it doesn't improve.
What we don't know...Can our secondary shut anyone down? My answer is no. Thus far, we've banked on keeping teams in front of us and getting the occasional turnover. It's worked against bad teams, but a smart QB isn't going to throw 3 picks to our guys. We need to figure something out or make some adjustments for a better team.
What we don't know...Is BYU a good 6-2 team? Or has the recent run of bad competition (though Oregon St. looks like it may knock off the U) made us look like we've got it figured out? Hopefully the confidence we've gained in this 5 win stretch carries over.
What we learned...Jake is definitely not our guy this year; if ever. I know we kept the offense very simple for him and weren't looking to throw downfield. But, every single pass he threw was an out (one of which was terrible for an interception). We all know he can throw an out. There are two real questions I have with Jake: is he afraid to get hit and can he utilize the whole field? Against the Bengals, he still rushed his throws (even his completions he was throwing way before his receivers were out of their break) suggesting that he's got happy feet. And, again, there was no indication that he can successfully use the whole field.
What we learned...Kyle Van Noy is a freak. Add a punt block to his stats. Is their any stat he hasn't accumulated this year that I'm unaware of? Put him in as a quarterback and then do a trick play pass to him. That always seems to get Heisman voters' attention (for whatever reason). If we were 8-0, he'd be an All-American.
What we learned...Cody Hoffman continues to separate himself as our go-to receiver. McKay Jacobson again has disappointed me (he might be the biggest disappointment at WR that I've seen at the Y). Ross Apo had a solid game but it's apparent he's still learning the game and getting a feel for it. With Riley in, Hoffman has been unstoppable. I hope by next year he breaks out as a 100 yard a game WR. He has the potential.
What we learned...Riley Nelson as the quarterback makes us a lot more dangerous on first down. Our yardage gained per first down yards has drastically increased with Riley. This leads to much more manageable second and third downs (if we even need them). This obviously helps our offense but it also keeps our defense a lot more fresh.
What we don't know...Can Riley beat a team with his arm? I've got a feeling TCU isn't going to let him run wild like he has against everyone else. While their D is a little down, it's still TCU and it's still Gary Patterson. Riley has thrown plenty of TDS (11; 3 each game as a starter), relatively few picks (only 3 even though all were pretty ugly), has a very solid yard per attempt (9.3 compared to Jake's 5.8) which has lead to a very good 174.5 QB Rating (which would be 6th best in the NCAA if he had enough attempts). However, this has come against bad competition and his 61% completion percentage is still worrisome to me. That's not terrible but against our competition, it still implies that he is not a fantastically accurate quarterback. This could hurt us against TCU if it doesn't improve.
What we don't know...Can our secondary shut anyone down? My answer is no. Thus far, we've banked on keeping teams in front of us and getting the occasional turnover. It's worked against bad teams, but a smart QB isn't going to throw 3 picks to our guys. We need to figure something out or make some adjustments for a better team.
What we don't know...Is BYU a good 6-2 team? Or has the recent run of bad competition (though Oregon St. looks like it may knock off the U) made us look like we've got it figured out? Hopefully the confidence we've gained in this 5 win stretch carries over.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Preparing for TCU and Review of Oregon St.
BYU plays this week against Idaho St. who is 2-5 in Division II (or whatever they call it, now). That's about all you need to know about them.
So, on to more important things with BYU football. First of all, I made the point that I liked the dispersion of passes to different receivers, backs and tight ends by Riley Nelson in his first two games against Utah State and San Jose. Against Oregon St., 162 of his 217 passing yards were to one receiver. Is that a problem? This might sound hypocritical, but I am going to say no. Hoffman ran wild against Oregon State and if the dude is open and going to catch everything you throw towards him, go for it. I did not see anything on Saturday that would suggest a Max Hall-Austin Collie/Dennis Pitta problem where Hall would always pass it to Collie or Pitta at the loss of his other receivers (who were more open).
Having said that, I am disappointed by the disappearance of Ross Apo since Riley took over. Apo got hurt early in the UCF game and so he didn't put up any numbers in that game. The three games prior to the UCF game, he had at least 3 catches in each game and at least one catch of over 20 yards in each to go with 3 touchdowns. In the three games since, he has only 5 catches (no TDs) with a long of 16 yards. I am not sure whether he is not getting open, if he is still shaken from the hit against UCF or if Riley isn't looking for him but it worries me that such an important weapon of our team has been non-existent for three straight weeks.
Offensively, Alisa is a stud. His running style reminds me a lot of Unga. Not the fastest or the strongest, but a great combination of enough speed, enough strength and great vision. He had some big runs against OSU (including a beautiful 30 yard TD taken back) but I most appreciate how he is churning out a good 5 yards a pop. This is a big reason for our huge jump in third down percentages. Before, we would get 2 or 3 yards from JJ or Kaiyra on first down, errant throw from Jake on second, and another errant throw (or pick) on third down. With Alisa running this way, we have had a huge jump in manageable third downs and our percentage has gone through the roof with it.
Riley has played well, too. In all three games since he has taken over (including the second half against Utah State) the team has finished with over 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. That balance makes us tough to beat. Our running backs are good (particularly Alisa), right now. However, I am worried about the thought of what will happen if we are forced to win games with Riley's arm instead of his (and our backs) legs. Except against a Utah State game in prevent defense, we have not seen yet whether Riley can pull that off. Also, he is a machine that only has two functions it seems: touchdowns and turnovers. We have only punted once with him in but six of our drives have ended in turnovers, 4 by him (including that terrible pass to Apo. Never took his eyes off him and he wasn't even open).
The fact that Riley hasn't beaten anyone except 2-4 Utah State in a prevent defense with his arm brings me to the TCU game. TCU, this year, is beatable but not bad. They are 4-2 and have lost to two good teams. The deciding factor in both of those games, though, was the teams ability to throw the football. Both SMU and Baylor had fantastic passers. Against SMU, TCU gave up 349 passing yards and 4 TDs in the air. Against Baylor, TCU gave up 359 passing yards and 5 TDs in the air. In other words, they are beatable through the air. Can Riley do it? We'll see.
While BYU as not proven we can beat anyone through the air, it's been proven that we are definitely beatable in our own secondary. While the defense only gave up two meaningful touchdowns last week (the offense coughed one up on Riley's pick six and Oregon St. scored with less than a minute left down by 17) the secondary again gave up over 300 yards. This is especially concerning because TCU has a good passer that doesn't make many mistakes (15 TDs, 4 INTs). Our secondary has made a living off of giving up huge chunks of yards and then getting a mistake from the QB (OSU: 306 passing yards, 2 picks; SJSU: 255 yards, 2 picks; UCF: 272 yards, no TDs and a pick in the red zone). Since TCU's QB, Pachall, gets lots of yards, lots of TDs and makes few mistakes, this could spell trouble for our secondary. On the bright side, he lacks the mobility Dalton had and is very sackable. The D-Line needs to step up.
All that said, looking forward to an easy one this week and a good one two weeks from now. Now, for your viewing pleasure.
http://vimeo.com/30648763
So, on to more important things with BYU football. First of all, I made the point that I liked the dispersion of passes to different receivers, backs and tight ends by Riley Nelson in his first two games against Utah State and San Jose. Against Oregon St., 162 of his 217 passing yards were to one receiver. Is that a problem? This might sound hypocritical, but I am going to say no. Hoffman ran wild against Oregon State and if the dude is open and going to catch everything you throw towards him, go for it. I did not see anything on Saturday that would suggest a Max Hall-Austin Collie/Dennis Pitta problem where Hall would always pass it to Collie or Pitta at the loss of his other receivers (who were more open).
Having said that, I am disappointed by the disappearance of Ross Apo since Riley took over. Apo got hurt early in the UCF game and so he didn't put up any numbers in that game. The three games prior to the UCF game, he had at least 3 catches in each game and at least one catch of over 20 yards in each to go with 3 touchdowns. In the three games since, he has only 5 catches (no TDs) with a long of 16 yards. I am not sure whether he is not getting open, if he is still shaken from the hit against UCF or if Riley isn't looking for him but it worries me that such an important weapon of our team has been non-existent for three straight weeks.
Offensively, Alisa is a stud. His running style reminds me a lot of Unga. Not the fastest or the strongest, but a great combination of enough speed, enough strength and great vision. He had some big runs against OSU (including a beautiful 30 yard TD taken back) but I most appreciate how he is churning out a good 5 yards a pop. This is a big reason for our huge jump in third down percentages. Before, we would get 2 or 3 yards from JJ or Kaiyra on first down, errant throw from Jake on second, and another errant throw (or pick) on third down. With Alisa running this way, we have had a huge jump in manageable third downs and our percentage has gone through the roof with it.
Riley has played well, too. In all three games since he has taken over (including the second half against Utah State) the team has finished with over 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. That balance makes us tough to beat. Our running backs are good (particularly Alisa), right now. However, I am worried about the thought of what will happen if we are forced to win games with Riley's arm instead of his (and our backs) legs. Except against a Utah State game in prevent defense, we have not seen yet whether Riley can pull that off. Also, he is a machine that only has two functions it seems: touchdowns and turnovers. We have only punted once with him in but six of our drives have ended in turnovers, 4 by him (including that terrible pass to Apo. Never took his eyes off him and he wasn't even open).
The fact that Riley hasn't beaten anyone except 2-4 Utah State in a prevent defense with his arm brings me to the TCU game. TCU, this year, is beatable but not bad. They are 4-2 and have lost to two good teams. The deciding factor in both of those games, though, was the teams ability to throw the football. Both SMU and Baylor had fantastic passers. Against SMU, TCU gave up 349 passing yards and 4 TDs in the air. Against Baylor, TCU gave up 359 passing yards and 5 TDs in the air. In other words, they are beatable through the air. Can Riley do it? We'll see.
While BYU as not proven we can beat anyone through the air, it's been proven that we are definitely beatable in our own secondary. While the defense only gave up two meaningful touchdowns last week (the offense coughed one up on Riley's pick six and Oregon St. scored with less than a minute left down by 17) the secondary again gave up over 300 yards. This is especially concerning because TCU has a good passer that doesn't make many mistakes (15 TDs, 4 INTs). Our secondary has made a living off of giving up huge chunks of yards and then getting a mistake from the QB (OSU: 306 passing yards, 2 picks; SJSU: 255 yards, 2 picks; UCF: 272 yards, no TDs and a pick in the red zone). Since TCU's QB, Pachall, gets lots of yards, lots of TDs and makes few mistakes, this could spell trouble for our secondary. On the bright side, he lacks the mobility Dalton had and is very sackable. The D-Line needs to step up.
All that said, looking forward to an easy one this week and a good one two weeks from now. Now, for your viewing pleasure.
http://vimeo.com/30648763
Monday, October 17, 2011
Gameday BYU-Oregon State
I figured I would post some pictures from the game since it is the only one I will actually attend in person this year. As for analysis...we won. That's all I care about right now. Yeah, it was frustrating we didn't put up more points after getting three TOs in a row...but we won, so whatever.
JIMMER!!!!
JIMMER AGAIN!
geoffrey.
This is obviously a picture of that one play.
Legend sighting.
**Spoiler alert** The clock says there are 8 second left, but nobody scored after this picture was taken.
The Legend with his Grandfather LaVell and niece.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Interview of a Legend
On BYU's website, they interviewed my cousin, Matt. Matt hasn't caught a pass in his BYU career, but he is a legend for the way he played through practice with a completely busted arm. It was pretty grodily-awesome. Here are his answers. Interesting things I never knew about him. Particularly about how he would have Nelson Mandella and Robert E. Lee at the same dinner table. Wonder how that would go over.
Nickname: Matt, Eduardo, Eddie
Favorite cold cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Favorite Bronco Mendenhall Quote: “Good is the enemy of great.”
Why did I choose to play football over other sports: Because I love it.
Before a football game, I: Listen to music, visualize myself making plays.
How did I spend my off-season: Traveling and working out.
Who is the best player I’ve ever faced: Bo McNally.
What would I like to do sometime in my life is: Visit Antarctica to say I’ve been to all the continents.
If I could play another position, what would it be: Quarterback.
One place I would like to visit: Rio, Brazil.
Who has had the greatest influence on my football career and why: High school coach Alema T`eo.
How did I select my jersey number: Childhood hero Chad Lewis was #89 for the Eagles.
What is my favorite hobby or activity away from football: Reading.
If I had to give up all my possessions except one, what would be the one thing I kept and why: iPhone, it has everything: scriptures, google, texting, other ways to contact family and friends.
If I were on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” the person I’d call for my lifeline is: My Mom, she literally knows everything.
People say I look like: LaVell Edwards.
My favorite professor or most interesting class I’ve taken at BYU: Survey of world religions.
My favorite scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20
What is the best book I’ve ever read: Killer Angels
What is my most memorable athletic achievement: Scoring game-winning two-point conversion vs. my rival high school my sophomore year.
On game day my friends and relatives: Go to my grandparents and eat gameday stew.
My favorite website: www.espn.com
My advice to youngsters: Be involved in as many activities as you can.
If I were hosting you on a recruiting visit to Provo, the most impressive thing I’d have to show you is: Athletic facilities and the outdoors.
One rule I’d change in college football is: Celebrations, we need more fun on the field.
If I could invite any people to dinner, who would they be: Genghis Khan, Robert E. Lee, Nelson Mandela.
Nickname: Matt, Eduardo, Eddie
Favorite cold cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Favorite Bronco Mendenhall Quote: “Good is the enemy of great.”
Why did I choose to play football over other sports: Because I love it.
Before a football game, I: Listen to music, visualize myself making plays.
How did I spend my off-season: Traveling and working out.
Who is the best player I’ve ever faced: Bo McNally.
What would I like to do sometime in my life is: Visit Antarctica to say I’ve been to all the continents.
If I could play another position, what would it be: Quarterback.
One place I would like to visit: Rio, Brazil.
Who has had the greatest influence on my football career and why: High school coach Alema T`eo.
How did I select my jersey number: Childhood hero Chad Lewis was #89 for the Eagles.
What is my favorite hobby or activity away from football: Reading.
If I had to give up all my possessions except one, what would be the one thing I kept and why: iPhone, it has everything: scriptures, google, texting, other ways to contact family and friends.
If I were on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” the person I’d call for my lifeline is: My Mom, she literally knows everything.
People say I look like: LaVell Edwards.
My favorite professor or most interesting class I’ve taken at BYU: Survey of world religions.
My favorite scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20
What is the best book I’ve ever read: Killer Angels
What is my most memorable athletic achievement: Scoring game-winning two-point conversion vs. my rival high school my sophomore year.
On game day my friends and relatives: Go to my grandparents and eat gameday stew.
My favorite website: www.espn.com
My advice to youngsters: Be involved in as many activities as you can.
If I were hosting you on a recruiting visit to Provo, the most impressive thing I’d have to show you is: Athletic facilities and the outdoors.
One rule I’d change in college football is: Celebrations, we need more fun on the field.
If I could invite any people to dinner, who would they be: Genghis Khan, Robert E. Lee, Nelson Mandela.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Ah, We're Halfway There!!!
BYU's season is halfway over, believe it or not. If somebody would have told me before the season that BYU would be 4-2 with losses to Utah and Texas, I would have believed them. However, if they told me that Utah game was a complete blowout and Utah's only D-1 win, I wouldn't believe them. Nor would I believe that Jake Heaps would be a complete mess scared to get tackled and lacking any confidence. Nor would I believe that we would be 4-2 while averaging a measly 20 points a game with only 11 total offensive touchdowns. But, here we are. 4-2. Which is not bad since we played a brutal schedule (I think everyone we've played except Ole Miss and SJSU will make a bowl game). So, looking forward, here's how I think it shakes out.
@ Oregon St. I think Oregon State is pretty bad. But, they are at home, and they have played better the last few weeks. Still, their defense and offense combined stink. I think BYU pulls it off but it's going to be closer than we would all like.
BYU 28-14.
vs. Idaho St. I think this is the game BYU's offense finally gets completely rolling. If not, we will be the worst 5-2 team in college football history.
BYU 56-7.
@ TCU. This game scares me. TCU is down, for sure, but they're still not a bad team. Interestingly, they are amazing on offense this year and below average on defense. They are averaging over 41 points a game but also giving up nearly 28. In their two losses, they gave up 9 TD passes 708 passing yards. This will be a game to see if Riley can beat anybody with his arm.
BYU 28-25.
vs. Idaho. Just like Idaho St., this team sucks. Great analysis, right?
BYU 49-0.
vs. New Mexico State. This team is a lot like SJSU. They are pretty bad but not as bad as you would expect. But, their wins are less than convincing and I am still shocked we didn't kill SJSU.
BYU 42-14.
@ Hawaii. Finally, the only remaining game besides TCU that should be a good one (if any of the others are, that's just sad). Hawaii is ok, this year, other than the inexplicable shellacking they received at the hands of UNLV (who was beat bad by a D-2 school). But, this game is in Hawaii which always seems to be bad news for BYU. Many a good season has met a sad ending in Hawaii (1990, 2001). Hopefully, BYU can keep focused and not surf too much with Bronco in order to win this game. It's winnable and should be won but I'm still not sold on our secondary and Hawaii specializes in the pass.
BYU 38-28.
 |
| Hopefully this game looks like the 2009 Vegas Bowl. |
BYU 28-14.
 |
| They should get a logo that suggests that they suck, rather than ferocious tiger. |
BYU 56-7.
 |
| Hopefully LaVell's 2009 prediction (rather than Lee Corso's) turns out to be correct. |
BYU 28-25.
 |
| I prefer my ECU mascot. Did you know, the Vandals come from a basketball coach nearly 100 years ago that said his team 'vandalizes' the opponents? More importantly, did you care? |
vs. Idaho. Just like Idaho St., this team sucks. Great analysis, right?
BYU 49-0.
 |
| I thought an Aggie was a bull? I'm so confused. |
BYU 42-14.
 |
| Bring this logo back! "I'm a real toughy!" -The Gender Bender, Futurama |
BYU 38-28.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Game Day Grades
BYU pulls off a victory that was never really in doubt but much closer than it should have been, 29-16. A great first quarter (minus a fumble), a decent second, an awful third and an ok finish. Here's the grades:
Riley Nelson: I started writing a post about how I thought the decision to go with Riley was a mistake before the game. The main reasoning I used to justify not starting him was that I didn't feel his arm was good enough to keep teams honest. I never got around to finishing it. Then, I watched the first quarter and thought, "well, I guess I was wrong. There's a first for everything." It was late, here, on the east coast when the game started so Julie wanted me to come read to her and I didn't object since I thought the game was going to be a route. When I came back to the game, I was dismayed by how ugly Riley looked in the third quarter (he didn't complete a single pass in it). Then, he went out and had a solid but not great fourth. So, I still have no idea what to make of him and whether we can consistently win (particularly against anyone half decent) with him as our guy. Overall, good stat line (14-24, 219 yards passing; 9 carries for 65 yards) but inconsistency and three turnovers leaves me still scratching my head.
Grade: B- (he gave himself a C)
Running backs: Where did Michael Alisa come from? The guy had 3 carries this season coming into Saturday. His line, this week: 16 carries for 91 yards for a clip of 5.7 yards a carry. He showed a lot of power and elusiveness and had some Unga-esque plays where I was like "how did he turn that into a positive play?" We've needed a guy that can consistently give us 5 yards a pop. Alisa looked like that guy, if not necessarily a home run threat. I also liked the distribution of carries for the rest of the team and thought it shaked out about how I would like: Juice with 9 carries, DiLuigi with 5, and Kairya with 3. The team rushed for 224 yards (lots of that was Riley) and averaged 5.1 yards a carry. Not bad, at all. I know it's part of Riley's game to run and he is not as worthwhile if he's not running often, but I still worry about him running that much because of injury threat (see Mike Vick).
Grade: A-
Wide receivers/tight ends: One of the things that makes me nervous about Riley is that since he doesn't have the big arm, the wide receivers might get left out a little bit. Riley did have a beautiful throw to McKay Jacobsen that convinced me (at the time) that we can still have a downfield presence with Riley in the game. It was a great route and a perfect throw. Ross Apo also had a pretty decent game with 3 catches for 41 yards. However, Hoffman only had 1 catch for a measly 8 yards and Apo only had 1 catch, last week (from Jake Heaps). I think it's a serious possibility that Riley's presence makes the best part of our offense (our WRs) not reach their potential.
With that said, the tight ends did play pretty well. I was glad to see they finally used Wilson. I think he's got by far the most potential of our TEs. The play drawn up for him in the first quarter was fantastic and he made another great play to set up a touchdown later. With Riley in, those safety routes and easy throws to the tight ends will become more crucial (Jake Heaps had all but forgotten this group). While Wilson played well and Holt had another long play (16 yards), Marcus Matthews continues to not impress me. I know he had the game winning touchdown, last week, and actually has the highest total of receptions for TEs but he dropped yet another perfect throw in the fourth quarter on 3rd and long that would have helped set up a TD instead of kicking a FG. I would like to see Wilson continue to get more reps and targets.
Grade: WRs: C, TEs: C+ (with only 24 total throws, this unit was under utilized)
Offensive line: I do not pretend to know much about line play. I don't particularly watch for them. But, 443 total yards of offense, no sacks allowed, 5.1 yards per carry is fantastic. None of the three turnovers were their faults, at all, so this unit played great (as they should with their amount of talent and experience).
Grade: A
Defensive line: This unit did well containing the ground game of SJSU. San Jose only had 70 yards on 26 carries. That's a very good defensive effort (only 2.7 yards per carry). However, our secondary continues to be hurt by the line's inability to sack the QB. They have put almost no pressure, all season, on opposing QBs. They came up, again, with zero sacks in this game.
Grade: B-
Linebackers: Kyle Van Noy is an absolute beast. If BYU were 6-0, he would be receiving hype about possible All-American. It seems like every game he has at least one big play. His interception was great and he showed amazing athleticism for a LB on the return. He also had important stops and tackles throughout the game. It was nice to see Pendleton actually playing for a change, too. He had a big sack and his rushing the passer forced the bad throw to Van Noy. With that said, the game left me a bit frustrated with our linebackers in coverage. San Jose's tight end had over 100 yards receiving and it seemed like the linebackers were overmatched in coverage all game.
Grade: B+
Secondary: Hard to say what to give these guys. SJSU didn't have much trouble throwing the ball against us, at all. Their QB hit 25 of 35 passes. As mentioned, a lot of this falls on the LBs in coverage and on the d-line for not getting pressure on Faulkner. Plus, they did not allow a TD through the air. Also, Uale ran a nice route (or something?) that Faulkner thought he would reward him with a pass right to him. Kudos to him for catching the pass that hit him in the chest. Overall, though, we need a much stiffer pass defense than this.
Grade: C+
Special teams: Nothing spectacular. Cody Hoffman was solid in the return game (par usual) with a 25 yard return average. Sorenson is a strong kicker that has played well, this year, and gives us the element of being able to kick more often (though I still miss the days when BYU attempted the fewest amount of field goals in the nation).
Grade: B
Coaching: This one is tough to grade. I thought Doman did really well with Riley's strengths. That play to Wilson was perfect. Now that he is a QB that is willing to take a hit, we can do slower developing plays like that. I felt like he did a good job of mixing up the play calls, and realized that we're better if we don't make Riley win it with his arm (24 throws compared to 44 rushes). I would like to see us throw the ball downfield, still, though a little more because we're going to need to do that to beat TCU and Hawaii.
Overall, Bronco's defense held tough. They only allowed one TD (although it came on a 96 yard drive). They gave up way too many yards through the air but we employed a bit of a bend but don't break strategy. I'm not sure whether he's not calling many blitzes or what, but we also need to get some more pressure on the QB. We won our third straight game, I feel in large part because of Bronco's attitude and leadership. However, I don't know why we keep coming out of the second half sluggish. We have been a pretty poor 3rd quarter team, this year. On the bright side, it was too cold in Provo for Bronco to only wear his sloppy Band of Brothers shirt.
Doman's Grade: B+ Bronco's Grade: B+
Riley Nelson: I started writing a post about how I thought the decision to go with Riley was a mistake before the game. The main reasoning I used to justify not starting him was that I didn't feel his arm was good enough to keep teams honest. I never got around to finishing it. Then, I watched the first quarter and thought, "well, I guess I was wrong. There's a first for everything." It was late, here, on the east coast when the game started so Julie wanted me to come read to her and I didn't object since I thought the game was going to be a route. When I came back to the game, I was dismayed by how ugly Riley looked in the third quarter (he didn't complete a single pass in it). Then, he went out and had a solid but not great fourth. So, I still have no idea what to make of him and whether we can consistently win (particularly against anyone half decent) with him as our guy. Overall, good stat line (14-24, 219 yards passing; 9 carries for 65 yards) but inconsistency and three turnovers leaves me still scratching my head.
Grade: B- (he gave himself a C)
Running backs: Where did Michael Alisa come from? The guy had 3 carries this season coming into Saturday. His line, this week: 16 carries for 91 yards for a clip of 5.7 yards a carry. He showed a lot of power and elusiveness and had some Unga-esque plays where I was like "how did he turn that into a positive play?" We've needed a guy that can consistently give us 5 yards a pop. Alisa looked like that guy, if not necessarily a home run threat. I also liked the distribution of carries for the rest of the team and thought it shaked out about how I would like: Juice with 9 carries, DiLuigi with 5, and Kairya with 3. The team rushed for 224 yards (lots of that was Riley) and averaged 5.1 yards a carry. Not bad, at all. I know it's part of Riley's game to run and he is not as worthwhile if he's not running often, but I still worry about him running that much because of injury threat (see Mike Vick).
Grade: A-
Wide receivers/tight ends: One of the things that makes me nervous about Riley is that since he doesn't have the big arm, the wide receivers might get left out a little bit. Riley did have a beautiful throw to McKay Jacobsen that convinced me (at the time) that we can still have a downfield presence with Riley in the game. It was a great route and a perfect throw. Ross Apo also had a pretty decent game with 3 catches for 41 yards. However, Hoffman only had 1 catch for a measly 8 yards and Apo only had 1 catch, last week (from Jake Heaps). I think it's a serious possibility that Riley's presence makes the best part of our offense (our WRs) not reach their potential.
With that said, the tight ends did play pretty well. I was glad to see they finally used Wilson. I think he's got by far the most potential of our TEs. The play drawn up for him in the first quarter was fantastic and he made another great play to set up a touchdown later. With Riley in, those safety routes and easy throws to the tight ends will become more crucial (Jake Heaps had all but forgotten this group). While Wilson played well and Holt had another long play (16 yards), Marcus Matthews continues to not impress me. I know he had the game winning touchdown, last week, and actually has the highest total of receptions for TEs but he dropped yet another perfect throw in the fourth quarter on 3rd and long that would have helped set up a TD instead of kicking a FG. I would like to see Wilson continue to get more reps and targets.
Grade: WRs: C, TEs: C+ (with only 24 total throws, this unit was under utilized)
Offensive line: I do not pretend to know much about line play. I don't particularly watch for them. But, 443 total yards of offense, no sacks allowed, 5.1 yards per carry is fantastic. None of the three turnovers were their faults, at all, so this unit played great (as they should with their amount of talent and experience).
Grade: A
Defensive line: This unit did well containing the ground game of SJSU. San Jose only had 70 yards on 26 carries. That's a very good defensive effort (only 2.7 yards per carry). However, our secondary continues to be hurt by the line's inability to sack the QB. They have put almost no pressure, all season, on opposing QBs. They came up, again, with zero sacks in this game.
Grade: B-
Linebackers: Kyle Van Noy is an absolute beast. If BYU were 6-0, he would be receiving hype about possible All-American. It seems like every game he has at least one big play. His interception was great and he showed amazing athleticism for a LB on the return. He also had important stops and tackles throughout the game. It was nice to see Pendleton actually playing for a change, too. He had a big sack and his rushing the passer forced the bad throw to Van Noy. With that said, the game left me a bit frustrated with our linebackers in coverage. San Jose's tight end had over 100 yards receiving and it seemed like the linebackers were overmatched in coverage all game.
Grade: B+
Secondary: Hard to say what to give these guys. SJSU didn't have much trouble throwing the ball against us, at all. Their QB hit 25 of 35 passes. As mentioned, a lot of this falls on the LBs in coverage and on the d-line for not getting pressure on Faulkner. Plus, they did not allow a TD through the air. Also, Uale ran a nice route (or something?) that Faulkner thought he would reward him with a pass right to him. Kudos to him for catching the pass that hit him in the chest. Overall, though, we need a much stiffer pass defense than this.
Grade: C+
Special teams: Nothing spectacular. Cody Hoffman was solid in the return game (par usual) with a 25 yard return average. Sorenson is a strong kicker that has played well, this year, and gives us the element of being able to kick more often (though I still miss the days when BYU attempted the fewest amount of field goals in the nation).
Grade: B
Coaching: This one is tough to grade. I thought Doman did really well with Riley's strengths. That play to Wilson was perfect. Now that he is a QB that is willing to take a hit, we can do slower developing plays like that. I felt like he did a good job of mixing up the play calls, and realized that we're better if we don't make Riley win it with his arm (24 throws compared to 44 rushes). I would like to see us throw the ball downfield, still, though a little more because we're going to need to do that to beat TCU and Hawaii.
Overall, Bronco's defense held tough. They only allowed one TD (although it came on a 96 yard drive). They gave up way too many yards through the air but we employed a bit of a bend but don't break strategy. I'm not sure whether he's not calling many blitzes or what, but we also need to get some more pressure on the QB. We won our third straight game, I feel in large part because of Bronco's attitude and leadership. However, I don't know why we keep coming out of the second half sluggish. We have been a pretty poor 3rd quarter team, this year. On the bright side, it was too cold in Provo for Bronco to only wear his sloppy Band of Brothers shirt.
Doman's Grade: B+ Bronco's Grade: B+
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Is it the hair?
Yes. Yes, it is. Well, except for not really. A few days after the thrilling ending of the game, I've come to this conclusion: BYU can't beat good teams with Riley Nelson as starter. That pains me to say because Riley played so well and has so much heart, grit and leadership. But, Bronco essentially admitted it himself when after the game he essentially said Utah St. had a hard time adjusting to Riley. I think if you give a good team a week to prepare for him, though, Riley is pretty limited. Even his completions were pretty awful looking (that pass he threw to a wide open DiLuigi who was maybe five yards downfield that didn't even make it to his foot was just bad). If you go back to last year, BYU got trounced by FSU and AFA when Riley was in the game. They knew they didn't have to respect the downfield pass, at all.
So, the only solution, I feel is that Jake really needs to become a man. He talks the big talk. After every game, he says "I'm going to learn from this and nobody's going to outwork me" and then he comes in and stinks it up the next week and looks even more afraid to get hit. Thus far, he is the Jimmy Claussen of BYU. Claussen had unreal talent, but he came to Notre Dame in a limo predicting four national championships. Jake did essentially the same thing, but just held a big conference announcing BYU (because Claussen had already stolen the limo idea). I think with that start, he rubbed a lot of BYU fans and players the wrong way. It is absolutely clear from the body language of the team and even post game comments by guys like Ogletree that this is still not his team. Whereas Jake has all the tools to be a good QB (that Riley doesn't), he needs to grow up and be a man. Maybe this benching has humbled him and will make him realize that he needs to play well to start. I highly doubt he has ever been benched in his entire career until that point. We'll see.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
You're such a [insert word]Fan
I start with saying this: I do not understand the hatred people have for Boston Sports.
These past few weeks I have been forced to explain my fan-hood for a few reasons. I decided it would be an appropriate entry for our blog.
Growing up, I had few sports in my house. I grew up playsoccer and tennis, however my desire to play basketball, football and baseball came from mostly my association with the Cannon boys, and my other Avenue friends. Although my father grew up in Detroit and was a Tigers fan as a kid and grew up playing basketball, he was not involved with the game at all.
With this as my background, I had for the most part neutrality for my "fan hood":
Red Sox - 80+ year drought in world series.
Celtics - dominate 70's, most winning team ever but late 90's early 2000? Worst team in the league.
Patriots - won the AFC TWICE in 20 years before the 2000's.
I joined and rooted for what was now MY teams. RED SOX, PATRIOTS, CELTICS, MANCHESTER UNITED. Of these only Manchester united ever won anything when I was a kid.
Now, enough of the history. You are all probably asking why I am writing all this but the reason is I am tired of all the Boston hatred. "You're such a FAIR WEATHER-Fan", "You're such a STUPID BOSTON-fan", "You're such a BOSTON-fan", "You're such a typical RED SOX-fan", "You're such a CELTICS-fan", etc etc.
I understand we had the best decade arguably for any city in history from 2001-2011. But so what? Boston fans are LOYAL. I hate all the actual fair weather "red sox nation" fans wearing pink hats and using Boston for fashion sake I am with all you on that. But have you tried to find a red sox hat anywhere outside of boston? You cant do it. Lids only has Yankees, Braves, Cubs, Giants maybe a few A's hats and one or two Boston hats. Why does everyone think Boston has some corner on the market? But even though Lakers fans are the worse, Angels fans don't watch the baseball game, Yankees fans - don't even get me started about "rooting for the big guy"- are typically ignorant on who is even on their team (Obviously I am bias against yankees fans and some, like dylan, actually love baseball but any team whose hats sell for a "hip-hop" status and mean more to rep East coast love than baseball has to agree yankees "fans" are seriously stretched) Boston is the hated one.
As I have lived in 8 states and traveled the country been to dozens of pro sporting events, college events and even high school events let me say BOSTON loves its sports. I will say NY does as well but have you seen their new stadium? Their corner on baseball market? How many "yankees fans" cant name two pitchers on their rotation? Oh yea lets not forget they have how many championships? Oh and their players are overpaid and include such class acts like Alex Rodriguez?
LA - worst fans ever
NY- dedicated but still terrible
Boston - many fans who joined after we started winning but overall, why the hatred?
To close Geoff said boston (specificly the red sox) were his most hated franchises ever. I don't get it? Cuz we spend money? Cuz we won two world series in 100 years? Cuz tom brady has luscious locks and reps uggs? Cuz "the hoody" is a coaching genius? Or you want to blame "spygate" for our decade of wins? Seriously why the hatred?
With that off my chest, do not challenge my fanhood.
http://youtu.be/C7Bvk70VsI4
These past few weeks I have been forced to explain my fan-hood for a few reasons. I decided it would be an appropriate entry for our blog.
Growing up, I had few sports in my house. I grew up playsoccer and tennis, however my desire to play basketball, football and baseball came from mostly my association with the Cannon boys, and my other Avenue friends. Although my father grew up in Detroit and was a Tigers fan as a kid and grew up playing basketball, he was not involved with the game at all.
With this as my background, I had for the most part neutrality for my "fan hood":
- I hated the Jazz (still do).
- I had a choice for baseball friends (Yankees (dylan), Cubs (alec), Braves (rich), Tigers (dad), reds (g), giants (q - although I did not know of this one till much later)).
- Football - my grandfather liked the 49ers being from California, but no one else had too much dedication in Utah to sway me or my fan hood.
- Soccer - I grew up watching Manchester United because they were the only team who were ever on TV as a kid and I being a big fan of many of there players.
Red Sox - 80+ year drought in world series.
Celtics - dominate 70's, most winning team ever but late 90's early 2000? Worst team in the league.
Patriots - won the AFC TWICE in 20 years before the 2000's.
I joined and rooted for what was now MY teams. RED SOX, PATRIOTS, CELTICS, MANCHESTER UNITED. Of these only Manchester united ever won anything when I was a kid.
Now, enough of the history. You are all probably asking why I am writing all this but the reason is I am tired of all the Boston hatred. "You're such a FAIR WEATHER-Fan", "You're such a STUPID BOSTON-fan", "You're such a BOSTON-fan", "You're such a typical RED SOX-fan", "You're such a CELTICS-fan", etc etc.
I understand we had the best decade arguably for any city in history from 2001-2011. But so what? Boston fans are LOYAL. I hate all the actual fair weather "red sox nation" fans wearing pink hats and using Boston for fashion sake I am with all you on that. But have you tried to find a red sox hat anywhere outside of boston? You cant do it. Lids only has Yankees, Braves, Cubs, Giants maybe a few A's hats and one or two Boston hats. Why does everyone think Boston has some corner on the market? But even though Lakers fans are the worse, Angels fans don't watch the baseball game, Yankees fans - don't even get me started about "rooting for the big guy"- are typically ignorant on who is even on their team (Obviously I am bias against yankees fans and some, like dylan, actually love baseball but any team whose hats sell for a "hip-hop" status and mean more to rep East coast love than baseball has to agree yankees "fans" are seriously stretched) Boston is the hated one.
As I have lived in 8 states and traveled the country been to dozens of pro sporting events, college events and even high school events let me say BOSTON loves its sports. I will say NY does as well but have you seen their new stadium? Their corner on baseball market? How many "yankees fans" cant name two pitchers on their rotation? Oh yea lets not forget they have how many championships? Oh and their players are overpaid and include such class acts like Alex Rodriguez?
LA - worst fans ever
NY- dedicated but still terrible
Boston - many fans who joined after we started winning but overall, why the hatred?
To close Geoff said boston (specificly the red sox) were his most hated franchises ever. I don't get it? Cuz we spend money? Cuz we won two world series in 100 years? Cuz tom brady has luscious locks and reps uggs? Cuz "the hoody" is a coaching genius? Or you want to blame "spygate" for our decade of wins? Seriously why the hatred?
With that off my chest, do not challenge my fanhood.
http://youtu.be/C7Bvk70VsI4
Some Thoughts
Prospective is a theme for me this year and as a BYU fan mine is skewed in that direction but I still want to review the Utah St. game. The newspapers (mainly the tribune in Salt Lake) are saying that Utah St. COMPLETELY dominated this game and collapsed at the end. Really? Come on Utah reporters, sure Utah St. built an 11 point lead in the forth quarter but aside from a 80 yard run on the first play Utah St. hardly dominated. The game seemed back and forth to me. BYU had more yards, more first downs, and held the ball longer. Utah St. had a couple of big plays, big plays do not win games, but being able to consistently move the ball which Utah St. did not do for most of the night (BYU did not either until Riley came in).
For me this game is a perfect example of how close BYU is to putting it all together. If BYU finishes drives for touchdowns instead of field goals it is likely the game is not close. Second, how did Utah St. collapse? It is not like they had stopped a Riley led drive, only we did that on a fumble and missed field goal. They did not turn the ball over, they got out played by BYU, BYU went out and won this game. Finally, I heard that Utah St. would have won had their player not been ejected. Really? Um, do those that are saying that realize that the man that caused the fumble was his replacement? Maybe that does not happen and BYU does not have to win in the last seconds. Lets be honest, BYU played a great game defensively, for the most part and made big plays when it had to like on Utah St. drive after the fumble, and as soon as Riley came in Utah St. had no answer. Can I just say it is wonderful to see a guy who likely wanted to play in this game more than anyone, come through and play well. Riley did something Heaps may never do, rise to the occasion, in a tough spot and succeed. Wow another Provo temple (sorry watching conference).
For me this game is a perfect example of how close BYU is to putting it all together. If BYU finishes drives for touchdowns instead of field goals it is likely the game is not close. Second, how did Utah St. collapse? It is not like they had stopped a Riley led drive, only we did that on a fumble and missed field goal. They did not turn the ball over, they got out played by BYU, BYU went out and won this game. Finally, I heard that Utah St. would have won had their player not been ejected. Really? Um, do those that are saying that realize that the man that caused the fumble was his replacement? Maybe that does not happen and BYU does not have to win in the last seconds. Lets be honest, BYU played a great game defensively, for the most part and made big plays when it had to like on Utah St. drive after the fumble, and as soon as Riley came in Utah St. had no answer. Can I just say it is wonderful to see a guy who likely wanted to play in this game more than anyone, come through and play well. Riley did something Heaps may never do, rise to the occasion, in a tough spot and succeed. Wow another Provo temple (sorry watching conference).
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
My Nightmare Last Night
Since Julie got pregnant, I've had some pretty weird dreams and nightmares. I've had dreams where Eloise (our daughter) was born unhealthy. I've had dreams where she hated me. I've had dreams where she married a complete bum that got her pregnant in the back of a pick up truck who I had to call my son-in-law. However, last night, I had a completely frightening dream that gave me cold sweats: USU beat BYU in Provo. Fortunately, it was just a bad dream that has no basis in reality thanks to USU's hilariously bad loss to a bad CSU team in Logan.
Monday, September 26, 2011
ESPN=Heartbreaker
At one point this season, ESPN was going to air every BYU game (except the Idaho St game) either on TV or at least ESPN3. Suddenly, some of those games are no longer scheduled to air and I'm stuck trying to figure out how to watch them. ESPN, I'm sorry we lost twice on your station. But, this is what I still have to say to you...
Sunday, September 25, 2011
I Hate Fantasy Football
I hate the New England Patriots and I have always cheered heartily against Tom Brady, Bill Belicheck and company. I mean, I even rooted for a team from New York in the Super Bowl a few years ago because they were playing the Pats.
Knowing this, you should understand the absolute horror I felt when I realized I was cheering for the Pats to comeback and force OT and win against the Bills today. The BILLS! The underdog, small market, nobody-hates-them Bills!
Why, you ask, would I stoop to this? Because Tom Brady is my fantasy QB. And now I feel really dirty.
Knowing this, you should understand the absolute horror I felt when I realized I was cheering for the Pats to comeback and force OT and win against the Bills today. The BILLS! The underdog, small market, nobody-hates-them Bills!
Why, you ask, would I stoop to this? Because Tom Brady is my fantasy QB. And now I feel really dirty.
Ann's Fashion Update
West Virginia? Dudes look like they're wearing banana peels. And why does their mascot look like a random homeless person standing there on the sidelines.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Here's my recap
So, talking to Dylan today via text. He told me to give my account of the game yesterday. The First half, BYU didn't look very good. The Second half they looked good. And Hoffman is the man.
BYU-UCF Recap
BYU managed to come out with a big win, yesterday. I say big because I think it was an important win (like Bronco's win vs. New Mexico in 2005 that changed the momentum of his whole coaching career) in terms of morale and I also think UCF is a pretty good football team. I believe there were a lot of positives in this game and some things that hopefully we'll be able to fix against the lighter part of our schedule coming up.
Positives
Special Teams: Our special teams, were, well, "special." And I mean in that in a good way, this time. Riley Stephenson's punts were amazing. He was a huge difference maker in the game, pinning them deep all game. Cody Hoffman's return was also fantastic. Not only was his vision and his burst great (which annoyed the heck out of me when Chambers would return. He almost never had big returns because he would tip toe around until he got to the 22 and then he would lower his shoulder and get to the 24 and acted like it was the greatest play, ever) but the blocking was great. Hague totally powned the kicker on the return which is always hilarious. Finally, the team covered punts well and I actually loved the fact that they got a celebration penalty; it's about time they had some fun out there.
Turnovers: We forced three of them and every single one of them was big. I would not want to meet Kaveinga down a dark alley because he looks frightening and plays like it. Also, I think Sampson should continue to play more and more. He played great and that interception saved the day after a good drive by UCF. Unfortunately, we gave up one that killed us (it gave them a score...again) but one is a lot better than seven. It's amazing how much different a game the Utah game would have been if we only coughed it up once.
QB pressure: BYU finally got some pressure on the QB. A lot of it. We got 4 sacks after not recording one all season. We got them all on a very quick QB which made me happy. We limited this extremely athletic QB's ground game, too (he did get two touchdowns but neither were long runs). Random side not: why if a QB gets hit ten yards behind the line of scrimmage and fumbles it's not considered a sack? That's kind of dumb.
The running game: Not only did BYU run the ball pretty effectively, they stuck with it. Running the ball 32 times (compared to 35 passes) allowed BYU to not only start picking up yards but it also kept the defense honest and wore them out. DiLuigi's run to the corner was an amazing play call that utilized his strengths well. And big ups to Kairya for running like a beast in that drive where he scored the TD.
Room for improvement
The passing game: I have finally put a finger on what Heaps' problem is, thus far: accuracy. That came before I looked at any stats. He overthrew both Jacobsen and DiLuigi on sure TDs that all he needed to do was take some off of it. Not only did that cost us TDs but anyone that plays in a passing offense knows that if your QB is inaccurate it absolutely kills play calling. If you're going to try to run a slant on first down and your QB can't hit it, then all of a sudden you're at second and ten which hurts your running game. If your back picks up four yards (a respectable gain) all of a sudden you're at third and six and they're pulling everyone into coverage. As a passing team, if you can't keep the defense honest by having a throw on first down being a viable option, you're dead. I still think Heaps hasn't been the same since the hit he took at Ole Miss on the corner blitz. He seems skiddish in the pocket. The one thing I have liked about Doman's new offense is that it spreads the ball around very well. Max Hall was awful at that.
The secondary: We all knew this was the weak spot on our defense. These guys gave up quite a few big plays that looked just awful. We did ok against a run first QB but the backup (why hasn't Texas, Ole Miss or UCF figured out that their backups have much better arms than their starters?) killed us. An accurate passer can really beat these guys and we still haven't figured out in the secondary a read option play. Joe Sampson looked good but I think Corby Eason dropped the 6th or 7th interception he should have had this year (he has none. The guy can't catch. That's why he plays D).
Where's Juice?: Juice has been absolutely non-existent all season long. Through 4 games, he has 54 yards. Not average per game but total. That is totally unacceptable. I'm not sure what the deal is. Whether he's stuck behind two senior runners or if he's just not getting it done. It seems like he's a guy that needs to get enough carries to get in the flow and he is getting hardly any, right now. I think we need him to step up and get some more carries.
Why Riley?: Overall, I actually felt like Doman called a good game. I think, as mentioned above, his hands have been tied a little bit with Heaps' inconsistency and inaccuracy (or against Utah, it's hard to do much when your guys turn it over 7 times). However, the one knock I have against him is that he seems pretty insistent on using Riley every game. I don't love that idea, period, but especially not when you PASS on 4th and 2. That was a call that I know he was thinking "they won't expect this" but that is too Crowton-esque and cute for me.
Overall, a good win. Now, let's not make Utah State's wildest fantasy come true by beating us twice in two years.
Positives
Special Teams: Our special teams, were, well, "special." And I mean in that in a good way, this time. Riley Stephenson's punts were amazing. He was a huge difference maker in the game, pinning them deep all game. Cody Hoffman's return was also fantastic. Not only was his vision and his burst great (which annoyed the heck out of me when Chambers would return. He almost never had big returns because he would tip toe around until he got to the 22 and then he would lower his shoulder and get to the 24 and acted like it was the greatest play, ever) but the blocking was great. Hague totally powned the kicker on the return which is always hilarious. Finally, the team covered punts well and I actually loved the fact that they got a celebration penalty; it's about time they had some fun out there.
Turnovers: We forced three of them and every single one of them was big. I would not want to meet Kaveinga down a dark alley because he looks frightening and plays like it. Also, I think Sampson should continue to play more and more. He played great and that interception saved the day after a good drive by UCF. Unfortunately, we gave up one that killed us (it gave them a score...again) but one is a lot better than seven. It's amazing how much different a game the Utah game would have been if we only coughed it up once.
QB pressure: BYU finally got some pressure on the QB. A lot of it. We got 4 sacks after not recording one all season. We got them all on a very quick QB which made me happy. We limited this extremely athletic QB's ground game, too (he did get two touchdowns but neither were long runs). Random side not: why if a QB gets hit ten yards behind the line of scrimmage and fumbles it's not considered a sack? That's kind of dumb.
The running game: Not only did BYU run the ball pretty effectively, they stuck with it. Running the ball 32 times (compared to 35 passes) allowed BYU to not only start picking up yards but it also kept the defense honest and wore them out. DiLuigi's run to the corner was an amazing play call that utilized his strengths well. And big ups to Kairya for running like a beast in that drive where he scored the TD.
Room for improvement
The passing game: I have finally put a finger on what Heaps' problem is, thus far: accuracy. That came before I looked at any stats. He overthrew both Jacobsen and DiLuigi on sure TDs that all he needed to do was take some off of it. Not only did that cost us TDs but anyone that plays in a passing offense knows that if your QB is inaccurate it absolutely kills play calling. If you're going to try to run a slant on first down and your QB can't hit it, then all of a sudden you're at second and ten which hurts your running game. If your back picks up four yards (a respectable gain) all of a sudden you're at third and six and they're pulling everyone into coverage. As a passing team, if you can't keep the defense honest by having a throw on first down being a viable option, you're dead. I still think Heaps hasn't been the same since the hit he took at Ole Miss on the corner blitz. He seems skiddish in the pocket. The one thing I have liked about Doman's new offense is that it spreads the ball around very well. Max Hall was awful at that.
The secondary: We all knew this was the weak spot on our defense. These guys gave up quite a few big plays that looked just awful. We did ok against a run first QB but the backup (why hasn't Texas, Ole Miss or UCF figured out that their backups have much better arms than their starters?) killed us. An accurate passer can really beat these guys and we still haven't figured out in the secondary a read option play. Joe Sampson looked good but I think Corby Eason dropped the 6th or 7th interception he should have had this year (he has none. The guy can't catch. That's why he plays D).
Where's Juice?: Juice has been absolutely non-existent all season long. Through 4 games, he has 54 yards. Not average per game but total. That is totally unacceptable. I'm not sure what the deal is. Whether he's stuck behind two senior runners or if he's just not getting it done. It seems like he's a guy that needs to get enough carries to get in the flow and he is getting hardly any, right now. I think we need him to step up and get some more carries.
 |
| The man cut off all his hair just to play for us! Give him the ball! |
Why Riley?: Overall, I actually felt like Doman called a good game. I think, as mentioned above, his hands have been tied a little bit with Heaps' inconsistency and inaccuracy (or against Utah, it's hard to do much when your guys turn it over 7 times). However, the one knock I have against him is that he seems pretty insistent on using Riley every game. I don't love that idea, period, but especially not when you PASS on 4th and 2. That was a call that I know he was thinking "they won't expect this" but that is too Crowton-esque and cute for me.
 |
| I hate to say this because Riley seems like a great guy...but he really probably should've stayed at USU. |
Overall, a good win. Now, let's not make Utah State's wildest fantasy come true by beating us twice in two years.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Why the Face?
Why the face (that's what wtf stands for according to Phil Dunphey)? My face (a frown) is because yesterday I received my ESPN the Magazine and it was an issue dedicated to Boston sports. Pretty much the whole issue. Now, if I had known that this was the material ESPN would send me, I would not have subscribed. It was bad enough that I had to endure a whole issue dedicated to Michael Vick that claimed that the only reason I dislike his actions is because he's black and that if he were white I would have him babysit my kids (and dog) a few weeks ago. Now, I have to read about how awesome the Boston Red Sox are and how Tom Brady is the best QB, ever. So, ESPN, give me some money back. Just the money I spent on those two issues. Also, dedicate a whole issue to LaVell Edwards.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Greater Yankee- Mo or Jeets?
Recently, Mariano Rivera set the records for saves in a career. On ESPN.com, they have been debating who is the greater Yankee. While this is completely stupid and arbitrary because they play for the same team and very different positions, this blog deals in nothing but stupid and arbitrary things. So, let's take a look.
Could the Yankee dynasty have happened without Rivera? Short answer: no. Mariano Rivera has been an absolute machine since he became a closer for the Yankees. He has a CAREER ERA of 2.22. Career. That's an amazing one season ERA for pitchers. His worse year since being a closer was 2007 in which he posted a 3.15 ERA. The next year all he did was come back and have a 1.40 ERA. Plus, saving 602 games means that he shut the door on 602 close games. In contrast, the Cubs have probably blown about 602 saves in that same time period. That's the difference between a dynasty and loveable losers.
Could the Yankee dynasty have happened without Jeter? Short answer: it's complicated. Jeter has put up very good offensive statistics throughout his career with sporadic bursts of power in some seasons more than others. He has been the table setter for many good teams and scored over 100 runs in all but two of his big league seasons. He's also swiped quite a few bags. However, his offensive statistics are not gaudy in power numbers like an Albert Pujols. So, statistically, the Yankees may have been able to do it without him. In terms of leadership, consistency and clutchness, Jeter has earned his recognition as the Captain. While I used to not put much stock into one player's importance in baseball, just look at Milton Bradley for an example of how someone can change team dynamics.
Edge: Mo (barely)
Who puts fans in the stands? With all due respect to Mo, not many people go to baseball games with the intention of watching the Closer. If it happens, it is exciting but I don't know how many people would say "I'm going to Yankee Stadium to watch Mariano Rivera play." Unfortunately, this was very evident in the little buzz that Mo got when he broke the saves record. In contrast, thousands of fans go to Yankee Stadium specifically to watch Jeter play. He is definitely the Mickey Mantle of his day in that regard.
Edge: Jeter
More impressive: Jeter's 3,000 or Mo's saves record? This one is a bit of a doozy. Rivera has been the model of consistency who has come into so many tough situations and shut teams down over and over with basically only one pitch. To get to 602 saves, you have to pitch for a long time and you are often the difference between a playoff (and sometimes World Series) team and a simply above .500 team. However, the statistic of save is relatively new to baseball. In contrast, the counting of hits has always been the same since baseball started. So since its inception as a professional sport, only 28 players have 3,000 hits. Plus, Jeter did it on a homerun (much better than Craig Biggio's 3,000 hit- he got gunned out at second trying to stretch a single into a double).
Edge: Jeter. Both are the models of consistency but Jeter's hit total is currently more impressive.
So, there you have it...both are fantastic players that play on the same stinking team so come up with something else to debate, ESPN.com.
Could the Yankee dynasty have happened without Rivera? Short answer: no. Mariano Rivera has been an absolute machine since he became a closer for the Yankees. He has a CAREER ERA of 2.22. Career. That's an amazing one season ERA for pitchers. His worse year since being a closer was 2007 in which he posted a 3.15 ERA. The next year all he did was come back and have a 1.40 ERA. Plus, saving 602 games means that he shut the door on 602 close games. In contrast, the Cubs have probably blown about 602 saves in that same time period. That's the difference between a dynasty and loveable losers.
Could the Yankee dynasty have happened without Jeter? Short answer: it's complicated. Jeter has put up very good offensive statistics throughout his career with sporadic bursts of power in some seasons more than others. He has been the table setter for many good teams and scored over 100 runs in all but two of his big league seasons. He's also swiped quite a few bags. However, his offensive statistics are not gaudy in power numbers like an Albert Pujols. So, statistically, the Yankees may have been able to do it without him. In terms of leadership, consistency and clutchness, Jeter has earned his recognition as the Captain. While I used to not put much stock into one player's importance in baseball, just look at Milton Bradley for an example of how someone can change team dynamics.
Edge: Mo (barely)
Who puts fans in the stands? With all due respect to Mo, not many people go to baseball games with the intention of watching the Closer. If it happens, it is exciting but I don't know how many people would say "I'm going to Yankee Stadium to watch Mariano Rivera play." Unfortunately, this was very evident in the little buzz that Mo got when he broke the saves record. In contrast, thousands of fans go to Yankee Stadium specifically to watch Jeter play. He is definitely the Mickey Mantle of his day in that regard.
Edge: Jeter
More impressive: Jeter's 3,000 or Mo's saves record? This one is a bit of a doozy. Rivera has been the model of consistency who has come into so many tough situations and shut teams down over and over with basically only one pitch. To get to 602 saves, you have to pitch for a long time and you are often the difference between a playoff (and sometimes World Series) team and a simply above .500 team. However, the statistic of save is relatively new to baseball. In contrast, the counting of hits has always been the same since baseball started. So since its inception as a professional sport, only 28 players have 3,000 hits. Plus, Jeter did it on a homerun (much better than Craig Biggio's 3,000 hit- he got gunned out at second trying to stretch a single into a double).
Edge: Jeter. Both are the models of consistency but Jeter's hit total is currently more impressive.
So, there you have it...both are fantastic players that play on the same stinking team so come up with something else to debate, ESPN.com.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sports are Supposed to Be Fun
Recently, I just received my ESPN the Magazine that was pretty much purely dedicated to sports since 9/11. It was a really interesting issue. The biggest thing that I remember about sports after the 9/11 attacks are that athletes and coaches were saying "what we do is just entertainment" or "a distraction from the drudgery of everyday life" or "a way to unite as a country." That was one good thing that came after the attacks: it put sports into perspective and there was less talk about not getting paid enough, conference expansion, sports is a "business," etc. Why do I bring this up? Because, I feel like BYU football's biggest problem is that they are too tense and not just going out there and having fun. Being tense and stressed, I believe, caused so many of those silly turnovers. I'm hearing way too much talk about "statement" games and "must-win" games. One of my friends even had the audacity to mention Tim Tebow in a positive light when he said Heaps needs to lead like Tebow and pull that we're never going to lose again junk. Bronco, Doman, Heaps and the rest of the team needs to remember that football was created as an excuse to run into each other. Baseball was created as a way for boys to shirk their duties in the fields. Basketball was created as a way to get exercise. None of them were created for anything, in other words, but for an excuse to relax and enjoy a temporary distraction from the real world. Perhaps that's why it's fitting that this website is found by writing "sportexcuse.blogspot" while you are at work or supposed to be doing homework.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Random BYU-Utah related thoughts
- BYU has not played on September 17th since Bronco Mendenhall took over as Head Coach (his first season we had a bye that week).
- BYU is tied for 28th in points allowed in the nation (with one of the three touchdowns the team has allowed coming off a Heaps pick). In contrast, we're 107th in the nation points scored. Somehow, we have scored exactly as many as we have given up (two one point games). If nothing else, we're consistent.
- The last 24 games between the Y and the U are perfectly even at 12-12. Bronco and Whittingham are 3-3 against each other. All but 2 have been decided by a single score and with 7 games being within 3 points. The last two years have been decided by the last play of the game.
- Both Wynn and Heaps have struggled mightily. Wynn threw 46 times last week and only completed half. Heaps has thrown three interceptions that have all hurt BYU. While both have been shaky, the team's offensive woes haven't been totally their fault. Neither team has had any running presence (BYU's is well-documented. Utah's leading rusher last week mustered less than 3 yards a carry). Hard to get in a flow and throw downfield when the running game is non-existent.
- Both teams have offensive coordinators that are currently not well loved in Provo. At least Norm Chow had twenty years or so before BYU fans called for his head.
- Playing on the third week of the year might be really bad for BYU for many reasons. Not least of which is that if we play with the same amount of emotion and passion we did as the first two weeks, compiled with the rivalry game, we could be in for a big let down next week. While Utah gets a bye, BYU plays UCF. UCF is currently 2-0, has outscored their opponents 92-3 and has a patsy game, this week.
Birthday Wishes
So, my birthday is on game day and all's I got to say is BYU better win. Well, let me rephrase that, They better beat the living daylights out of them. I don't know if it will happen due to the last few performances, but here's to a hopeful birthday wish.
I feel that they can win because BYU's offense is showing that they are very good, they just need to put the ball in the end zone. Once that breaks through for them I feel that they could be dang near unstoppable. The D' is awesome, so that's not my concern. Utah on the other hand, their D' is ok, yet to see them play a good O', but their offense is just bad. Wynn throwing is awful and all they have is the run game. If a team is expecting it, pretty easy to stop.
My thoughts for tomorrow, and I'm not suppose to say my birthday wish out loud or it wont come true. So I wont.
GO BYU!!!!!!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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