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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)