BYU Football - TCU - Pregame

Everyone in the country will turn their eyes to Provo this weekend, as ESPN's college gameday showcases this weekend's only football game between ranked teams. 

The no 8 TCU Horned Frogs come to visit the no. 16 BYU Cougars.  The BYU football team is hoping to make up for their embarassing loss to TCU a year ago.  In that game, the tables were turned.  BYU was a top ten team believed to be headed for a BCS bowl and TCU spoiled their hopes.  The cougars hope to return the favor this year in Provo.

Earlier this season many believed that the BYU football game against Oklahoma would be the biggest one of the season.  After Oklahoma's turn of bad events that game isn't carrying as much weight any more.  BYU needs this win in order to gain back some of the national recognition that has been lost after the Oklahoma mediocrity and the Florida State loss. 

While many believe that BYU can't get into a BCS bowl game this year, there are people that believe that a dominant win againt TCU and a dominant win againt Utah could do the trick.  It would probably also require a Boise State loss. 

The game this saturday will be an interesting one.  TCU has one of the best defenses in the nation and BYU has one of the best offenses in the country.  Without a question, the game will hinge on BYU's defense.  If they can shut down the TCU offense, BYU can win the game.  If not, BYU can start playing re-run tapes of last year's game. 

Last week against San Diego State, I think BYU saw one of the best offenses in the MWC.  QB Ryan Lindley is an accurate passer and he has receivers that can catch the ball.  TCU doesn't seem to have quite the offensive attack that SDSU had.  They run a lot more than they pass.  And BYU's run defense has been pretty solid this year.  The gaps have been in the pass defense.  Look for TCU to try to take advantage of BYU's small corners. 

In the end, I think BYU has what it takes to win this game.  I believe that if BYU can play solid defense and score early they will win the football game.

Prediction
BYU 34, TCU 28

BYU Football - UNLV - Pre-game

This saturday, BYU football heads on the road again.  This week they will take on UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV.  BYU has been dominant in the series with UNLV over the past few years and it doesn't look like this game will be a problem for them either.

BYU is coming off a strong home win agains Utah State last week.  However, now BYU is without their star receiver McKay Jacobson who injured his hamstring while stretching during warm ups.

This will allow room for some new receivers to shine.  I expect that we will see a lot from Luke Ashworth and Spencer Hafoka.  Each has seen more playing time this year than last, but has still essentially been playing in the shadow of Jacobson.

Many people are concerned with how this will affect BYU's passing game.  However, I see it as a blessing in disguise.  Over the past couple of years, BYU's passing game has had one or two dominant receivers that seem to stand out.  Last year, it was Pitta and Collie.  This year it is Pitta and Jacobson.  I think this limits our abilities in the pass.  It allows Max Hall to get comfortable with those few receivers and they always become his first targets.  Which makes it that much easier for the defense to read.  Just ask Hall, who has already thrown 10 interceptions this season, and just a couple of those were tipped balls.

It seems like BYU has the most success when they can throw the ball around the field to whoever they want.  I think back to John Beck's senior season when he could throw to Collie (Zac), Allen, Meikle, Reed, Harline, Coats, Brown, and Vakapuna.  I am excited to see this years receiving core develop into one where the defense has to play defense because they don't know who Hall is going to throw to.

I think we will see a lot more of that this game.  I think BYU wins this one soundly.

BYU UNLV Prediction
BYU 42 - UNLV 14

BYU Football's Jacobson out 4-6 weeks

While streching before Friday night's game against Utah State, BYU Football's McKay Jacobson injured his hamstring.  He was held out of the game as a precautionary measure.  Over the weekend, he had an MRI performed and it was found that he has a torn hamstring.  Team doctors are reporting that he will be out four to six weeks.

In his stead, Bronco Mendenhall said that we will see Brett Thompson.  Mendenhall made it clear that Thompson would not be taking the place of Ashworth and Hafoka.  He would just be next in the depth chart and therefore would be seen on the field.

Assuming the worst (out 6 weeks), Jacobson would miss games against UNLV, San Diego State, TCU, Wyoming, and possibly New Mexico.  This is a hard blow to the Cougars.  Jacobson was really starting to come forth as taking the shoes of recently departed Austin Collie.

BYU Football - Utah St - Final BYU 35 CSU 17

I didn't get a chance to post my prediction about last night's game against Utah State, because I've been out of town.  On the way to the game, I told my wife that I thought BYU would win the football game by three scores.  However, I didn't expect it to play out the way it did.  I actually expected BYU's score to be in the 50's.


The game started off as what looked like was going to be a shoot out.  Utah State got on the score board first by capitalizing on a BYU turnover with a touchdown.  BYU answered with a 6 yard TD catch by Dennis Pitta.  The second quarter was owned by BYU.  It wasn't the shootout that the game appeared it was going to be after the first quarter.  BYU scored twice, including a touchdown in the final seconds of the second quarter on a turnover from Utah State.  The third quarter may have been the most boring quarter of football I have ever watched.  BYU didn't score and Utah State added only a field goal.  The fourth quarter was better as BYU added two more scores and Utah State added one in the final seconds of the game.

BYU won the game soundly.  After the second quarter, it didn't appear that Utah State had much of a chance. 

McKay Jacobson didn't play in the game, which meant that Spence Hafoka and Luke Ashworth would take on more responsibility.  Ashworth answered the call.  He had 5 catches for 91 yards and one touchdown.  I was impressed with his play. 

BYU's BCS Hopes

This weekend, my worst fear may have been realized when the new AP and Coaches polls were released. That is BYU most likely has no chance of going to a BCS bowl this year, even if they win the rest of their games.

This weekend, after what I felt was a solid win against a Colorado State football team that had been receiving votes in the polls, BYU football fell one spot in both the Coaches and the AP polls to 21 and 20 respectively. I was, quite honestly, surprised. I felt that the win showed that BYU was back on the right track and is still a powerful football team. In addition, four top twenty-five teams that were ranked ahead of BYU lost. However, of those teams only one of them fell below BYU in one poll (Mississippi). All of their losses were blowouts and the teams looked much worse than BYU did against FSU.

Here's the punchline. Big name programs hold on to their rankings better than BYU and voters won't put BYU back in a position that would allow them to play in a BCS game. Even if Boise State and Houston lose games and BYU beats TCU, the odds are that BYU won't ascend into the top 12 and therefore will not be allowed to play in a BCS bowl this year. Las Vegas Bowl, here we come ... for the fifth year in a row.

BYU Football - Colorado St - Final BYU 42 CSU 23

It was a great game today for the BYU football team.  In a game that many believed would be close, BYU jumped out to a quick 21-0 in the first quarter.  Although Colorado St managed to put 23 points on the board, the game wasn't ever really close.

I was happy to see BYU football playing like traditional BYU football.  Last week's loss to Florida St got me a little bit scared.  (In addition, don't get me started on how mad I am that Florida St fell apart today against USF.)  It looks like the team is back to what we saw against Oklahoma and Tulane. 

BYU Football - Colorado St - Pre-game

This week BYU football takes on the Colorado State Rams in Provo.  Colorado State is currently 3-0.  This week they look to open conference play with a statement game against19th ranked BYU Cougars.  This is the best start the Rams have had in 15 years and you can bet they will be excited to play against the team that has dominated the MWC for the past three years.  They won't go down without a fight.

At the beginning of the season, I thought of this game as sort of a gimme game for BYU football.  CSU is usually a mid MWC team, that hasn't given BYU much trouble.  Although, they had an impressive growing season last year, I didn't think they would present a large challenge for BYU.

However, after last week's humiliating loss to FSU, BYU showed they were vulnerable.  The defense that had been unbreakable the first two weeks in the season, broke.  They broke badly.  The good news for BYU is that CSU's quarterback, Grant Stucker isn't as mobile as Christian Ponder.  I don't think BYU will have trouble putting a fair amount of pressure on him.

In CSU's first three games, they have shown they can play with quality opponents and, in fact, beat them.  Look for it to be a good game this weekend, but not as close as some may think.  BYU's running game is better this year than it was last year.  CSU has shown they are suceptible to the run allowing 169 rushing yards in their game against Nevada.  Unga and Kariya will both have career days and the Cougars will win by three touchdowns.

Prediction

BYU 45 CSU 21

BYU Football - Florida St - Final

As hard as it is for me to say, BYU got it handed to them on their home field today by Florida State.  The defense that had been touted across the country as one that was unbreakable, broke.  After only allowing 16 points their first two games of the season, the BYU defense allowed 54 points today. 

The offense seems pretty reasonable.  Max Hall's stats looked about average, but his average this year has be below what I would expect for a Sr. quarterback at BYU.  In three games he has already thrown for 6 interceptions.  That just won't get it done, when you are playing big name teams.

On a good note, I was happy to see Riley Nelson get a chance to take a few snaps.  He appears to be an already developed quarterback and it will be fun to see him compete for the starting job next season.  It was nice to see Harvey Unga back in the game.  He rushed for 97 yards and appeared healthy on the plays he was in on.

I will say this 54-28 loss appears to completely dash any hopes that BYU had of playing in a BCS bowl.  It may not be impossible, but it certainly looks grim. 

Onward and upward, I guess.  Next week the Cougars face Colorado State, a team that is on the rise.  With today's loss I am concerned about the Rams.  I hope Bronco has something in mind for practice this week that can get his team back on track.

The Mountain West is Gaining Recognition

I found an article today on ESPN that ranks the FBS conferences based on what has transpired thus far in the season.  Currently the Mountain West is sitting at the number four spot.  The biggest boost they got was when the BYU football team beat Oklahoma 14-13 the first week of the season.  The current conferences above the Mountain West are the SEC, the Big 12, and the PAC-10.  The current rankings are:





1.   SEC
2.   Big 12
3.   PAC-10
4.   Mountain West
5.   ACC
6.   Big 10
7.   Big East
8.   Conference USA
9.   MAC
10. WAC
11. MAC

Complete Rankings

Max Hall Davey O'Brien Award Finalist

The BYU football program has a long standing tradition of excellent quarterbacks.  This year is no different.  Max Hall has already proved that he belongs on the list of names that are known as great BYU quarterbacks.

Max Hall is currently in 3rd place on the Davey O'Brien finalist list.  Fans are allowed to vote in the semifinalist rounds.  Their votes account for 5% of the total vote.  5% is much higher than I expected for a fan vote.  Rarely do fans ever get more than 1%.  This is our chance to help BYU football return to its national recognition in the area of quarterbacks.  Go vote today.

Davey O'Brien Voting Website

BYU Football - Florida St - Pre-Game

This Saturday BYU will defend it's 18 game winning streak at Lavell Edwards Stadium.  The BYU football team has not lost a game at home in three seasons.  The journey to make it a fourth season will begin this Saturday at 5pm MT.

This weekend's match-up was one that I became very excited about before the season began.  However, I have since lost some of the enthusiasiam due to the recent performance of Florida State.  Against Miami, they played an okay game.  I told myself that it was just a rivalry game and they are probably better than they looked.  Then last week against Jacksonville State, I realized they may not be as good as originally thought.  Their passing game seems solid, but that is about the only thing they have.  Their run defense on the year has been loose and their pass defense has been worse.

The BYU football team has made leaps and bounds since last year.  One area that didn't a lot of help, but has improved, is the pass game.  Max Hall is more poised and has the potential to tear apart the Florida State defense.  The variety of receivers that Hall can throw to this year has increased due to the loss of Austin Collie.  This year 12 players have already caught at least one pass.

What has impressed me more than anything this year has been BYU's defense.  I have enjoyed watching the defense mix things up.  I was happy to see them confuse the Oklahoma offense.  The BYU front defensive line many times didn't set up until seconds before the ball was snapped.  It was an interesting tactic that wouldn't allow the Oklahoma offense to not get a read on the defense or who was blitzing.

One final note about the overal attitude of the BYU football team this year.  The last few years, it has almost seemed that the attitude of BYU football is that it is wrong to get too excited.  This year has been different.  I have seen the players get excited about playing football and get excited about their wins.  Way to go, Bronco!

Prediction
After two road games, BYU will be excited to finally play at home.  The passing game will immediately be effective against the mediocre Florida State defense.  When they try to adjust, BYU will open up the run game and the dominance will be shown.  The saturday BYU football will win this one fairly easily by 24 points.

BYU 41, Florida State 17

BYU Football - Tulane - Post Game

Max Hall is certainly making a name for himself after a second week passer rating of 170.49 in the BYU football team 54-3 victory over Tulane. With the exception of one interception, Max played the game just about as well as he could have. He completed passes to the open players. He made the right decisions on the key downs.

BYU soundly beat up on the Tulane this weekend, claiming a 2-0 starting record. I knew that Tulane was no Oklahoma, but I grossly over-estimated their abilities. I sincerely thought they would score at least two touchdowns in today's game. I guess if that says anything, it certainly says that BYU has a strong defense.

I would have to say that I feel Max Hall was the player of the game. Although he wasn't in pressure situations during this week, like he felt last week, he still held himself as the captain of the BYU football team. My hat off to him. He is showing himself as the leader that was lacking last season. This season he appears much more mature and more of a person that stays composed in pressure situations.

Bryan Kariya has stepped up in the stead of Harvey Unga. Unga didn't play in the game opener against Oklahoma, and he left early in today's game. However, without Unga no gap was felt in the back field. Kariya has showed he can run, he can catch, and he can block.

Up next - Florida State...in Provo.

BYU Football - Tulane

I am not sure what to think about this weekend’s BYU football game against Tulane. I heard an interview with Tulane’s head coach yesterday. He spoke about the youth and inexperience of their program. He said that he hoped his team would be able to play competitively with BYU. It almost sounded as though he had no faith that his team would be able to even put up a fight against BYU.

It seems odd to me that a coach would be willing to admit that his team didn’t stand much of a chance against a top 10 team. Even though I agree with him, I wonder how you present that to your team in the locker room before the game. Therefore, I am not buying it.

Everyone around the country thinks that BYU is going to dominate Tulane in tomorrow’s football game. Therefore, why shouldn’t the coach play into their opinions and allow BYU to be lulled into a false sense of security. I think the only person in America that truly believes that Tulane can win this football game is their head coach.

Even if it is a ploy to get the BYU football team to look ahead to Florida State, I don’t think they will buy it. The culture of the BYU football team is different this year than it was last year. BYU is focused. They take time to celebrate their wins, but they continue to focus on the next game ahead while not looking ahead to what could come in the future.

I think this is a fairly easy game for BYU. I wasn’t impressed with Tulane’s game against Tulsa last week. BYU wins the football game soundly by three touchdowns.

Prediction

BYU 38, Tulane 17

Max Hall's Redemption

ESPN Article

I found this article on ESPN today and I think it is worth a read. It talks a little about how Max Hall felt after last season, as the BYU Football team struggled to live up to the expectations that were put on them at the beginning of the 2008 season. It is heartfelt and I think it truly reflects Max's feeling on how BYU football has improved from last season.

ESPN Article

BYU Oklahoma Game

What a weekend it has been for college football. Okay, not really. Most of it turned out the way the analysts predicted, with the exception of one game - BYU vs. Oklahoma. Nobody expected BYU to play as well as they did against the number 3 team in the country.

Key to the Win
Many people have said it was Max Hall who was instrumental in BYU's upset of Oklahoma. While I feel he was key leader in the game and led a very important scoring drive in the fourth quarter, I feel there was anothe key to BYU's suceess on the football field. The defense was excellent. They held the Sooners to only 265 total yards in the game. If you want to blame that on Bradford's injury, think again. The reigning heisman trophy winner, only threw for 96 yards in the first half, which means he was on track for about 200 or so total yards passing. Wasn't his average last year something like 500 yards per game? The Cougar defense was impecable.

The offensive line deserves credit too. While many say that Oklahoma's struggles began with their "rookie" offensive line, I believe that BYU's "rookie" offensive line did an excellent job of protecting Max Hall. They are "rookie" and did make some mistakes. So I can't call them the key to the win, but I do feel that they did an excellent job and will undoubtably soon be as strong if not stronger than last years line.

One Last Thought
I am happy to have McKay Jacobson back from his mission. Austin Collie will be missed, but Jacobson will fill his shoes well. He was a bit jittery in his first game back and in front of a crowd full of his family and hometown friends. But he will do better and become BYU's leading receiver this season.

Way to go Cougars. You beat the Oklahoma and got your picture plastered all over ESPN's front page.

BYU Oklahoma Results

BYU upsets Oklahoma in incredible fashion, and on national television. With three minutes left in the game Max Hall hit wide open McKay Jacobson in end zone to put BYU on top of Oklahoma, 14-13. In a last effort, OU kicked a 54 yard field goal that was wide left and short. BYU kneeled on it three times and upset the No. 3 ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

More of my thoughts to come later...right now I am celebrating.

Jake Heaps to sign with BYU

It was announced today that the nation's number one high school quarterback, Jake Heaps, will announce tomorrow, June 4, 2009, that he plans to sign with BYU after his senior season of high school football. Heaps just finished his junior year at Skyline High School in Seattle, WA, where in two seasons he has helped is team to a 28-0 record.

The announcement comes at a perfect time for BYU fans everywhere. Heaps, as strong leader, will step in just in time to fill the shoes of current quarterback Max Hall. Hall will be completing his senior season this fall and BYU will need a new leader to step up and lead the cougars as the compete to become again a national power.

Stay tuned for more to come on the announcement of Jake Heaps.

BYU at Utah - Pre-game thoughts

First thought: Utah is beatable. Many of the news media and sports analysts think this game is no question. They say BYU doesn't have a chance. I disagree.

With that being said, I will not go as far as to say that BYU will dominate Utah. To say that would mean that I haven't been watching football at all this year. I do believe that Utah is a good team. They have beaten some quality teams this year.

However, in my opinion, Utah's offense is its greatest flaw this year. This is evidenced by the fact that their kicker is idolized by everyone at the University. A truly good offense does not rely on a kicker, but rather sees their kicker as last resort in case they are not able to get into to the end zone.

In five of Utah's games this year (Michigan, Air Force, Oregon St, New Mexico, and TCU), their win has come in the last few minutes of the game. Some credit Brian Johnson for leading such brilliant come backs. However, I believe that, in some instances, it was the poor play of Johnson earlier in the game that required him to put together a come back. I'm not saying that Johnson is not a good quarterback, but he is definitely not a good quarterback all the time. That inconsistency makes the Utes beatable. When the oposing defense has shut down Johnson, the Ute defense has had to win the game for them.

The Utah defense is getting a lot of well deserved praise for its quickness. However, they have yet to face a passing attack like what BYU has in place. The only way to get to BYU's passing offense is to get to Max Hall. I don't see this happening. Utah has one of the smallest defensive lines in the conference. BYU has the biggest offensive line. I believe that Utah's quickness won't make up for the lack of size against the BYU front five. Utah's quickness might help them to get one sack, but otherwise Max will have the time he needs to find Pitta, Collie, Reed, George, or Unga.

BYU's defense continues to get criticism. Nobody seems to remember that this is the defense that allowed only 10.17 ppg in its first 6 contests, including two shutouts. I will be the first to admit that BYU's defense hasn't been playing as well lately, but I saw a change during the second half of the Air Force game. BYU looked more like the defense they played at the first of the year. Although BYU's UCLA shutout has proven to not be as presigous as it seemed, BYU will come into this weekend's game with the same type of intensity.

Keys to the Game
BYU's defense needs to stop the direct snap plays. TCU showed the conference that directly snapping the ball to the tailback, works against BYU. Since that game, everyone has done it. Utah will be not different. They will snap it to Asiata or Mack 10 or so times.

Score in the red zone. Utah's defense has been stingy this year. BYU needs to capitalize on every opportunity they get to score. Utah's offense has proven that it can't score on a consistent basis. So if BYU can constantly score, BYU should win the game.

Predicted Score
BYU 27, Utah 23

Road to the BCS

So, here come all the questions. What are the implications of this weekend's rivalry game between BYU and Utah? Obviously, for Utah, it means a MWC title and a BCS berth. The real question is this. If BYU wins, will it be enough to boost them above Boise St and give them a BCS berth. Your guess is as good as mine, but here is what I think.

Earlier in the year, no. 24 TCU beat no. 9 BYU. TCU essentially plays the same schedule as BYU with the exception of Oklahoma, who beat TCU. After beating BYU, TCU jumped nine spots to 15 in the USA Today's coaches poll. Now before you start doing the math (i.e. no. 14 BYU beats no. 7 Utah = jumping more than nine spots) remember that was mid-season. This game will be played at the end of the season. You may wonder what's the difference. Some even think that a win at the end of the season carries more weight.

It is true that a loss later in the season is harder to make up, but that doesn't necessarily mean that games later in the year carry more weight. As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that they actually carry less. The BCS computer rankings use averages, therefore each game carries less and less weight as every other game is played. Let me give you an example.

Suppose you were to take the price of a hamburger in three different locations and find the average price. Let's say the prices are as follows:

location 1 - $3.50
location 2 - $3.25
location 3 - $7.50

The average of these burgers is $4.75, which means that obviously the burger in location 3 carries a lot of weight. Now let's add three more locations.

location 4 - $3.00
location 5 - $3.25
location 6 - $3.50

Now the average of all six locations is $4.00. So you can see that each location carries less weight. The same thing happens with BCS computer rankings. As you accumulate more games, each game carries less and less weight.

Therefore, I don't believe that BYU beating Utah will boost BYU enough in the computer polls to surpass Boise St. However, I think it would put BYU one rank below them.

But wait there are two other components to the BCS standings - the human voters in the coaches poll and the harris poll. This is where I think BYU will surpass Boise State. An impressive victory over a no. 7 Utah team will give BYU a stronger resume than Boise State, even if they do end up undefeated.

So my thoughts are, yes, BYU does still have a shot at the BCS. They are going to have to beat a decent Utah team, but I think they can do it.

Pre-Game Thoughts - San Diego State

I have put off writing this week's pre-game thoughts because, well it's San Diego State. I know that you are supposed to have respect for every opponent, but let's be honest. Does San Diego State have what it takes to really even make it a game.

Saturday the Cougars play their last home game of the season. They are 5-0 at home this season and it looks like they will be 6-0 at home by the end of Saturday afternoon. San Diego State has had a rough season, to say the least. Their low point was a 7-70 loss to the New Mexico Lobos. The closest they got in conference play was a heart breaking loss against Colorado State. Their final three games will probably prove to be their hardest ones of the season, at BYU, Utah, and UNLV. Their best chance is to beat a banged up UNLV team that doesn't have their star quarterback.

With TCU falling to Utah last night, a win for BYU would definitely put them about TCU in the BCS standings. It also means that BYU still has a shot at winning a share of the MWC if they beat Utah on November 22. Which brings me to an interesting question. If BYU, Utah, and TCU all end the season with one conference loss and essentially all tie for the MWC title, would any go to a BCS bowl?

Many analysts say that none would go to a BCS bowl because there would be no way to decide which to take. I, however, have a different oppinion. TCU will fall this week because of their loss to Utah. They won't fall far because it was a close game and Utah was ranked ahead of them, but TCU only has one game left this season. Their fall will probably push them at least to the lower teens and one win against Air Force won't be enough to get them back into the top 12, especially since they have two bye weeks when other teams will be playing.

Utah will move up in the polls this week, but probably not much. The top 8 are pretty solid, but one will definitely lose because Texas Tech and Oklahoma St play each other. Utah might jump one spot. I think when BYU plays in Salt Lake City, Utah will be 6th or 7th.

A win this week for BYU and a win against Air Force, will get BYU into the upper teens by November 22nd, probably 11 or 12. By this same time, if BSU keeps winning, they will probably stay around 9 or 10. I don't think voters will give them much more than that since the WAC is weak this year. With that being said, if BYU beats Utah, they could theoretically jump BSU in the BCS standings and end up as the top non-BCS qualifier. The selection committee would have no choice but to put BYU in a BCS bowl, because they would have earned the automatic berth being the highest ranked non-BCS conference champion.

Well that was a mouthful of a pre-game thought article, but it is a lot more interesting than talking about how much BYU is going to whoop SDSU by.

Predicted Score
BYU 42, SDSU 7