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 - 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.

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.

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.

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.

ESPN Showcasing BYU

Checkout the front page of ESPN.com. The lead article showcase's BYU as the top non-BCS school in the country and one of ESPN's top picks for the 2008 season.

This picture was actually from earlier today. The picture has moved to the bottom of the page, but it can still be seen along with other pictures of Max Hall. Apparently BYU's match-up tonight against TCU is one deserving of national attention. Obviously it is, this game and the November 22 clash against Utah will decide the fate of BYU in the BCS. It's nice to see BYU getting some of the attention it deserves.

Below are the links to ESPN's current articles about BYU.
Hall poised to become one of BYU's best QBs
Breaking the huddle at the season's halfway point

Pre-Game Thoughts - New Mexico

BYU comes into Saturday's game still holding on to the nation's longest win streak (15). The Cougars will square up with the Lobos in a game that many believe will keep BYU's win streak alive. Although New Mexico may be BYU toughest test yet, most analysts pick BYU by 23 points.

BYU is coming off a poor 4th quarter against a Utah State team that really didn't play as well as the score made it look. During that 4th quarter the Cougars gave up two touchdowns, while almost giving up a third. During the quarter BYU didn't score and Max Hall was called for a personal foul that he seemed to commit out of frustration.

New Mexico prides itself on its running game. They average over 200 yards per game, which a split between their two stars, Rodney Ferguson and Paul Baker. New Mexico has struggled to win this year, but thier signature win over Arizona leaves every opponent wondering if that New Mexico team will come to play.

Overall, I have to agree with the the analysts. Even though New Mexico has that potential, BYU is playing at home and should win by at least 3 touchdowns.

Keys to the Game
Run Defense
This season BYU defense has shown that its only weakness is run defense. BYU has played two games that they have not completely dominated, Washington and Utah State. The reason they struggled was because of the run. Both teams were allowed to run when they wanted to. New Mexico has the potential to do the same.

Keep Poised
BYU fell apart in the fourth quarter against Utah State. They were flagged for multiple penalties in the quarter. Not to mention they had 12 total penalties for 123 yards.

Predicted Score
BYU 41, New Mexico 17

BYU continues winning streak against Utah St, 34-14

In a game that was never a question for BYU fans, Utah State made the score look like it was a lot closer than it really was. The BYU defense shut out the Aggies for the first three quarters, but allowed two scores in the fourth quarter after defensive capitain David Nixon left the game with an injury.

BYU started this game quickly scoring 24 points in the first quarter. The defense forced USU to punt on their first posession. After that it only took three plays for Max Hall to find Austin Collie. Collie hauled in the pass and turned the corner on two USU defenders to go 76 yards for the touchdown.

That was just the beginning of the first quarter scoring frenzy for BYU. On the next USU posession, quarterback Diondre Borel fumbled the football. BYU defensive back, Brandon Bradley, scooped up the ball and ran it 35 yards for the touchdown. On the next USU posession, the BYU defense caused another fumble, and the offense capitalized with a 44 yard field goal by Mitch Payne. USU's next posession was ended on the first play when David Nixon intercepted a pass. The offense took one play to score. Harvey Unga ran it in from 11 yards out to make the score 24-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was really rather boring, with no points being scored by either team. The third quarter picked up with BYU scoring 10 more points, putting them ahead 34-0 and continuing an 11 quarter shutout. It ended, however, in the fourth quarter, when the BYU defense looked like it was playing its first game of the season. They allowed two scores, and almost three. USU put one in the end zone with only a few seconds on the clock, but it was called back by a penalty. BYU ended the last play of the game by sacking QB Diondre Borel.

This game reminded me of Nick Saban's comments on his Alabama team's big win over Georgia a week ago. He said that the game was a coaches dream because they won the game, but his team played so poorly in the second half that he still had so much to work on in practice. I imagine Bronco Mendenhall has similar feelings. I'm sure he was happy to win the game, but probably walked out of the stadium with a list of things to work on before they take on New Mexico next week.

Player of the Game
Austin Collie
Collie hauled in 8 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns. His long of 76 was a signature play that will show up on Collie's highlight reel for years. Although Pitta appeared to be Hall's favorite target as the season opened, Collie has now emerged as the top BYU reciever.

Pre-Game Thoughts - Utah State

This Friday the Cougars travel to Logan, where they hope to put up another dominating win on their journey to the BCS. The eighth ranked Cougars have pitched two straight shutouts in their last two outings and it's not unlikely to think that they could put up a third one this weekend.

Utah State finally got its first win last week against Idaho. Surprising to most people, USU actually looked pretty good in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter. They scored three times making the score against Idaho, look pretty lopsided. USU racked up 580 total yards in the game, which is a season best for the USU offense.

USU's second half against Idaho, is probably the only thing that makes USU even look like they have a chance at beating BYU. Although I don't think USU has much of a chance against Max Hall and his arsenal of offensive weapons, after last week, we have learned that every team has to be prepared for every opponent. This doesn't exclude BYU from preparing for the Aggies.

Keys to the Game
Shut down the run. USU has made most of their yards they year on the ground. While BYU's defense has been tough on opponents, the run is the one weakness that could be expoloited by the right team.

Get Started Early. USU has shown that they can get at a team in the fourth quarter. BYU needs to jump out early and create a lead that can't be broken down in the fourth quarter.

Predicted Score
BYU 42, USU 0

Upset Weekend Gives BYU Fans a Smile

Even though the cougars were off yesterday, there was plenty of reason for cougar fans to be watching college football this weekend. It all started with USC being upset by Oregon St, but it didn't stop there. Three other top 10 teams fell also. No. 4 Florida lost on a blocked extra point to Mississippi St. No. 9 Wisconsin got beat my Michigan in the big house. Then, in prime time, No 3. Georgia fell badly to a national champion type performance by No. 8 Alabama.

This shake up can only be good for the no. 11 Cougars. I imagine Florida and Georgia will remain in the top 15 in this week's polls. Wisconsin will fall at least 10 spots, but will probably still remain in the top 25. The question then becomes, "Will voters have the guts to put BYU ahead of Florida and Georgia?" I think BYU will actually end up inbetween the two. Georgia will only fall a few spots because there loss was to a very good ranked opponent. BYU will fall behind them. Florida will fall a couple of spots below BYU. Here's how I see it.

1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Missouri
4. Texas
5. LSU
6. Texas Tech
7. Georgia
8. BYU
9. Penn St.
10. Florida

As an important side note, the upsets also helped Max Hall's hopes for the Heisman. He now sits in the number 3 position behind, Missouri's Chase Daniel, and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford. Click here.

Hall Getting National Heisman Attention

In a recent article about week 4 performances in college football, ESPN's Mark Schlabach mentioned Max Hall's name with the other Heisman candidates.

Since the beginning of the season, Max Hall's name has been thrown around in Provo as a Heisman candidate, but not much national attention has been shown. However, in today's article "On the Mark: Week 4" by Mark Schlabach, not only was the Mountain west conference mentioned a being better this year than the Pac-10, the ACC, and the Big East. Max Hall was also brought up as a candidate for this years Heisman trophy. Of course, leading BYU to a BCS game this year would certainly help his cause.

For the complete article click here.

BYU gets second straight shutout with 44-0 win over Wyoming

For the second straight week, BYU walked all over their opponent. However, today's offense wasn't quite as impressive this week because the defense did a lot of the work. In both the first and third quarters, the defense turned turnovers into points on the board without the help of the offense.

On the first drive of the game, Wyoming seemed to be making a quick strike. They threw a lateral on the BYU 36 yard line. The pass was incomplete, but Scott Johnson was smart enough to recognize that the incomplete pass was actually a fumbled ball. Johnson scooped up the ball and ran it 64 yards for the score.

That was BYU's only score in the first quarter. The second quarter was when the offense started to get together. BYU scored three times. One on a one yard run from Harvey Unga. The other two came on Austin Collie receptions, including a 62 yard pass from Max Hall.

Collie was Hall's favorite reciever today. He had 8 receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Hall also connected with Harvey Unga in the third quarter for Hall's third touchdown pass.

It was in the third quarter that the defense put their second set of points on the board. Wyoming's quarterback Karston Sween attempted a pass. It was tipped and David Nixon came down with the ball and ran it 17 yards for the score. With the exception of a 31 yard field goal, by Justin Sorensen, that ended BYU's scoring for the day.

BYU pull all of its starters by the mid third quarter. Obviously this was to done in part to preserve the health of the starters and give other's some experience. Some criticize Bronco Mendenhall for not trying to boost the teams stats and look better for the nation critics. Bronco's response was simple. "If that's at the expense of polls, rankings or points, then it's at that expense," Mendenhall said. "I have been around selfish teams that do that. That's not who we will be."

Although BYU's stats only looked "average" in todays win, the nation will have no way on not acknowledging two straight shutout wins by the Cougars.

Player of the Game
This week's player of the game goes to Austin Collie. Collie had 8 receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns. His long today was 62 yards for a touchdown. Collie has proved to be consistently Max Hall's primary target. During the first two games, many believed that Dennis Pitta was emerging as the Hall's primary reciever. However, in 4 games Collie is averaging 7.5 catches and 96.5 yards per game.

Max Hall - National Player of the Week

For his stellar performance against UCLA on Saturday, Max Hall has been named the Walter Camp National Player of the week. Walter Camp is known as the father of modern football. The Walter Camp Player of the Year award is given at the end of the season to a college football player that showed superior performance throughout the season. It is considered by many to be the runner up award to the Heisman Trophy. This is a well deserved honor for Max, especially since he is considered a the Heisman. ESPN said, "Quarterback Max Hall needs to be considered a dark horse for the Heisman if he's not already."

For the complete press release on this award, click here.

UCLA at BYU, Pre-game thoughts

After a close call at Washington, BYU is back at home this week hosting the UCLA Bruins. This is the third time BYU and UCLA have clashed since last September. UCLA beat BYU 27-17 in Pasadena in their first meeting. Then BYU beat UCLA 17-16 in an unforgettable Las Vegas Bowl in their second match-up. With the record being 1-1, there is a lot at stake this Saturday. However, for both teams there is a lot more at stake than owning a three game series.

For UCLA, this is a chance for them to show the nation that they are real. Over the past few years, UCLA has been a up and down team. Some weeks showing that they can play with anyone and other weeks losing game that should have been no brainers. Their win against Tennessee was impressive, but will mean nothing if they play as they have over the past years losing to mediocre teams in the Pac-10.

For BYU, a win against UCLA would not only mean continued hopes of a BCS bust. It would also give them a chance to prove to the nation that they do deserve the ranking they have been given. There are many doubters in the nation that think BYU doesn't deserve to be ranked as high as they are. The fact that BYU allowed a bad Northern Iowa to score 17 points and only beat a mediocre Washington by 1 point gives some validity to their argument. If BYU can beat up the Bruins, the arguments about whether or not the Cougars deserve their ranking will be lessened.

This Saturday's game will probably be a close one. I don't think anyone believed this game would be as tough as its going to be until we saw UCLA beat a very good Tennessee ranked number 18. Quarterback Kevin Craft, had a good second half for the Bruins. In the first half he just didn't seem to have it together. He himself said, "It was just a matter of settling down. I wasn't nervous at all. I just wasn't in a good rhythm. In the second half, I found it." And find it he did. In the second half he picked apart Tennessee, going 18-23 and 193 yards and a touchdown. He performed much better than any 3rd string quarterback is supposed to.

On saturday, UCLA's hopes will depend on his performance. Will he play like the star quarterback he was in the second half or will he throw interceptions and fumble like he did in the first half.

On the other hand, BYU's offense continues to be powerful. The Hall-Pitta combination remains the strongest passing attack in the country. Dennis Pitta is the number one tight end and reciever in the nation and Max Hall ranks number two in passing in the nation. Their combination still has yet to be well defended by any team. And let us not forget Austin Collie. With all of the attention on Pitta, Collie is able to hide out in the wings and average a measly 130 yards per game.

As I see it, UCLA's defense was what allowed them to stay in the game against Tennessee. Without it Craft's incredible performance in the second half would not have produced enough points to beat the Vols. That being said BYU will have to continue to run their high powered offense and wear down the Bruin defense.

Keys to the Game
Harvey Unga
Unga needs to have a good game. Everyone knows BYU can pass. Unga adds another dimension to BYU's offense. If the Bruins have to defend the run, it will open up more passing opportunities from Hall to Pitta and Collie.

Defense, defense, defense
BYU's "young" defense needs to grow up this game. The last two games it has been okay for BYU to allow some points, because the teams were mediocre. However, UCLA is a big dog. The defense needs to tighten up. Without a strong defensive front, Craft could have the ability to pick us apart when he wants to.

Another Blocked Kick Keeps BYU in the Running for the BCS

This is the second time in their last three games that BYU has blocked a kick at the end of the game to produce a win. With two seconds left on the clock BYU defensive end, Jan Jorgensen, blocked Washington's PAT that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime. The previous play, Washington quarterback, Jake Locker, ran it in from three yards out, making the score 28-27.

“I asked (Assistant Coach) Paul Tidwell if there was any chance they would have the nerve to fake it and he said, ‘there’s always a chance.’” Mendenhall said. “So I said, ‘all out rush.’ And the players nodded like they believed they could block it. They were smiling, just like they were against UCLA.”

Today's win not only was monumental to the Cougars because it keeps their BCS hopes alive, but also because BYU has not beaten a non-conference road game since 2002. This was the hurdle that BYU needed to surpass this year to prove to the nation that they are ready for the BCS. Over the years they have been critized about the non-conference road record. Today's game was tough, but they pulled it off. In a post game interview, Bronco Mendenhall, commented, "What I don't do is ever doubt these players. When it comes down to it, they find a way to win and that's why they are having the success they are."

BYU's offense operated just like they normally do. Max Hall threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, the offense (with the help of Harvey Unga) racked up 143 yards rushing. Total yards passing and rushing yards for this game was 482.

Player of the Game
Harvey Unga racked up 167 yard with 22 carries and 5 catches. Unga did not score this game, but provided the means of many touchdowns. When Washington found somewhat of an answer for BYU's passing attach, Unga kept the defense honest. They had no answer for his power running.

Areas of Improvment
The ball security problems from last week appeared to to by resolved. BYU only fumbled the ball once, and it was forced. This week's area of improvment with be the defense. Although they played well, they allowed more points than they should have. Washington's quarterback, Jake Locker, was allowed to run with the ball whenever he couldn't find a reciever open.

Pitta and Hall National Leaders

Today marks the end of week 1 of college football 2008. BYU tight end, Dennis Pitta, came in first among receivers nationwide for number of yards receiving. He had 213 yards on 11 catches in BYU's win over Northern Iowa on Saturday. His counterpart quarterback, Max Hall, also ranked nationally. He was among the top ten quarterbacks in the country with a passer rating of 198.60.

BYU defeats Northern Iowa 41-17

This afternoon BYU won its second straight season opener extending the nation's longest winning streak to 11. The win, however, wasn't as simple as many expected it to be. The Northern Iowa Panthers put up a good fight against the nationally ranked Cougars.

“I give Northern Iowa credit,” said Mendenhall. “I think they are a very good team and coach [Mark] Farley does a great job with them. They are physical and their quarterback had an outstanding game in terms of heart.”

In the first half, BYU fans felt it was all their game. After the first two periods, BYU led the contest 27-3. All BYU right? Not quite. In the third quarter, UNI showed they came to play. A crazy reverse/wide reciever pass put UNI on the board in the third quarter. But that wasn't the worst part of BYU's third quarter. The Cougars were plauged with mistakes during the quarter, including 4 fumbles (3 recovered by UNI). One of those fumbles occured when Max Hall was hit in the back in his own end zone. UNI fell on the ball and 6 points went on the board. In the fourth, BYU started to put it back together. Two late scores put BYU well in front and ended the game 41-17.

Key Players
Max Hall and Dennis Pitta were the duo of the day. They connected 11 times for 213 yards, with an average of almost 20 yards per pass. Bronco even noted in the post game show that they planned their offense so that a defense could not cover all of the key positions. UNI chose to play the run and the wide outs. Therefore, they wouldn't be able to cover the tight end, which is exactly what happened.

Areas of Improvement
Ball Security. The first game jitters showed in the third quarter. Vetrans and rookies alike had problems holding on to the ball. “Ball security was one of the things we can improve on, and with that being different, most likely the game would have been much more convincing,” commented Mendenhall. “We saw enough mistakes and things that we can certainly improve on over the next week.”

Next Week
A test. BYU faces Washington on the road. The past two years, BYU has not won a single non-conference road game. This well be the real test of what BYU is made of.