Shapes Up Nicely: BYU 38, AFA 24

Just what the doctor ordered.  On the heels of a beating of conference doormat SDSU last week to shake the rust off, the Cougars went up against an efficient, talented and hard-nosed group of cadets at the Air Force Academy and battled start to finish with several clear momentum swings and overcoming some mistakes to get a solid win against a close-to-top-25 team on the road.  

The advantage is in the mental preparation and mindset going up to Salt Lake this Saturday to take on the Utes.  At halftime of the BYU-Air Force game, a late turnover had led to Air Force taking a 14-10 lead.  Austin Collie asked for a chance to give a few words to his teammates, and basically called them to task and asked them to step up to the level they are capable of.  They did so in the second half and got the win.  

Which brings is to an epic battle shaping up in Salt Lake this week.  The combined records of the two teams at 21-1 has never been better in the entire history of the rivalry, nor have the teams faced each other as top-fifteen ranked teams.  Oh, yeah, and a conference championship is on the line, and a BCS bowl.  

Utah's strength is its defense, and it is a very good one.  At the same time, when BYU plays without mistakes on offense, they are nearly impossible to stop.  The question mark is that BYU needs/wants its biggest guns all on the field, but Dennis Pitta got a pretty major MCL strain in the second half against Air Force.  If he can be out there Saturday and effective, I expect the Cougar offense to be very strong.  Even without Pitta, Andrew George is pretty much Pitta's equal and will be outstanding I think.  You could argue that a "fresh" George could be a better target for Max Hall in this game than an injured Dennis Pitta.  

And I can't fail to comment on the unbelievable talent that we have in our other major weapons: Max Hall, Austin Collie, Harvey Unga, and Fui Vakapuna and Michael Reed.  Max Hall is putting up eye-popping numbers this season, including completing over 70% of his passes and, during the Air Force game, becoming the top single-season-TD-passer in Mountain West history.  He is on track to pass even John Beck by the time he's through, though Ty Detmer may remain out of reach in terms of passing yards for a career.

Austin Collie is in the process of blowing away the entire BYU record book for receiving, and if he keeps it up may blow away conference records and even national ones.  I still need to confirm this, but I think he only needs a couple dozen yards to become BYU's all-time leading receiver.  He continues to be the top receiver in all the land so far this year.  He is breaking receiving TD records as well.  And he simply impresses pretty much every time he runs a route and gets a catch.  He was even impressive in BLOCKING on a couple of key plays in the Air Force game.  What a stud.  

It's going to be quite a week and quite a battle shaping up...GO COUGARS! 

My estimation is that the game will hinge on the BYU defense.  If that unit takes the responsibility and load on its shoulders to win this thing, I think we do so.  

Records to Fall Tomorrow?

From Greg Wrubell on KSL.com:

"Max Hall needs one touchdown pass to tie the MWC single-season passing touchdown record of 33, set by Brandon Doman in 2001. With 32 passing tds, Hall is currently tied with John Beck and Alex Smith.

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With one more receiving touchdown, Austin Collie will break a tie with J.R. Tolver for the MWC single-season receiving touchdown record of 13. Collie's next touchdown catch will also be the 29th of his career--tying Eric Drage for the BYU career record, and and tying Wyoming product Jovon Bouknight for the MWC career mark.

Collie is also two touchdown catches away from tying the BYU single-season record of 15, set by Clay Brown in 1980.

With 27 more receiving yards, Collie will pass Reno Mahe for second place in the BYU single-season tally. With 57 more receiving yards, he will pass Andy Boyce for the alltime single-season BYU record (1,241). Collie is 164 receiving yards away from eclipsing Eric Drage's BYU career record (3,065).

The BYU single-season reception record is 100, set by Jay Miller in 1973. Collie currently has 78 catches, and is on pace to break that record in BYU's bowl game.

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Dennis Pitta is one catch away from tying the BYU single-season tight end reception record of 68, set by Chris Smith in 1990."

Taking Care of SDSU Business

Neither BYU's offense nor defense was at its very best, but both were generally solid, and it was more than enough to take care of a San Diego team that played hard and fairly well in spite of their struggles coming into the game in Provo today.  The 41-12 win completed the third consecutive season without a loss at home...18 games and counting in Edwards stadium, which is a new consecutive home win record for BYU.  It was also the 12th straight sellout.  

If there were standout performances, it was by several Cougar players...in particular Max Hall, who completed 25 of 30 passes for a 300+ yard game, 3 TD's and no INT's.  He is simply in control and very comfortable.  

Austin Collie was also excellent again, with another 100+ yard receiving game...moving into the #2 spot all time in receiving yards in the BYU record book, and is just 165 yards away from taking the top spot from Eric Drage.  If he doesn't do it next week against Air Force, he should the next week against Utah.  Not bad for a JUNIOR, and especially in light of BYU's long and strong history in the passing game.  

Dennis Pitta and Michael Reed were also solid.  Our run game was hampered some, in part because Harvey Unga was held out after the first half with a stinger.  Wayne Latu and Fui Vakapuna were "OK" but not great, and Latu had a fumble that set us back temporarily.  

Now we enter the finale of the season...and we will be seriously tested.  Next week we head to Colorado Springs to take on a very good 8-2 Air Force team.  I expect us to win but we have little room for error and will need to be on top of our game from start to finish.

If we win next week to reach 10-1 record, the battle against Utah will shape up as an unbelievably pressure packed and weighty game.  Utah, with a come-from-behind-and-requiring-some-luck win against TCU in Salt Lake 13-10, reached 10-0 and is in the rankings at about the level BYU was before our loss to TCU.  

The bowl picture remains quite fuzzy.  If BYU wins next week, then there remains a chance of a BCS bowl, and if not then Vegas or Poinsettia Bowl bid is likely.  

[Also of note: a shout out to Real Salt Lake, who defeated Chivas USA in LA to win its first ever playoff series and move to the MLS Western Conference Finals.  Congrats to Real!]

Cougs Win Awesome Wild West Shootout at Hughs

At Fort Collins, Colorado tonight, we saw a killer exciting game.  It was close throughout, neither team would back down.  BYU in many respects was clearly the better team, except for some key mistakes including late turnover and a couple of nasty penalties.

BYU's defense clearly continues to struggle, and our secondary is suddenly scraping the bottom of the barrel between transfers and injuries.  So it was up to our offense. 

And what an offense we have!  They were not quite perfect, but they were tremendous.  Max Hall was outstanding (outside of one fumble and one interception); Austin Collie and Dennis Pitta are freaking amazing receivers.  Unga had a solid game running though was outshone by the powerful passing attack.  

The fourth quarter saw 35 points scored and five lead changes, including 2 in the last 2 minutes.  BYU scored the final TD with 22 seconds left then held CSU to win 45-42.  

This brings us to 8-1 so far this season, and we'll see about the rankings tomorrow.  

Next up: our final home game against seriously-struggling San Diego State.  Win there and we reach 9-1 with two very tough road games to complete at Air Force and then Utah.  Big time.  

Enjoy Each Win

This week BYU defeated the UNLV Rebels, 42-35.  BYU's defense looked quite porous overall (in terms of moving forward, the players and coaches on the defensive side of the ball have some serious work to do), but they did make three key stops, all in the second half.  The first was with UNLV backed up inside their ten yard line.  It broke up UNLV's streak of scoring consecutive TDs on our defense.  The second was a non-advantaged stop in the middle portion of the field.  And the third was at the conclusion of the game to protect the lead and the win, with consecutive plays resulting in a sack, and an interception.  

While the defense struggled, the offense was fairly solid.  Back Fui Vakapuna was back in form and used as a primary weapon (he's been used more for his awesome blocking much of the season).  We had a great mix of run and pass.  And Hall was back to his efficient self.  Not a perfect game, but a good one.

UNLV played I think at their highest level.  And the result was a competitive, close game to the end.  And to be honest - as a fan - I loved it!  It felt very satisfying to walk out of Edwards Stadium with a hard-fought victory.

The win also gave us a small boost in the polls to #17.  

Our four remaining games include only one at home: against MWC cellar-dweller San Diego State.  The roadies start with Colorado State this Saturday, then after the SDSU home game our last two are on the road against two of the top teams in the conference: at Air Force, and at Utah.

We have a whole lot we can accomplish this year.  Gotta win these next four!  

TCU Tsunami: 32-7 Loss Drops Y to #17/#18

I think one of Bronco's greatest strengths as a coach is his willingness to learn from experience/mistakes and make changes.  So it will be interesting to see what changes he makes based on this drubbing on the very-visible national stage just a step or two away from real consideration for a BCS game, if not the national championship game. 

It seems very clear that the factor most to blame for this loss was our preparation to handle the high level of emotion and subsequent high-speed execution on the TCU side.  We were on our heels almost from the get-go due to 2 early turnovers and an inability of our defense to match them offensively until later in the game.  

If you look at the quarter by quarter matchup, TCU had 14 points in the first quarter, then 9, 9, and 0 in the next 3 quarters.  Our offensive output can't be seen as clearly in points, but we clearly moved the ball better and better as the game progressed.  We were halted again by turnovers which can in part be blamed on the pressure to have to come back against a very good team.  

Looked at that way, it was that early emotional high-energy onslaught that won TCU the game, and our inability to handle it that lost it for us.  

So, how will Bronco change so that the next time they face one of these extra-crucial, extra-high-energy games and teams, they can match it and work it to our advantage.  I expect the next such game is likely to come in 5 weeks against Utah in Salt Lake.  The 3 BYU-Utah games Bronco has coached so far have been similar in nature to this TCU loss: a very amped-up opponent getting us on our heels early.  True, Bronco won the last two of those three, in part due to lessons learned from that first loss.  But both those wins were by the skin of our teeth on last-second-come-from-behind wins.  

Let's hope that Bronco and the coaches and players can identify and plan an effectively different approach to this problem soon.  This team can still accomplish a lot this year, including setting up for next year, when both Hall and Collie and others will be seniors. 

Next up: UNLV comes to Provo next Saturday.  We better prepare to put it together strong in that game. 

Still at #8/#9

No movement in the polls for BYU.  I was hoping for one spot.  

BYU Over UNM Lobos, 21-3, Goes to 6-0 on Year

BYU extended its best-in-nation overall winning streak to 16, and its best-in-nation home winning streak to 16 as well.  I would imagine BYU's 18 straight conference wins must be the best in the nation as well, and BYU hasn't lost in October since 2005.  

I mention these streaks because as BYU continues to remain in the national spotlight and the Top Ten, there will be many debates going on in the media, as well as fan circles, about how to evaluate BYU compared to other Top Ten and near-Top-Ten teams--in particular teams from auto-BCS conferences.  

In these comparisons, I think we need to recognize that BYU is doing things that these other teams haven't and aren't.  We also need to keep in mind that the Mountain West conference this year is in the top four conferences in the nation in terms of its record against other conferences overall as well as auto-BCS conference teams.  BYU hasn't lost to an auto-BCS team since the second game of last season in a close loss at the Rose Bowl against UCLA.  

And not only has BYU put together very impressive ongoing win streaks as I listed here, but during our 28-4 record since from 2006 to now, here are our losses: 13-6 loss at Arizona (we outgained UA in yards 313-253), 20-23 overtime loss at #23 Boston College (we outgained BC in yards 547-471), 17-27 loss at #13 UCLA (we outgained UCLA in yards 435 to 236), and 47-55 at Tulsa (we outgained Tulsa in yards 694-595).  

To me, this makes an incredibly compelling case as to how tough the Cougars are and have become.  

In addition, BYU is showing themselves to be a complete team.  In a game like today's where the offense seemed to struggle to get into the endzone, the defense pitched a near-shutout, and is allowing just over 4 points per game over the past 4 games.  BYU's defense is #2 nationally now in points per game allowed.  The offense was still reasonably good, but performed under its usual against a very good and physical New Mexico defense.  

Austin Collie had about 160 yards receiving with 9 catches...and is well on his way to becoming the top Cougar receiver of all time by the time he's done next year.  Harvey Unga is still consistent and working his way up BYU's all-time rushing charts.  Max Hall had a good day, not great, but good, and no major mistakes.  

And although the crowd had fewer big plays and moments to cheer than we're used to, the way the game ended with 3 straight tackles for a loss including 2 sacks put big smiles on our faces walking out of Edwards Stadium.

All in all, a good day.  And with losses by 3 teams ahead of us and 1 just behind us, I think there's a chance we could move up a spot in the national polls.  We will know by this time tomorrow.  

Next will be the huge matchup in Dallas next Thursday night against the 6-1 TCU Horned Frogs.  TCU's only loss is against currently #1 Oklahoma (of course, OU lost to Texas today and will drop a few spots).  Get ready for a dogfight that night!  

Love this from ESPN

Adam from Berkeley writes: Hey Ted, What exactly has BYU done to deserve a top ten spot? I'm looking at the teams that they've beaten and their opponents schedules thus far and there is nothing truly impressive other than that they have won games by a huge margin. It seems like the only reason that they're in the top ten is because of their preseason ranking along with their victory over UCLA (right after they beat Tennessee). Seeing how that is no longer a noteworthy win, why don't they drop in the polls?

Ted Miller: Know why BYU is ranked really high?

Because folks who do the rankings think the Cougars are really, really good.

Why do they think BYU is really, really good?

Because BYU has really, really good players. And a really, really good head coach.

If you're looking for accomplishments, well, there are plenty of teams that haven't done much -- Texas Tech, Texas, Penn State, Florida, Oklahoma -- that haven't done a whole lot.

Why are those teams ranked highly?

Because folks think they are really, really good.

#8/#9

We fell one spot this week...kinda dumb I think, but I'm not that concerned.  We just gotta be ready to go and bring our 'A' game Saturday against the Lobos.

BYU Wins (Twice?) vs. Utah State, 34-14

With a top ten ranking, BYU was expected to easily handle the Utah State Aggies in Logan on Friday night.  In a way, this did happen, with BYU going up 24-0 in the first quarter, and extended to 34-0 by the fourth quarter before allowing two late TDs by Utah State (ending our consecutive shutout streak at 11 quarters--the longest in 70 years).  The outcome of the game was never in doubt. 

However, were we sharp mentally and physically?  No.  The defense for the most part was, though they did seem to make errors late in the game.  But the offense seemed a little sluggish and out-of-synch for most of the night.  The defense scored 2 of our touchdowns, so our offense both in terms of yards and points had its worst outing of the year so far.  

So, we won.  But could we get two wins out of this?  It depends on how we respond and play next week.  I think human nature, even with high-character people, makes it very very difficult to sustain success without a hitch.  Sometimes you have to struggle to stay sharp.  If this sharpens us back up going back to conference play and the remainder of the year, then I think we will have had a double-win out of this game.

Regardless, as several of us had a chance to go to the game, it was really a fun game to watch and be at.  Beautiful night in Cache Valley and a win by the Cougs! 

From Sports Illustrated on BYU's BCS Position

From SI's Brad Edwards:

"BYU is entering October with a BCS standing that would be good enough for automatic inclusion in a major bowl game. So the question isn't whether the Cougars will make the BCS if they go undefeated. It's whether they could actually work their way into the BCS Championship Game. Obviously, that's impossible to answer right now, but by having a coaches' poll ranking of 7 and a Harris poll ranking of 9 entering October, BYU has made such a discussion far from ridiculous.

It's the highest a non-BCS team has been ranked at this stage of the season in the BCS era, and it's pretty close to where the Cougars were ranked (6th by the coaches, 7th by the AP on Oct. 1) when they won their national title in 1984." 

Four Games Deep

OK, so this is how we got here:  Bronco was hired at the start of 2005.  That first fall, Bronco's team went 6-6 but were competitive all season, with 2 of those losses in overtime (one after a missed fumble call by refs to TCU, and one to Utah - the last time the Cougars have lost at home).  That team faced a good Cal team in the Vegas Bowl, and fell just short of the victory.

The 2006 and 2007 Cougars made huge steps forward, and both followed nearly identical paths: 1-2 to start with 2 close road losses (I believe all 4 losses BYU had more offensive yards than their opponent), then not losing after that: 11-2 records for both teams including back-to-back wins in the Vegas Bowl, with senior John Beck's 2006 team roasting Oregon, and sophomore Max Hall's 2007 team edging the UCLA Bruins by one.  Both of these teams were ranked in the top 15 in the final poll of the seasons.  

Coming into this 2008 season, hopes have been very high.  Although the defense had significant personnel losses, Bronco's teams have seemed adept at plugging in new talent in without significant loss of strength.  And the offense had most all the key components back from the very talented and accomplished 2007 team: Max Hall at QB with a talented/big/strong/senior-heavy offensive line, Harvey Unga running back along with Fui Vakapuna, Austin Collie and Michael Reed leading the receiving corps, and Dennis Pitta leading the tight end crew.  

And...a top twenty ranking to start the season.  Critical.  

So, game one was in Provo at LaVell Edwards Stadium against the University of Northern Iowa...one of the best FCS division teams in the country.  There were a few rough edges but BYU was too much for NIU.  41-17 got us off to a good start at home.

Game 2 took us to Seattle, Washington to face the Huskies in a stadium where we had never won before.  What stood out to me was how few possessions there were in this game.  That helped limit BYU's points offensively along with an interception and a fumble.  And defensively we seemed to struggle with the running option of their talented quarterback, Locker.  BYU led and controlled the game fairly solidly but could never break it open, allowing a long late drive to close the score to 28-27.  A nationally debated celebration penalty was called on Locker, moving their PAT back, where it was blocked easily by BYU, preserving the win. 

Back home we came to face UCLA yet again (3rd time in a year), and it turned into a signature win as it was so resounding.  59-0 was the worst loss handed to the Bruins since before the Great Depression.  It certainly got attention nationally.  On the heels of this win, BYU closed in on the Top Ten in the rankings, at #11.

Our fourth opponent was a Wyoming Cowboys team who's 2-1 record came against less well known teams at home.  They game planned well to start, but by the second quarter, the thumping was in progress, and the 44-0 win was the second straight shutout by a solid Y defense.  

This past week was our bye week, but due to numerous upsets nationally, BYU moved definitively into the Top Ten at #7 and #8 in the two most quoted polls.  Big time move for this early in the season.  

Next up, the Aggies of Utah State in Logan, Utah this Saturday.  Utah State has improved since last year's awful team, but BYU is still heavily favored.  

Let's see how this all plays out, but the potential is huge.  

Blog Name

Those of you who know me are likely wondering: what took you so long?  We have our family blog, a political discussion blog, how did BYU Sports escape my blogging before now? 

Well, dear friends, wonder no longer.  The time has come.  

What better year to start than this one?  Since our national championship in 1984, and the follow-up in 1985, I don't think expectations have been higher or national attention this intense as it is right now for the Brigham Young football program.  

Coach Bronco Mendenhall has re-installed the pride and vision of old, combined with his own intense brand of discipline, focus, and determination.  

The name for this blog comes of course from the account in the Book of Mormon of the army of 2,000 young men bound by their belief in their God and each other, and led by the man Helaman to miraculous feats on the battle field, where many were injured, but not a single of their number were killed.  

Bronco himself on becoming head coach 4 years ago used this account as analogy to his football team and the young men in it.  I like it as a symbol of the unique combination of a "band of brothers" going to physical battle, and the religious and moral purpose that drives them.  

So there we are...in the next post I'll review where we are and what's brought us to this point, then we will look forward to the next games.

Hey, I needed something to fill the bye week!  ;-)