(Blue) Where o where has red gone?

Dear Red,

It has been several weeks since you last spoke to me, and I have to know, was it something I did? We used to have such good times. The laughs, the tears? Is it because we no longer will be in the Mountain West Conference? Is it because you are no longer in the BCS run? (Is it because TCU is mean?) I know they are, I understand. But c'mon red, get back in the game. Talk to me. You complete me!, you are the Yin to my Yang! You are the Country to my Rock n Roll!
I hearby dedicate this song to you, come back to us Red. There is life after TCU.

Love,
Blue

To the matter at hand. Saturdays game was as good as BYU has looked all season. Granted, it was just against those oh-so-poor Rebels, but still. Defense has gotten considerably stout under the care of Coach Mendenhall and it's good to see the retarded 'bend but don't break' philosophy scrapped. Blitzing, pressure, aggression... these are the things that warm my heart. Offense also came through for a first time. Heaps finally had the game we've all been hoping he could have. There was running, there was passing, there were touchdowns and 3rd down conversions and controlling of the clock. Good good good. Problem is that we haven't won on the road this year and the next game is in cold Colorado. We're favored to be better, but the teams look even. Freshman QB's on both sides, more success at home than away, and other such similarities. This game should be a good indication of whether or not we're growing in the right direction on all fronts (I'm looking at you offense). We'll see Saturday.

As for the U... it's probably still too soon.

(Blue) Feeling blue....

Well, we lost, now I have to gouge out my eye.

That's all I was going to say about our latest debacle, but Joe requested that I go into further detail and since this is about as good as the Aggies have ever felt and Joe is practically glowing, I feel like I need to indulge him.

There are many excuses that one could make regarding the current state of the cougars. I'm just going to pick 4.

1)Jake Heaps is GREEN!!!! Poor kid is throwing a million passes and half of the time, his people drop them (more on that in excuse # two). He's doing well for a kid who is on his 2nd start ever at any universe and who was in Jr High a mere four years ago. In the history of BYU, there have been VERY few true freshman starters and if I'm not mistaken, it may have been about a decade since the last one. (Consequently, the same amount of time it's been since USU last pulled off a victory- maybe it was even the same year, not sure).

2) Our receivers SUCK!!! I'd like to say things would have been better if Chambers was playing, but in my heart I know that's not true. The tight ends? Also nod good. In their defense, they are all in the Heap's green boat, but still. Somebody should rise to the top already.

3) We have no Unga. When we need a smash and dash from a running back, who do we have to turn to? Quezada? Kariya? Di Luigi? None big enough, first two too slow. It's a bad deal. Makes 3rd and short a pitiful thing to watch. (or 4th in short for that matter).

4) Defense.... Wow. All pretty much negative. The few good players with a smidge of experience are all hurt now. Pendelton? Hurt. Rich? Hurt. Fuga? Hurt.I seem to recall some guy named Fraiser? Hurt. The list goes on, and those who aren't somehow maimed are new and inexperienced.


So there are the issues, and the coaches seem to be as confused and perplexed as anyone. They are conservative when they should be risky, risky when they should be conservative and generally as predictable as usual. Dark days indeed. The plus side is that I still believe that things will develop an that there will be an awesome future ahead.

Only problem is that it may take longer than I thought.

(Blue) My apologies

My apologies first for my lapse, second for the team.
Right to the heart of the matter:
2 QB a method to protect Heaps until he was ready to take the reins, now he must do what he has to do what he has to do because Nelson is down.
We lost against AFA, FSU, and Nevada. But hey, we have youth a plenty and coaches that seem to think they can play conservative with players that don't quite grasp everything yet. I have faith it will come together, but the growing pains are... well.. painful.

The U hasn't played anybody who matters, but I am still impressed by how thoroughly they whipped on those nobodies. They should do OK for the rest of the season.

The rest of the Mountain West... well. We have the Lobos, who suck beyond all reason. UNLV is a close second in suckiness. CSU is trying to break out of that category... good luck. TCU still remains strong. AFA in my opinion is as good as they've ever been. Wyoming, where they usually are. SDSU is looking better than they have for a while, so that's a perk. HMMM... I still believe BYU will win a good deal of their games, but it all depends on how fast a bunch of players can grow up.

My predictions:
The UofU v Bye week: about as difficult as their past three weeks, BAZING. But I think that they will have an interesting time. Ohio should be harder than they've had for a while, but I am pretty sure they will do well.


BYU v Utah State. I think we'll win. Not certain, but they've got lots of injuries. The big concern is that it's in Logan. Who gives a crap about Logan (sorry Joe). So lets hope that we pull a W finally.

(Blue) Wins for everyone.

Utah won, BYU won, USU... almost one. Pretty good for Utah. Quick points:

* The youth on BYU and Utah (especially on defense) are looking better than we could have hoped.

* Two Quarter Backs didn't prove to undo BYU, between Heaps and Nelson, there were many capable hands to move the offense.

* There is work to be done for both teams. BYU could polish it's defense against the run, and generally be crisper on offense. Utah could try not to fumble and whatnot.

* High five to BYU special teams for winning the field position battle in a big way. UW mistakes were key, but lets give credit where credit is due.

*Good job on no turnovers. There were only 2 fumbles all game and

* All of the old great QB's (even MacMahon) were back in town and everyone felt warm and fuzzy inside.

* I was particularly impressed with JJ DiLuigi. Unga who?

Enough of that, the past is past. This week we play Air Force in Colorado... scary. According to Jeff Call of Deseret News, BYU has a much better record against AF in games later than September (14-2) as opposed to games in September (2-2). Granted, it hasn't happened very often, but BYU is still working out kinks and AF is extremely disciplined, tricky, fast, and dirty. (Not always dirty, but sometimes). It will be interesting to see how this plays out. My prediction is BYU 27, AF 21. This is based on the hope that the defense can pull it in and stop the option. There are a lot of new guys on the front line, so that's far from a certainty, but I have faith.

Utah and UNLV... Hmmm. Nobody really knows what to expect out of the new UNLV coach. They lost their first game but the coach had a pretty good record from Montana so who knows. Also, Wynn seems to have a boo boo. Something about his thumb. I don't really think it's serious enough to stop him from playing but lets not forget Cain is still around if they need him, and he is nothing to sneer at QB wise. Asiata should be even more balanced out this game, it's in SLC, and etc so I don't expect Utah to struggle too much. I predict Utah wins, 34 to 13.

(Red) Keys to victory

DON'T TURN THE BALL OVER! - since Wynn has taken over this hasn't been that big of an issue, offensively anyways.

DON'T HAVE STUPID PENALTIES - Utah can not give byU extra plays. They can't take a 3rd and long and turn it into a 3rd and manageable. they need to get off the field on 3rd downs.

Harness the emotion - The is a huge game and Utah needs to harness the emotion that will be going on at the beginning at end of the game. They need to keep their cool to help avoid one of the other keys of penalties.

Win special teams - Special teams really hurt Utah against TCU. If they can win this they probably win the game. Shaky Smithson could possibly bust a return this game, because it sounds as if byUs kick coverage isn't very good. And also win the field position battle with the punting. Utah can't give byU short fields. I like Utahs defense when they have to make the opposition drive 80ish yards.

BRING THE HEAT! - Max Hall can't handle it. Period. Get in his grill and knock him down.

(Red) Position breakdown

QB - Senior BYU Max Hall  vs.  Freshman Utah Jordan Wynn
Experience vs inexperience has been the theme through out the media this week. Max Hall is the vet that has been playing for 3 years and he is BYUs winningest QB. Jordan Wynn is trying to grow a mustache, and he did handle the pressure of TCU much better. The kid has a ridiculous amount of potential. He is a gun slinger and will go deep on BYU early and often. I actually think Wynn may be more talented but if you look at the experience I have to go with my head and not my heart....
Advantage - BYU (but watch out for the frosh)

RB - BYUs Unga, DiLuigi, the other dude. vs Utahs Wide III, Shakerin, and Smithson
Unga will get his yards if healthy, no question. The kid is a stud. I'm not sold on the other 2 backs, they are ok but that about it. Wide is the league leader is rushing yards right now and he practically didn't play in the first 3 1/2 games. He is almost to 1000 for the season. Shak is a great backup, although he is also a frosh, he is a bruiser. And Shaky Smithson you will see in the wild cat taking snaps. Running up the gut may be a challenge for Utah but around the edge I don't see much of a problem.
Advantage - Push

WR - BYUs Jacobson, Chambers, and the other white guy vs Utahs Reed, Brooks, Smithson, Christopher, Mathews.
Ya Utah has a lot of wide outs. And they have the best wideout in the conference in David Reed. Nobody on BYU can cover him or Brooks, or any wide out for that matter. Jacobson is pretty fast, but thats about it for BYU.
Advantage - Utah


TE - Don't even need to break this down.
Advantage - BYU


O-Line - Zane Beadles, Zane Taylor, and Caleb Schlauderhoff are the anchors of the Utah o-line. And they are good. BYUs o-line has given up a lot of pressure on Max Hall, and we all know what happens then. BYUs o-line has done pretty good this year but I still think they are shaky at best.
Advantage - Utah


Defense
I'll make this one easy. Utah Koa Misi, Nai Fotu, Dave Kruger (yes he's the brother of Paul) Stevenson Sylvester, Mike Wright, Kepa Gaison, Joe Dale, and the best safety in the conference Robert Johnson. BYU has Jan Jorgensen.... and who else? Scott Johnson?
Advantage- Utah ... big time


Special teams -
Kickoffs - Ben Vroman is a touchback machine and Utahs return guys, if given a chance, are dangerous.
Advantage - Utah
Place kicking - Joe Phillips has been consistant for Utah since taking over. He's reliable, he has missed a few kicks. I know BYU people are scared of their own place kicker.
Advantage- Utah
Punting - I know both teams have good punters.
Advantage - Push
Punt returns - I think both teams need to learn how to hold onto the ball when fielding the punt.
Advantage - Push

Head Coach - Kyle Whittingham vs Bronco Mendenhall
I would say Kyle is a much better big game coach. I think that shows with the 13-0 run last year and helping this very young Utah team get to 9-2 in a reloading year. Bronco is consistent and wins games, but i don't think his motivation tactics are good, at all, and I think his in game adjustments are... well.. non existent. And i mean seriously listen to the man talk you wouldn't like him either.
Advantage - Utah


more to come...

(Red) more funny stuff

Q: What do you call a BYU player with a BCS ring?
A: A thief!



Q: What's the only sign of intelligent life in Provo?
A: Salt Lake City: 40 Miles

Q: What's the hardest thing about being a BYU Cougar fan?
A: Telling your parents that you're gay.

Q: Did you hear about the Brigham Young University fan who locked his keys in his car?
A: He couldn't get his family out.

Q: What do BYU and pot have in common?
A: They both get smoked in bowls!

Q: What should you do if you find three Brigham Young University fans buried up to their neck in cement?
A: Get more cement.

Two Brigham Young University fans were walking down the street when they came upon a dog lying on the sidewalk licking and cleaning his groin like dogs do.
The first BYU fan says to the second, "Boy, I wish I could do that."
The second BYU fan replies, "Yeah, me too. But I wouldn't try it."
The first BYU fan asks, "Why not?"
The second BYU fan replies, "Because I'm afraid the dog might bite me."

Q. What did the BYU graduate say to the Utah graduate?
A. "Welcome to McDonald's. May I take your order, please?"

Q: Why do Brigham Young University fans keep their diplomas on their dashboards?
A: So they can park in handicap spaces.

Q: What do you call a good looking girl on the Brigham Young University campus?
A: A visitor.

(Blue)*WARNING* I intend to deceive.

I like Air Force.
That being said, I am not too fond of refs these days. As is customary, there was a good old fashioned throw down with AFA this past Saturday. There were the chop blocks, triple options, and discipline that we've come to expect from AFA. What was new were the douche bag calls that effectively took away two touch downs from us and gave one to them. In the interest of being impartial, the calls were legitimate rules and I am sure that most of them were warranted. What I disliked were the following- an unnecessary roughness against our defender when the offense was still trying to run. The flagging of Hafoka down when he rolled over a defender and never actually touched the ground. And of course, the intent to deceive call. Basically, it was a like the first sneaky move ever that BYU has pulled this year (not true, but for effect) and it worked beautifully. What bothers me is this: the wording of the penalty. My friend RED informs me that the call was technically sound and I believe him, but it makes the officials sound like morons. If there was no intent to deceive in football, what the h*@% would the point be? I can just see it now, the QB lines up, and then shouts clearly to the defense, "HEY, we are going to throw a short pass to Pitta and a left to right crossing route, and... uh, it's on two guys. ARe you guys ready to start? Great, ok, HUT HUT..." Well you can imagine. Anyway, we walked away with a victory and Big Steve and I felt justified that at least we didn't freeze out butts off in Lavell Edwards Stadium for nothing.
Now, for the enemy at had.

University of Utah... I don't even want to talk about you. I predict a victory for BYU, but a close game. History backs that up, in 8 of the last 12 conflicts, the score has been determined by12 points or less(I read that in our student paper... which I write for, so it's obviously a sound well assembled document:)-Shameless plug). I worry about the passing game of their offense, but I believe our defense will find a way to deny them too much. I like our offensive scheme, if we aren't too predictable and we can give Hall enough time. AND IF HE DOESN'T throw INTERCEPTIONS! I say, let the runners loose this game, and throw to shake things up sparingly. Anyway, I am officially throwing down the gauntlet for RED to address the situation, and I am sure he will with gusto.

(Blue) The season moves on.

We beat Wyoming. I'd say that we had our most complete game to this point. The only thing that frustrated me about that game was the "mercy mode" that BYU always assumes in those situations. It seems to me that we are doing a disservice to our future team by keeping our future QB from being able to really play hard when he does get on the field. But a clean win. We looked a lot better against them than the U, but that was a different game and we just came off a BYE, so that made a difference.
The UofU beat New Mexico, big whoop, who hasn't?
This week TCU and Utah in Texas. You know what I think, I say TCU wins by more than ten, RED thinks they win or lose by less then ten. We'll see.
We play New Mexico this week. If we lose to them, I'll open up my veins.

(Red) Bowl eligible again, and the beat down in P-Town.

If you lose the time of possession battle almost 2 to 1. They have 10+ more first downs than you. More yards, and you lose the turnover battle you lose right? Wrong. Utah lost every statistical category against the Air Force Academy except 2. Passing yards (which is a given) and the most important stat of all, score. The first Utah overtime game since the 2005 Holy War was a weird game to say the least. On the first possession Eddie Wide grabbed a Cain fumble and ran it in for a TD, and Joe Phillips shanked the following PAT. Who would have known that would have a huge impact on the game. AFA only offensive TD came on an 11 yard field after a muffed punt, so the D played great. They gave up 200 yards of rushing but it was on 75 carries, so the yards per carry was very small. And David Reed once again proved he was the best wide out in the MWC. He took a 10 yard slant pattern 90 yards for a TD to change all the momentum of the game. Utah was definitely their own worst enemy in this game. Putting the ball on the ground 6 times (only losing 2) and having drive altering penalties (3rd and 1 and 2s turning into 3rd and longs with false starts). AFA holding onto the ball for extended periods of time doesn't help either. When OT came however the offense got it together and moved the ball into the end zone without any issue. And shutting down AFA on a short field in OT is a great accomplishment as well. So throw out the stats with these 2 teams just take the score.

As for the beat down in P-Town, let's say I am not surprised. I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt since it was home and I thought they would lose by 10 but watching the game it is apparent BYU is a long ways off from where they want to be, and they won't be getting close anytime soon. BYUs defense is bad, no other way to put it. They thought they got better from last year but I was skeptical. FSU, TCU, and SDSU for that matter exposed them for what they are. A bad secondary, possibly worse than last year and a D line that can't apply pressure as well as a coaching staff that remains stubborn and refuses to accept the obvious. And it is also obvious their offense is not as good as previous years. They have no wide receiver threats. TCU took out the tight ends and their passing game was all but done, not to mention Max Hall can not handle pressure... at all. It is so obvious that without Austin Collie this team has no go to wide out. Sure McKay Jacobson is good and all but he is not a #1 wideout for most teams, he can beat you deep from time to time but he doesn't put fear into a defense. O'Neil Chambers is a poor wide out right now as well. Their running game is strong with Unga but without those wide outs they will be in trouble. And their O line is gelling well but Max Hall has been running around a lot more this year than ever. TCU was in the back field regularly as was FSU, OU, and any other team with athletic lineman. Right now BYU is the 3rd best team in the conference. Even behind Utah, even if Blue hates to admit it. As long as BYU has a bad D and a offense that has Max Hall and not to mention a bad special teams, they are #3 right now. And as of right now I would say yes TCU probably beats Utah in Fort Worth. But I doubt they will get "KILLED" like my compadre pointed out. Utah has speed that can keep up with TCU. You will not see Utah getting beat around the edges and deep like what happened to BYU. Ya I would put them as 14 point dogs right now but thats not bad. If Utah corrects the issues they have right now, turnovers, they will put up a hell of a fight. And although Cain has had a problem with fumbling the ball as of late, he still only has 5 INTs on the season, so he is careful and calculated with his passes. And one other factor why Utah is better than BYU right now and why they can keep it close to TCU, Kyle Whittingham. He is a much better coach than Bronco Mendenhall right now, especially in big games. And since TCU has joined the conference he is 3-1 against the Frogs, so he can get the team up and scheme very well. And truth of the matter is he has pretty much out coached Bronco in every rivalry game since they have been coaching, just those 2 years no doubt BYU had either more talent or was much more healthy. And the way Robert Anae/Jamie Hill calls plays I think it is fair to put them at #3 right now. So much for when BYU has a senior QB they win conference titles, and it appears the mystic of LaVell Edwards Stadium is gone, at least as long as BYU has SWGS (slow white guy syndrome).

(Blue) Well, there goes the neighborhood...

We lost. We lost on all fronts. Defense, offense, special teams. But guess what, I feel fine. First of all, they were the better team. I think they had better coaching schemes, faster and better athletes, and better focus. That's not to diss our coaches, athletes, and focus, but the results tell the story.
I think we are better than Utah, we shall see. But I KNOW that TCU is going to kill them in Texas. The reason why I am so non plussed by the loss is this: BCS. TCU jumped Boise and I hate Boise, so thats good. Additionally, they will best represent the MW nationally. And also, there is more money to be gleaned this way.
For our game, we have no secondary, and our corners are just sad. Play calling was craptastic in certain situations, and we couldn't get anything rolling on offense because TCU's defense got to Hall all the time. All of our glaring weaknesses were exploited and there were no lucky breaks in penalties or turnovers to keep things even. So thats it.
UofU and Air Force. AFA has always given Utah problems. I'm not surprised at this game. Good job for pulling out a close one.
Next week. BYE(Thank goodness)

(Red) Perseverance on the front range.

This is going to be a smaller post, I want to rewatch the game to get a little better feel. However, I watched pretty much the last quarter and a half and I hope we see that team all the time. Yes Blue was right, the Utes did play lackluster and if it were not for some picks the game would have been different. Same thing if Max Hall had not of thrown all the ints versus FSU. Turnovers are part of the game and RoJos picks were not your typical interceptions. It's not like he was just standing there and him thrown to him. He had to make plays on the ball. With Utahs lackluster effort they did put up 450 yards of total offense, while Terrance Cain threw for 250 yards, 2 TDs, and a 75% completion percentage. And after the 2nd half started Cain was 12/13, and that 1 incompletion was on a drop in the end zone by Aiona Key. So Cain played perfectly in the second half. He also ran for 71 yards. He has showing some very much Brian Johnson like traits in that second half. The key point of the game was right after CSU scores and they are up 17-3. Immediately Utah gets the kick off to around the 40 yard line on a good return. Play one Cain runs for about a 10 yard gain on a scramble. The next play Cain rolls to the left and hits Reed on a 50 yard td pass over the arms of a DB. Just a few plays later Robert Johnson gets his first pick when he doesn't fall for a play action pass to go deep. Right after that Utah goes on a 17 play 70 yard drive to tie the game. A lot of teams down 14 points would have gave up, this Utah team had a lot of fight and basically took over the game and beat down CSU in the last quarter and a half. Really outside of the 2nd quarter and the first half of the 3rd Utah played well. The first quarter they had 140 yards but only 3 points. Had a problem punching one in. But in the last part of the game they had no problems at all. Eddie Wide had 103 yards on 17 carries and between him, Cain, Shaky Smithson, and Sausan Shakerin the Utes will have a solid running game with out Matt Asiata. Cain is a great runner and can throw on the run as well. David Reed 140 yards receiving, some good runs as well. And Cain had his best day yet statistically and helping lead the team back for a win. The defense was good and bad throughout the day. They got to the QB and forced turnovers, they just let a guy run for 100 yards. Which will happen from time to time but something I'd like to see cleaned up a little bit. Yeah they were sloppy at times, thats to be expected off a bye week. But once they got everything together they weren't to be stopped. I figured CSU would fight with it being their homecoming and also like I stated, Steve Fairchild is a damn good coach. But like I predicted, the Utah athletes would win the day. And they did. Basically if the Utah team that played in the 2nd and first part of the 3rd shows up consistently they lose to the upper tier MWC teams. If the team that shows up that fought back. They can win this conference title. Developing consistency is now the key.

As for BYU vs UNLV I wasn't really able to see the game outside of a few highlights, but BYU did what they were supposed to. UNLV has given up it appears on the season and their coach. Hall didn't throw a pick, which is a first this season. I know BYU did struggle on occasion with the UNLV athletes, which is still the achilles heel of BYU.

Prediction and preview of Utah/UNLV to come later. I do think the Utah D will be the best Vegas has seen to this point though.

(Blue) One step closer to the edge...

We beat the Aggies. That was good, but we would have lost to Utah, TCU, and a ton of other schools in the world. To keep things brief, there were good runs by Unga and plays by Pitta. Defensively, profited off of a few USU mistakes. But all in all, not so sharp. Hall keeps digging a hole with one hand while filling it with the other. Jacobson (best wide receiver)stretched himself out of a month playing without even touching the ball. Overall, a fairly grim outlook for we who have to play a fairly decent UNLV this week and, passing that, a TCU towards the end of the month that has been doing really well.
UofU, well nothing to say about them this week.
So there you have it, next week we will see if we can stumble ahead a bit further.

(Red) Back to winning... but at what cost?

The Utes started another winning streak this last Saturday after handling Louisville. Easily the most complete performance of the year for the guys in Crimson. First off the defense. The defense has been a little maligned this year after giving up some big plays to the first 3 opponents. The coaches took the defense back to basics and it excelled. Utah only gave up 80 yards on the ground, the week after giving up 200 vs Oregon. The only substantial rushing yards Louisville got was off their Qb and his scrambling. The front 7 shut down the run all day long. In the pass game they gave up 180 yards. I'll take that any day of the week. The DBs are struggling a little bit right now, they are still developing but they are making progress. They have the speed to run with any wideout in the country, now they need to develop their ball skills. So often they are stride for stride with the receiver but they never look back to find the ball. I know this is a Coach Whitt philosophy, and traditionally that has improved as the year has progressed in the past. I expect that to be the case this season. The safeties are just studs. Robert Johnson is without a doubt the best safety in the league. He is always around the ball and making plays. This game he recovered a fumble by throwing it in the field of play so it could be recovered by his teammate, very similar to what happens in basketball when someone saves the ball. And the linebackers are playing awesome right now too. Sly is always in the back field, and Kepa Giason and Mike Wright teamed up on a play where Kepa tipped a pass in the air and Wright picked it off deep in Louisville territory. The front 4 were plugging holes and pressuring the QB all game. Koa Misi is 100% and it shows. He was running down running backs and wide outs all game long when they tired to run laterally. He caused the fumble that RoJo recovered by chasing down a wide out on a sweep and stripping the ball. He also has some slobber knocking hits. The one negative on the line is the loss of Lei Talamaiveo. He broke a bone in his leg and could be done for the year, that definitely hurts the depth. The Dline is deep though so i'm not all that worried.

Special teams look to be stabilized. Luke Mathews is going great fielding punts, his only problems were last game was he didn't follow blocks on returns when he could have busted off some big ones if he would have. So frustrating watching that. Our Punter Sean Sellwood is a stud. Very Louie Sakoda like with his punting. He kicked some bombs in this game. Like him a lot. Blocked a field goal to open the game, which swung the momentum of the game, that is now 3 blocked kicks this year (2 punts, 1 fg), and we were getting close to punts all game long. And for FG kicking, looks like Joe Phillips has grabbed that job. He kicked a great 48 yarder before half that was big.

Offense was explosive but hit or miss. They opened up the game with a 3 and out. But after the blocked FG they marched 80 yards for a TD on a Matt Asiata 24 yard TD run. After the RoJo fumble recovery Cain hit Reed on a 50 yard TD pass just a few plays later. Cain actually started the game 9/9 and was very effective. Overall for the game Cain was 17/22 for 202 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. He really let the game come to him and he played great. The rushing game was also very good, even when Asiata went down. Eddie Wide ran for 120+ yards on 19 carries. He averaged almost 7 yards a carry. He ran very good out of what Utah called the "Asiata Formation". Thats just a direct snap play, and he ran very well. When I was at the game it didn't look like he was getting much on most carries but rewatching the game he was getting good chunks of yards every time he touched the ball. He may have lost yards only a few times. Cain ran the ball very nicely too, mostly on designed runs. But he ran great and gave the defense a lot of problems since they had to defend him running as well. I will address the new running back situation in a different post. The wide receivers played so much better in this game. They redeemed themselves after a bad Oregon game. Aiona Key got into the action a little more which is good. David Reed was a stud as always. Jereme Brooks had a great 3rd and 15 play that got the Utes a TD after receiving a swing pass from Cain and making some tacklers miss.

Play calling was very good in this game. I can see Dave Schramm (Offensive Coordinator) evolve as a play caller. He simplified things for Cain a little bit to help him develop and Cain flourished. I'd still like to see the wide outs get some more running plays on sweeps and such, but I figure that is still to come.

Overall a very pleasing game (minus some injuries).
The question is was the game to costly with some season ending injuries? It is part of the game, and I will analyze the impact of the Asiata injury in a different post.
Next week : BYE


Colorado St vs BYU - I was not able to watch this game at all so I'm going off statistics and some second hand information. I know BYU jumped out to an early lead due to a lot of errors on CSU. A great blocked punt really helped. Max Hall did throw 2 interceptions. I do think that is 15 interceptions he has thrown since last years Utah game. 15 picks in 6 games is a cause for concern. BYU did score though, there is never question if they are going to score. One stat that is startling was 117 yards of penalties. The combo of penalties and turnovers are a concern. They penalties are something that can be fixed. The defense also gave up over 400 yards of offense to CSU. Now I don't know how those yards were obtained but those are a lot of yards to a non Spread offense team. And 370 of those yards were through the air. BYU needs to fix that quick, just like the turnovers, because some of these MWC teams can move the ball. Namely TCU and Utah. I don't expect BYU to lose to the second tier MWC teams but they need to work on those issues to be competitive with TCU and to beat Utah. Again my opinion on the game is kind of weak because I didn't see it but the stats weren't great. But hey a win is a win and that's all that counts. And for that BYU and Utah are both 3-1. Right where I expected both teams to be at this point. I do expect a lot of improvement from both teams over the coming weeks.
Next Game USU-
I expect BYU to win this game pretty easily. I do think USU will give them a scare for a while but BYU will score a lot of points on them. USU has a good back that will give BYU some problems and Gary Andersen is a genius and will come up with some looks to confuse Max Hall, but like in the Utah/USU game USU doesn't have the horses yet to win, but it may be interesting for a while until BYU pulls away.
45-21 BYU

(Red) The end of the streak... and the end of perfection...

November 2007, that was when the Utes lost their last game. Since then it has been a 16 game winning streak for the boys in Crimson. The Oregon Ducks ended that streak this weekend. At the time I was very discouraged, border line depressed, especially at the point the Utes were down 28-10 in the third quarter. Before we knew it however the score was 28-24 after some great defensive plays and the offense getting into a rhythm.  A couple late interceptions sealed the deal and the Utes could never over come the hole they dug themselves into.
The game started out very ominously when Oregon returns a punt for a touchdown after the first Utah possession. For the remaining of the half the Utes were rather inept when it came to moving the ball. I have to blame this on a couple factors. First off, Matt Asiata was shaken up from the previous week with a bad shoulder. From the get go it was rather evident that Asiata was very hesitant when taking the ball and hitting the hole. So when it was 1st and 10 the running game started off very weak and for the first half the Utes were always in a 2nd or 3rd and long type scenarios. It also was showing with the play calling that Offensive Coordinator Dave Schramm was trying to protect Matt as well by putting much more responsibility on Terrence Cain, our starting quarterback, who was starting in his 3rd D1a game. Cain started out the game 3/4 and it was down hill from there for the rest of the first half. He finished the half some bad like 6/18 or something like that. The wide receivers were also very disappointing, they couldn't get separation from defenders and had some dropped balls that really hurt drives. Other than the Utes returned punt they gave up, special teams had some big plays. Namely Aiona Key, kick blocking expert, blocked a punt and gave the Utes the ball on the Oregon 19 yard line. On the ensuing play Cain rushed in from the 19 for a touchdown on an awesome read option play to tie the game at 7. That would be the end of the scoring for the half for the Utes. For the next seven possessions the Utes went three and out and for a couple reasons as started before (inept running game, bad wide out play, some bad play calling). The defense was rather disappointing in the first half, Oregon didn't really do a great job putting a sustained drive together, but where the problem was, was in big plays. On the second scoring drive for the Ducks the Utes allowed about a 60 yard pass down to the 8 yard line on busted coverage of a corner lined up wrong. These plays have happened over the first 3 games of the season and they appear to be fixable, the inexperience at the corner position is showing up early and I do expect improvement as the season progresses. The real problem was at the end of the second half when the Utes recovered a muffed punt deep in Oregon territory. The most painful part of the drive was when we moved it to the 2 yard line with 2 seconds remaining in the half and the Utes had a choice for a field goal or to go for it. I was all for going for it because it would have cut it to 21-14 and the Utes would have all the momentum. Give it to Asiata and let him bulldoze his way in or run an option. No they ran some fade pattern to Reed in the corner of the end zone. Low percentage, bad play and it was incomplete.
The second half the offense finally got moving more. Asiata was running with more authority. The wide outs were making plays. And the defense was forcing turnovers. Utah scored 17 points in the third quarter, both offensively and defensively. And there for a while it looked like they were going to pull out number 17 in a row. With the score 28-24 they were driving when Cain was picked off on a bad throw. The d held Oregon to a field goal. At 31-24 the Utes were driving again and at the Oregon 40 yard line when Cain barley missed a wide out on a deep route that turned out to be picked off, ending the threat. Robert Johnson was a stud in the second half. 1 pick in the endzone, a fumble recovery for a td. He finally showed up after being rather quiet the first 2 and 1/2 games.
In summary of the Oregon game. We lost. Cut and dry the Utes did not deserve to win. That being said. If the Utes convert on that goal line play at the end of half who know what could have happened. The Utes had 7 straight 3 and outs in the first half. Another scoring opportunity in the first half when Cain missed Brooks for a TD by under throwing him, no points on that drive. And those 2 late INTs just sealed the deal. With all the bad play the Utes were within 4 points in the fourth and could have won it. But a loss we will take. It can be a growing experience for this team, in particular our 2 new coordinators and our new offensive personnel. And for the experienced members of the team it can renew their hunger to win, it can remind them what is required to win. If the Utes do not correct these issues they will lose 2+ more games easy. The point here is that issues the Utes have are correctable. And this team has fight. It could have gave up when down 18 points on the road in a rowdy Autzen Stadium. But they didn't they fought. They got close. That shows up with Cains total numbers, they weren't impressive at all but he did recover pretty well with completing 20-41 balls and almost 200 yards and a TD on a great play that had broken down. Not to mention the 70 yards rushing and the TD. Cain was actually a one man band on offense for much the game (He was responsible for around 270 of the 300 yards the Ute put up). Inconsistent at times, but he's still got the potential to be a great one at the U.Who knows, with more experience they win that game. That is something I'm excited to see develop as the season continues.

We all want our teams to go undefeated, I have been extremely fortuniate to be a part of 2 undefeated seasons (2004/2008) and BCS runs, but the truth is to go undefeated is very difficult and you need to have a lot of things go your way. Last year the Utes had those things go their way, this year the inexperience is not allowing for those things to break the Utes direction. It has been an awesome 22 months of winning, now it is time to refocus and start another winning streak starting Saturday against Louisville (preview coming later in the week).

As for reaction to what happened in Provo. I know I'm going to sound like a douche saying this but I saw it coming, maybe not to the extent it happened.  But I told my counterpart Blue throughout the week that if FSU was to win they would have to pressure Hall, and their speed was going to be a problem. I predicted it in the summer a FSU win over BYU. I said in another blog BYUs defense has yet to be tested. OU didn't attack the weakness of BYU and Tulane just had no shot. That weakness is speed. FSU has always had speed on both sides of the ball. And in the highlights I caught it was obvious BYU was not ready for it. Some of the Hall picks were with corners breaking on the ball and cutting off the route. The FSU offense ran over, threw, under, where ever it wanted. That is BYUs weakness, speed. It creates pressure on Hall and he turns the ball over. On defense they just are not athletic enough currently to keep up with people in space. Now I would have to watch the game thoroughly to get a better read on the game. But I could guess the coaches did the players a massive disservice by not adjusting properly. That has been the problem with the Y for the last couple years. People have caught on to what they do and the Y coaches are yet to adjust, whether in games or during the week they are convinced it is execution. BYU executes as good as any team out there, so I would say if that is the problem, it's not a huge one. The problem is they are slow. BYU will still win 9 or 10 games, they just need some more horses. I'll tell you what at this point, combine the Utah athletes and mentality with the precision of the Cougs, scary team it would be.

So here we are both teams 2-1. BYU ranked 19th, Utah unranked (although really close in the coaches poll). It is gut check time for both teams. How do they respond? That shows a lot in terms of character.
Right now we are riding TCUs coattails for a potential BCS bid. But Blue did bring up an interesting quandary. Do we root for TCU to go unbeaten and leapfrog Boise St. or do we want our own teams to win the title. As a selfish Ute fan I want the title. It is a 4 year cycle of evaluation for the BCS to see if they add another conference, thus allowing more money for the league. I just don't see the WAC competing with the MWC just based off of Boise St. The rest of the league is horrible. I'd say also BSU is 4th or 5th in the MWC if they played in our conference. So for now we just sit, wait, and watch to see how things pan out.

(Blue) When the S@#$ hits the fan...

Today the sun arose, and thus began the dawn of our discontent. Yesterday was a dark day all over the Wasatch front and frankly, I think the weather reflected the mood after the games. Which games? The UofU/Oregon and the BYU/FSU games of course. Lets just say that I disliked FSU before, and now I really can't stand them. For all that, the blame for this terrible loss falls squarely on the shoulders of BYU. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, this seems to be SOP for BYU, get within touching distance of something great, than screw it up royal.

Lets review: Week one, amazing victory against #3 ranked OSU. Nobody gave us a chance, but we got it. Than a slow start against Tulane, but wailed on them for a big win. Now, the best part about all of this was that both these games were on ESPN and FOR ONCE there was a lot of positive talk nationally about us. Perhaps it was the Cinderella story feel to it that people seem to enjoy, perhaps we were coasting on some hard won conference respect the Utes gained last year. Either way, we were finally in a position to beak into the top five nationally for the first time in like, forever. Probably the nineties. Anyway, then what happens? We come home(where we are usually good), and get CREAMED by FSU. Now the referees REALLY didn't help, but I'd say that was the least of our troubles. Biggest issues: Hall is crap(sorry man, I am sure you are a nice guy, but I have never been all that for you since the beginning and you constantly prove my disapproval right) with 3 interceptions and general ineptitude by being flustered. Our defense, which has been really tough last two games, just couldn't do anything against their O line and no cover ability. That let them do pretty much whatever they wanted. And finally, our kicking game sucks. Seriously. We pretty much gave them two first downs every time we kicked it off.

A separate issue I have with BYU is the following: FUMBLES. Now look, I played one year of football when I was like 11. But one thing I learned, and I suppose everybody else who plays also learns. TWO HANDS ON THE BALL! Seriously, I had the misfortune of witnessing our game personally, and I predicted accurately almost every one of our turnovers just by how reckless and sloppy the play before was going. So yeah.

As for the Utes, that was lame. I don't like Oregon. And the fact that the boys in red could have pulled it out and then crapped out is really lame. I saw a few highlights and it seemed that turnovers equally toasted both of us. Sorry guys, seems like the streak is over. But I think that is probably a good thing. There is enough going on in players heads already that that kind of extra pressure can't do anything positive (much like our retarded theme last year- Perfection).

So what does this mean? Basically it means that for our conference, TCU is the last hope. And for either the Red or the Blue to get the conference (which is pretty much all we have to live for at this point) we have to knock them off. So I'm torn. Do I want to drag TCU down to our level so we can win the conference? or do I want them to beat us so the MW(Mountain West) can at least make a respectable national showing? I can't decide, but the way we are playing, it probably doesn't matter what I want.

The thing that burns me worse of all is that all of those critics who say that all of this other conferences are so much inherently better: Pac 10, Big 12, ACC, etc) and that the MW can't hack it; well now they feel completely justified in their opinions. That really bites, because I know it's all BS, but ours is a difficult position to defend when we have a weekend like this.

So in reflection, if we were to look at the MW as a team, these two games were indicative of how that team is fairing. There is great great potential, and we should be putting touchdowns on the board, but on fortunately, we choke and give up a big turnover. Maybe the MW could be rolling. Should be. But we just threw a pick and had it run back on us for a multi-million dollar touch down. (for those of your that aren't sharp, that is reflective of the good bowl money we won't be seeing now)