Every year, about this time, grown men spend long hours in Internet chat rooms, hoping, predicting, praying, and cursing because of one thing, recruiting stars.

Recruiting sites such as Scout.com and Rivals.com, rate high school recruits by using a system of stars. Five stars is the highest ranking and, of course, one star is the lowest. But what do these stupid little pointy things really mean?

How Stars are Awarded

So what kind of things are recruiting services looking at when rewarding recruits with the cinco digit delights?

One of the first things that recruiters look at is current talent level. These are the kids that are the stars of the High School Football scene. They make the plays, and seem to have “it”. They are performing well at their current level. But not all high school stars have what they need for the next level.

They also look at how they think this kid will transfer to the next level. Is he fast enough? Is he too short? Does he have the body type and mentality for College football?

Third, they look at NFL potential.  Does the kid look to have the raw materials to develop into a contributor in Professional football?

So this produces a variety of kids who have stars for a variety of reasons.  Some may be playing at a high level, but tapped out their potential.  Others have tons of potential, but it is still raw and undeveloped.

What the Stars Don’t Measure

Work Ethic:  This is probably the single biggest reason that many a 2-star athlete has put in a 4-star career, and vice versa.  A kid may have a ton of potential, but if he is lazy and unwilling to develop that potential, it remains just unrealized potential.

Character and Attitude: Is the kid a primadonna or a team player.  Does he bring synergy to field, or discord.  Are his actions on and off the field an example or a distraction.  Character is huge, especially at a school like BYU.  If the kid can’t keep the honor code and stay in school, it doesn’t matter how much talent he has, we won’t get to see it.

Academics:  Many a talented athlete have had their careers derailed, or side tracked because they couldn’t either qualify for school, or remain qualified once they got into school.  Again, it seems that almost every year, there is a kid who committed in February, but couldn’t qualify in September.  Some are able to go the JC route, get a little maturity and help, and come back to contribute for 2 years at Division 1. There are also many who disappear, never to be heard from again.

So What Does it all Mean?

Ultimately, no matter how excited we get on Letter-of-Intent Day, the value of any recruiting class may not totally be known for a few years.  At BYU, this is delayed even longer by missionary service.  So we can debate and claim to have a better class than the rest of the MWC put together, but we won’t know if that is true till we match up at some future date.

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The Stars Have It

Last week, after a poor showing in the Utah game, many Cougar Fans had less than kind things to say about Max Hall.  Though, no one would represent this showing as a good thing, I thought that an examination of Hall’s performance overall, and comparisons to great Cougar Quarterbacks, might bring a little perspective to the last week.

Hall’s 6 Interceptions:

Multiple Interceptions is not a stat any quarterback strives for, but many have suffered.  One of Steve youngs first games included 5 picks to Georgia, and Ty Detmer had two awful showings at Hawaii, including 4 interceptions in the 1990 game that occurred on the same day he won the Heismann trophy.  Most professional quarterbacks have had an occasional really poor outing, so it would seem unfair to judge him on the basis of one game.

Junior Year Stats

I thought it might be nice, for comparison sake, to compare his junior year statistics with those of a couple of other great BYU QB’s.

Statistically, Hall’s Performance can rank with some of the best BYU QB’s.  Add to that, the fact that Max has helped produce back to back 10-2 regular seasons, Cougar faithfull should be grateful to have him at the helm. With Hall, Pitta , Collie, and Unga returning next year, and the addition of Jacobsen, and hopeful return of Manase Tonga, the Cougar Offense could be as solid as ever, at least at the skill positions.  Also, given the fact that most of our tough games (at least in conference) are at home next year, BYU is poised to make another run at the goals of an undefeated season, and possible BCS bowl birth.

So Where Does He Fit?

Though, no one is ready to crown Max as the greatest BYU QB ever, He has shown that he has an above average ability to lead them to victories.  He still has one more season to raise his game, and take his place among the Cougar Quarterbacking Elite.

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Max Hall’s Place in Cougar History

Warning: The music is “Cotton-Eyed Joe”…if that isn’t in your ability to stomach, turn the sound down…

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For Those Fearing Utah This Year

Quest for Perfection

At the beginning of the season, I had several discussions with friends who thought the cougars could run the table, but that they probably wouldn’t. Most of them, feared either Washington at Home (bolstered by PAC-10 officiating) or UCLA as the teams that posed the biggest challenge. Now that those hurdles are overcome, I have to ask, do they have a good shot at going undefeated?

Eight Games to Go

With eight games left in the season, what are their chances? Let’s take a look:

USU

If they don’t win this one in similar fashion to the last two, they may not deserve BCS

New Mexico

New Mexico has typically had a solid defense, and a steady offense. The Loss of Poterie may not help them much, but may not hurt them as much as expected. (They seemed to be just as effective after he went down as they had been.) However, I doubt they can keep pace with our offense this year and we are playing them in LES. Expect something like 35-14

TCU

TCU looks to pose a threat to the cougars undefeated season. We will know more after this week, after they play OU. TCU has a great defense and a solid running game. Their passing game is a bit suspect though. The game is in Texas, though they don’t seem to have the same home field advantage that the cougars possess and TCU has not looked good on Thursday nights. I look for them to challenge, but expect a cougar victory. 35-24

CSU & SDSU

I don’t look for either to pose much of a threat. (see USU)

Air Force

The Air Force wishbone is always tough, and has big play capabilities. However, BYU has as strong of a track record against the Falcons as anyone. The game is in Colorado, but their passing game is also not there yet, so unless they find that between now and then, they can’t stop the cougs.

42-24

Utah

This may be the Cougar’s toughest match of the year. I would love to see an undefeated Utah versus an undefeated BYU, with national focus on the game, BCS bowl bid in the balance, and then have the cougars drop the hammer on them. Again, solid running game, but Johnson has not been great under pressure. Running QB’s have been a weakness of the cougar Defense, (see Jake Locker) and the game is in RES. If Utah happens to drop a game or two along the way (which they have been prone to do) then it is their chance to be a spoiler. However, against Air Force, Utah looked very beatable. I predict a victory for the Y in a close one, say 35-28

The Crystal Ball

I know my crystal ball may be fogged, or broken altogether. But from where I sit, I predict a 12-0 season and a BCS bowl bid.

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Can the Cougars Run the Table?

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1980 Miracle Holiday Bowl Highlights

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You’ll Always Find The Right Man On His Knees