BYU vs CSU Video
Posted by Jim on Sep 30, 2009
Cougar Season Preview
Posted by Tyler on Aug 30, 2009
L.O.I. Day !!!
Posted by Jim on Feb 4, 2009
As of 7:45 MST letter were received from:
Jordan Atkinson
Remington Peck
Fono Vakalahi
Terry Alletto
7:50
Craig Bills
8:20
Mitch Mathews
Tui Crichton
8:25
Brad Wilcox
8:55
Anthony Heimuli
Ryan Mulitalo
10:50 update
Cody Hoffman
Thomas Bryson
Peni Maka’afi
Trevor Bateman
Richard Wilson
Brett Thompson
Brian Logan
10:25
Kyle Van Noy
Adam Hine (Timo)
Lee Aguirre
10:40
Jray Galea’l
The Stars Have It
Posted by Jim on Feb 4, 2009
The Value of Stars
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.
Comings and Goings
Posted by Jim on Jan 10, 2009
This week is an important week in the transition to next year’s football team.
Goings:
Gone to hopefully greener NFL pastures is Cougar wideout, Austin Collie. I have been watching Cougar football for a lot of years, and Collie is probably the best wide receiver ever to play at BYU. He has the complete package, at least at the college level. He was a deep threat, good in possession situations, and could create space and keep the defender off of him.
Collie has been Max Hall’s favorite target, and set many records while at BYU. He tied the NCAA-record of 11 straight games of 100 yards or more receiving. He also became the school’s all-time leader in career receiving yards (3,255), receptions (215) and touchdown catches (30).
I will miss his one handed grabs, stiff arms, and jaunts into the end-zone…. at least in Cougar Blue.
Also, going from next years schedule, Arizona State.
Comings:
Opening next years schedule is Oklahoma in the brand new, Dallas Cowboy facility. This will be a great opportunity to put BYU on a national stage, early in next years campaign.
This is also the weekend that most Cougar football recruits are in town for their official visit. Already, this weekend has seen the commitment of Kyle Van Noy added to, what looks to be possibly the best BYU gridiron recruiting class of all time (at least, according to recruiting service rankings). Scout.com has this class currently ranked at 33rd in the country, and BYU still has a shot at 5 star linebacker Manti Te’o, and 4 star o-lineman, Xavier Su’a-filo. They are also hoping to land the LT’s (Linebacker LT Filiaga, and D-lineman LT Tuipolotu), an extra JC CB or two, and probably another speedy RB.
How BYU is able to fill the holes left by graduating seniors, and improve defensive production will probably determine the cougars ability to make a run at another conference title next year, and possible run at our turn at a BCS game.
Vegas Bowl: Final Summary
Posted by Jim on Dec 20, 2008
The 4th Quarter began with a Max Hall fumble from a blide-side hit on the 36 yeard line. A David Nixon sack drove the Wildcats back to the 44 yard line. As the D held, Arizona lined up in field goal formation, but tried a weird pooch kick, that gave the cougars the ball back on the 24.
The next series included Hall to Collie for 9, followed by an Unga 1st down. Harvey then picked up 6 more, before Hall over threw a wide open Andrew George. With 3rd and 6, Hall found Dennis Pitta for a first down. Brian Karyia ran for 17. But on the next play, Arizona stopped the drive by intercepting a Hall pass in the endzone.
Arizona then put together a drive that ended in a Tuitama scramble to the endzone. 31-14 : (
The Cougars drove down the field and ended in a Max Hall Sneak for 6. Arizona 31-BYU 21
O’Neil Chambers recovered an onside kick on the 48 yard line. Collie caught a pass for 14, followed by another pass to Collie for 12 more. A holding call brought the ball back to the 31. A pass to Reed put then set up a 3rd and 9. Mitch Payne then doinked one off the goal post, and missed the chance to close the gap to 7.
Arizona then ran out the clock.
Impressions:
Turnovers, once again, cost the Cougars a victory. BYU’s defense actually played just well enough to give them a chance, (which is about all we can hope for). Also the 3 missed field goal opportunities, helped keep us out of the game. The officiating, was inconsistent, and helped kill a couple of opportunities for the Cougars (the whistled play, missed pi on a long Collie pass, and a botched call against Chambers.) In the world of coulda, woulda, shoulda, BYU missed a great chance. Also, a healthy Dennis Pitta & Fui Vakapuna may have also made a difference in this one.
On the Plus Side:
The Cougar program is now regularly competing against out of conference teams. (Historically, that is about as good as it has ever been). Congrats on a 3rd straight season of 10 or more wins. Let’s develop and recruit a little help here and there, and be ready to make a run at a great season next year.
Vegas Bowl Third Quarter: Arizona 24 BYU 14
Posted by Jim on Dec 20, 2008
The second half started with a Tuitama fumble recovered by Colby Clawson on the 27. Collie Picked up a first down to the 7 yard line. Hall tried a QB draw to the one. Arizona’s Goaline D stiffened until a 12 man on the field call and lengthy official review gave the Cougars a second chance at 3rd down. A roll-out toss to Andrew George gave the cougars a 14-10 lead.
Next drive, BYU only allowed one first down, and got the ball back on the 10. But an Austin Collie apparant fumble, looked to give the Wildcats first and 10 from the 11. The Fumble was reviewed and ruled an incomplete pass, but after another incomplete pass to George, BYU had to punt, giving Arizona great field position. A quick Tuitama pass to Dean gave the Wildcats the lead at 17-14.
The Cougars took the ball from about the 25 and drove down the field. After what should have been a pi call on a long pass to Collie, Pitta picked up his first catch of the night. A botched interference call on Chambers, put the Cougs in about 2nd and 20 plus. Justin Sorensen trotted out, but kicked it short of the goal posts.
Arizona then drove down the field and scored on a pass to the lesser Gronkowski (Chris) to go 24-14.
Vegas Bowl First Quarter 7-0
Posted by Jim on Dec 20, 2008
BYU took the opening kickoff and put together a couple of first downs before the drive stalled out. A Santiago punt put Arizona in a hole, starting on like the 4 yard line. But a quick whistle robbed the cougs of a fumble recovery and score. A long pass by Tuitama left Arizona with a short run for six. BYU next went 3 and out on two runs and an aborted pass play.
Next series Arizona has driven to about the 35 before the end ot the first Quarter.
Cougars needs to find a way to stop these guys.
2nd Quarter Arizona 10 BYU 7
Posted by Jim on Dec 20, 2008
Second Quarter started out with Arizona Driving to the 5 yard line before a Nick Grigsby fumble was recovered by Matt Bauman. A Hall pass to Michael Reed gave Cougars some breathing room to the 18. A direct snap to Collie gave them another cougar fist down. However, a Hall fumble gave the ball back to the wildcats in good field position.
BYU’s Defense stiffened, and the Wildcats had to settle for a field goal that made it 10-0 for Arizona.
A contested pass to Collie was overturned, but then Hall connected with Michael Reed for a 35 yard gain. TOn the next play, Hall to Collie went to the 3 yard line. Harvey Unga’s second attempt broke the plain to make the score 10-7
On the next series, the Arizona Offense stalled out and they were forced to punt. The Cougs started out at the 22. Hall to Reed moved the ball all the way down to the 27, then had another for an additional 9 yards. 3 consecutive penalties moved them from 3rd and one to 3rd and 16. A Harvey Unga Draw got back 11 yards, but the cougars were forced to settle for a field goal attempt that went wide left.
Arizona ran out the quarter.
Fui Vakapuna and Ray Feiga both went out with injuries.
The Vegas Bowl is Right for the Cougars
Posted by Jim on Dec 20, 2008
Let’s look at the upside for the cougars to play in the Vegas Bowl for this years.
Opponent:
Let’s face it, this years version of the Cougars is not quite ready for prime time. As much as i would like to be of attending a BCS bowl with all the hype, exposure, and $$$, the truth is, this cougar team would probably have not fared much better than last years Hawaii team.
Arizona is, right now, one of the better Pac-10 teams. So this gives BYU, a chance to beat 3 pac-10 teams in the same year. While beating Arizona won’t stir talk that you should have been in the title game, it will garner respect, and allow this cougar team to finish, probably in the top 15
Location:
Now that the word Recession, is officially out of the bag, the location of the Vegas bowl is affordable for most cougar fans. It’s close, it’s cheap, and it fits the bill.
Date:
I know many who feel like any bowl not close to New Years Day is a waste of Space, But I also think that there may be an advantage to play at a time when you are one of the few games available. The Cougars will occupy a prominent place on Sportscenter for the next 24 hours. Many of those other bowl games will be lines on a ticker, or quick blurbs every so often.
What They Can Do:
This years Cougars still have some benchmarks they can meet to push the program forward. they can beat their 4th straight Pac-10 team (and a victory would give them 6 out the last 7). They can finish the season 11-2 for the third straight year, and could finish in the top 15. So I, for one, am happy to cheer the Cougs to one more Vegas Bowl victory.
