Armed Forces Bowl Highlights

Cougars win Third Straight Bowl Game

In August, we correctly guessed that anything less than ten regular season wins would keep the Cougars from a BCS bid and put them in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces bowl. Even though the bowl was in Fort Worth, the finish was more worthy of their early 1980’s appearances in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The Cougars came from behind twice, and would finally win the game in the last minute on a play for the ages.

As has been their habit against good teams, the Cougars started slow. Tulsa started their first drive on their own 24, and Brandon Ogletree was whistled for a facemask penalty, giving the Golden Hurricane the ball on their own 39. The Cougars then allowed Tulsa to drive down the field 61 yards for a touchdown in a little over six minutes. Tulsa would net 19 yards on the ground and 42 in the air. This would turn out to be one more rushing yard than Tulsa got for the rest of the game combined.

As we often see in bowl games against reasonably well-matched teams, most of the game was a defensive struggle. The Cougars scored on a 35 yard field goal by Justin Sorenson with seventeen seconds left in the first quarter to close the margin to 7-3 for Tulsa. On Tulsa’s second offensive drive in the second quarter, the defense went to sleep for four plays, and it would cost them an 86-yard drive for a touchdown that took only 1:16 off of the clock. A seven-yard run was followed by passes of 50, 14, and 14 yards to put Tulsa ahead 14-3.

At the end of the first half, special teams came up big, as David Foote recovered a Justin Sorenson punt that was fumbled by JD Ratliff at the Tulsa 17. If there’s one thing the Cougars have proven this year, it’s that they are able to take advantage of opportunities caused by turnovers. Riley Nelson did what great QB’s and teams do, throwing a 17-yard pass to Cody Hoffman on the first play for a touchdown to bring the Cougars to within 14-10 with twelve seconds left in the first half. On the play, which will probably be in a lot of highlight reels, Matt Reynolds lost his helmet, but then flattened Tulsa DE Cory Dorris, giving Nelson time to make what turned out to be a crucial throw.

In the second half, though, it was more defense. Finally, with 1:41 left in the third quarter, Nelson hit Hoffman with another TD pass, this time for 31 yards, to put the Cougars on top, 17-14. With 10:42 left in the fourth quarter, though, the defense would once again allow a big play for Tulsa, as they took advantage of a short field. They completed a 58-yard drive with a 30-yard TD pass, and would go on top, 21-17.

After failed drives by both teams, the Cougars would get the ball back at the Tulsa 48 with 4:18 and the season on the line. Riley Nelson will never be confused with a classic, drop-back, rifle-armed NFL quarterback, but he is one of the most competitive and fearless quarterbacks in the game. The last drive showed almost everything that is great about the Cougars in four minutes and seven seconds. After three plays for one yard, it was fourth and nine on the Tulsa 47-yard line. Failing to find an open receiver, Riley Nelson tucked the ball and ran 14 yards for a first down.

The Cougars then went to the running game with Bryan Kariya and JJ DiLuigi getting the ball to the Tulsa 13-yard line, and Riley Nelson getting the ball to the eight. Nelson would complete a pass to Marcus Mathews at the two. Then came the play that had the football world paying attention to the Cougars. BYU had no time outs left, and Nelson was yelling the signal to “clock” the ball. As the ball was snapped, everyone on the team did what they would normally do in a “clock” situation.

Everyone, that is, but Riley Nelson and Cody Hoffman. Nelson threw the ball to Hoffman on the right side of the end zone for a touchdown with eleven seconds left on the clock. A Justin Sorenson extra point, and subsequent kickoff into the end zone for a touchback would leave Tulsa with eleven seconds to go eighty yards. Tulsa would lateral the ball twice and fumble it once before Travis Uale would cover the ball up for the victory.

Game balls go to Riley Nelson, Cody Hoffman, and Matt Reynolds on offense. On defense, Kyle Van Noy had another solid game, with nine solo tackles, two sacks, and one QB hurry. David Foote gets the special teams game ball for his fumble recovery, and Justin Sorenson gets one for a very consistent game and for not giving Tulsa a chance to win the game on his kickoff.

In winning the Armed Forces Bowl, the Cougars won three bowl games in a row for the first time in their history. They also wrapped up their fifth 10-win season in the last six years, which they have only done once before, from 1980-1985. At the beginning of the season, we knew the Cougars had a chance of having a special season, but that it would take a few bounces going the right way for it to happen. All in all, though, 2011 turned out to be a very good year for BYU.

On the good side, BYU has found its next great quarterback. Once again, Riley Nelson probably won’t make it to the NFL, but he is the consummate team player, and one of the toughest quarterbacks in college. Most of all, Riley Nelson is a leader. Greatness is often measured in stats. With Riley Nelson, though, it has to be “measured” by the intangibles.

To be a great quarterback, you have to win games. Also, your team has to follow you. Riley Nelson has a very rare talent. He is able to make the team play better when he is in the game. Like a great point guard in basketball, Nelson’s strength is his ability to manage the team and get the job done, regardless of individual stats or glory.

When Nelson lost his job to Jake Heaps, a lesser man would have pouted and complained about “losing his starting job due to injury.” Riley Nelson didn’t do that, though. Instead, he “manned up,” contributed to the team in any way he could, and made sure he would be prepared for his next opportunity. When Nelson finally got the opportunity, he took full advantage of it, and the Cougars showed their respect by the way they responded with Nelson behind center. By the time it was all over, the Cougars had another ten-win season.

Thank you, Riley Nelson, for being such a great leader this season. The Cougars are in good hands for 2012.

BYU vs Hawaii Highlight Video

Taking Care of Business: Hawaiian Style

Most of us expected the Cougars to take care of business against Hawaii on Saturday.  We just didn’t expect the return of Riley Nelson to the starting lineup.  Nelson not only managed to overcome rib and lung injuries to make the flight over to the islands, but was able to play, too.

In the first half, some may have begun to wonder if Nelson was healthy enough to play this game.  Nelson put up decent numbers, but the Cougars trailed 13-10 at the half, even with an 18:32 to 11:28 advantage in time of possession.  

For awhile, it looked like it could be one of those “anything that can happen will happen” games.  It looked especially bad in the second quarter when Justin Sorensen missed a field goal attempt wide left after missing one wide right in the first quarter.  Making it worse, Hawaii scored on a 79-yard pass on their first subsequent play from scrimmage.  

Sorensen would finally end a streak of five misses with a 33-yarder at the end of the half to make the score Hawaii 13, BYU 10.  At the half, besides the huge advantage in time of possession, the Cougars had outplayed the Warriors on both sides of the ball, but the one long pass play had put Hawaii ahead.  

 

The question during halftime was, “will the Cougars finally take advantage of the personnel differential and pull away, or would the Warriors find a way to stay in the game and make it close?  As we all know, the longer an underdog stays in the game, the more confidence they get, and the better their chances of pulling off an upset.  

Finally, in one glorious quarter, all of the questions for both Riley Nelson and the Cougars were answered.  The numbers?  BYU gained 37 on the ground and 168 in the air for a total of 205 yards, while Hawaii lost nine yards on the ground and gained fifteen in the air for a total of six yards.  The Cougars scored 28 points and the Warriors none, but it was even more dominating than the scoreboard looked.  

For the game, which ended in a 41-20 victory, Nelson had his career-best passing performance, going 25 of 37 for 363 yards and three touchdowns.  Cody Hoffman caught seven passes for 123 yards, and provided the best highlight of the game when he turned a one-handed catch into a 39-yard touchdown.  Ross Apo “only” had four catches, but two of them were for touchdowns.  JD Falslev and Marcus Matthews both had 80 yards, with five catches for Falslev and four for Matthews.  

The defense held Hawaii to 299 yards.  They were more solid than spectacular, but the one big play was a game changer.  Joe Sampson returned a Joey Iosefa fumble 26 yards on Hawaii’s first drive of the second half.  It would help set the tone for the quarter, and Hawaii was never a threat after that.  

Overall, it was an entertaining game for a national audience.  It was also a statement by Riley Nelson that he isn’t going to give up any opportunity start unless he is told not to play by the medical staff.  Nelson once again showed the toughness that has earned him the respect of his teammates.  

BYU vs NMSU Highlight Video

Happy Senior Night

Senior day or night, like homecoming, is best done against a tomato can.  Seniors play their last home game, fans get to celebrate them, and those who stuck it out but didn’t play a lot often see some time in the fourth quarter.  The 2011 version against New Mexico State was a great final home game for the seniors and some of them made great contributions to the 42-7 victory.  

If honor of the seniors, we’ll look at some of their contributions first.  JJ DiLuigi ran 12 times for 75 yards, for an average of 6.25 per carry.  It puts him at 16th on the all time list, which is pretty good for someone who isn’t a burner but maximized every bit of his talent while in Provo. 

Bryan Kariya added another 30 yards and one touchdown in 7 carries.   Matt Marshall got one carry, but he made the most of it with a two-yard touchdown.  TE Matthew Edwards caught a 9-yard TD pass.  Terence Brown didn’t show up on any stat sheets, but his contributions on the offensive line have been greatly appreciated by everyone who has played QB during his stay in Provo, and he played a typically solid game.  

There were plenty of contributions on defense, too.  Jadon Wagner caused a fumble in the first half that was recovered by Jameson Frazier, and Wagner recovered one in the third quarter.  

As for the rest of the team, Jake Heaps was solid once again, putting up the kind of numbers we expected at the beginning of the year.  He was 21 of 36 for 238 yards with one interception and four touchdowns.  For his efforts, Heaps was named Independent Player of the Week.  It should be noted that Heaps took his demotion with class and dignity, didn’t complain, never stopped working, and stayed ready in case he was needed.  It is great to see Heaps rewarded for doing things the Cougar way.  

Ross Apo lead the team in receiving with five catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns.  JD Falslev and McKay Jacobson were over 40 yards, JJ DiLuigi had three catches for 31 yards.  Cody Hoffman and Kaneakua Friel were over 20 yards.  

On defense, Preston Hadley and Brandon Ogletree had seven tackles each to lead the Cougars, while Kyle Van Noy gave a typical Kyle Van Noy performance with 6 solo tackles and two tackles for loss.  The only thing missing for Van Noy was another turnover.  

All in all, the Cougars were very workmanlike in their methodical dismantling of New Mexico State, with seven points each in the first and fourth quarters, and fourteen points each in the second and third quarters.   The defense was also solid, allowing one touchdown in the second quarter but nothing the rest of the way.  

Congrats to the Cougars for another fine performance.  Next up: Hawaii in two weeks.  

 

Cougars Accept Bowl Bid

We already knew this would happen, so it is no surprise, but the Cougars were officially extended their guaranteed berth in the Armed Forces Bowl against a yet-to-be-named CUSA team.  Most of CUSA is similar to Central Florida, who played the Cougars tough but were ultimately not quite good enough.  

The only sticking point is that this game is being played on SMU’s home field, and SMU is currently projected to be the opponent.  Playing a road game against an up-and-coming team that is angry because it didn’t do better is not exactly a fair deal.  On the bright side, SMU is currently 6-5, with four losses in their last five games.  We’ll know later, but the intangibles appear to be solely on the side of the Mustangs.  

 

What is Going On with the Big East?

A few weeks ago, it looked like the Cougars to the Big East, along with Boise State, UCF, Houston, and aforementioned SMU, was a done deal.  Now, it is reported that the Cougars are holding the deal up, and that San Diego State might get their berth if they don’t settle by the end of next week.  

Reportedly, the first snag is money because BYU has a great TV deal.  That is negotiable and probably will require concessions on both sides.  The second factor, though, may be too much to overcome.  

Reportedly, the Cougars want assurances that the Big East will keep their BCS Automatic Qualifier status.  They want to be able to return to independent status with no penalty if the Big East loses its AQ status.  This is inherently fair because it simply forces the Big East to deliver on what they promise.  The problem here is that the Big East doesn’t see it that way.  

As it sits right now, the Cougars can realistically get into a BCS game by finishing  11-1 and being ranked higher than Notre Dame.   Some years, 10-2 might even be enough.  Even with all of the ups and downs this year, the Cougars can still finish 9-3.  The point is that they are really close to being able to make it to a BCS bowl as an independent. 

Therefore, it is perfectly natural for the Cougars to protect themselves before entering any agreement with any conference.  The politics here are very basic: the conferences want to lock everybody in with extreme punitive damages for leaving, while the schools want the flexibility to evolve with the current landscape.  

We hope that the Cougars don’t give in on their requirement that the Big East puts its money where its mouth is.  The Cougars are a very desirable program, and a move to the Big 12 or Pac 12 would make more sense than one to the Big East.  

The only real reason for the Cougars to join the Big East is for the AQ berth.  The travel, even in a “Big East Western Division,” will be very demanding.  If the Big East’s AQ berth disappears, the Cougars should be allowed to do the same. 

After all, what’s fair is fair.

UPDATE: The Big East deal appears to be dead. We’ll see, but BYU appears to really be in this independent status for the long haul.

 

 

 

 

BYU vs Idaho

BYU vs ISU Highlight Video

BYU vs OSU Highlight Video

BYU vs SJSU Highlights

BYU vs USU Highlight Video

BYU vs UCF Highlight Video

Closer than Expected, but We’ll Take It.

Friday’s game was yet another “squeaker.”  It featured two teams coming off of losses that both would rather forget.  On paper, some could argue this should have been a blowout, but UCF’s hungry band of athletes seeking to prove themselves made it close.  Their fans were sure wanting to take a piece out of us before the season started…

Part of it was BYU’s fatigue from having a very tough schedule so far, and part of it was UCF rising to the occasion and playing very well for close to three quarters.  Part of it might have even been a few of last week’s bounces evening out.  But the bottom line is that the Cougars pulled out a victory to even their record at 2-2.

The expected breakout performance from Jake Heaps didn’t happen, but there are some good reasons for that.  When Brandon Doman was announced as the new offensive coordinator, he promised a return to old school BYU football.  This, or course, means what LaVell Edwards did.  This might sound easy, but is a bit of an adjustment.  

Robert Anae’s reputation is that of a “spread guru.”  He ran some plays out of the WCO playbook, but his orientation was that of a spread coach.  When Doman took over, it was back to the LaVell Edwards original version of the WCO.  As a former Cougar QB, Doman knows what can be accomplished, and given enough time to reinstate it, will do fine. 

The main problem, though, is that moving from a spread consciousness to a WCO consciousness involves a lot of work on the part of the players.  Even though Doman retained a lot of the terminology and said everything was going well, it’s obvious that the players are not adjusting as well to the new offense as easily or as quickly as Doman originally thought they would.  

The spread creates mismatches by spreading the field.  When receivers are open, they are really open.  A spread offense that features a lot of passing can really make a defense look stupid when a 180-pound slot receiver who runs a 4.4 is in space with a 250-pound linebacker who runs a 4.7.  Also, the blocking in the spread is a lot different.   

The WCO, especially the Edwards version, has a lot of timing routes.  It requires receivers and QB’s to be on the same page.  It requires the QB to be a lot more accurate and to take more snaps under center.  The drops and footwork are totally different.  Basically, it is a lot easier for a QB in the shotgun to throw to a player who is open by five yards than it is to take a five-step drop and throw the ball to the outside shoulder of a receiver who is covered on the inside shoulder.  

Both offenses work very well once they have been installed and have the right personnel.  QB’s and receivers have to have a lot of chemistry for any offense to work, but it is much more crucial in the WCO.  Usually, any time a team switches offensive philosophies from the spread to the WCO, it takes a good year for it to be effective.  Notice the decline in production at Michigan this year, or University of South Florida and Texas Tech last year with similar switches.  

The good news in all of this is if Doman is given two or three years to fully institute his system and import the correct personnel on the field, we should see a return to the old days when BYU QB’s’ put up great numbers and won a lot of games.  At least he was back in the booth this week.

Game Ball for Cody Hoffman

Cody Hoffman deserves special mention for his 93-yard kickoff return, and we would like to award him a “game ball,” even though we don’t actually have one to award.

At any typical FBS football factory, Cody Hoffman wouldn’t be returning kicks.  He wouldn’t be playing WR, either.   At any football factory, any receiver coming in at 6-3 or 6-4 with a 4.63 40 would redshirt his freshman year to put on weight.  By his true sophomore year, he would be a redshirt freshman learning how to play TE or OLB.  He would have put on at least fifteen pounds in a weight regimen that encourages bulk, and his target weight would be about 250 if not higher.  

Obviously, BYU is not a FBS football factory.  The fact that the Cougars can even compete on a FBS level is amazing, when you think of how difficult it is to recruit a lot of four and five-star recruits.  At BYU, when a kid wants to play WR, he is given a chance, even if he doesn’t have 4.4 speed.  

Sometimes, as we see now, players who are “too slow” to compete for the WR position or return kickoffs at a standard BCS giant turn out to be very good at WR in Provo.  They do it with persistence, discipline, and intellect.  They do it by listening to the coaches and by precise execution.  We have seen it time and again. 

So far, Cody Hoffman signing with the Cougars has worked out very well for both Hoffman and BYU. Congratulations, Cody.  

So, Why Should We be so Happy?

Almost all of the tougher teams in the FBS schedule three cupcakes and one competitive game for their non-conference schedule.  That means that a lot of bigger schools start out 3-1 or 4-0.  Some even schedule four cupcakes and guarantee a 4-0 start.  

The Cougars, on the other hand, scheduled three of their five toughest games as the first three games of the season.  While we would have really liked a 3-1 or 4-0 start, 2-2 is not bad, and is not a hole that is too deep to dig out of.  Next week is another rivalry game: the Old Wagon Wheel matchup against Utah State.  Until last year, USU hadn’t beaten the Cougars since 1993, but pulled off the 31-16 victory last year in Logan.  This year, the game is back in Provo, and I think it is safe to say that USU will have the Cougars’ full attention this year.

The schedule is starting to set up a lot easier than the first four games.  Also, the emergence of an actual running game in the second half against UCF is very, very encouraging.  The old cliché is right; it is a lot easier to pass if the defense has to defend against the run.  

There are only two teams left with the collection of athletes that BYU has faced the first four weeks.  In other words, the worst is over.  For Cougar fans, this season is just getting started. 

BYU Fans – Better Dead Than Red

With BYU’s win against UCF last night, we’re better prepared emotionally to laugh about last week’s wrenching loss to the University of Utah. Although we are devout Cougar fans on this site and we love our team, the game against Utah was SO BAD that we’ll have to take in in stride as a fluke, laugh about it with our friends that root for the U, and get on with the season.

So instead of a highlight video full of fumbles, this video will be our ‘highlight’ video for that game.

And…we would rather throw ourselves in a deep dark pit than root for the University of Utah…

 

Next Page »