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.