Tuesday, October 5. 2010Red, Blue And Pigskin
The worst weekend of the season is over. We can wave goodbye to the bye. Utah did manage to become a top 10 team during their bye week. Up north however, things got a lot worse for the team down south. Apparently the Cougars big revenge for the Utes getting into the Pac-12 instead of themselves is to completely obliterate Utah's strength of schedule. In an attempt to change things around though, the Cougars have pointed out their scapegoat.
The State's New 2nd Best Team
Conference Friday typically brings us the matchup between BYU and Utah State. This year the game was up in Logan, and for the first time in years, the Aggies seemingly had a legitimate chance to defeat BYU. Both teams were struggling so far during the season. They shared equal records of 1-3. The loser of the game could pretty well give up any chance of a bowl game in 2010. The winner could lay claim as the state's 2nd best team. When all was said and done, there would be some doubt as to whether the Cougars could even claim to be the state's 3rd best team. A week after showing signs of improvement during the second half of the Nevada game, BYU was completely outmatched in every phase of the game. Defensively, the Cougars showed why they have the worst rushing defense in the nation. The Aggies became the 4th consecutive team to rack up over 200 yards rushing against the Cougars. BYU also couldn't stop Utah State through the air either. Borel went 10 of 13 for 190 yards, including a beautiful 79 yard TD pass, that took advantage of Andrew Rich's aggressiveness. Offensively, the Cougars weren't any better. The Aggies took away DiLuigi in both the run and pass game. With the catalyst of the offense taken away, the Aggies made it known they were going to force Heaps to try and beat them. Heaps made some nice passes, but he's a young QB, and he made some mistakes. Including on a goal to go play where he had his RB wide open out of the flat, for what would be a sure TD. Instead Heaps threw the ball way over his head. Only after the Aggies had taken their foot off the gas pedal with a 31-3 lead, did the Cougars show any ability to move the ball. Who To Hang Out With During Cold/Flu Season Of course, it's hard to move the ball down field, or show any offensive consistency, when you can't even catch the ball. The entire season, Cougar receivers, tight ends, and running backs, have shown a propensity for dropping easy catches. During the first three games, part of it could be explained by the idiotic two quarterback system that Mendenhall was running with the Cougars. When the drops decreased to just a couple during the Nevada game, it seemed as if the QB System was indeed a major part of the isssue. However, 10 dropped passes during the Utah State game, points to it being a larger issues. Keep in mind, this was 10 dropped passes without O'Neill Chambers even being in the game. It'd be hard for a 4 year starting senior QB to generate any offense with this many dropped passes, let alone a true freshman starting his second game. The dropped passes are a major problem for the Cougars. This many drops tells me that the Cougars are not focused. The Cougars just lack the concentration. And with the season quickly fading into nothing, the lack of concentration and interest could only worsen. The good news though, is that anyone who is friends with a BYU WR won't have to worry about getting the cold from them during this winter. Scapegoat On Saturday Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall responded to another embarassing loss by firing defensive coordinator Jaime Hill. Let me start by saying that Jaime Hill should have been released as the defensive coordinator two years ago. The Defense has been dreadful for many years. It's given up a lot of yards, especially by the secondary, which is supposed to be Hill's specialty. It's gotten more and more basic as the years have passed, making it easier for offenses to figure out. However, the defensive inefficiency, is not the reason that Hill was fired. Jaime Hill was fired simply because Bronco Mendenhall needed a scapegoat, and figured he'd have an easier time taking over the defense than he would the offense. Therefore he fired Jaime Hill. The Defense is bad, but what else do you expect when you have a bunch of young and unathletic players back there. The Cougars lost all of their starting linebackers from last year, as well as their defensive line anchor Jan Jorgensen. Years of poor recruiting by Mendenhall left the Cougars without anyone to replace those players. The knock on the Cougars for the last few years was that they couldn't recruit the proper athletes to compete at a national level. This year is showing the fruits of that recruiting. Afterall when one of your starting cornerbacks is 5'6", you are already working with a short deck. The defense got worse when Romney Fuga's season was ended by a cheap shot. In the first half Safety Andrew Rich, who is the best player on an extremely terrible defense, was lost with an injury. Later the only other good player on the defense, Jordan Pendleton, was lost for what could be an extended time frame. There's no doubt that the defense is terrible, they can't tackle, they are constantly gashed in the running game, and can't stop qb's through the air. Even against Washington, they were saved by the fact that Washington was unprepared for the game. But the real problem with the Cougars is on the offensive side of the Ball. While it ultimately is Mendenhall's decision, he claims the inability to make the obvious choice of Jake Heaps over Riley Nelson (My words not his) was made by Offensive Coordinator Robert Anai, in conjunction with QB Coach Brandon Doman. Mendenhall let the Cougars down, by not overriding the decision, but that doesn't make Anai's initial decision any less ridiculous. Add into the equation that Anai's offense, is extremely dull and basic. It's succeeded in the past couple years because the Cougars had talent. Austin Collie, Max Hall, Dennis Pitta, Andrew George, and Harvey Unga, did a great job of making Anai look good. Those players helped to hide the fact that Anai scheme wasn't that good. Two years ago the Offense consisted of Max Hall throwing downfield to Austin Collie, coverage be darned. That could mainly be blamed on Hall, however last year, the offense consisted of dinking and dunking to Pitta, George, and Unga, with Unga also running the ball. Those three players were good players. They could make a bad offensive scheme look good. Without the horses this year, that short conservative playcalling just isn't cutting it. It's not moving the ball downfield, until the Cougars are already behind. Anai is just as deserving of termination as Hill was. This season's disgrace falls squarely on the shoulders of Coach Mendenhall. He has made some terrible decisions this year. The main one being the QB Rotation. Even though last year's recruiting class was hailed as one of the best in BYU history, this season is showing the rewards of recruiting through Mendenhall's first five seasons. As the Crowton players have left the system (Remember players at BYU last longer than other schools because of the mission), we're starting to see that Mendenhall has not done a good job of recruiting athletes. But Mendehall couldn't fire himself, so he needed a scapegoat. Mendenhall is a defensive guy. Jaime Hill also has had some personality issues with Mendenhall, and players in the past. So Jaime Hill became the guy to take the blame. Don't be surprised if Robert Anai joins him in the unemployment line in a few weeks. Staring at 1-6 After the debacle against Utah State last week, the Cougars return home and welcome the San Diego State Aztecs . Through the first 5 weeks, the Aztecs are the surprise team in the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs are 3-1 including a 41-7 dismantling of Utah State two weeks ago. If not for a missed block in the back on the last play of the game versus Missouri, the Aztecs would be undefeated. This will be the first conference game for the much improved Aztecs , and the first chance for them to make a statement that they have really improved. The way the two teams have been playing, it really should be a no brainer. The Aztecs have been playing tremendously better than the Cougars, and are favored by 6 points. It's a sad sign when a team is an underdog during it's homecoming week. That's what the Cougars face this week. Bronco has said that he hasn't been "successful at getting to this team's heart". It's unsure if the Cougars have any heart this year. If they do, they better find it quick, otherwise they will lose to the Aztecs. And with TCU the following week, they'd be looking at 1-6. A Rush The Field Win? As the final seconds clicked off the clock, Utah State Fans had gathered on the sidelines, and rushed the center of the field to celebrate with the team. Immediately two Cougar fans I know sent tweets, mocking the Aggie fans for rushing the field against a 1-3 team. I agree, that rushing the field has lost the meaning it once had, as fans seem willing to do it for any victory. Two years ago, when the Utes came back from an 8 point deficit in the final minutes to beat Oregon State, fans rushed the field. This was a perfect example of a bad field rush. Sure the victory was a thrilling victory. But a thrilling victory alone is not reason enough to rush the field. Especially since Utah shouldn't have needed to come back to win that game. However, I have no problem with the Aggie fans rushing the field last Friday. The Aggies had a 10 game losing streak versus the Cougars, that dated back 17 years to 1993. Add in a 10 game losing streak against the Utes, the Aggies had lost 20 straight against the in state powerhouses. While it was a 1-3 BYU team, this victory also could be the early signature victory for Coach Andersen's regime. The Aggies are trying to overcome years of ineptitude, to try and become a player in this state for football. In years past it didn't matter if the Cougars were 1-3, because Utah State was so much worse. This is the first sign that Utah State is making advances. A possible signature win, a 17 year, 10 game streak snapped, and an in-state rival. Add in the dominating fashion of the victory, and yes, this was a rush the field win. Just as long as the Aggies don't do it again next year when they win. Admiral Ackbar Alert Now that the Utes can say bye-bye bye, they prepare for their last regular season game against a team from an AQ Conference. as a Non-AQ team. Though the Utes still have a game against Notre Dame, who is technically a Non-AQ school, but has special BCS Benefits. In what originally was the first part of a home and away series against the Iowa State Cyclones, the Utes will travel to Iowa to take on the Big 12 foe. (Conference realignment has caused next years game between these two to be canceled.) The Utes are the better team, and are 5-0 under Coach Whittingham when coming off of Bye Weeks. Adding in home openers (3-2), Bowl Games(6-0) (Whittingham was co-coach for the Fiesta Bowl), and weeks following a weekday game (8-3), the Utes are 22-5 under Whittingham with more than a typical week to prepare. The Utes will bring the 7th ranked scoring defense, and the 6th ranked scoring offense to Jack Trice Stadium. However, the Utes have got those stats against 3 of the worst teams in the nation. The Utes have had problems this year forcing takeaways. They only have 4 so far this year. To be a really good team, they need to start forcing more turnovers. This will also be the first time under Whittingham, that the Utes aren't facing a conference opponent after their bye. This will also be the third consecutive season the Utes will travel following their bye. The Cyclones scored a big victory against Texas Tech last week, by jumping to a 24-0 lead, before putting the Red Raiders away 52-38. The Cyclones also pulled off a big surprise last year versus Nebraska. They have proven they are a team that will beat you, if you aren't prepared, and will look to carry momentum from last week into this game against the Utes. Following this game the Utes have two more MWC also-rans before they face the gauntlet that is the final 5 weeks. The game will probably be close at halftime. The Utes better make sure they aren't looking ahead. If they're focused on the game, they should be able to pull away in the second half to a comfortable victory. Otherwise they may find themselves trapped like a rebel. The Rankings Game The Utes were off last week, but thanks to losses in front of them, mainly Stanford, and Florida, managed to move up to become the 10th ranked team in the nation. This is the highest the Utes have been ranked, this early in the season. It also means that 33% of the top 10 is comprised of teams that can't play for the National Championship. With conference play starting to get into full swing, and the Utes having the toughest part of their schedule at the end, there will be chances for them to make major moves. This week, the biggest chances for a ranked team ahead of the Utes to lose will be Nebraska playing undefeated Kansas State. Alabama also plays 19th ranked South Carolina, but if South Carolina were to pull the upset, chances are Bama would not fall far enough to drop behind the Utes, and the Gamecocks could very well get enough love off the victory to jump the Utes. I'm still cheering for South Carolina though. The other big games involve two teams on the Utes tail. Always overhyped, and overrated, not to mention extremely lucky, LSU plays recently humiliated Florida. LSU is ranked 12th, and Florida is ranked 14th. The beating against Alabama is too fresh in voters minds, so even a victory agaisnt LSU probably would not cause a jump, but either way, one of these teams will drop significantly, and chances are they won't get back up this high. The other game is Arizona versus the Oregon State Beavers. In the AP Poll Arizona is actually ranked ahead of the Utes at #9, while the Coaches have them 11th. With as quickly as they've been climbing the last couple weeks a win would almost assuredly cause them to jump the Utes in the Coaches poll. Oregon State has had arguably the toughest schedule so far this season with road games against the #4, and #5 teams in the Country. The Beavers are also notoriously slow starters before turning it on in conference play. Let's hope they turn it on this week. Shameless Plug Last week I mentioned that I was ABC 4's Red Zone Fan of the Game. If you weren't able to catch it on tv, here is that segment. Sign The Mtn Up Two weeks ago The Mtn chose to show the wonderful game between New Mexico and UNLV. This week there's a matchup I'm sure The Mtn finds even more intriguing. New Mexico plays its in state rival New Mexico State. Nevermind that the two teams are winless and have lost by a combined 74.3 points per game, I'm sure the Mtn must have this great matchup to help their lineup of games. Again, can someone tell me why New Mexico head coach Mike Locksley still has a job? Trackbacks
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