Tuesday, November 15. 2011Red, Blue And Pigskin
Apparently football in the state of Utah is meant to be played in cold, snowy conditions, as all four Northern Utah teams won in varying conditions of perfect football weather last week.
One team flipped the script from earlier in their season by coming back when behind in the fourth, another ended is a fitting score, a third ended up bowl eligible for the 9th consecutive year, and the fourth finds themselves with a story that just won't die. A Fitting Sendoff
Last week we talked about the impending retirement of Weber State football coach Ron McBride. Last Saturday was the final home game of the season for the Wildcats, and therefore the final home game for Coach Mac. It's fitting then, that it would be played in cold and snowy weather, as it was the kind of weather that McBride loved. Even more fitting was the final score. A 34-31 victory for the Wildcats. Rewriting The Story For much of the first half of the season, the Utah State Aggies would climb out to 4th quarter leads, only to lose them in dramatic and heartbreaking fashion. None more difficult than seeing former prodigal son Riley Nelson lead the Cougars from behind, to win with 11 seconds left. An argument could be made that through their first 7 games, the Aggies could easily have been sitting at 7-0. Instead they were at 2-5, teetering on the edge of bowl ineligibility, and a trip to the islands coming up. Apparently the Aggies have decided that the secret to winning is to be trailing late in the 4th quarter. Two 4th quarter deficits with 4 minutes or less to go, two 4th quarter rallies, and the Aggies are now sitting at 4-5. Utah State has ended the last two seasons with that very same 4 win total. Moreso, it's been since before 2000 when the Aggies last had 3 consecutive wins. This week the Aggies travel to Moscow to take on a dreadful Idaho Vandal team, with a chance to not only break past the 4 win barrier, but to notch three consecutive wins. They could be the first of many barriers to fall for the Aggies over the next several years. YAAAAAAAAAWN! BYU could give the Aggies some pointers on the Idaho Vandals, as this past weekend they dispatched of them in an utterly boring, and dreadful game. Just the most recent such boring game for the Cougars, as now that the TCU game is over, they plod through the end of their While the game itself was a snore-fest, there was one storyline that came out of the game. A storyline I'm sure that most BYU fans wish would just go away. That Had To Hurt Thanks to a borderline hit during the first half, Cougars starting QB Riley Nelson had to leave the game, with what would later be diagnosed as a broken rib, and a partially collapsed lung. With his style of play, it's not all that surprising that Nelson eventually got hurt. What is surprising is that it happened on a play where Nelson actually passed the ball. With Nelson injured, that meant that Jake Heaps once again is the Quarterback. With rumors of red-shirting or transferring in 2011, this could be Heaps' last chance to prove he's deserving of the starting job. The problem for Jake Heaps is that due to the lack of quality of opposition he faces, Heaps can only prove that he's not worthy of the starting job by struggling. Any success will be tempered with a grain of salt, in the face of dreadful opponents. Especially since most of the hype surrounding Heaps coming into 2011, was built on the back of a bad second half of the schedule in 2010. Nonetheless, this is his chance, and the review from the Idaho game is mixed. Heaps' numbers were good, going 15 of 20 for 195 yards and two TD's. But there were also a couple of the throws we're used to from Heaps, including an overthrow that led to a red zone interception. Of course, with Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall saying that when Nelson is healthy, which could possibly be as early as the Hawaii game, or as late as the bowl game, he will be the starter, one must wonder if the ship has already sailed for Jake Heaps. There was another bit of good news for Heaps during the Idaho game, during his limited time in mop up duty, 3rd string QB James Lark, was really unimpressive. The End Is Nigh The good news for BYU fans, is that the end of their dreadful home schedule is now upon us. Unfortunately, it's still a terrible matchup, that will require most viewers, either live or on tv, to take heavy doses of caffeine to stay awake. Especially with it being buried as an 8:15 p.m. kick off. This week the Cougars host the New Mexico State Aggies. Much like five of their last six opponents, there really is no feasible reason why this should even be a close game. With it being the final home game, that means it Senior day for the Cougars. This will be the last chance for fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium to say goodbye to players such as JJ DiLuigi, Brian Kariya, and Mackay Jacobsen. And while some seniors such as Matt Reynolds will have a chance to continue their career, this senior day will probably be most bittersweet for LB Jordan Pendleton. Pendleton's time at BYU will always leave him and fans wondering about what could have been. Pendleton had the talent and the fire to be one of the all time best at BYU, unfortunately for him, his hard hitting, ruthless style of play and his body never we able to mesh, as his career has been littered with injuries, including the knee injury that ended his year early this season. Bowling Over Bruins I'm sure losing to a coach you fired the previous year is never fun, but I wonder if it hurts even more when you are still paying them. For the Bruins that's just what happened when they lost to the Utes, and former Offensive Coordinator Norm Chow. For the Utes, this game was much like their previous two. What you saw from the Utes is the recipe that they will need the rest of the year. For them it's simple. Jon Hays will have to throw the ball a few times, just to keep them honest, but the Utes don't really want him throwing the ball. Run the ball with John White IV. Don't let Jon Hays be in a position to hurt you. Keep the defense rested, and let them dominate the opposing offense, and run the ball with John White. That's exactly what happened. Defensively the Utes shut down UCLA's pistol offense. With their running game stymied the be game was left to UCLA QB Kevin Prince. Prince was unable to response. When he wasn't being harassed in the backfield, Prince was busy throwing two interceptions to Conroy Black, one of which Black returned for a TD, as Prince could only lead the Bruins to first and fourth quarter field goals. With the Bruin offense stymied, that left it in the questionable hands of Jon Hays, and the steady legs of John White. Hays had another not terrible game. He only had 67 yards of passing, but honestly the Utes really don't want to see him passing the ball that much. What Hays did manage to do, was not turn the ball over, and throw one or two passes that were just enough to keep UCLA honest. After that his job was simple. Turn around and give the ball to White. Assaulting The Record Books White ran 33 times for 167 and two touchdowns, with a third one in the receiving game, during the Utes 31-6 victory. That left White with a Pac-12 second best 1191 yards so far this season. White climbed from 10th all time to 4th all time in Utah single season rushing yards. The Utah record for rushing yards in a season is 1507 by Carl Monroe in 1982. With 2 games and a bowl game left to play that record is clearly achievable, especially since the White is the first, second and third option for the offense. White is currently 316 yards behind the record. To break the record during the regular season, White will need to average 158 yards in his next two games. During the Utes current three game winning streak, White has averaged 160.3 yards per game. When you add in the Bowl game, the Utes are now eligible for, the record really becomes within reach. White simply needs 105.3 yards per game to catch Monroe, well below White's 132.3 yard per game average on the season. The other record that White is assaulting is Marty Johnson 2004 record of 14 TD's. His two rushing TD's against UCLA left White with 12 TD's. I'll leave the math up to you to determine what is needed for that record. View From The Red Zone Sitting in the North End Zone means that when teams are in the pregame warm ups, the visiting team is at our end. Being so close to the end zone of course leads to the home town fans heckling the visitors. Of the 11 teams I've seen in Rice-Eccles since I've started sitting in the End Zone, the UCLA Bruins are by far the best natured about it. Most teams simply ignore the heckling. Occasionally a player will put his hand to his ear, or acknowledge the heckling slightly. The Bruins were the first to to actually respond to it with some good-natured joking of their own. For that I give the Bruins kudos. A Sense Of Deja Vu For the second straight week, the Utes are facing a team that is suddenly confident, and now slightly dangerous thanks to a stunning upset of the Arizona State Sun Devils the week prior. For the second time in three weeks, the Utes opponent is fight to stave off bowl elimination. Unlike last week, the Utes won't have the friendly confines of Rice-Eccles Stadium, as they have to travel to Pullman Washington to face off against the Washington State Cougars. Interesting side note: the Utes were the first opponent to play in Martin Stadium (Home of the Cougars), and they will be the last opponent to play in Martin Stadium as construction to re-do the stadium will begin on Sunday. Interesting side note number two: Utah and Utah State will both be playing road games, but will be closer in proximity than if they were both playing home games. The two teams will be 8 miles apart, and playing at the same time this weekend. The big news for the Cougars out of their Arizona State upset, other than the upset itself, was the play of freshman QB Connor Halliday throwing for a school freshman record of 494 yards. He also had 4 td's to go with it. The Cougars do not run the ball much, currently ranked 103rd in the nation, meaning this game is going to be a test of a defensive backfield, that seems to have continued a tradition of stout secondaries for the Utes. In addition the secondary, the other aspect of the Utah defense that will help shut down the gun slinging freshman will be the defensive line. If the Utes can continue to get pressure and rush the youngster, it will help the defense overall. As for the offense it's simple. The Cougars will try to stack the box to stop John White. Jon Hays simply has to not turn the ball over, and if the Offensive Line can open holes, allowing White room to run, the Utes will be fine. If White gets stopped, that means that the game will be in Hays' hands, which is the last thing, any Utah fan wants to see. How About A Scholarship For A Kicker For the second straight season the Boise State Broncos saw their undefeated season, and national championship dreams disintegrate as a last second kick sailed wide of the target. This time against the TCU Horned Frogs. The loss means that in their first season in the MWC, the only season in the MWC with any sort of a decent opponent, and possibly their only season in the MWC period, the Broncos most likely will not win the conference. However what it hasn't done, until next week, is eliminate them from a BCS Automatic Qualification. While it's a long shot, Boise is one of four teams that still have a legitimate chance to nab the non-AQ Automatic BCS Bid. In the pole position are the Houston Cougars. Houston is 10-0, thanks mainly to a schedule that even BYU thinks is a bit easy. Houston is currently ranked 11th in the BCS, one behind Boise State, meaning if Houston wins out, they will qualify by being a conference champion in the top 12. The Cougars schedule however, gets much tougher over the next few weeks as they host 6-4 SMU, and travel to 7-3 Tulsa. Should they win those games, they then must face currently 20th ranked Southern Miss in the Conference Championship game. Should Houston slip up in any of those games, TCU is next waiting in the wings. Thanks to their upset over Boise State, the Horned Frogs have the pole position for the MWC title, and are currently ranked 19th. Since the Big East does not have a single team ranked in the BCS top 25, if the Horned Frogs can climb to 16th, they would qualify under the provision of a non-AQ Champion being in the top 16, and a AQ champion being ranked behind them. While neither of the next two opponents for the Horned Frogs will inspire much help in their rankings, they will benefit from the fact that two of the three teams directly ahead of them play this week. Should TCU slip up, Southern Miss is sitting right behind TCU at 20, with the same possibility. The big difference is that Southern Miss will have one extra game in the Conference USA champion, against what should be a Top 10 Houston Team. Finally there are the Boise State Broncos who are still alive. They slipped to 10th with their loss to TCU. The automatic non-AQ bid only goes to conference champions though. So if Boise wins out, and TCU were to somehow lose out, the Broncos would win the MWC, and they would be in the top 12. However their dream dies this week when TCU beats Colorado State, effectively clinching the MWC championship thanks to holding the tie breaker because of their head to head victory over the Broncos. Trackbacks
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