Wednesday, October 15. 2014Red, Blue And Pigskin
Thursday night sure ran the gamut. There was a little bit of everything. Some good, some bad, some ugly. Enough to make Byu fans happy. Enough to make them sad, and definitely enough to anger them.
Meanwhile the Utes were off as they prepared for a possible season defining game in Corvalis. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: The Cougars
Let's start with the The Ugly. That first quarter. Woof. When you can play 15 minutes of football, have three drives go for three and outs, and come away with a grand total of 3 yards. That is some very atrocious football. The defense wasn't much better as it was gashed early, giving away a 10-0 lead after the first to Central Florida possessions. The Cougars were so bad during the first quarter they were getting mocked on twitter by national pundits. Exposure is great when you're winning, but when you're dreadful it will get you mocked by more than just Ute fans. Even worse for the Cougars is the voodoo hex that seems to be on their players. Jamaal Williams carried the ball on the first play from scrimmage for Byu, and never touched the ball again after suffering an ankle injury. This was just two plays after Defensive Back Jordan Johnson had to be carted off the field after suffering an arm injury trying to tackle UCF Qb on the games opening touchdown. Later in the first half fellow defensive back mate Craig Bill suffered a concussion after a friendly fire incident with teammate Kevin O'Mary. These are just a week after losing Taysom Hill, Alani Fua, and Dallin Leavitt to lower leg injuries. While many Byu fans may want to point to the last play of the game mugging of Jordan Leslie as an ugly, I'm a firm believer of not leaving it in the hands of the ref, so I won't rate that here. Instead I'll rate the choke job the Cougars performed after storming back to take a 24-10 lead. Despite early success on their first two drives, the Cougars defense adjusted, somewhat, and kept the Knights contained enough to get a 24-10 lead with just over 9 minutes to go in the third quarter. After that point, the Cougars gave up 21 unanswered points, including the key 7 in overtime to squander the lead, and choke away the game. Don't get me wrong, the mugging call by the officials definitely belongs with this next list of The Bad, but the fact the Cougars let it come to that is what's ugly. The officials aren't the only non-playing participants who deserve bad marks. The Byu coaching staff definitely deserves there share. Does someone want to tell me who's idea it was to have your backup QB, starting is first game, on the road, cross-country no less, throw almost 40 times in the game? Especially when Algernon Brown was pounding the rock for 5 yards a carry! The only successful sustained drive of the game for the Byu offense was by pounding the rock, so I really don't get the insistence on passing the ball with Stewart. Enough with off the field, now for on the field. Taysom Hill's injury was bad, and is going to cause the offense to struggle a bit for awhile. But that doesn't excuse the Byu Defense for being as bad as it's been for a few weeks, and for being as soft as it was against UCF. Blake Bortles is gone. Justin Holman isn't exactly a gunslinger, but once again a QB has their best game of the year against the Cougars. Fortunately for Byu, despite the loss, not everything was bad for them. I Told You There Was Hope Now for some of The Good. Among the good, I would put Christian Stewart. His numbers weren't anything that will wow you, 22/37 153 yard, 3 Tds and 1 Int, but what earns him good marks, was how calm he was even when the team was a dumpster fire around him, and nothing was working. Stewart is still working on getting a rapport built up between him and the rest of the offensive players, which is why there were some costly mistakes, such as the failed zone read fumble late in the first quarter. However, he did enough to show that he can lead this team to some wins this year, and keep the ship righted. In order to do that, though, the offensive coaches are going to need to make some adjustments. I know that Anae is infatuated with the concept of "Go Fast, Go Hard", but when the offense isn't working, all it does it put your defense out there to wear down quicker. For at least the next few games, until Stewart gets comfortable, the Offense needs to slow down just a little bit. Instead of running 80 to 100 plays a game, they should be in the 70 range. The biggest note of good for the Cougars is simply the fact that they were able to overcome a dreadful first quarter. Especially on the defensive side where they were getting gashed pretty regularly to start the game. They tightened up, started to stop the UCF offense, and even caused two huge turnovers that the Offense was immediately able to turn into points, that got them the 24-10 lead. That's good for the Cougars, as the Offense will probably no longer be able to be relied on to win games, just not to lose them, and that the key to the future of this season will be on whether the Cougar defense is bad or good. Holstering The Pistol The next game will be an interesting test for new Defensive Coordinator Nick Howell. This week the Cougars take on the Nevada Wolf Pack, and their pistol option formation. The Wolf Pack are a team that upset the Washington State Cougars by holding them to a mere 13 points (The third lowest point total of the Mike Leach era), and lost to Arizona by a single touchdown. They're also a team that got blown out by a middling Boise State team, and also by the surprising Colorado State Rams. What makes the Wolf Pack difficult is their Pistol offense that they still run. The Pistol is a triple option, but instead of the options being lined up horizontally with the QB, they're lined up vertically. It's core though is still the triple option, and to beat the triple option requires assignment sound football, and for the defensive players to resist the urge to do to much. It's never the defenses favorite week, because it's a week you are going to get beat up, a lot, and it requires a lot of discipline. With Bronco as the defensive coordinator, the Cougars were extremely excellent against triple options. No coach seems to be more prepared to shut down a triple option based attack than those led by Bronco. This year though, Bronco has handed over the play calling duties to Nick Howell. So far the returns of been mixed. The run defense is still the strength of the defense, but it's not as stout as it has been in past years. Of course, unlike in years past, the defense doesn't have the playmakers it's had in years past, and that was before the loss of (at this point in his career) overrated Bronson Kaufusi. As said before, the key to stopping the triple option isn't playmakers, it's discipline, and this is why it'll be interesting to see how they do. So far through this season, discipline is not a word that goes with the Byu defense. Sloppy, mentally weak, frequently penalized, but far from disciplined. Defining Who They Are While Byu is still striving to figure out who they are after Taysom, Thursday in Corvallis will feature two teams out to prove they aren't Paper Tigers. Both the Beavers and the (probably shouldn't be ranked this high) 20th ranked Utes come into the game with just a single loss, but with the majority of their games against less than stellar opponents. For Utah, the big question mark is who's going to be the QB. While Whittingham isn't saying for sure, I would be absolutely shocked if it's not Kendall Thompson. Although even if Thompson does start, Travis Wilson needs to be ready, because Thompson is still unproven, and we're not exactly sure how the offense will move. As I mentioned last week, Thompson isn't the type of quarterback that teams are going to worry about his arm. Instead they are more likely to load the box and dare the teams to pass. For Utah, the key offensively will be two-fold. Firstly, can Thompson make enough plays with his to keep the defense honest. When he does pass, Thompson has proven to be pretty accurate with his passes, and he's also shown a willingness to attempt all the ranges of throws. Secondly, can Devontae Booker help take pressure off of Thompson by continuing to be the workhorse back. In their loss to Usc, and their close victory against Colorado, the Beavers allowed over 4 yards per carry. Booker and Thompson both may have hard time finding holes in the run game to start with, as the Beavers will be keying against the run, but it'll be important for the Utes to stick with the run, and specifically stick with Booker. Look for Utah to implement even more zone/read runs, but to also add in a passing option wrinkle for Thompson. However, one thing to note for Thompson, he usually gets most comfortable to start passing with quick, pocket based passes until he feels comfortable. Good Offense > Good Defense Last year in a 51-48 overtime victory for the Beavers, Sean Mannion threw for 445 yards and 5 Tds. 210 of those yards, and 3 of those TD's went to Brandin Cook, in a game that proved a well placed pass will beat good coverage. During that game, the Utes defensive backs had good coverage on the WR's, but Sean Mannion had an incredible night, and Cooks showed the kind of ability that's currently making him a weapon for Drew Brees. The problem in that game, is the same problem that ended up hurting the Utes against Washington State earlier this year. They just could not get any pressure on Mannion. Mannion is arguably the most underrated QB in the conference. While QB's like Hundley and Mariota get the publicity for their athletic plays, Mannion may very well be the most NFL ready Qb in the conference. As such, it will once again be important for the Utes defensive front to pressure Mariota, especially if they can manage to do it rushing just the front 4. If Hunter Dimick, and Nate Orchard are able to disrupt Mannion's timing, the Utes will be able to pull off the victory. However if they can't get to him, and Mannion has time to pass, it could very well be a long night for the Utah defensive backs. Pivotal Game I've said all year that this Oregon State game was the pivotal game of the year for the Utes and for Coach Whittingham. A win Thursday and the Utes are in the drivers seat not only for a bowl birth, but for possibly even 7 wins and an outside shot at 8. It will also begin to justify the comments by those within the program that the team is close. However, a loss on Thursday, and the Utes will end up fighting all the way to the end just to avoid another 5 win season, and it would signal that the Utes just aren't progressing. There's a lot of optimism around the program after their victory over the Bruins, but there are still enough questions around the team to doubt they are legit. Thursday will go a long way to answering those questions. Best In State This year nationally has proven what an absolute joke the polls are. It's also fitting that the first year of the selection committee is one filled with lots of intrigue, and crazy upsets. I don't envy the process they'll have to go through to choose the 4 best teams. Much easier is ranking the in-state teams as the 2nd quarter of the season has really shed some light. 3: - Byu (4-2) - Even before the injury to Taysom holes were beginning to come to light on the team, and an undefeated season seemed unlikely. Without Taysom this team is still trying to figure itself out. 2: - Utah State (4-2) - Won the Beehive Boot this year thanks to the head to head victory over the Cougars. Garretson continues to show that he is more than serviceable in replacement of Keeton. While the schedule isn't daunting, they have some tests looming, starting this weekend against Colorado State. 1: - Utah (4-1) - I'll admit I have no idea what to make of the Utes and aren't exactly sure how good they are or aren't. That said coming off they're upset over Ucla in the Rose Bowl they have the best victory. I also feel strongly they'd beat either of the two in-state teams, even if they were full strength. Of course, things could change greatly between now and the 3/4 season mark. Another Reason To Hate The Utes and Oregon State play a Thursday night matchup kicking off at 8:00 p.m. MST. The game was originally chosen to be on the Fox Sports 1 broadcast. However since Fox is terrible at scheduling, and at keeping to previously arranged schedules (Yes I'm still bitter about Firefly, Drive, and many others,) they decided that starting this year they wanted to start putting the Baseball National League Championship Series on Fox Sports 1. What do you know game 5 between the Giants and Cardinals is Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. meaning it would definitely conflict with the game. As such a lot of scrambling the past few days has given the following options for the game. Locally the game will be simulcast on KMYU (Satellite Channel 12, Comcast channel 643, Over the Air channel 2.2). It will also be on Fox Sports 2 (Directv 618, Dish 398), as well as on the Pac-12 network. Byu's game meanwhile will be much easier to find this week as it will be 8:15 p.m. MST Saturday night on Espn 2. Trackbacks
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