Tuesday, December 21. 2010Red, Blue And Pigskin
So you know all those people arguing against so many bowl games? UTEP helped prove their point? You know all those people talking about the tradition and celebration of the Bowls? UTEP helped disprove their point. 6-6 should not be enough to warrant a bowl game. Sure once in a while you get a team like BYU who struggled through their early season, and is actually better than their 6-6 record, but more often than not, you get a UTEP.
UTEP wasn't the only team embarrassed during the bowl openers as all three games were blowouts. Meanwhile, Utah is in Vegas preparing for the Broncos, and time to discuss BYU's season. New Mexico Snore
So is a 6-6 MWC team better than a 6-6 C-USA team? By miles. BYU jumped on top of the Miners early in this game, and never let up. Heaps totaled 4 TD's, and the hookup "Heaps to Hoffman" showed, that it's going to be heard a lot over the next three years. Mitch Payne became BYU's all time leading scorer. UTEP was outmatched, offensively, defensively, coaching wise, and any other way you can think of. Much like the rest of the opening day bowls, this one was a bore after the first few minutes. Season in Review Before we start the BYU review I want to take you back to a conversation about the Utes in 2009, between myself and a Cougar Fan after the Utes lost to Oregon.
It's the last comment in particular. BYU did something this season, that Cougar fans don't like to admit they have to do. They had to rebuild. Truth be told, they haven't had to rebuild in the previous four seasons, but they seemed to have forgotten the years before that. So if BYU doesn't rebuild, then 2010 was an absolute failure. But even this particular BYU fan admitted this season was a rebuilding year, and it's under the guise of a rebuilding year that this season needs to be looked at. And under that guise, 2010 was a success for the team. Despite starting slowing with a terrible decision to play two QB's, the team rebounded, and ends with a 7-6 winning record. This season was very similar to Bronco Mendenhall's first in Provo. The Cougars not only turned the ship around this season, but with the emergence of Jake Heaps, Josh Quezada, Cody Hoffman, and Kyle Van Oy, they may have found some solid freshman building blocks for the future. Although their coach seems intent on possibly screwing that up. Sure the Cougars would have loved to have rebuilt with a season like the Utes' 10 win rebuilding season in '09, but the Utes had more in the cupboard than BYU did to start this season. But to look at the 2010 season as anything than a success, means you had unrealistic expectations to begin with. Was It All A Success While the team had a successful year, I'm not so sure you can be as generous when talking about Bronco Mendenhall's season. While Bronco did a great job in the second half of this year, to get this team in position to be in a bowl game, it was largely his fault that they were in such dire straits to begin with. Personally I though 2009 was perhaps Bronco's best while in Provo. 2010 may very well have been his worst. First of all, one must question why they had to go with so many freshman and sophomores to begin with. Where was the recruiting the previous years. Granted turnover is part of College Football, but to travel as many as 60 freshman/sophomores for their first road game is shocking. Beyond that though, was the decision to go with two QB's. It seemed obvious to anyone who saw that Heaps was by far the better QB. It didn't take 4 games and a shoulder surgery to make that obvious. Yet Bronco insisted on sticking with the system. And to make things worse, he would reflect responsibility for the decision as it started going bad. Heaps is the QB of the future for the Cougars. Bronco seemed detached, and disinterested in the first half of the season as his team sputtered to losses. He never seemed willing to take responsibility for it, instead throwing his coordinators under the bus, eventually firing his defensive coordinator. As I said before, I had no problem firing Jaime Hill. I personally think both coordinators should have been let go before the season, but Hill was nothing more than a scapegoat to take blame away from Bronco. However that scapegoating was the turning point. Bronco took over as Defensive Coordinator, and life was breathed back into that unit. Not only that but their seemed to be a change of mentality on the offense as well, relying on the run game to take pressure off of Heaps. Overall, I think Bronco deserves a C for 2010. Vegas Baby, Vegas The Utes have touched down in Vegas and are preparing to get absolutely slaughtered. At least if you listen to everyone that's what you must believe. Utes are a heavy underdog, and not many in the media are giving them a chance. After all, wasn't Utah just a paper champion to get up to #6. They don't have their starting QB. They've been frauds all year. I'm pretty sure more people gave the Utes a chance against Alabama in 2008 than are giving them a chance this year. Granted this team isn't anywhere near as good as they were in 2008, but I wouldn't completely write off the Utes yet. Coach Whittingham has shown, that when given extra time to prepare, he can come up with a good gameplan. Going from Wynn to Cain, is a slight dropoff in talent, and control of the offense. However, the big complaint I've had with the Utes in the latter half of the season, is that they put too much trust in Wynn, and seemed to abandon their workhorse senior running back Maddie Widsiata III. In order to beat the Broncos, the Utes must do two things offensively, control the clock, and not turnover the ball. Cain may actually be the better QB for those two things. Because the coaches don't trust Cain as much to control the entire offense, they will rediscover, and re-focus on the running game. Although, Cain will still need to pull the ball out during the Zone Read once in a while. This doesn't mean Cain won't be asked to throw the ball. The one thing about Cain is, when the offense is geared towards his strengths, he is a very efficient QB. He won't take the same risks that Wynn will. While that means Wynn is more likely to give you big plays, their is also the worry about turnovers. Defensively, the Utes absolutely must get pressure with their front four. They cannot allow Kellen Moore to get comfortable. Pressure with the front four will allow Brandon Burton and Lamar Chapman to put their WR's on an island. It's going to be a tough game, but the Utes are out to prove their season wasn't a fluke. They deserved their 10 wins. The MWC No-Lose Bowl While they won't say it publicly, you can bet that Craig Thompson and the MWC want Boise State to win the Vegas Bowl. They'd rather see their future succeed, and not their past. But the conference, and the worst commissioner in college football are in a position where no matter the outcome they are winners. Either they are sending off one of their best teams as a winner, so they can show the big boys how it's done, or their incoming team will end this season by beating a team that is abandoning the conference to go onto greener pastures. Either way, expect a smiling Craig Thompson at the end of the game. Trackbacks
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