Our little blog has really taken off, with readership growing each day (especially when we tick off SDSU fans). In order to be more effective at reaching more readers and creating more content, we are joining the new sports blog site TornBySports. TornBySports is an opinionated fan blog site that mostly covers Utah area sports (Jazz, Real Salt Lake, Uiversity of Utah, BYU).
So change your bookmark for Rise & Shout to our new Rise & Shout page on TornBySports. We’ll see you there.
– Adam & Matt
Well, it’s nice to get a win. Jake Heaps, congratulations on the TD pass. It was clear you weren’t really sure how to react. I am sure it was a huge relief to get that in there. I’m happy for you but that TD does not erase from anyone’s memory some of the other things that took place out there yesterday. While the scoreboard reflects 25 points for BYU’s offense they are really responsible for 33 points. I mean, I can’t give them credit for the safety, but I can give them credit for the 10 points that Wyoming scored in the second quarter. Unfortunately, those points won’t compute into their numbers for the season.
Seriously though, the offense did score 25 points today which put them well above their average performace on the season. They looked pretty good in the first quarter. In the second quarter they were lackluster. I return to the point I made earlier in the week. The Wyoming defensive staff figured out exactly what they needed to do in order to slow down the offense and Anae failed to adjust. Apparently Bronco Mendenhall sees Jake as potentially the greatest BYU QB of all time. I haven’t seen it yet. That INT in the second quarter was just ridiculous. Jake had at least one if not two better options on that play. He also continues to overthrow recievers on go routes. I’m not saying he won’t be great, I’m just saying that I am not giving him any credit for what he did in high school and I don’t get to watch him in practice. My opinion is based solely on game performance.
On third down the offense was their average 38% (almost the worst in the country on third down). They were 0-4 on third down in the second half. Anae continues to struggle in responding to defensive adjustments. He also continued to call plays on third down that did not make any sense. Running plays off tackle, slants that don’t go across the marker and “two step” draws. They only faced 13 third downs, which seems less than they have previously in the season. During portions of the game, they seemed to do better on first and second down. I don’t have anything empirical to back that up, but it seemed that way watching the game. The play action got a little ridiculous. It was nearly every pass. Play action does not do it’s job if you call it on every down. Anae also needs to stop all of this nonsense where Heaps is dancing and faking and tucking and shucking and jiving in an effort to confuse the defense. You’re confusing the bejeebers out of the kid. Just let him concentrate on throwing the football. All of that stepping around causes the plays to develop too slowly and the blocking schemes don’t withstand that kind of timing. As could have been expected, the offensive numbers looked better. It was Wyoming out there. I didn’t see anything that really showed signs of actual improvement of the system or the execution of the players. The BYU offense held the ball for 10:25 in the second quarter and came away with no points. However, I will note that I like the running back rotation of Quezada, DiLuigi and Kariya. They are all different styles of runners and can all make plays. I also loved hearing the crowd yell, “Juuuuuuice” Every time Quezada touched the ball.
I love defenses coached by Bronco Mendenhall. The defense is continuing to show signs of improvement. Wyoming was 2-12 on third down.They sacked a Wyoming QB 3 times for a loss of 18 yards. The defense appeared enthusiastic and they played with a sense of urgency. The players are sticking to their assignments and trusting their teamates. This is key when the opposing QB, Austin Carta-Samuels, specializes in making something out of broken plays. They contained him when he tried to improvise and they did just enought to shut Wyoming down on their final drive of the game. The two leading tacklers were Ogletree and Hunter. Linebackers should be making most of the tackles. This indicates that the change in defensive scheming and approach is working effectively. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching Andrew Rich wreck people, but he can’t be expected to carry the entire defense all season. I think the linebackers are coming along nicely and have really improved the defense as a unit. The defense backs were very effective breaking up passes down field. Andrew Rich and Brian Logan had some text book pass defending moments. I thought those guys looked pretty good. The offense put the defense in some bad situations in the first half and eventually this allowed Wyoming to claw their way back into the game. This is a team sport and that is going to happen. Again, this was Wyoming, but there is some obvous improvement in the play of the defense and I expect that to conintue every week.
The return game doesn’t seem to miss Chambers at all. In fact, the loss of Chambers may get BYU a step closer to ending the return TD drought.
A win is a win and they all count. It’s good to get one and should help with momentum going into the week off. The rest of the schedule is very manageable and now the team has some confidence in that.
Go Cougs!
-Matt
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I watched alot of the Alabama v. South Carolina game last week. South Carolina was in charge in that game. Alabama made a good effort towards the end, but the fact of the matter is that it was never their game to lose. It was all USC. On paper, USC had no business knocking off the juggernaut Crimson Tide. But that’s why they play the games isn’t it. It’s a game of inches where the difference between the number one team and the number nineteen team is not as big as we all think it is. There are very few unwinnable games in Division I college football.
Coach Saban admitted that he didn’t think that they were the best team in the country. He agreed they were the best last year, but at this point in the 2010 he doesn’t beleive that his team has proved a thing. I agree with him. But we all know that, at this point in the season, much of the top ten is based on last year’s performances. This is the point in the season where we really see what teams are made of. There are two components in action here. Number One: Most teams have not already played three nationally ranked teams. For most schools October is where they start to get to the meat on their schedule. TCU for example has played only one game that was even really contested. That was Oregon State in their opener. Number Two: Teams that have not developed a personality will either do so now or struggle all year. This is the stretch where they define their season. Maintain momentum from September or turn around a losing stretch. After an unexpected performance last week, we are all hoping that BYU is in the “turn this around” category.
In 1991 BYU knocked off number one ranked Miami. It was a win that few expected. Granted, BYU boasted a Heisman Trophy winner on that squad and the team turned out to be very good. But that game was a defining moment for Ty Detmer and that team. This weekend could be a watershed moment for Jake Heaps.
In 1985 UTEP won a single conference game in the WAC. It was against the defending national champion BYU Cougars. UTEP finished that year 1-10. You can’t tell me that BYU beating TCU this weekend is a bigger stretch than UTEP beating BYU in 1985. BYU has been on both ends of this thing.
Michigan vs. Appalachian State 2007. That win surpised more people than BYU over TCU would this weekend. My point is that any team can win any weekend if they come to play.
Last week I thought the Cougs had a slim chance to win the game. But they did exactly what they needed to do and they got it done. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is why they play the games. Every team has to believe they can win any game. The gap in talent and ability at the Division I level is not as big as we all think it is. BYU has proven that they can do what they need to do in crucial moments. They just need to do it consistently. They are starting to show what they are made of. This is the perfect time to get it firing on all cylinders.
Go Cougs!
-Matt
Lavell Edwards Stadium Stadium (Provo, Utah)
4:00 pm MST
Kickoff forecast: 63 degrees, sunny
The Cougars are coming off of their worst start in nearly forty years. Meanwhile, the Aztecs are off to one of their best starts in about thirty years. While historically BYU has held the advantage in the series, heading into this game the advantage appears to belong to San Diego State. Interestignly enough, SDSU’s last big win came against Utah State.
SDSU’s has put up big numbers all year. Granted three of their four games were against the likes of Nicholls State, New Mexico State and Utah State. Their one loss was to Missouri in a close game. However one point that can’t be ignored: BYU just lost to that same team that SDSU beat 41-7. In the Utah State game their quarterback, Ryan Lindley, threw for over 300 yards and their leading wideout Vincent Brown had 177 receiving yards. In short, they destroyed USU. USU defeated BYU handily. SDSU is also coming off of a bye week where Defensive Coordinator Rocky Long has been able to spend extra time scheming for this game. BYU is in a little bit of trouble here.
I find it interesting that in the Homecoming game Bronco Mendenhall is returning to defensive coordinator responsibilities. It seems like that is a great place for this Head Coach. To run the team and run the defense on game day. It seems like a return to the roots of what has made the Mendenhal era successful. But then again, I’ve always held out hope for the Cougs.
BYU is struggling (classic understatement). While my personal opinion is that the team has been underachieving, I am not sure even Bronco Mendenhall can turn this ship around in a week. The good news is that they should continue to improve. Unfortunately, it will likely not be enough to carry the day. Andrew Rich may still play, but is injured and his performance will suffer as a result. Travis Uale will get the nod for the injured Steven Thomas. Matt Putnam will be starting at defensive end as the defensive line continues to shuffle a little following the loss of Romney Fuga. Putnam is a player that many thought would be a starter this year. This weekend he should be able to perform as a starting caliber player for this team. Due to Jordan Pendleton’s injury there will be some continued rotation at the linebacker spots. Shane Hunter has been very solid in the middle and I’ve also liked Austen Jorgensen and Brandon Ogletree. The defense will miss Pendleton, there is no way around that. This is an opportunity for some of the other linebackers to step up and prove that they are going to be reliable in the transforming defense. As a defensive player, you can’t ask for a better chance than this. A new defensive coordinator and wide open roster spots. Hopefully the extra motivation will translate into improved performance. San Diego State has averaged over 500 yards of offense per game. If they do that this weekend, BYU will not win the game. The defense needs to keep them in the range of points that Missouri did. Missouri held them to 24 points. They have scored at least 40 on every other opponent. The BYU offense is not ready to win a game where the defense gives up 40+ points.
Jake Heaps is another game along and another weeks worth of practices better. The more he gets those starting reps the better he will be. By all accounts, he has very solid potential. BYU will not win this game if they can’t score around 30 points. They will not get into the endzone that many times if the receivers continue to drop passes. The dropped passes are only compounded by the frequency at which Jake Heaps launches the ball 10-15 yards too far down the field. If it hits you in the hands, catch it. That’s the rule. If you can’t do that, play defense. O’Neill Chambers has had alot to say after returning from suspension. I used to really like that about him. Now I just want someone, anyone at all, to catch a couple of passes. Speaking of looking for someone to count on, I see no reason that JJ DiLuigi cannot match the kinds of numbers he has put up all year. The question on offense is whether or not the other 10 guys on the field can put something together. If not, this will be an ugly matchup and BYU will have to hand out paper bags a la the ‘aints of Archie Manning fame. Somehow, a potential loss to SDSU feels like the worst insult so far this year.
BYU can win this game at 27-24. If they let SDSU get rolling early, it will get ugly. If the BYU offense stalls the entire first half, it will be a difficult game to watch. Can BYU beat San Diego State? Absolutely. Will they? I’ll give them a 35% chance. Unfortunately, this may be the last time BYU plays SDSU for a few years. Brady Hoke has stated that SDSU is not interesting in playing an independent BYU. I would feel the same way if a team held a series lead of 26-7-1 over my team. But this weekend, the only game that matters is this one.
Go Cougars!
-Matt
BYU announced today that they have completed a deal with Utah that includes a two year home and away football series and a similar four year basketball series. This tells us that the BYU-Utah game will be played for at least another two years. The only way to make this work beyond this season was to play the football game in September. I think that the rivalry needed a little bit of a facelift, maybe this will do it.
There are parts of this rivalry that I love. There are parts of this rivalry that have started to feel a little stale. Both sides have lost their minds a little in the past few years. Playing this game early in the season creates a whole different feel to it. I like it. It becomes a tone setter for the season. It will be a big game atmosphere early in the season that should help the Cougars working through their independent schedule. If BYU didn’t have to play Oregon State and Texas on the road in 2011 before they came home to face Utah, I would like it even more. However, as an independent team, the schedule in September is probably always going to look like that. It’s a great way to kick off the season. I would like it even better if they played it Labor Day weekend as the first game of the season.
Let’s face it. This game is a non conference game for Utah and a game against a middle of the Pac-12 school for BYU. It won’t carry the weight of a conference championship or BCS berth implications the same way it has in recent years. The game becomes about BYU and Utah again. Which I prefer. Perpetuating the rivalry is good for BYU’s football scheduling as it provides a consistent opponent. The game will likely be on ESPN every year and as an early rivalry will receive some extra attention in the national media. That exposure will be good for BYU.
I like this in basketball for the same reasons that I like it for football. It may be more important in basketball for recruiting. But I think we learned today that BYU can still land big recruits as a member of the WCC. It will likely be nationally televised and creates a big game atmosphere for the team early on. That factor is probably more important in hoops than on the gridiron.
This move is one of the last pieces in a shift for the relationship between BYU and Utah. It is going to become less symbiotic and the rivalry will move in a slightly different direction. I think that will be good for both programs. I am already looking forward to watching this game in September.
-Matt
Follow us on twitter @byu_riseshout
Photo by David Mangum
It sounds like the departure of Jaime Hill was bound to happen at some point. By all accounts he was in the middle of conflicts with other coaches and players. He has never been in any one job as long as he lasted at BYU. It appears he has Crowtonitis. He is a specialist coach, not a big picture guy. Crowton is an offensive coordinator, not a head coach. Jaime Hill is a secondary coach not a Defensive Coordinator. In my opinion, BYU needs new coordinators on both sides of the ball. The only reason Hill went first was that BYU already had the best candidate for the job on staff. His name is Bronco Mendenhall. There was no need to search for another coach. There wasn’t going to be a band aid solution through the end of the year. Hill’s situation was inherently more precarious than Anae’s. Anae may be fired at the end of the year, or he may last indefinitely. It appears that the decision will rest in Bronco’s hands. I trust Bronco Mendenhall. He is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to BYU football. He needed to make this change.
Points allowed is not a perfect diagnostic for defensive success, but humor me for a minute. Bronco came on board in 2003 as the defensive coordinator. From that time on, the team showed improvement almost every year from the year before. The number of points allowed almost always went down. There are two exceptions to this trend: 2005, The first year Bronco was juggling both jobs (HC and DC), and 2007, the last year Bronco was the DC. In 2006, the Cougars only allowed 191 points. That was the best year for points allowed since 1998 (182). (Ken Scmidt had a great run in the late 1990’s: 1997-181, 1998-182, 1999-191). In 2007, Bronco’s defense gave up 241 points. That’s fifty more points than the previous year. Bronco held himself responsible for the change and essentially fired himself. He decided it was not fair to wear both hats if he couldn’t get it done. He went out and hired Jaime Hill. Jaime’s defense gave up 285 points in 2008 and 280 points in 2009. So far in 2010 the defense has given up 144 points. They are on track to give up 345 points or so. If Bronco fired himself for 241 points, of course he’ll fire Jaime for 345 (that’s over a 100 point difference!). The last time the Cougars gave up that many (333 in 2002), Ken Schmidt, the DC at the time, retired.
I could get into yards allowed, turnover margins, win/losses and all those kinds of things, but I think you get the point here. Let’s talk about intangibles for a minute. In 2003 when Bronco Mendenhall was hired there were a few things I noticed watching the games. The first was discipline. After every play, each player returned to their basic positons and their heads were all facing the sidelines. They received signals from the coach and their heads snapped back towards the line of scrimmage. They were in position and waiting when the offense lined up. It was like watching a well choreographed military procession. They didn’t react to crowds, opponents, or refs. Only each other. They acted like a unit with a leader. Another thing I noticed is that they hit people hard. When they hit, they used good form tackling and they put the hurt on opponents. They swarmed to the football. A ball carrier was usually hit several times. Lastly, they executed their individual assignments and trusted teammates to do the same. I seem to remember talk about the intensity of Bronco’s practices when he first came to BYU. When he took over as HC, many players on the offense became nervous about what he was going to put them through. They had watched him demand so much from that defensive unit. This is what this team needs right now. They are down and may feel that they are out. They need someone to help them get up, dust themselves off and move forward with some real conviction. Bronco’s record speaks for itself. Based on all of the things that have gone wrong with this team this year this is the course of action to take.
Yesterday, Bronco said a few things that got me fired up again. “Adversity and challenges bring out not only the best but the worst in people and also forces you to look hard at everything you’re doing and how you’re doing it, but maybe more importantly why you’re doing it. In terms of redefining, I’ve got to be able to continue to inspire, motivate and get to our team’s heart and have them play from a place our previous teams have played from and exhibit more soul.” Bronco will motivate the soul out of these guys. If you know what I mean.
Bronco is at the core of recent success and felt that he was getting a little too far removed from what has lead to that success. He stated, “…quite frankly at my seat as being the head coach, I was not having enough influence, not being able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and arm-in-arm and have the players see the work ethic and the modeling I think our team really needs. I consider my influence on the defense my strength and where I can have the most leverage and it’s where I think I can influence our program the most for the rest of the season.” Opportunities for Bronco to model that work ethic will be a key component to this team’s success. He can get players to play above what they see as their limit. Bronco’s personal influence is what makes his whole approach work.
And my personal favorite. “As a leader, there are pivotal times where there become, you can call them feelings, instincts, promptings, whatever you’d like, and that’s exactly what I felt and I chose to act on it immediately. I don’t expect it to be popular with anyone other than I think I did the right thing for myself and for our program. It certainly was not easy and it doesn’t mean I don’t care for Coach Hill and his family because I do.” I feel like this sums up Bronco’s entire approach and it also explains why I am not the only person in Cougar Nation that loves having him as the Head Coach.
I anticipate some immediate improvements defensively. At first, the only discernible difference will be a level of intensity, focus and effort that we haven’t seen all year. The stats may not get better as quickly. BYU may lose to SDSU and the TCU game will likely be hard to watch. However, by the end of the year we’ll be looking at a completely different defensive unit. I hope that Bronco is able to stay in the dual role of HC/DC for seasons to come. It is where he belongs, where he appears to be most comfortable and most importantly where he can have the greatest impact.
Go Cougars!
-Matt
Romney Stadium (Logan, Utah)
6:00 pm MST
Kickoff forecast: 86 degrees, sunny
Since beating BYU 20-17 in 1982, Utah State has won only once: a 56-53 win in 1993 in Logan. That’s 20-1 for BYU in a 27-year span. Without getting too flippant, the Aggies have had a little trouble with the Cougars over the past couple of decades.
During most of this time period (and certainly recently), USU hasn’t really had a good program, bouncing around conferences and losing a bucket full of games. Yes, Gary Anderson has done an admirable job in his season + at the helm, but this is still a program deep in rebuilding, and being left behind in the weakened WAC will only set the program back further.
As far as this match-up is concerned, Utah State is a balanced and decent offensive team. They do not have the explosive speed on offense the Cougars have seen against Florida State and Nevada, but they mix the ball around with 2-3 RBs, and senior QB Diondre Borel (yes, that is his stage name) can be dangerous with his legs, but is sometimes inaccurate. Mobile QBs have hurt BYU so far this season, and no doubt Borel will take advantage of that.
Defensively the Aggies are struggling. They’re giving up almost 33 points and 400 yards per game. This could be the prescription Jake Heaps and the Cougars offense needs. I believe that the offense will get it going. We could see Jake’s first 300-yard game, and Di Luigi may approach 200 yards total offense.
In my recent season prediction update, I put BYU’s win probability at 80%, and since I just wrote that a couple of days ago, I’m sticking to it. BYU will final put it together offensively, winning 38-17 and building momentum for the rest of the conference schedule.
– Adam
A few notes about Max Hall, many of which are not going to be a surprise to most of you:
Why do I share this? Because Max Hall was a very good QB, ranking up there with the Cougar greats. Someday soon I will rank them, but for today, our discussion is about QB transitions. After each great QB, BYU has been forced to move on. This post is about how the next QB has fared.
Replacing Gifford Nielsen 1975-77.
Giff was the first great. He took the Cougars to WAC titles and a bowl game. How was the next QB? It went very smoothly. He was replaced by Marc Wilson, who bettered Nielsen in many categories and also moved on to the NFL.
Replacing Jim McMahon 1978-81.
McMahon and Wilson were intertwined, as their careers heavily overlapped. But McMahon was better, and his 1980 season was one of the greatest collegiate seasons of all time. He led the nation in total offense. He threw 47 TD passes. And he engineered one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA history by beating SMU 46-45 in the Holiday Bowl to finish the season 12-1. In 1981 BYU was 11-2. How could you beat that?
Well, actually, you couldn’t, not in 1982 anyway. Yes, Steve Young was his replacement. But his 1982 was a huge step down from McMahon. The Cougars finished 8-4, and Young threw 18 INTs against only 18 TD passes. Of course, he would be pretty darn good in 1983.
Replacing Steve Young, 1982-83
As mentioned above, Young was awesome in 1983, guiding the Cougars to an 11-1 record. Like some of his predecessors, he would lead the nation in total offense. And he was electrifying as duel-threat QB who was one of the fastest players on the field in every game.
His replacement was Robbie Bosco, who would only go on to win a national championship the following season.
Replacing Robbie Bosco, 1984-85
As mentioned above, 1984 was awesome. A perfect 13-0. A national championship. And Bosco led the nation in total offense. He followed that up in 1985 with an 11-3 season, another WAC title, and finishing, at the time, second to McMahon in almost every meaningful statistical category.
1986 was the worst QB transition to that point. Though Young struggled in 1982, the payoff in 1983 was huge. Steve Lindsley? Not the same payoff. He threw more interceptions than TDs (12-16) and would only start one year. Bob Jensen and Sean Covey followed in 1987 with similar results.
Replacing Ty Detmer, 1988-91
Ty Detmer holds a lot of BYU records. He won a Heisman trophy. In 1990, he led the Cougars to a 28-21 victory over then No. 1 Miami. Though his time at BYU was not the winningest time in Cougar football history, his career might have been the best.
1992 and 1993 were disastrous at the QB position. Ryan Hancock was not the answer during BYU’s 8-5 season. And Tom Walsh, though entertaining in an unintentional way, then led BYU to a 6-6 season in 1993, its first .500 or below season in 20 years. Not good.
Steve Sarkisian, 1995-96
Walsh plays into the next story, as he was followed by juco transfer, and friend, Sarkisian. 1996 was one of BYU’s finest seasons– a 14-1 record, a WAC title, and a Cotton Bowl victory over Kansas State. And the Cougars finished No. 5 in the country.
1997 was a big step down. The team finished 6-5, didn’t get a bowl invite, and the team’s best QB, Kevin Feterik, missed some time due to injury, pressing into service the lesser talents of Drew Miller and the highly touted Paul Shoemaker. Feterik would rebound with better seasons in 1998 and 1999, but he would not match Sark’s success.
Replacing Brandon Doman, 2000-01
Doman is an interesting person on this list. He’s 14th on the all-BYU passing yards list. He only had 35 career TD passes, 28 less than Feterik. But at the end of 2000 and through 2001, Doman was a man possessed. Doman took over as the starter in game 11 of a 6-6 2000 season, leading BYU to victories over New Mexico and a thriller over Utah. And then he had a great 2001 season: 12-2, 3500 yards, 33-8 TDs-Ints, 456 yards rushing (and 8 more TDs). He was electrifying and finished 14-2 as a starter.
And in case you thought Lindsley and Walsh were as low as you could go, Brett Engemann and Matt Berry did they best to change your mind in 2002. The Cougars finished a miserable 5-7, and it was the beginning of the end for head coach Gary Crowton. Berry and Engemann would combine for 13 TDs and 17 Ints.
Conclusion
What’s the morale of this story? There really isn’t one. No one knows what Heaps or Nelson will bring. Are they more Bosco and Young, or Shoemaker and Clements? The 2010 season (and likely 2011 and 2012) hang on the answer to that question.
Adam
Rise and Shout 