Deep Shades of Blue

I hesitated in writing this one, but after reading some of the crap that was out there about G I thought it would be appropriate to hopefully give some Cougar fans a clean break.

G isn’t going to SDSU or any other MWC team. He is tranfering to Washington State. He will remain a Cougar, but with a few less wins. G’s family has been in contact with the WSU coaching staff and G feels like it will be a good transition for him personally.

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Colorado State has a fairly young offense and at times it shows. For the most part they run a basic offensive scheme. Their quarterback is under center a lot, which means they are always a threat to run play action. In the run game they use two backs so you are always facing fresh legs. They also use their TE’s in different positions depending on where they feel the match-up is in their favor.

One thing I noticed about their scheme is that when they are in the shotgun they throw the ball, but if they are having problems with the rush they use the split back formation - using the two running backs as additional blockers.

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Doug Pensiger/Getty Images

The Colorado State defense has been about as consistent as a defense could be, especially in limiting offense’s big play. They use well-schemed pressures and athletes in different positions in order to create mismatches. Sometimes their scheming works and sometimes it hurts them. Early this season the defense had to play a lot of snaps and learned quickly that if they don’t give up the big plays their team will have late opportunities to win the game. They are also a “bend, not break” type of defense.

Scheme:

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This has been a rather crazy week!!  I tore some ligaments in my foot in last week’s game against the Steelers and so I haven’t had a ton of time for my weekly entry. The last couple days have been complete with X-Rays, MRIs, Doctor visits and much treatment in the team training room.  I included a picture of the play I was hurt on and as you can see I’m very fortunate and VERY grateful I wasn’t injured worse.  I should add - it is making great progress, and it looks as though I’ll be able to play this in this week’s big divisional rivalry game against ‘Americas Team’ - the Cowboys.  Anyway, I decided it would be both easier for me and a good time to reply to some of the questions and comments that have been asked in the comments section of Quinn’s blog:

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When I -Markell- am asked about CSU down the road, I will remember three things:
1)The Power run game with pulling guards.
2)Always running to the same O-Linemen (They had strong and weak Guards and Tackles, not left and right. They would rotate to where the majority of the runs went)
3)Scissors. Coach Mendenhall would have the scout team running that route every other play.

But each year had it’s own memories as well…

In 2004 I was a walk-on freshman and converted LB, previously a safety. I had started the first two games of the season, but I wasn’t ready for the college game yet. I hadn’t figured out the (more…)

There have been quite a number of inquiries as to how John Beck is feeling about his experiences in the NFL thus far.  In an answer to these requests I -Markell- interviewed John to find out what the former BYU QB is up to in Miami Florida.

To answer this question John shared with me the advice he got from Chad Lewis when John was a sophomore.  Chad told John, “No matter what your goals are, no matter what mountain you want to climb, as long as you keep stepping you will reach the top.”  That is what John is doing in Miami. He is approaching each day as another opportunity to keep climbing the mountain.

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Players that want to be coddled and want to be catered to don’t come, and some are good LDS players,” Cougars fourth-year coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “We want them to be passionate about the chance to play at BYU. I really don’t have much time for those that want to be convinced.
“I think it’s degrading as a coach to try to convince an 18-year-old young man why he should come to your place. I know that’s contrary to most recruiting thoughts, but I like young men that know what they want and are willing to pursue it, and they convince others of where they’re going in life.”

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So fall of ‘07 I’m sitting at football practice and Greg Wrubell, the KSL play-by-play commentator, approaches me and asks, “Nate, have you ever thought about getting into broadcasting?  James Dye can no longer do the sideline reporting due to his business pursuits and we need someone to take his place.  We’d pay for your trips to every game, give you a little extra money as payment for your services, and just ask that you don’t miss a single game.  You’d be watching the game from the sidelines and would just talk about what you see happening from field level.”

So you’re telling me I can make a little money watching my friends play football?  Not to mention the free vacations with my wife every fall?  It’s not all gravy though.  Try and interview Coach Mendenhall at half time of TCU when we are losing 23-0.

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The corner position is becoming frustrating. In my eyes it isn’t just our coverage that needs help, but our pass rush is having just as many problems. Coverage and pressure go hand and hand. Until our DL and LB’s can get some pressure we will consistently give up a lot of yards through the air.

Here is something to think about: This is our third year running this defense. Teams now understand what we are doing and they know how to beat our schemes. The first year of the scheme change our defense was very good, but all the concepts and coverages were new to our opponents. The second year our defense had one whole year of experience under their belts and also had a few extra wrinkles in coverages and blitzes. This year, opponents are used to (more…)

Teams are taking advantage of our teams lack of sideline to sideline speed. Personally I think we are OK up the middle, but when our linebackers are in space is when they struggle.

The “Mike” and the “Backer” are the two players on the team that should be counted on to make the most plays –more specifically the Mick. The defense is schemed around the Mick linebacker. He has the most opportunities to blitz and also has D-linemen in front of him so he is free to make plays in the running game.

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