I have been delaying this post for obvious reasons, but I have to be objective and give respect where respect is due. The team up north is playing good football. Their defense continues to shut down opponent’s running backs and secure good field position for their offense.

I am going to be honest, whoever is Coaching the offense needs to spend a little time with the defensive side of the ball. It is no wonder that the previous UNVL games have been close -with the exception of the Utah game. In the three games that I watched I didn’t see one player or play stand out for positive reason. I don’t want to be all negative because they did beat Arizona State, but if ASU’s linemen were auditioning for the clown circus that night and well….they got …

One way that Coach Mendenhall has differentiated himself from other national programs is with the institution of a leadership council. (Don’t get me wrong I am sure there are other teams in the country, which have something similar.) I believe that this leadership council -which is comprised of players from each position group, voted on by their peers- got together early this week to discuss how they where going to improve before this weeks game.
Having been in these meetings I would expect that Coach Mendenhall gave a few suggestions and …

UNLV is a much-improved team under the 4th year of Coach Sanford. Their execution has improved year to year and they are playing a lot harder.  Just a couple of years ago this team lacked the heart necessary to win close games. This year they have demonstrated both the play making ability and the desire needed to improve upon their previous years records.
Coach Sanford’s team does a lot of things that could potentially give our Cougars some problems.

What would we do without the internet? My posts this week have been very serious and if there is one thing we all need -Paul Jones- it’s a little laughter. Enjoy.
Do you all remember your favorite character from Nacho Libre? He was round and lent Nacho his stretchy pants. Yes, our good friend Cancho. Well he has grown up, grew a mustache and is now a bowling ball of a running back.

“The greater purpose…
A bit over a week into camp we had the opportunity to see an early screening of a football movie that wasn’t due out for another 2 months.  It came on one of our rare half days (a momentous occasion wherein we only had meetings, practice and football half the day) so it presented a bit of a dilemma – go to the theater and watch this movie which may or may not be cheesy (it sounded cheesy and cheaply made), using up several hours of precious free …

The best thing about this discussion is I no longer have to hope that the Utes win. I don’t care if they win, and I don’t have to continue the charade. It was a depressing time in my life, but it’s over. They will from now, until we beat them in Nov., be referred to as the “team up North” -MUSS, get a new name and red makes you look fat.
This discussion -while not as sexy as before- is still relevant. We can technically still be eligible for a BCS …

To be honest I am a little worried about how the team is going to handle the TCU loss. There are a lot of young players on the team. There are also a lot of players that haven’t lost very many games. I think that if the coaches and leaders aren’t careful the Cougars could end up dropping a couple games down this final stretch. I hope that the leaders of the team do not see the loss as the end of the season. I hope they instead recommit to …

This man has been a force in the comments section of the blog and continues to provide insightful and emotional comments. Thanks Markell, and keep it up!!!
“Who Am I and What Am I Doing:
My name is Markell Staffieri, formerly #36.  Right now I am living in San Diego, CA working as a partner with my father as a financial planner, managing small pension plans and investments, as well as doing life insurance for our clients.  It is a job that I never knew I would …

I have been a little frustrated by Max’s performances in the past few games, but let’s not jump off the bandwagon. Max is a very solid quarterback that is going to leave BYU with one of the best winning percentages in school history. He is also the second installment of the new “Quarterback Factory”, which went missing for a few years until John Beck re-established BYU as a quarterback school. Max has played a lot of games, but is still a work in progress. He makes mistakes -just like every …

Let’s look at the spread formation with an athletic player taking a direct snap. Something tells me BYU fans will be seeing this in the future.
This formation is difficult to defend for numerous reasons:

It cause the defense to spread out and defend the whole field, which leaves running lanes all over the field.
The formation demands that the defense play a more coverage oriented scheme because of the need to cover the possible route combinations.
It leaves almost limitless possibilities to the offensive coordinators playbook. Throw, pass, option, sweep, off tackle run, …

I directly link the passion and fun of playing the game with the players abilities to make plays. If you want to know why our games have felt and looked mundane on the field it is because there aren’t plays being made. I want you to think about Thursday nights game……
When did you see a player excited, smiling or pumped about what had just transpired. I’m thinking along with you and I can’t remember one. Wait… I think I remember Max trying to jump in the air after he scored, …

Wow, I was encouraged by all of the comments I have been reading. I love the fact that there are so many fans with their own opinions and we can all read them objectively and then offer our own opinions. The comments from the previous post are very informative. For me, it’s good to read what people are really watching during the game it provides me with a new perspective to the game. Thanks!!
A reoccurring theme of a lot of the comments was the Bronco-ism of treating every game/opponents the …

The one thing I didn’t mention in the Post Game wrap-up was the turnovers, which came early and often. I didn’t talk about them in the wrap-up because my post was turning into a novel. What hurt us the most last night were the turnovers came early in drives, which resulted in exceptional field position for the TCU offense. They were also very ugly turnovers. The defenders were just sitting there waiting for the interception, and the fumbles are a result of lack of concentration.
We put our defense is bad positions all night …

This game was defining for all the wrong reasons. The streak is over, the -not a quest for a perfect season- Quest for a perfect season and the hopes of a BCS game have been dashed on the rocks of frustration and humility at the hands of the Frogs. That game was hard to watch and is hard to write about. Normally I look for the positives of our teams performance, but after last night I can only wait to see what happens next week. It was a serious slap …