I like your story but I have to doubt it. No offense intended.

Great Idea. Technically they did.

My nephew and a colleague of his who both played soccer in Texas both tried out for the team in spring open tryouts. He tells me that he kicked 55 yarders consistently. His friend kicked 60 yarders but not as consistently. He claimed of all the players who were trying out, he was the most consistent. The coach later told him that ‘they don’t like soccer players on the football team’ and that is the reason they did not let him play. Our kicking game had options. They apparently just weren’t willing to pursue them.

I asked him why he didn’t just tell the coach to then ‘teach me, if you don’t like my style’. He said he should have. The kid still goes to BYU. Quinn or Mark, if you still have any influence with the team, this is still an option that is obviously better than what we are presently using. If you need more contact info, email me.

I can see why people my age have doubts about our team. I have doubts. I can see in TV and sportswriter coverage that the BYU program has a lot of respect because of the decades leading up to where we are now. Put 10 win seasons the last 3 seasons means something. Since I started paying attention to college football, BYU has been so so on non-conference games. Just last season our team was exploding with excitement at beating a mediocre Washington by 1 point.

I too want to temper my excitement because this Mendenhall thing has just started, so to speak. As BYU and other MWC teams keep winning key games though, I’ll start tooting my horn at the BCS and how my BYU team can challenge any team in the country.

I now understand the genesis of your comments. You haven’t been a fan long enough to realize how small the margin is between BYU and the BCS AQ gliteratti. Given that you have only been a fan since 2001, you have spent about 1/2 of your time as a Cougar fan during our worst era since the 70s. Since that is the case, it is clear to me why you don’t think we have the talent to compete. Even during those years we had talent but not on the same level as our current group or the teams from 1980-1998. We have been on the same talent level as the top leagues for a long time but your perspective is understandable. Stick around a little and you’ll see what I mean.

Good comments and good discussion.

I am jealous that you get to be at the game.

I respectfully disagree that the talent at BYU (top to bottom) is on par with the big dogs. And that goes to the heart of my comments, that we have to realize who we are. Yeah, we have a few guys each year that can play in the league. But our strength is in maturity, discipline, and team play, not in athleticism. Our speedsters are possession receivers in the NFL, our running backs are fullbacks in the NFL.

I will sum up my point like this: I love BYU and I think that we have some really good teams from time to time, but usually (this year is somewhat of an exception b/c of OU, FUS, TCU and UU appear decent early in the year) we will not have the opportunity to prove that we deserve a consistent shot at a national title because our league is SOOOO bad.

I will also admit that I am being hard on the Cougs, a position I would never take with non-BYU fans. My motive was to put perspective into a fan base that since 2001 (when I started at BYU and became a fan) has been very quick to VASTLY OVERRATE the team’s talent.

LET’S BEAT THE NOLES.

SEC: 2,4,15,25 (4 teams)
Big12: 1,3,7,13,21 (5 teams)
Big10: 8,10,18,23 (4 teams)
Big East: 12,20 (2 teams)
ACC: 14,19,24 (3 teams)
Pac10: 5,17

MWC: 6,11,16 (3 teams)
WAC: 9 (1 team)
Mid-American: 22 (1 team)

So, the top 3 teams in our league are seen and recognized nationally more than Big East, ACC and Pac10 and arguably on par with the Big 10. Additionally, if MWC repeats last year’s success against BCS schools we will earn our way into the BCS in 2012. So, your opinion that BYU or the MWC is not respected on the national level will be changed in 2 years when the MWC champion gets an automatic BCS bid.

Additionally, if OU wins the Big 12, it will add strength to the argument that BYU could do the same.

On to FSU, wow this is a scary game. Hope someone in LES will be screaming for me!!!

Ki

I’m not sure why ppl say they are concerned about our RBs. Am I the only one that was amazed at the depth we have that position? They look awesome to me, and I don’t care if it is against Tulane. When our third string can run tough, I’m happy. Of course, much of our running success can be attributed to excellent blocking, and I am grateful that Tonga is back! Max made completions to 12 different receivers!! That is what everyone was complaining about last year. Furthermore, he has improved his eye control to decoy defenders. Max is a legitimate contender for heisman this year. I’m loving how good our team looks.

I don’t want to see any more O-lineman get injured this year. They got to survive so we can maintain the brick wall. I hope our injured players can recover wholly and quickly.

I really believe that our 5 interception debacle against Utah last year was a fluke. That will never happen again. We will beat FSU in our own house! No way we are gonna let the Free Shoe Felons beat us. Those guys are fast, but I’m sick of hearing how slow our D is. That just isn’t true. We’ve lost weight with our linebackers and they are quick. The Noles are not gonna be able to score off of kick returns like they could against Miami. They will have to earn every point.

Above all else, I want a Utah spanking this year. We haven’t been able to get full revenge against the Utards in a long time. I’m hoping this is the year we give them the beating they deserve!

Go COUGS!!!

First note, Tulane is young at key positions, and undersized at key positions but they are not slow. They are fast. They recruit speed guys and have a lot of them. Look at their current and recent rosters. They routinely have a top tier athlete or two who gets drafted in the first or second round. Their RBs, WRs, and DBs are regularly very fast and skilled. They looked slower than they actually are because they are regularly out of position and got tired of getting hit.

Second note, OU is not a bad football team and may be a very good football team. They had some athletes that were better than ours but not many. We have our share of physical specimens. If you doubt me, ask some former Cougars who played in the NFL or went to NFL camps if they saw tons of athletes that were way better than anyone at BYU.

Finally, you seem to have purchased a bill of goods sold to you by the bad guys. It seems to me that you are nothing but a shill and sycophant for those who think there is no way Houston can compete with OSU, or BYU can’t compete in the Big XXII. Go and take a look at BYU’s record against the Big XXII since its inception. If you like, go all the way back to 1974 and the beginning of the modern era of college football at BYU. You will find that BYU’s athletes compare favorably with that conference. Stop buying into the hype and stop denigrating the athleticism of our players.