Just a little more about BYU’s offense.
I don’t want to kick a dead horse, but since the final game didn’t end the way anyone wanted it to -except the Utes- I still need to address some things.
(Some of these points have been talked about in comments, but I don’t know if everyone goes back and reads the comments or clicks the box to receive a threaded comment email.)
The first thing that made me optimistic for the bowl game -and possible next year- were the “new” plays designed to get the ball into Austin’s hands. I think most recognized the significants of Coach Anae’s small deviation from his normal play calling and it’s pleasing results. Whatever team we play in a bowl game is now going to allocate some time during the week in order to figure out solutions to those additional plays. Sure some teams will have solutions in place, but it still presents problems that a defense has to address in their week of preparation, and each minute not spent defending our normal game day package, is time gained by BYU’s coaching staff and players. It doesn’t seem like much, but every bit helps when preparing a defense to defend a good offense.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the offense was the decline of BYU’s offensive consistency. In recent years the BYU offense has been effective because of their ability to sustain offensive possession, forcing opponents to alter their own play calling and defensive strategy. During the beginning of the year BYU’s offense established its dominance with 8-12 play drives that resulted in TD’s. Those drives are demoralizing to a defense and effect every aspect of an opponents game play.
This years offenes began to rely on the long ball more and more as the season progressed, which eventually resulted in our offense being somewhat one dimensional toward the end of the year. Yet, this predictability produced a great year from almost every “player” involved. (Max, Austin, Pitta and Unga….do you see what I mean?) So I really can’t complain, but I would again enjoy seeing an offense that could methodically shove the ball down opponents throats, without an Austin Collie bomb.
As always offensive fire power begins up front with the 300+ers. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had four offensive linemen on the All-Conference teams. I don’t really want to single players out because there’s only one player that wouldn’t make the cut…..so I’ll let you decided who I am thinking of.
Feinga, D. Reynalds and Travis Bright all have legitimate shots and having solid careers in the NFL. I think the only team that out played our O-line was the Horned Frogs, and they’ll probably have three or four All-Conference defensive players themselves.
From guard to guard I don’t think their is a more intimidating threesome. Plus, you only need to observe their quarterback’s season statistics to understand they provided Max with great time, passing lanes and pockets so he could find his targets down field. They also paved a 1000 yards of green real estate for Harvey so he could achieve another thousand yard season.
F-UUUUUUU-IIIIIIII, I am excited to see what professional team will give him a shot at full back. Fui could play a long time in the league because of his size, strength and speed. Couple those measurable with Fui’s lust for contact and you have a player that can block and play every special team. I hope he gets his shot and I wish him the best of luck.
With the kind of year Austin Collie had I would expect him to jump to the NFL. I see too many reasons for him to go. He doesn’t have anything else to prove in college and if he waits another year there are too many things that could go wrong.
There would be two knocks on Austin if he came out after this year, his age and his 40 yard dash. He can’t change his age, and his forty can improve with the proper training. One good thing that Austin has is a great family that can council with him and help him make the best decision for himself and his family. I say go chase the dream and make that paper, and please don’t get injured during the bowl game. If you are near the sideline and two guys have you in their sights, step out of bounds…it’s the smart thing to do.
If I know Max I would expect him to flip a 180 during the next couple of week and he’ll be more then ready for the bowl game. Max’s fall from grace has been well documented the past few days and I think a break from the norm will be just what he needs to forget about his Utah performance and instead prepare himself for his senior campaign. Expectations will be sky high for next years team and it will all start with the quarterback position. With two starting years under his belt, and a combined four years in the system. Max should be a more mature and capable leader, teammate and quarterback.
I just hope he stops getting those penalties. Hopefully he’ll learn how to focus and concentrate that competitive fire, which could only help in positioning BYU as a BCS hopeful.
I will say this about Max, he has developed some running skillz as of late. He has shown me a new dimension to his game with the ability to scramble and make defenders miss. Just don’t go thinking your Mike Vick and end up face down in a USC linebackers lap.
J.K., John…I just remembered when he used to joke about being like Mike Vick, and than his subsequent concussion when those dreams didn’t come true. The days on the plaid couches where great. 
BYU fans have been spoiled with the offenses success in the past four years. Next year BYU will be breaking in some new skill players and a couple offensive linemen. The talent level is on par with this years team, but there is always that stinking experience factor, which can be elevated with guys sticking around during the summer. Next years offense has potential, but will take time to develop.
Thanks goodness for the additional practices due to the bowl game, and spring football. I think Cougar fans will either be very excited or very apprehensive about next years offense.
Which one are you??
re: Collie returning. I thought his response to the question “are you coming back?” was revealing. Reflex answer was ‘of course’, but then he equivocated, suggesting that leaving is a real possibility.
Will you be back next year?
“Definitely. Well, right now it is not something I am concerned with. Just concerned with getting better and [helping] my team out the best way possible.”
I know Collie is probably going to the NFL, and we’ll all wish him well if he does. But how great would it be if he came back for his senior year to finish what he started here?! He could set records that would never be touched at BYU. He’d be much more involved in the running game next year, now that those plays are out there for other teams to see. And we have a schedule that would give him a big stage to do it on, especially if we add Oklahoma instead of Tulane.
Whatever he decides to do, he is the best receiver we’ve ever had here.
As far as Anae’s play calling, those new plays were amazing. I had heard from players that Anae is an offensive genius, but we never really saw it. I hope he opens it up from now on, even though I’ll never get sick of Pitta running his option route or Unga reading the LB and catching the ball at full speed.
I would say I’m cautiously optimistic about our offense next year and this is with or without Collie. The big question mark is how well the new O-line will gel together. If they pick up where this year’s line left off then we will have a dynamite offense. I’m hoping Jacobsen will be fit enough to play next year but if not we still have Chambers and Ashworth. Hopefully, Manase will be back and we’ll probably have Hague. Backup QB is still a big question mark so let’s hope Hall stays healthy.
“Which one are you??”
Both!
Things that get my heart rate up with excitement:
*Hall – he’s a competitor, he’ll sit down and figure out what he needs to work on. The good news is that his weakness isn’t talent, it’s stuff that can be worked on. 2 biggies – telegraphing passes and learning to go down properly when he decides to scramble
*Our TEs – Pitta should be a Mackey finalist this year; he will be next year. George is a solid contributor who should have the ball thrown to him 2 or 3 times more often each game.
*More Unga – enough said.
*McKay Jacobsen’s return – hopefully he can get back into shape as quickly as Collie did.
*Anae’s creativity – look, he’s never going to get away from his bread-and-butter offense, but he’s started to show some willingness to expand things, both in terms of bread-and-butter (examples include the toss to Unga for a TD, the designed QB draws, and even an option to Collie earlier in the season) and in terms of some devious play calls (direct snaps to Collie, the fake audible snap to Unga, Collie’s attempted pass earlier in the season). I hope that he continues show a few wrinkles each game, just to throw off the defense with something unexpected from our “vanilla” style.
*Getting Utah and TCU at home – we have major mo-jo at our place.
Things that give me heartburn, but nothing that can’t be fixed:
*The O-line – graduation stinks! However, M. Reynolds has gotten great experience, and I’ve seen Willing out there a bit. I’m worried about having to train another center. While I expect the skill to drop off next year, BYU’s consistently put together some great lines, so I’m not too worried.
*Penalties – I know Bronco’s attitude about penalties and their statistical impact, but ours always come at the worst times. I’m tired of drives stalling because of an inopportune false start.
Things that give me a heart attack:
*Potentially no Collie – no need to elaborate.
*Losing Reed – despite being hampered by injury, he’s been a clutch receiver. His loss will hurt – if Collie goes, it could be devastating. I’ve hoped that some of the younger receivers would step into Reed’s role, but either none of them have or Hall just won’t look in their direction.
*Replacing Fui – I hope Tonga manages to get eligible. If not, we’ll be hurting here. I suppose Unga could move to FB, but that doesn’t solve the problem because we have depth issues at RB. I hope that Latu or JJ can step up their ball handling in the off-season.
*Playing ranked teams – Our record is terrible. At least 3 teams we play next year have a good chance at being ranked (FSU, TCU, Utah). We need to get over the hump on this.
Just my $.02.
This team may be better without collie. here is the reasoning. If Collie Stays, Max may continually only look one way. With Collie gone, Max will have to spread the ball more. As awesome as Austin is, our offense is not as good when the ball isn’t spread.
lacking d,
I am an ETERNAL optimist, and I missed that silver lining you pointed out, and I must say that I agree.
Collie has the potential to DEMOLISH the consecutive 100 yard game receiving; but we are BETTER when Max spreads the wealth. The defense says, maybe we oughta watch Pitta or Reed, then boom! Austin finds himself in man, Max is lickin’ his chops and he… could… go… all… the… way!
We really missed Manase this year – at least Harvey’s shoulders did. Harvey wants to have 40 touches a game, but no one’s body can endure that.
The O line will have players, I’m not worried about them. Willing, Reynolds, Reden, Aletto, Terrence Brown. Didn’t Bright say that Hartung was going to break all of his lifting records? I admit they lack experience, but we have the athletes there. With Max back I am VERY, even EERILY EXCITED; that’s assuming Collie is gone.
Sorry, but this was Max’s 3rd year in the program and second year starting. That is as much as most quarterbacks can ever expect. And yes he did pull out a few games for us. But how many of those games went to the wire because Max did not play well the first 3 1/2 quarters. With a few exceptions (like Air Force), Max just has not played well in big games outside of LES. Fortunately, next year, all of our big conference games will be in LES, so there’s a good chance for another MWC championship. But we don’t have enough consistency at QB to make a serious run at a BCS game.
Very apprehensive.
Listen, I drank the “Fully Invested” Kool-Aid that Bronco was serving when he started here 4 years ago. He asked for Fully Invested players and Fully Invested Fans.
The results were outstanding.
This year he hit us with the “Football is the 5th most important thing” line. The preparation of the players was shortened, the focus was spread to a number of things, and the intensity the players played with was drastically reduced.
The reduced preparation is obvious on many levels:
– The offense is very predictable and has become ultra-reliant on the big play (just like Crowton’s years)
– Max telegraphs far before he ever looks at a receiver. I spoke with Kruger personally and he told me the Gary Anderson scouting report was that Max looks down the line to the direction he is going to pass first, then the other way, and then he drops the foot of the way he is going as he goes under center. He told me that on that pick, he was supposed to drop back but that Anderson had taught him that when Max does that AND when Collie is in the slot, 8 out of 10 passes go to Collie on the slant. Our opponents know what we are doing most of the time and it shows in how we are in dogfights with overmatched teams, and getting KILLED by good teams. Cougar fans have no reason to expect this to change.
– Our Defense plays a non-aggressive style that allows teams to move up and down. We don’t pressure the QB and instead bet on the fact that the other team can’t execute consistently and will ultimately screw up. Great teams go out there and impose their will. We don’t and can’t. The lack of defensve intensity means that we can’t afford to have the offense have a bad game, which leads back to my previous point that the offense is now extremely predictable.
– The head coach does not think the #1 job of the FB team is FB. It is several other things. That means that we are going to stay about where we are…we are no longer truly “Fully Invested.”
– Collie will leave. He is not sticking around, nor should he. Missions usually screw up a skill position player’s chance at NFL life, and as you mention, he already has age against him due to the mission. An NFL receiver only has a few years and Collie’s biological clock is ticking. Add to that that he knows the o-line will not be as good as this one was and it is a recipe to have a season not as good as this one.
Listen, our Cougars are what they are (obligatory Dennis Green clip here)….they are great guys and good athletes. The coaches are good men. But this team does something that is hard for me to accept…they make me think they are interested in a championship, but it really is lip service. When the coach says that the fireside is more important than the game, then you can’t blame the players for only performing so-so.
I’ll still buy my tickets next year, I’ll still travel to at least 1 road game. I won’t go to the Vegas Bowl this year, because the fireside is more important and I’ve seen the fireside already. They’ll continue to challenge at the top of the conference, but that is who we are.
That’s all we’ll be until the dude at the top decides he wants to be something more than that.
No way Austin comes back next year. As much of a dream come true that would be, I don’t see it happening. I’m sad about losing Michael Reed “Man of Speed” on the opposite side of the football, too. I agree he is a clutch receiver w/ tons of fire in the big games. My favorite memories of him include touchdowns against UCLA last year and him jabbing in the Bruins’ corners faces and well as most recently getting into the Utah corners faces. Too bad Max couldn’t have found him more to keep the defenses more honest, I can’t blame him too much thought when BYU all-time leading receiver is on the other end. I hope Tonga is back next year, he will be a key player on offense. I get excited just thinking about the bowl game we still have left to play and the season coming up next year w/ so many good games at home! Where do we play FSU next year? LES or Tallahassee?
Carl, I have to say that I respectfully disagree. Max Hall has won 21 of his last 26 games. His sophomore year he had an amazing defense covering for him while he was brand new and learning offense. And yes, this year he has made some mistakes. But from what I’ve noticed in college football a quarterbacks senior season is usually his best. Just look at our last QB. Beck started as a sophomore. He had a tough sophomore year (5-6), not a much better junior season (6-6), and then a great senior season (11-2) capped by a clutch drive on the road against our rival. His senior season, John Beck was a machine. On the seemingly few times that he overthrew a receiver, we were shocked. He is the only QB that made me feel like, if he let it go someone was going to catch it.
Max has had great numbers so far, including the most important stat of all, with a couple of bad games. He’s a fighter that was trying to get us back in the game when we fell behind. He definitely has work to do in the off season. All our guys do. I’d be shocked if he was still staring down his receivers next year. And let’s not kid ourselves and say we’d be better off without Austin Collie. Max should work on spreading the ball around, but sometimes you need a go-to guy. Beck had Harline. What if Harline would have left before his senior season, would we have been better off?
Max is our quarterback, and he is going to be in the Heisman conversation all of next year, who knows he might even win. Let’s just agree that he has some work to do, but let’s not crucify him for a couple of bad games over the last two years. Remember Tulsa and UCLA last year weren’t his fault.
Good post Chris. I can still remember all the times I shook my head in discouragement watching the learning curve take place w/ Jo. Beck. The 6-6 season he teased us a bit, threw some sweet long ball TD’s to Todd Watkins, etc., but I still remember him missing Harline in ‘05 against Utah that would’ve given us the first down and likely the win. Max is above that level already. He didn’t lose the close one at LES against the Utes in ‘07 like Beck did in ‘05 (a year old than Hall was when he won/Max already has two plus 10 or better win seasons under his belt, w/ one more to go, a feat Jo. Beck only did once.) He’s got his kinks to work out, but I don’t know, outside of the Utah game, how you couldn’t be ecstatic about what kind of player he’ll be next season.
HOW AMAZING WILL NEXT YEAR BE??!! Looks like we have FLORIDA STATE, TCU, AIR FORCE, and UTAH all at home. I can’t think of a better season ticket package for next year than what’s lined up.
In my opinion next years team success on offense will be about Max Hall. Defense have caught on to his pocket position, timing, and delivery of the football. They can read his eyes and feet to figure out where the ball is going before he unloads.
Max needs to spend whatever time it takes to further develop the mental aspects and nuisances of the QB position. He has the heart, the arm, the accuracy, the leadership. Now he just needs to accelerate the develop of the mental gamesmanship. He should go to all the guru camps this summer, watch tons of film, talk with steve young, ty detmer, doman, j.beck and anyone else he can find to help him with this. If he can make marked improvements in this area of his game…. even if Collie or anyone else leaves, our offense will be better next year.
Very optimistic.
OL includes M Reynolds, Willing, Brown, Taufi, Alleto, Speredon
DL includes Jorgensen, Tialavea, Denney, Dulan, Afutiti, Denney, Luekenga
Riley Nelson has starting experience at USU and will be joining the team and should compete for backup quarterback
The secondary and linebacking core will be much improved and should be much better in slowing 3rd down conversion rates
Much of BYU’s success is offensive coordinator driven. It seemed as though we had several games where the pass-run mix was out of tune (running Unga in successive plays until he’s so tired he fumbles), passing down after down when the running game hasn’t been slowed down, too predictable, etc.
Several have already commented about the telegraphing and vanilla offense. Max will have his chances to further excel next year, but Anai needs to disguise his play calling as he keeps defenses off balance with new plays.
Gooch hit the nail on the head with his comment about sustaining drives. It’s the 3rd down conversion rate and favorable turnover ratio that drives our success.
I never thought I would say this but Collie going pro could probably be the best thing for Max hall. I hate to lose a guy like that on our offense but Collie’s abilities spoiled Max and he quit looking for anyone else. No matter what Collie decides, I support him. He is the best wr that BYU has ever had and it isn’t even close.
Quinn-
One comment about this year’s OL versus next year’s OL. Bigger does not always a best offense line make. One of the best running teams consistently over the past 10 years in the NFL has been the Broncos and Mike Shanahan has always built smaller, quicker and faster Ol men (something he got from the late Bill Walsh with the Niners in the 80’s); next year’s OL who return are as follows:
61 Mark Freeman 6-0 284 Fr.
62 Lawrence Pico 6-3 266 Fr.
63 Jesse Taufi 6-4 314 Jr.
64 R.J. Willing 6-5 312 Jr.
66 Garrett Reden 6-3 275 So.
67 Nate Hartung 6-2 360 Fr.
70 Matt Reynolds 6-6 321 Fr.
72 Nick Alletto 6-6 288 So.
73 Jason Speredon 6-5 291 So.
75 Stetson Tenney 6-5 293 Fr.
78 Brock Stringham 6-5 280 Fr.
79 Ron Best 6-2 285 Fr.
As you can see, only a few are 300+; if this year’s OL individually were so good that four of them have a chance to play in the NFL, why did they not dominate? If you graded out each unit, they would not end out on top, the Receivers would; this line, minus Matt Reyolds has played together for two seasons yet they did not come through in the critical games (TCI & Utah); did they not reach their potential after Coach Grimes left? I don’t get it, plesae explain.
I’m with the other commenters. Collie’s an amazing athlete, but 1) He’d be crazy not to go pro; and 2) The offense will probably be more effective without him.
Remember that Austin has a brother that scratched on the NFL’s door but didn’t quite make it…what do you think HE’s telling Austin right now?
Also, Max Hall will be a better quarterback when the No. 1 receiver in the universe isn’t running routes for him. Collie had the best season a WR could hope for, and in order for Max and the offense to improve, his next season won’t be able to be as statistically amazing (another reason for him to go pro). Whether Collie stays or goes, Max HAS to spread the ball around more and keep it on the ground more, and with our stable of recievers and backs, there’s no reason for him not to.
The Hall/Collie/Pitta/Unga show was great this year. Next year let’s make it the Hall/Pitta/George/Unga/Chambers/Tonga/Jacobsen show. Much harder to defend against, even if it doesn’t breed Biletnikoff Awards. But then, our guys aren’t considered for those anyway…
I will lose all respect for any BYU players that leave early. I thought we were about SPIRIT TRADITION HONOR, not MOULA.
The Jep,
I agree with most of your points, and your post has decreased my optimism level. I must say, though, I wouldn’t change a thing as far as football being 5th most important. Maybe Quinn and Staff can comment on this approach in a later post and provide insight if that philosophy translates into weaker performance.
Mars,
Easy, easy, you are “losing all respect for” the greatest receiver in BYU history, and one who epitomizes BYU football.
Gooch and others have already mentioned the downside to waiting – age, speed and the injury possibility; Collie dealt with injury at the beginning of the season. It’s safe to say age, speed and injuries generally don’t IMPROVE with time.
We all want him back next season, but we also should respect his ability to choose his path. Consider the possibility of him suffering a Tyrone Prothrow type of career ending injury next year. I don’t know how many of us would turn down 6 figures for the opportunity to get injured and NEVER play at the next level. Why don’t we take a vote?
All this being said, it is extremely difficult to make it to the NFL. I haven’t seen any projections that have him going in the first round – most have Maclin, Crabtree and Percy Harvin from Florida to be taken in front of him. Watkins has bounced around and he was a great receiver, as were other Cougar receivers. But, Collie really is the biggest wideout we’ve had and so he has greater potential to succeed.Life is about MOULA. I went to BYU because it was an inexpensive way for me to get a degree which would help me make a living. I know you’re probably “old school”, where it was unheard of for college athletes to leave school early, but now it is quite common. I just don’t understand fans who criticize players for making “career”-type decisions. No one is telling you that you studied the wrong major, you picked the wrong career, or went to the wrong school. Likewise, we as fans should be understanding when players make decisions THEY feel are best for THEIR careers. I get the sticking to a commitment, going through with your promise, carrying on the BYU tradition, etc, etc. But the bottom line is the athlete must do what’s best for their careers and everything that they do is within the rules. Coaches and teammates understand this. Why won’t the fans?
Ki
Kiyoshige-
I agree with you to a point but bring up Plaisted & Cummard: Plaisted left, gets drafted 16th in the 2nd round (46th overall) by Seattle & then traded to Detroit; he went for the dinero, was sent to Europe, got hurt & is now at home recuperating; he should have stayed another year & rounding out his game & helping BYU to try to do a Threepeat. Cummard went to NBA tryouts, did not pick an agent, decided to stay for his senior year & will improve his game and go higher in next year’s draft.
Collie is not a first rounder & because of his lack of great or even decent speed will go maybe in the 2nd round and probably 3rd round & his top upside may be to become an Ed McCaffrey/Dwight Clark type of receiver; but you are probably correct that he has very little to gain personally by staying but everything to gain by trying to help BYU reclaim another MWC next year.
By the way, it is my personal opinion only, but I think that the Quest For Perfection manra/slogan set us up to fail by putting too much pressure on us right out of the gate; better to be like Utah & fly under the radar for most of the season
By the way, no one has yet to comment on my post regarding our offensive line????????????????
Quinn, Markell, et al-
Just to make sure that you all know what I really think and that I do not come across as being too critical, I believe that Coach Mendenhall is the best head coach in the country, that he has already restored the program to where it was under Coach Edwards, and then some (his bowl game record is already better) and Max Hall is still our QB could get his revenge next season.
Jep,
Lay off the kook aid, the stuff has way too much sugar. You can question Bronco and his staff’s commitment to success but bringing a team that had just suffered 3 straight losing seasons with low fan morale to where it is now is not accomplished by a coaching staff who does not take the game of football seriously. Football is not their #1 priority in life nor should it be. I’m sorry that Bronco is not the kind of coach who puts in 25 hour days and sleeps on his office couch during the season and makes his players practice on sundays. A good coach is someone who will effectively utilize the time he has to prepare for his game and challenge his staff and players to use it wisely.
As for Hall’s predictability, it’s a dead horse that’s been beaten, raised from the dead and then beaten to death again. According to your Ute sources, Hall was so predictable he should’ve been benched. Yet the same Hall led his team on 3 TD scoring drives and moved the ball down the field effectively until the turnovers stopped the drives. Many of these plays resulted from big completions to Collie. I think it’s actually a credit to Hall if the Ute defense knew where he was throwing the ball and yet were still unable to stop Collie from being a factor in the game. But let’s review Max’s picks.
Pick 1: Hall has a miscommunication with Pitta who keeps going left when Hall expects him to stop midfield and go south. Sad thing about that play, Vakapuna was open just beyond the 1st down marker and the defender had his back turned. A timeout after Hall was almost picked off on the previous play may have helped prevent a disastrous play that followed.
Pick 2: Late in the 3rd, Hall does a play action pass with a quick pump fake and fails to account for the safety coming across. I actually thought this was a good play. I think it would’ve been a TD if Hall had pump faked to the other side of the field before chucking one deep. That would’ve just drawn the safety to to that side giving Collie just enough time to haul it in.
Pick 3: This is the infamous “Kruger pick” that Jep uses as his example of Max telegraphing to Collie. The only problem with this example is that Collie was not the intended receiver on that play, Unga was!! Kruger lines up on the end showing blitz but once the ball is snapped he sneaks across the line and falls back into coverage and Hall doesn’t see him until it’s too late. It’s a clever play by Kruger but not the telegraph to Collie he allegedly claims it was. The annoying thing is that in the play preceding, BYU gets flagged for a false penalty because they were reacting to stupid Kyle Whittingham running onto the field to pull one of his players back to the sideline. It should’ve been a penalty on them and 1st down for us. Oh well.
Pick 4: This is a pick that I would definitely pin on Hall. He has Collie briefly open for a short gain but lets the ball go too late and by that time Collie had moved to another route to the outside resulting in an easy INT. The other frustrating thing is that Pitta had his man beat by the 1st down marker and was much more open than Collie was.
Pick 5: This is the “who cares anymore?” pick. Hall actually attempts a pass to Andrew George who seems so surprised to get it that he flips it up in the air resulting in Utah’s easiest INT of the game.
As for the defense, a lot of fans forget that we were in a transition year where we lost almost our whole starting LB unit as well as some veteran players in the secondary. I didn’t have high expectations for the defense coming into this season but I saw signs of what could be a very solid defense for us in the next year or two. We have a good defensive system but this year we just lacked the playmakers for it to be effective enough. But pitching 2 straight shutouts is something that should not be ignored even if it did come against bad teams.
As for Collie’s future, common logic would say he will bolt to the NFL for the big bucks and if he does I wish him all the best. However, it would not surprise me if he pulls a Matt Leinhart and sticks around for one more year. The reasons could vary from school loyalty to a fear of falling victim to the BYU underclassman jinx. I do disagree that him leaving will suddenly cure Max Hall’s alleged problem with locking in on favorite receivers. If he doesn’t have Austin, he’ll just fine another receiver to get comfortable with. For me, I’d much rather see our team with a big play receiver than without one.
Seasider,
Thanks for the insight on the INTs – I listened to the game via KSL radio, so I appreciate the analysis.
Walt,
I posted above about OL and I do think that with Weber and the players you listed we are fine for years to come. I disagree that our OL was not dominant this year, I would say that they were. OK, TCU, I’ll give you that one, they did not play well. But, Utah? How does Unga get 100 yards and you figure our OL was not dominant?
I wonder if the Collie thinks at all about the Cummard – Plaisted issue and takes anything from it, or if it is just completely irrelevant since it’s a different sport and they have different rules. Cummard took a hard look at going to the NBA and I often wonder why he $tayed. I hope Austin does the same. There are a lot of factors – what round he is projected to go, do players automatically get the money, or do they have to make the team, the salary limitations that go into place after this year’s draft, age, speed, etc, etc. With these questions, I’m probably showing my ignorance on this issue. Maybe Staff, Gooch, or even Kehl can comment on the transition process between college and the NFL so that we as fans can understand the decision making process.
Kiyo-
Unga gets a 100+ yards and the team gets 200+ because the Ute’s were concentrating on stopping Hall which they did and they were not worrying about our run game; had Hall not thrown all the picks it might have been a whole different story.
Cummard came back because he put team first, wanted a chance for a Threepeat & didn’t think he would go high enough in the draft; on the flip side of the coin, Plaisted put himself first & team 2nd, did not go that high in the draft & obviously is not a part of this year’s team; if he had come back we might have had Miles and him on the court t the same time which would have been awesome!
I wonder what next year’s theme will be. How do you go higher than “Quest for Perfection? You don’t so maybe it’s, “Be the Best That You Can Be!
The Ute’s played their cards (goals) close to their chest and flew under the radar even after beating Oregon St. Maybe we should take a lesson out of their playbook.
Seasider-
1 fumble and 5 picks are what they are! Hall is forgiven and will recover from this but you can’t have that many turnovers by one person or a combination of players and win a rivalry game like that.
Re: Offensive Line
Let’s not forget about Houston Reynolds and Braden Hansen coming back from missions to add to the depth.
Troy, et al-
MAybe everyone mis-read my posts re the OL or I did not communicate very well; I believe that this year’s OL underachieved (go back & read all the press coverage last August) and let me be the first to predict that next years’s OL will be better; slightly smaller but also quicker and better able to pull & lead Harvey, Manase & others around the corner
Walt-
I’d have to agree that this year’s O line underachieved, just because expectations were so HIGH. I do think that they had an awesome year, but not to the extent that we thought they would.
VERY INTERESTING take that next year’s OL will be BETTER. I just haven’t seen enough of the upcoming players to even weigh in on that claim, but it would be difficult to match this year’s production.
As far as flying high or low… If Utah was ranked as high as we were at the start of the season, I think they would actually be in consideration for NC game. So, I like having high expectations, although the downside is much greater. For Utah, they weren’t “expected” to do anything, so they really had nothing to lose, but after having a stellar season, their upside is limited (can get to BCS but not play for NC).
Ki
Ki
Ki-
Thanks for your reply. I do not see how Uta’s upside is any less than ours. Two BCS bowls in five years to our none? If you had a choice, would you rather be 11-2 three years in a row, assumong we win our bowl game (with back-to-back MWC championships) or take the Utes’ record the last three years (with a BCS bowl this year)? We have only gone undefeated once in our history and the Utes have done it twice in five years! if anything their potential is greater now because their recruiting value jumps sky high & they have a much larger pool from which to draw.
Any comments Quinn & Markell?
Walt,
Sorry, let me clarify. I was talking about the idea of running under the radar vs. being highly ranked AT THE START OF THE SEASON.
I actually think Bronco’s “Quest for Perfection” slogan was an AWESOME tactic, although it did put a tremendous amount of pressure on our team. Folks had National Championship “buzz” around our team before the TCU game. With subsequent wins over TCU and Utah, BYU would have catapulted into National Championship game consideration. This is only possible if you start the season in the top 10-15.
Obviously, that didn’t happen, but I’m just saying that it is better for non-BCS teams to start as highly ranked in the polls as possible. In contrast, Utah actually succeeded in their “Quest for Perfection” (well, just about), and yet, no one is talking about NC for them; however, they were not ranked in the top 25. So, they went undefeated but just were never able to gain enough ground to break the top 5, and thus consideration for the national championship. Thus, their “upside” was limited at the start of this season – we go undefeated and we get NC consideration; they go undefeated and they “just” make it to a BCS.
With a BCS bowl victory, Utah will be ranked higher in the polls next year, and thus will have tremendous upside if they continue to go undefeated.
So, I guess what it amounts to is if you want to get in the BCS, go undefeated and under the radar. But if you have a bigger vision (and I think Bronco did) for NC consideration, start high, create hype around your team and then go undefeated – you just might get into the BCS AND be considered for the National Championship.
Let’s see, our season or Utah’s season over the past 3 years. Personally, I would not give up Beck/Harline or Hall/Collie even for a BCS bowl this year. So, I would go with our 11-2 seasons rather than lose to the Utes in 2006, 2007 and go undefeated this year and to BCS.
Florida is going to demolish the Crimson Tide this weekend – their SEC schedule has been tough, but they haven’t been tested outside of conference.
Ki
Ki-
No way we would have been considered for the title game because our SOS was not high enough. Utah may go to the Sugar Bowl vs. the Fiesta Bowl & if they win either they could end up ranked #3 or higher.
1 Alabama (58) 12-0 1521 1
2 Oklahoma (2) 11-1 1397 2
3 Texas 11-1 1396 4
4 Florida (1) 11-1 1385 3
5 Southern California 10-1 1298 5
6 Penn State 11-1 1176 6
7 Utah 12-0 1153
If Florida beats Alabama which you say they will, Utah could end up being the only undefeated team in the top 6 and might even win the national championship (at least in the AP).
As far as strength of schedule, the Sagarin rankings have Utah (72), TCU (76) and BYU (83). Alabama is (73). These four teams are actually pretty close in all of the other strength of schedule websites that I googled. (Now, Alabama will end up having a tougher SOS after they play Florida…) Boise is 115 and Ball St 119 in the Sagarin. I would have guessed TCU a bit higher with their game against OU.
I do think that Utah will end up being the ONLY undefeated team in the top 6 and they will end up at #4. NC game winner #1 (Florida), USC will win and they will be #2, Texas will win and they will be #3. (Isn’t it weird that these BCS and other bowl games are really anticlimatic except for the NC game? They really only matter now for next year’s rankings!!!) IF Utah had started off ranked where BYU was I honestly think they would be AT LEAST in consideration for AP title. Now, they aren’t even being talked about.
As it stands, I think they started too low, won’t get a chance to play the in the game, and will end up like Boise a few years ago, a BCS winner but no consideration for National Championship, even in the AP poll.
My only point, is that although people are dogging Bronco for all of the hype with the Quest for Perfection, and all, what did he have to lose? And he has the NC to gain if we can be bold enough to say, “Hey everyone. We had the goal to go undefeated, we did it through a tougher schedule than Alabama.” It’s easy to say that was a poor slogan for this year, after the fact. This year was set up by the previous 2 for a breakout into the national spotlight. Same with Utah for next year, although they lose quite a few players. Unfortunately, to get that Holy Grail of National Championship, we as a conference have to put together consistent strong showings in the final BCS standings. Wyoming beating Tennessee in Knoxville was a great example of just how good the MWC is!
So, if the Utes win their BCS bowl, Kyle Wittingham would be smart to 1) leaving for a higher paying job, but if he stays, 2) read a page from Bronco’s book and start lobbying for national attention. DON’T GO UNDER THE RADAR. Be bold. Be confident. Start spouting off about how the Mountain West as a Conference just DESTROYS other conferences. That way, when you go undefeated with a schedule at least as good as Alabama’s, you’re ranked close to where they are!
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