Deep Shades of Blue

When we lost to UofA in 2006 at their place I was not impressed with their team.  I did not play due to a newly torn hamstring, but I watched all the film and was so frustrated we let that one get away.  Did you know that on one play our D only had 10 guys on the field?  We were missing a DL and they ran the ball RIGHT WHERE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE…for a loss of 2 yards!  This was on the 10 yard line mind you.

In 2007 we played them at home and I was still not too impressed.  They were supposed to have this awesome secondary, but I think we handled them quite well.  Their offense was new and it was supposedly the same scheme as our offense, but ours was better in their execution, so we really were at a huge advantage.  Scheme aside, I just didn’t think that they were as talented as us, and they didn’t play as hard or as physical.
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I was a Freshman in 2004 when we went to play Stanford at their place. The Thursday before the game the defense was in the indoor facility and we were running play after play after play. We probably ran 80 plays at least, which is like playing a complete game. Now I know fans would love to hear about all the reps we got and how prepared we were for the game, but all that work actually hurt us. By the time we got to Stanford, the Defense was just plain tired. We could not get our legs underneath us, and it hurt us in that game. But that was the practice model that had been accepted.

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When Coach Lamb was the safety coach back in the day he had a few quotes that we all loved. This particular quote is brought to you due to a few players inability to catch the ball with their hands.

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A lot has been made this year about Coach M stating that football is No. 5 on the list of priorities for players at BYU. A lot of you at times are worried that there is not enough emphasis put on games, because there are so many other things going on. Let me explain why/how it is No. 5.

First off what goes in front of football?

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My brother in-law found this floating around on cyber space and was kind enough to send it my way. I guess the B(S)CS people have been hard at work ranking world events, to insure that history is concrete. Any guess on how the BCS would rank the suspects in the JFK assasination?

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

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With the short break between the season’s conclusion and the bowl game the team hasn’t had time to sit around and twiddle their thumbs. The two or three weeks leading up to the bowl game are crucial in the development of the physical conditioning of a team.

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BYU needs to win. That is all there is to it. Two years we have finished 11-2 while losing to very average non-conference teams. The 11 win seasons looked good, but what really put us on the map was the fact that we won back to back undefeated Conference Championships. This year we finished 3rd in conference and a 10-3 season will make BYU fall by the way-side. This is a statement game and the Cougars need to treat it like it is a BCS game, because with a win we maintain our reputation. With a loss, we will be an “also-ran” and probably will have a tough time starting 2009 in the top 25.

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I am excited about some of the match-ups that were created this bowl season. College Football is filled with good teams this year and for the first time -in a long time- the January bowls might not be the only games worthy of your viewing pleasure.

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Some of you have been asking about what it is like to prepare for a PAC-10 team and what the reputation of the PAC-10 is. You have the SEC which is full of bruisers who run the power game. Smash Mouth Football. The ACC is supposed to be fast (SEC as well). The WAC is full of trick plays and underdogs. The Big Ten is kind of a LB/RB conference and the Big 12, which of late has become the spread offense conference and potent offenses with weak defenses. So where does the PAC-10 fit in? What is there calling card? I think the PAC-10 is the passing conference. They are fast but not super fast across the board. Some teams boast sume good RBs but no great ones (exception Bush). The thing the PAC-10 has a lot of is tall lanky receivers who can run and catch.

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Since BYU I’ve been through training camp with the Raiders, was released, and played one season in the AFL where I was injured again.   After the AFL season, I took a job with the Ensign Group as a marketer and later transferred to an administrative position.

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Heading to camp

When I found out I was on my way to Philadelphia I called John to get some advice and he told me, “Look, every team has 4 or 5 guys who will wow you, those are your Pro Bowl guys, but nobody can afford to have a whole team of them. Everyone else is just like you and just like the guys you have been playing against for 4 years. Nobody will be faster than MacKay, nobody will be stronger than Eddie (Keele). Just go out there and don’t get all bugged eyed, because you belong with those guys.” When I got off the phone I called up Reno Mahe because I knew he had been out there and could offer me some insight into what to expect also. The message I got from him was almost identical. Finally I got the chance to talk to Zach Collie who had been in my shoes just one year earlier and he said the exact same thing as John. Needless to say it pays to have friends who have been there and it calmed me down.

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NFL Combine:
“Going to Indy” is a term that means big things to guys coming out of college. There are between 300 and 350 players taken to Indianapolis every year for the combine and it is a real life dog and pony show. There are drills and interviews and tests and everything you do is scrutinized. I did not go, so I can’t relate too much on the experience, but I know Bryan Kehl had a blog going with his prep for the combine in the daily herald that tells more about it. Of Read the rest of this entry »