SDSU Post Game wrap-up
Photo by Mark Philibrick
Do you know what the SDSU game was like? It was the kind of game where you make a great play, but remember that the team you are playing is 1-9 with their only win coming against Idaho. As a player you have to rely on your preparation and your experience in order to have enough emotion of kick a dying…. nay dead Aztec horse.
For fans it’s that game you don’t really feel bad for missing, but you show up anyway because you want to see how bad the damage is going to be. Will we score 70 like the Lobos, or will Bronco submit to his conscience and put the reserves in the game so SDSU can return to sunny San Diego with a little dignity intact -to be honest how much motivation can the Aztecs have for the remainder of their 08′ season. It’s tough to be an Aztec these days, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Only eight more quarters to go.
Saturday’s game was a solid win, but still left a few questions in my mind. The first of which is, did we improve upon our previous weeks performance?
In order to be playing our best football when we go north our Cougars are going to need to improve every week. We made some positive strides….but was it enough? Was a 41-12 win over the worst team in college football enough? Some folks out there will say no. BYU dropped in the BCS…does that mean we should have put more points on the board? Or do we simple forget about rankings and take care of business in order to have a share of the conference championship? Personally I would go with the latter. It’s the only thing we can control.
Things we did well:
Our defense did their job of stopping the run -which was the only chance SDSU had of pulling off the up-set. SDSU used numerous backs in order to find some kind of solution to their offenses lack of production. The Aztecs most effective play was the fly sweep -where an athletic player comes in motion across the formation and they hand it off as he’s running full speed. SDSU gained the majority of their yards on this play -41 of 120.
In order better stop the fly sweep our outside linebacker and safety need to recognize the motion quicker and rotate efficiently in order to catch the ball carrier before they can turn the corner and get up field. It’s an easy adjustment and this play shouldn’t be a problem in the future.
The linebackers played very well. Nixon was all over the field and Bauman and Doman were in the backfield most of the game. I also noticed that 4 or 5 different linebackers played throughout the course of the game. Coach Tidwell worked the rotation strategy in order to keep our linebackers fresh and excited about their minutes in the game.
I was encouraged to see our linebackers making plays against a spread offense. They made some good open field tackles and when they were forced to play coverage they had nice, even spacing in their drops, which put them in good positions to knock down balls and disrupt passing lanes. This group played one of its best games -with regards to production and emotion.
Our offense kept the ball on the ground much of the game, which is why the game felt boring. While some folks out there are saying the play calling “sucked” and we should have thrown the ball more. I say to you, relax. We needed a game like this one to keep teams guessing as to what types of plays we might call in certain situations. Don’t be short sighted in thinking that we aren’t self scouting. We ran the ball 37 times and threw it 30 times. Against the Aztecs that’s good balance. To be perfectly honest we should have been able to run the ball more and still won, but Harvey left the game early and Wayne fumbled; so Max and Co. had to drop some bombs so the fans could feel comfortable in their seats.
Max is making great decisions with the ball. If there is one person that has improved the past couple of weeks it has been Max. He;s throwing the ball on time and finding the open player. He’s using the role players early in possessions and then concentrating on Austin and Pitta when the Cougars need a first down or a big play. He also showed great composure when he was under pressure and forced the Aztecs out of dropping eight into coverage when he ran during those situations. Teams are know going to need to account for Max running when they drop eight, which makes it difficult for linebackers to focus on Dennis and Andrew. In the next two games Max is going to need to be able to scramble for positive yardage as AF and Utah both have good secondary’s and schemes that can cover all of BYU’s route combinations.
Max also didn’t throw an interception and that’s good on a lot of different levels.
Where does our team need to improve?
The young players on special teams need to start playing better. We give up way to many yards with our punt and kick-off cover teams. BYU needs to be able to rely on our young players to make tackles so our starters can get a much needed rest. Plus it’s good game experience for freshman and sophomores who might be prepping to take over next year.
Putmun, you don’t have to listen to this. Just keep doing what you do. On another note I think Putnum is developing his own celebration. It’s good to see one young player taking advantage of his opportunities and displaying emotion while making plays.
Our secondary is getting thinner and thinner and they still aren’t making plays on the ball. Against SDSU the linebackers made most of the plays, but I still want to see our defensive backs more engaged in knocking down balls and making big hits. Next weeks game will be telling as to what we can expect on November 22nd. Winning against Air Force demands discipline and play making ability by the defensive backs. Our scheme against the cadets relies heavily on the safeties/corners abilities to beat blocks and make plays. It will be an interesting week of practice for this bunch.
Our offensive line needs to pick-up the blitz better. SDSU got pressure with 4 and 5 men in the rush. Four and five defenders in the rush are nothing compared to what they will be seeing the next two weeks. We have to get back to solidifying our communication and winning the one-on-one battles in the trenches. Our linemen have some challenges ahead of them and with their experience and talent I expect them to respond and play extremely well.
In the next two weeks BYU is going to have to match AF’s and UTAH’s intensity and emotion in order to come out 2-0. The Air Force game should hinge on our defenses ability to make correct reads and adjustments in stopping the run game and our offenses ability to protect the football.
Against the team up north we will need to be playing our best football in order to win. I think the teams match-up well. We have advantages in some areas, while the Utes have advantages in some other areas. The winner on Nov. 22nd will be the team that can physically dominate from the opening kick-off until the final play for all the marbles. That game is shaping up to be a dandy.
Quinn, I agree with everything you said.
I liked the fact the inside linebackers were able to make plays at the line of scrimmage instead of 5 yards back. It is always good for me to see a majority of our run stoppers making plays and keeping the offensive line at the line of scrimmage. It would be great to see us move the line of scrimmage backwards, but I don’t think that will happen with this defense.
The best part of the linebackers to me you didn’t mention was in pass coverage. More often then not this game they picked up their guy early and stayed with them. The zone underneath was not nearly as soft as it has been in some past games. I was really impressed with Terrance Hooks and particularly his pass coverage. I don’t know what happens when David Nixon graduates. He looked and played like a man among boys out there.
On offense I would have liked to seen us go with more plays under center and pound the ball more at teams. Set up the play action passing game which Max is great at. I mean Dallas Reynolds and Ray Feinga may be the best guard center combination we have had at BYU in a very long time. However, Anae doesn’t allow me to pick his clubs and San Diego was an easy target. Plus, the way Max is playing (making reads and distributing the ball all over the field) I think anything the offense would have called would have worked this game. Everything on offense was pretty bland and vanilla this game.
This next game will be a big test for our linebackers and safeties. Here is to hoping they play with great intensity, downhill and fast. Quinn I have to imagine as a safety you had to love playing Air Force. I am sure the defense lineman equally hated this game.
I know it’s a week too early but the Utes’ spread offense scares me to nearly to death. I am not sure even if we are assignment perfect if we have the speed to match them.
Great report Gooch. Just found your blog, love your stuff.
Quinn,
Do you think AF will try and pass more given that other teams have schemed outside of themselves and had some success with the pass against us?
Walt. Focus. Pesky cadets first. Then we can focus on the matchup problems Godrey, Brown and Casteel present, and have presented over the past several years.
Absolutely look for AF to pass. They mixed it up well against CSU and had success. They know that if they keep our defense guessing Nixon can’t make every play on the field.
It will be up to the secondary to have the game of their lives in this one.
I think pressure is the answer in both games, we need to get to the QB and make him think fast. If AFA does pass the QB is going to be uncomfortable because that’s not what he’s used to especially as a freshman, and as for BJ, the only time he’s been any good this year is when the defense backs off into coverage!!
Great quote: “…or will Bronco submit to his conscience and put the reserves in the game so SDSU can return to sunny San Diego with a little dignity intact…”
It’s my opinion that BYU has struggled ever since the 2nd quarter of the Utah St game when Bronco did exactly this. He called the dogs off against the Aggies so we didn’t embarass them too badly. It completely the killed the edge, emotion and passion with which the Cougars had played the first four games. They came out flat in the next two games and we really didn’t see the passion return until this last week.
I will address the cadets as the week progresses and as far as the team up north, I’ll try and control myself, but I will give no promises. AFA presents a lot of different challenges and by the end of the week we’ll all be ready for the game.
Quinn, when the Lakers were going for their third straight championship, their coach, Pat Riley, trademarked the term ‘threepeat’ and made a nice side bundle as they won, since news orgs the nation over had to pay him to use the term.
Coach Meyer has also trademarked the team up north and team down south phrases. Every time you say ‘team up north’ instead of Utah, an accountant somewhere goes ‘ka-ching’ and Urban is awarded another point…
Other than that, I love what you and other former players are doing with this blog!
I also cringe when I hear or read the geographic reference, just because it brings up visions of Urban, Smith and Weddle in my mind. I usually just refer to them by their self-professed name. Utah. Utes. Separate or together. May or may not have an inappropriate expletive (like darned, dang, freakin’ or friggin’) in front or behind.
May not be as creative as other spellings, geographic, intellectual, religious or other slurs, and, I won’t be able to trademark it, but it’s what I’ve been using for the past 20 years. So, what should we be calling them?
Totally agree about the offensive line’s troubles picking up blitzes, by the way.
Let Urban Meyer ka-ching all he wants because he wasn’t the first to say north and south or east and west. That might of been Magellan, but I’m not sure.
….and thanks for coming to the blog. You should keep it up as well!
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