Season is “short review”: Running Backs
What can you say negative about these guys? Harvey rushed for 1132 and averaged 4.72 yards/rush. Not to mention the fact that he averaged 7.38 yards/catch out of the backfield. That’s about all you can ask for in a RB. Fui was also outstanding but the stat that impressed me the most about Fui is his 13 consecutive starts as an un-selfish player. This guy was put in a tough position coming into his senior year, and he still played with all the heart and emotion he could muster. We could have used some Fui Juice in other positions. The only problem with the running backs this year, may just be that they did not get enough touches. It hurt us this year not having Manase, not because of how Fui replaced him, but because of Manase’s experience at the position and the confidence that his presence brings to the run game. He is to BYU what Lorenzo Neal was to the Chargers. You are good without them but Great with them.
So What’s Next?
Many fans out there may have been upset in the Bowl Game when Coach Anae put in the freshman, Brian Kariya and called his number repeatedly, by I for one really liked it! Harvey and Fui are a different breed of back. They are big bruiser who get the tough yardage, but their game is north and south. Brian is a RB like Curtis Brown who will run hard, but has a little shift in his step that helps him find some other holes, and also gives us the ability to run the ball on the perimeter. If we can have Manase back, with Harvey AND Kariya we are going to have another great run game, with more dimensions.
By Markell Staffieri
Upset about Kariya playing? I wasn’t. I was upset that we hadn’t been using him more. We should have been pounding the ball in the bowl game with both Brian and Harvey. I think most fans were asking, “why aren’t we running more?”
I was asking the question “Why hasn’t max hall learned from his mistakes and is still throwing into double and triple coverage and why does he still stare down his primary reciever all the way through the route before throwing the ball.” (probably why the guy he was always throwing to had double and triple coverage all game long. Gosh I miss John Beck.
I like our backs for next year. Manase is supposed to be back. Will we see anything from J.J. DiLuigi? He could add some depth and shiftiness that we need.
Harvey is a great running back, but just watching him run sometimes it looks like he is tentative, a few times in the arizona game he was almost at a complete stop before he got to the line, instead of putting his shoulder down and picking up 3 or 4 it looked like he was thinking ” oh crap, oh crap, just get down quick ” when he runs straight ahead he is tough to tackle but when he tries to be shifty he really loses everything that makes him great. Im sure he was beat up which contributed to his light running so hopefully he can get healthy this offseason and get us a 1500 yd season next year.
I think FUI was the unsung hero on the offense this year. I was at the UW game and saw him block two different defenders on more than one play, then saw the same thing at different games throughout the year. He, along with Collie, was the guy who came to play with passion and fire and when he went out in the LVB, our offense and running game really suffered.
I think Unga is great, a great talent, but something wasn’t right with him towards the end of the year. Maybe he was worn down, or burnt out, or injured, but he just didn’t seem right. Compare the ‘08 LVB game vs Arizona to the ‘07 season opening game against Arizona and watch how Unga was running in both games. In the ‘08 Bowl game he was tentative and did not display much power or aggression. In the ‘07 game, he has aggressive, hungry, and determined.
Unga is great and I’m glad he will be back next year. He is an amazing talent in both the run game and in catching passes but this team will definitely miss the fight and leadership that FUI brought and the team player that he was.
I agree with the comments here. I think something happened to Unga after the Bye week and he started running with less determination. I want to see the running back hit the hole running as hard as they can. To often they were studder stepping and indecisive in what they were doing and where they were going to run. I see great things from the running backs next year if they run with a purpose. We have some great talent back there.
Same goes for the whole team. It seems like we lost the first during that bye week and never could regain it. We have plenty of talent on this team and I want to see the coaches get that out of them!
I feel bad about J.J. and I hope he’ll hold onto the ball a little tighter when he gets his chance next year. I still think he’s a difference maker, but he put the ball on the ground too many times and it’s not too surprising that he was benched most of the time.
What about JJ?
Something in the gut tells me that JJ will be moving to slot receiver. We really need that Nat Meikle position back. Coach Anae intentionally abandoned that position so that we would always have two TEs in the game. Sooner or later someone has to realize how valuable the position was, and ask JJ to be the shifty, possession receiver that Nate was.
I love the coaching staff. I just want to establish that.
I wish, however, that Fui’s senior year had not been wasted. He was on fire when he ran the ball. In addition, Michael Reed and Andrew George were wasted. We have an offensive team that was every bit as talented as the ‘96 team that featured Sarkisian, Jenkins, McKenzie, Kealui, McGuire, Lewis, and Mili. But that team spread the ball around and utilized every weapon to maximum efficiency.
We were have a more experienced D this year and a long line of stars on offense (Harvey, Tonga, George, Pitta, Collie (?), Jacobson, and Hall. The wild card is and will always be Max. But I think he will make the same strides that we saw John make. If you look at Colt McCoy, he had a stellar freshman year, a so-so Sophomore, and an unbelievable Junior year (he should be hoisting the Heisman, not Bradford).
I think the line should be solid.
I would like to see some more spice in the offensive play calling. I really like how Utah showed Alabama different looks and threw them off.
BYU seems that it would benefit from a back that could hit the hole a little quicker.
Are you worried about losing recruits after Utah’s success?
Thanks for keeping up with this amazing blog. It is the best out there.
I know nothing about the finer points of coaching major college football. However, I wonder if our one dimensionality could be attributable to the fact that the dump off pass to the flat was virtually non-existent this year. That killed teams when they had every one covered and yet John and Max last year found Curtis or Harvey out in the flat for a first down gain.
However, even though we got worse at the end of the year, I really believe these are difficult, but valuable experiences that the whole team will really learn from. We threw the monkey off our back, but winning on the road against a team from a BCS conference (albeit one that played like a powder-puff high schoold squad). Now, I think we realize that we need some fire in the belly to really bring our A game, each and every game.
harvey looked like he lost a step this year, until the utah game. he looked great utah and arizona. too bad he didn’t run the ball enough to win either of those game.
Seth,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. I have no understanding why our RBs weren’t catching balls out in the flat this year. When Unga had a chance to do so last year, he was able to build up the steam he needed to feel comfortable running over people (instead of stopping, dancing, and trying to run around people).
I am very hopeful for a strong offense coming back. I haven’t heard anything to suggest to me that we will have anything to be excited about for next years defense. There will be glowing words in spring practice, and then we’ll gradually have a slow decimation of the few good players to injuries, especially in the secondary. Ah, the days of Mitchell, Gray, Morgan, etc. I know BYU can recruit good DBs, but it seems that we haven’t been able to do so, or to mature the talent in the past few years, at least not with enough depth to survive the injuries.
I wish any of our running backs would run as hard as collie does, that would be nice. He ran more people over than unga, karya, fui, and deluigi combined .
I do agree that Anae definitely look into restoring Meikle’s slot receiver position. JJ is one possibility and Hague could be another. If Manase is able to come back for one more year, it’ll be huge lift to not just the RB’s but the offense as a whole. This is an offense with a lot wounded pride as of late. It needs all the good news it can get.
For those who complained about playing Northern Iowa to open our season, looks like Tom Holmoe was listening and we now have the most daunting non-conference schedule we’ve had in a while. Our first game will be against Oklahoma in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. Can’t wait.
http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=11619
I loved our running game this year and I wonder if an injury was the source of some of Unga’s hesitation, or maybe teams were better prepared for him.
We bit off quite a bit next year with the Sooners and Florida St. Did anyone see Florida St play Wisconsin? I watched that game and was in awe of the Seminoles. They return just about everyone and will be a force, maybe even a better team than the Sooners. Two top 10 teams.
See you in Dallas!!! Plenty of hotels, but for those with families, consider staying at the Great Wolf Lodge, you won’t regret it.
Who should we expect to see on the O-line next year?
Wait until Adam Timo shows up. He’s the Lightning we’ve been missing since Staley to add to the Polynesian Thunder. Next year we should be able to literally run teams into the ground. I for one would welcome more run plays in lieu of passing ad nauseum.
Unga did seem mentally hesitant down the stretch, but I think part of the reason for his dropoff is physical. He looks to have put on some weight since last year, but still tries to pull the spins and jukes he did in high school and as a freshman. He also heads for the perimeter too much. I’m not sure that his running style has caught up to his body. He’s not quite the bruiser Fui is, but he’s no longer the type who can depend on out dancing defenders. That said, it’s not like he had a bad season.
Sorry to see Fui’s last game end like that. He deserved more, but I’m glad Tonga appears to be coming back.
Kariya was impressive in Vegas considering he probably didn’t expect to play. I hope that Anae sees value in rotating him into games as a change of pace. I wonder what kind of hands he has – as mentioned by several, Hall definitely needs to make better use of his backs in the flats. There were a number of times when I saw him forcing a pass downfield when Unga or Fui were open for an easy 6-7 yard gain, more if they could plow their initial defender.
JJ will be good for some speed if he can protect the ball. Is he tall enough to present a threat in the slot?
Where does Latu stand in this mix?
Here’s a thought. The mtn ran a segment before a game on Unga, Matt Reynolds and Sean Covey as teammates in high school. Covey had some real speed in high school, and I hear he still does. I hate to mimic Utah, but why not put him in as a situational QB to run some speed option the way that the Utes have used Corbin Louks? I doubt Covey will ever start because of his small size, but if he can bring something different to the table, I say we use it to add some more flavor to our vanilla offensive style.
“Where does Latu stand in this mix?”
Latu was a senior.
Oh, you’re right. For some reason, I thought he was coming off his mission this season.
What can we say negative?
That Tonga left the team in a rut this year, because he was stupid.
That Unga ran like he was injured most of the year (he was).
That the young, quick, fast guys didn’t touch the ball nearly enough to impact the offense or gain experience.
That when the young guys did touch the ball, they fumbled.
That according to coaches, Fui didn’t rehab correctly this summer.
That our OC doesn’t know how to run the ball.
Unga and Fui are not North and South runners. It would be great if they were at 230 to 240lbs a piece but they are unfortunately always found dancing before hitting the hole, thus losing the advantage of their weight. I’m not sure I saw Harvey squarely hit somebody in the face mask and shoulders all year.
As for Kariya he looked awesome. I would not compare him to Curtis Brown at all though in style. Curtis was a quintessential RB with moves and jukes. Kariya is a north and south runner who runs very upright and unconventional but with excellent speed.
“Is JJ tall enough to present a threat in the slot?”
Was Nate Meikle tall enough? We haven’t had a threat in the slot since him.
Mike,
You are right, they are not. I meant more what type of backs they are, not what type they try and be. Should have clarified. I think that as Kariya matures he will get more shifty like Curtis. The great thing about Curtis and Luke is that they did not dance. They made quick cuts in stride, but never really slowed to try and juke you.
I can’t fault Harvey very much for not taking the extra blows, none of us on here would be running to hard after taking all those extra shots. I do not, however understand why he started dancing.
Markell,
Thanks for keeping the site moving in the off season. I agree with most all the comments made. I was wondering “WHY” Havey was not running hard and stright as he did in his freshman year. Something was not right with him this past year.
There are some many great ideas here from the poster’s, if only the team and coaches would read and impliment some of them. One mind is not as good as all the minds.
Maybe 2009 will be the year???????? The Utes sure seem to have found the answer 13-0 and a BCS Bowl Win X’s 2 in the last 4 years. BYU has talent but lacks fire and passion. Coach Whit seems to have fire and passion and out coached Nick Sabin.
Why can’t the Coug’s match that fire as a team? If everyone had the fire of Collie we would be in a BCS Bowl and putting the smack down.
The reason Unga lost a step this season, was that he missed summer practice. He was running around with his new girlfriend from the basketball team. When he finally showed up, it was right before the regular season started, & all the team was fumed at him- he was heavy & out of shape. Unga in the regular season was huffing & puffing alot because of this, & he never really seemed to be the same. In the Arizona game he was still injured from the Ute game. If he misses summer practice, he’ll probably get benched. Tonga will be back next season, I think it hurt the team this year having him gone. So we should have the Tongan trio of backs, for this next season, bar any mishaps.
Sorry Fui won’t be back cause he was senior. hopefully Unga won’t miss summer practice & Tonga studies hard and get eligible, which they say he will. Cross your fingers
@ Mike A.
Touche! They’re both listed at 5-9, so having JJ play in the slot might be interesting. In most 3 receiver sets, I’m assuming that the slot role will probably go to either McKay Jacobson or Chambers (betting on the former, with Chambers as the split end).
As for RBs, there’s a random-but-interesting recruit story here:
http://blogs.sltrib.com/recruiting/
Scroll down to the entry about the Mississippi RB. Sounds like a longshot out of nowhere, but could be something to keep an eye on.
I think if BYU can get a decent D line then the O will get a chance to breathe a little. I am worried that Fui is irrepalceable and that Harvey should have to be the FB because all we got now are little 4.6 white guys but i dont know the actual 40 times so I am just spouting. Here is a thought on 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN7w9vi63t4 copy with ctrl c and paste with ctrl v
I think You should tell on Austin to his big brother. HAHA go BYU
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