The Return of Manase Tonga
Many of you have been asking about the role that Manase plays on the team and how it would have affected last season, and what impact it will have this season. In the next two paragraphs I will address this in a very frank manner.
Last Season: Without question Fui stepped in, took over Manase’s role and executed that role 100%. From an execution stand point there was absolutely no drop off without Manase because Fui was so spectacular and unselfish. Fui also brought a lot of energy and excitement to the fans with his hard-nosed, all-out style of play. This was a little different than the energy Manase brings. Fui excites the fans who get the stadium pumped, which in turn pumps up the players. Manase fuels the players around him directly. Once again though I think these qualities benefit the team equally; so no drop off there. The biggest downside in my mind is the leadership presence that Manase had on the Offensive side of the ball. This is not to take away anything from Fui’s leadership, but Manase was the main constant in the transition from the John Beck Offense to the Max Hall Offense, and most players looked to Manase to really set the tone for practices and games. Manase never says much, he just goes about his business and brings the rest of the team with him. At times last year our offense was a little too arrogant and laxidasical and I believe Manase would have changed that. Number one game he would have changed? TCU. Though we may not have won that game with Manase, he would have at least made sure that our O did not get blindsided the way they did.
This Season: It is all about leadership! I hope that Manase will step in right where he left off. When guys come back from disciplinary time off sometimes they have a tendency to shy away from the leadership role. I see Manase stepping in, going about his business the way he always does and keeping the Offensive Egos in check. With him back there and with a hopefully new attitude on that side of the ball, I think we will see a more potent and capable offense this year.
-Markell Staffieri
Good perspective, Staff. I don’t think there’s a Cougar fan in the world that isn’t hoping to all that is holy that you’re right.
Arrogant and lackadaisical? Shocking words that should never be heard about a Bronco Mendenhall team. Let’s hope that gets snuffed out in a hurry.
Don’t get me wrong Fui is awesome! I love his power and just all out craziness when he’s on the field. BUT I think that sometimes his “I want to kill somebody when I have the ball” mentality put him on his toes a bit too much and he missed quite a few blocks when he didn’t carry the ball. He’s a hard runner, not much of a blocking back and we knew that coming in. For that being his first (and only) year switching into the fullback slot he did a great job. Bottom line, I’ll miss Fui but Manase doesn’t miss his blocks. I can’t wait for Manase to really open up some holes for Harvey.
Looking forward to seeing Manase on the field again this year. You’re right Staff, there seems to be a quite confidence about him. On and off the field. I think Harvey wants him back this year in a big way. Hopefully he can stay eligible this year so he can stay on the field.
Go Cougs!
Even if Manase is not 100% game ready at the start of the season, just his leadership and presence in the locker room and on the field will be a nice shot in the arm to a proud offense that had their pride wounded in the last 2 games of the season. Now if only we still had his brother Matangi.
“Don’t get me wrong Fui is awesome! I love his power and just all out craziness when he’s on the field. BUT I think that sometimes his “I want to kill somebody when I have the ball” mentality put him on his toes a bit too much and he missed quite a few blocks when he didn’t carry the ball. He’s a hard runner, not much of a blocking back and we knew that coming in. For that being his first (and only) year switching into the fullback slot he did a great job. Bottom line, I’ll miss Fui but Manase doesn’t miss his blocks. I can’t wait for Manase to really open up some holes for Harvey.”
I could not disagree more. Fui was a fantastic blocker AND a hard-nosed runner. Manase does bring a lot, especially the full back dump out of the back field that also seemed to go for at least 10 yards.
My only regret is that Fui was not utilized enough last year. My other regret is that we never got to see the “Tongan Trio” line up in a wish bone and pound opposing defenses like a sledge hammer. I know that isn’t our offense, but wouldn’t that have surprised other teams and scared opposing linebackers?
Agree to disagree but when you take a tailback and ask them to switch to fullback you aren’t going to get the “full” back. Manase is a true fullback, you’ll recognize the difference when you see Harvey having to do less pounding because he’s got bigger holes. Thus his health will be stronger later in the season.
This is a little off topic, but wanted to get ya’ll’s thoughts on the coaches game planning.
Bronco has given the impression that they don’t gameplan for other teams, rather they “execute their plays” (especially after the TCU whipping last year Bronco said that they were going to get more simple in their game planning and not more diverse). I think that the simple gameplanning may work well against teams with lesser talent, but won’t with teams that have comparable or better talent (ie our 3 losses last year). It seems that last year we got so predictable, and did little to gameplan for or exploit the weaknesses of the top teams we played. The one team that I believe we specifically gameplanned for in the offseason was UCLA, and that worked out great.
Utah and Boise seem to do to a great job in gameplanning for the big games they play (and their great records against top 25 competition, bowl games, and BCS schools shows their success).
Do ya’ll see BYU’s lack of customizing the game plans last year as a problem? Has the attitude changed to being more proactive in game planning for other teams and exploiting their weaknesses, or is “execution” of a consistent gameplan going to continue to be more prevalent?
Sorry about the difficulties reading the article. I don’t know what is going. It is obviously working for most people, and it is working for me too. Bear with me and I will try and work it out.
Spitting Flower,
I will write a post that addresses your comment/question later in the week.
Perfect, looking forward to it. I love hearing your insights.
Bronco’s philosophy is that you approach every game the same way but that doesn’t mean the staff or players simply implement the same game plan every week. After every game the players are given DVD’s with game footage of their next opponent. If it’s a short week, Bronco usually calls a staff meeting right after the game to talk about the next opponent. I trust the coaching staff will have Oklahoma pretty well scouted out by the team the season starts with a solid game plan.
Is Heaps coming to BYU?
I really trust in the staff’s ability to put together a great game plan. Especially when they have months to do it. Who saw that utter whipping of UCLA coming? I think the Oklahoma game will be interesting to watch.
When Lavell and Norm were in their prime, opposing coaches often said they knew exactly what was coming, and so did the defenses, but they could do nothing to stop it. I think Bronco has probably adopted a similar mind frame. If you think about it, executing exactly what you want to do, should have nothing to do with your opponent. I think the way Bronco has preached consistency and excellence will prove to be just that and will provide longevity to the program. I just don’t know if the players bought into it last year, or if they just failed to perform “at the highest level”
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