Tulane Green Wave!
Tulane Green Wave
OK Cougar fans, it is now Wednesday and I think it is time for us to shift our focus onto the Green Wave from Tulane. Hopefully the Boys in Blue made that shift Monday morning, but since we don’t need to run drills or watch scout tape, I figure we should get a few extra days.
The OU win was incredible and has its place in history. But it will be meaningless unless we take care of business in the SUPERDOME!
What another great stage for a great football game. Two concerns from the BYU side. An emotional win over a powerhouse and then a game against an also-ran that come up and nip you in the butt. We better strap it up. As worried as everyone was about the guys being pumped for the OU game, I am worried about them being pumped for this game. But I think that Coach Mendenhall knows how to rein them in. The past 4 years have ben a great progression in BYU football and I look at the OU as being comparable to the game at TCU when they had that huge home winning streak and #17 ranking and knocked them off. At the time for the BYU program that was an emotional win and a huge game! Good news is that Coach brought us back down to earth and we got back to work and ran the table. No doubt the boys will be ready.
On with the scouting report…
Defensively they will not be as good as OU. They run a standard 4-3 defense and while they are athletic they will not play with the same speed and tenacity as OU did. They are capable and we do need to set the tone early with run game. They are experienced on D with 7 Seniors, 2 Juniors and 2 Sophomores. Good news for us is that the young pups are at DT which is where we need to pound the ball early and often. With a secondary that has been playing together for 4 years and with guys who know the system we will have to run crisp routes and Max will need to make good reads and distribute the ball evenly like he did in Dallas.
Offensively they have some legit weapons and we need to respect them. They tried to spread Tulsa out and get their WRs 1-on-1 or in open space. They like handing the ball on the fly sweep to Williams or throwing him little swing passes and letting him make guys miss. I think that their RB, Anderson is better than his stats showed against Tulsa (19 carries 49 yds 2.6 ypc). That being said we should still shut him down. They have two WRs who are very good. Big Play good! #19 Robottom and #20 Williams. Both had huge games (Robottom 6 rec – 82 yds 13.7 ypc; Williams 5 rec – 139 yds 27.8 ypc). Both are fast, elusive and good at what they do. They QB, Kemp will put the ball where it needs to be. An interesting thing about the OU was that they did not test us on the deep ball (odd since that is how they beat TCU last year). I would expect Tulane to take their shots downfield and try and isolate Robottom or Williams 1-on-1 with our DBs. They have to go for some big plays to try and swing momentum.
On that note, be ready for trick plays galore! ala Tulsa in 2007. We came out and stoned them 3 and out 3 times in a row against their base stuff and then all the tricks came out and we got flustered and didn’t play assignement football. Look for Tulane to do the same. The coaches at BYU know the Tulane guys and they are expecting a lot of tricky. ASSIGNMENT FOOTBALL will be the key to victory this week!
Markell Staffieri
That 2007 Tulsa game was frustrating to watch. The way our defense kept falling for the trick plays was bad enough but our offense kept shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers.
Our history with Tulane is interesting. Last 2 games were blowouts. One for Tulane in 1998 (47-21) which marked the beginning of the end of the Norm Chow era. In 2001, we decimated the Green Wave 70-35 in Crowton’s first game as Head coach. Still baffles me, how an offense that was so potent became shockingly inept a year later.
I think we’ll be ok on Saturday. The players seem very determined to avoid a letdown after an emotional win last week.
How the team responds emotionally is the most interesting aspect of this game, imo. I don’t think the outcome is in doubt because Tulane looks like they aren’t even at Utah State’s level. So I’m just curious to see if BYU can play a clean, disciplined game after coming off such a huge win.
I can see it going one of two ways. Either the team will still be riding the high from the win in Dallas, or they will be flat feeling they have already “climbed the mountain.” Either way, I expect the BYU to win. Even if they play poorly.
Thanks for the scout report. Like I’ve said before, I usually take the info from here to the water cooler so I sound lots smarter than I actually am.
I expect we score more than 35. I bet we run the ball well and set up the pass. If they’re overpowered that much on the front 7, shouldn’t our TE’s have a huge day?
Anyway, I can’t wait for the weekend. Go Cougars!
Complacency is what can kill the cougars. I know the overall scheme of both the O and the D will be the same but on every play on every call there is definitely room to improve. I get it that execution is the key, but being able to read your keys to put yourself in a position to make a play is another. The Cougs may not have the fastest team speed out there, but it’s the ability to put yourself in a position to make the play, is what makes players look fast. Everyone says that it’s the coaches job to make the in game adjustments. But really I think it’s the player’s responsibility. That ability to realize how you are getting beat is something that very few players have mastered. Look it’s a personal fight every down. Man on Man. Now granted there are botched plays and missed assignments but overall it’s a synchronized 11 on 11 street fight. You know what they’re doing and they know what you’re doing and that ability to beat your guy time in and time out is what makes football so much fun to watch and play. Every player has the responsibility to the team to make themselves better at what they do no matter where they are on the depth chart
Thanks for the scouting report. I have a question about Harvey Unga and his hammy. Would it help to keep him out another week? Certainly, the doctors and coaches know more about this type of injury than I do. Coach said if he is ready, he will play. What are the pros and cons of him playing vs. resting and maybe strengthening the hammy before FSU and the MTN. West season?
I read the report on hamstrings from an earlier blog. (Nice bruise!) Just looking for a little more insight. Thanks.
Dave,
If I were a betting man I would go all in on the fact that Harvey Unga will not play against Tulane. No need. Not after how well Bryan Kariya played against OU.
Give Harvey anther 7 days of recovery and that can only benefit him and the team in the long run.
We lived in New Orleans when BYU played Tulane in the 1998 Liberty Bowl. They were the undefeated Conference USA champions and I taunted everyone I could about how Tulane hadn’t played any real teams and how BYU was going to beat them soundly. I could not have been more wrong and I still feel the pain when I think about the grief that rained down on me for weeks after that game. I believe BYU is much better and Tulane is much worse than they were in 1998. That being said, we better not overlook anyone if we want to have the stellar season everyone now expects. We will have to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well. Go Cougs!!!
Good stuff Markell, I hope that the experience from last year will be a good lesson. I like the way the cougs played, the O line did really good against a great OU D, I like our D, they’re faster hit hard and wrap up, I like that the corners can tackle. I hope the Cougs can aviod a letdown. keep practicing hard,and studing the film, and stay focused
Just a question about the injury to Bradford. Isn’t that the same injury that Max suffered a couple years ago? If so why didn’t max miss any time? whats the difference?
Go COUGARS
BYU WILL win this game. I just hope that it isn’t like the USU game last year. I believe that game did us no favors mentally for the rest of the season. Even though we beat the aggies, we only won because we capitalized on their mistakes in the first quarter. The second half was their game. I don’t want to see any of that demoralizing going on with our team when this game is over.
To Seasider, one of the reasons we had such a dramatic change from 2001 to 2002 was because we lost Doman and Staley, two stellar athletes of all BYU-time. I would like to remind everyone that before “Fourth and Eighteen” there was “Fourth and Thirteen.” LaVell Edward’s last game as a CFB coach in 2000 against the Utes in Rice Eccles, we were down with about 1:45 left in the fourth quarter. This was Doman’s second start. He converted on “Fourth and Thirteen” and completed one of our perfect two-minute offense drives to win the game for LaVell. It was awesome.
Go Cougars!
I am hoping for a great showing in the SUPERDOME on saturday. I think the offense will be hungry to move the ball, and the defense will be hungry to prove themselves once again.
Markell,(or others)
I was under the impression that J.J Diluigi was the #2 back coming out of fall camp, yet he had only one carry vs. OU. Do the coaches not trust him? Or was I just misinformed?
I think BYU will win Saturday, but I don’t think it will be the blowout that everyone expects (I hope we blow them out). I think they’ll try and expose us downfield. I listened to Coach Toledo on the radio, and he said part of their game plan is to try and get big plays. Hopefully the defense dominates as they did against OU. I believe the offense will generate the kind of numbers we all know they’re capable of.
Go Cougars!
I’ve been lucky to attend both of our games so far this year. It was a weird feeling showing up to the game at the Superdome and seeing the place as empty as it was. Maybe the stadium is bigger than it seemed (which made the crowd look smaller), but the place seemed empty. I’d say there were as many cougar fans as Tulane fans (sadly for them). There was never any doubt from the first drive. Honestly, to finish the game without a single punt is pure domination. BYU scored everytime the went downt he field and held on to the ball. Fun to see. This could be a magical season.
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