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September 2008
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HB Arnett's
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
801 372 0819
hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com
PO Box 50424 Provo, Utah 84605
Vol. 29, Issue 5 September 1, 2008
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BYU 41 UNI 17
WOULD THREE MORE TOUCHDOWNS MAKE IT BETTER?
We are puzzled.
BYU blitzes Northern Iowa 41-17 and you would think the Cougars were just
drubbed by Utah and lost out on a league championship.
We read the papers and it says BYU struggles and needs to improve big time
if they hope beat anybody else.
We go to a couple of chat rooms and people are wondering how the Cougars
can be ranked.
We just don't get it.
We watched the game and it was never in doubt. UNI had 14 points gifted
wrapped for them and they had no clue how to stop the BYU offense in general
and Dennis Pitta in particular.
Would 62-17 make everyone feel better?
The Panthers can thank some sloppy ball security and four fumbles for
thinking they had a chance when it was 27-17 in the third quarter.
Fumbles are fickle. Four fumbles lost in a game is very rare.
Those same fumbles cost BYU an additional 28 points.
The Cougars were cruising at 27-3 at halftime and were picking up where
they left off in the third quarter. They had driven the ball to the UNI 21
yard line when Wayne Latu coughed it up. That was one touchdown left on the
table.
Backside Bumble
In the same quarter, Hall was sacked from the backside while in the
Cougars end zone and the ball was on the ground and recovered by the
Panthers for seven points.
Again BYU was driving and at the UNI 29 yard line when J.J. DiLuigi put
the ball on the turf. That's another touchdown squandered in the third
quarter.
BYU again drove to the 4 yard line and had a sure score when Max Hall
muffed the snap and fumbled away another seven points.
This game could have easily been 62-10 if not for BYU fumbling the ball
five times and losing four of those miscues.
Fumbles are fixable. Fumbling 5 times is an anomaly.
What wasn't unusual was Dennis Pitta having a 213-yard receiving day. The
junior tight end was unstoppable. He had 11 catches on the day and could
have had more. When he wasn't making catches, he was downfield waving his
hands indicating that he was still open.
If Pitta was having a big day, that also indicated that Max Hall was on
fire. He finished with 486 yards passing and two touchdowns while completing
34-of-41 passing attempts. Hall also had a one-yard qb sneak for a score in
the fourth quarter.
Two Tosses
Hall's two scoring tosses were a 27-yard connection to Michael Reed and a
19-yard pitch and catch to Harvey Unga. Both scores were in the first
quarter.
Unga scored again in the second quarter on a 2-yard run and again on a
1-yard run.
For the game, Unga had a total of 64 yards rushing on 18 carries. The
Cougars had 77 total yards of rushing, that when combined with Hall's 486
yards passing, gave BYU a 563-yard offensive outing.
Defensively, the Cougars were decent enough to hold UNI to 10 points. The
other seven points were given up by the BYU offense when Hall fumbled in the
endzone on a sack.
UNI finished with 362 yards of total offense, but 145 of those yards came
on two plays. The first was a 69 yard option keep by UNI's qb and was the
result of a missed assignment by a BYU defender. The Panthers also scored in
the third quarter after a BYU fumble when they employed a double reverse
pass that caught the Cougars napping and went for a 76-yard touchdown.
Tune Up
This was a very good tune up game for Bronco Mendenhall and his crew.
He now gets to preach ball security to his troops and point out all the
mistakes the Cougars made. That will be enough to get the team's attention.
On the other hand, with all the turnovers in this game, it was still a
blowout. That should emphasize that this is a very good offensive football
team.
One thing that Bronco won't point out, so we will have to, is that BYU is
woefully thin at running back.
Fui Vakapuna was held out of the game because he was late qualifying
academically.
We better hope Harvey Unga doesn't go down with an injury that will keep
him out of any big games.
We reiterate what we said a few issues ago. Seta Pouhaha not qualifying
academically and coming in as a freshman, really hurts the Cougars at
running back.
Here's another stat that doesn't show up in the box score, but is huge.
Justin Sorensen, the new freshman kicker from Bingham HS in Salt Lake,
kicked off from the 30-yard line seven times. All those kicks either found
the end zone or were out of the end zone.
Only two of those kickoffs were returned. One went for 18 yards and the
other for 24 yards.
In the battle of field position, Sorensen has already earned his
scholarship.
HUSKIES AT HOME WILL HOLD SERVE
On paper, BYU should handle Washington this Saturday.
The game will not be played on paper, however, but in Seattle.
BYU has never beat UW in Seattle and has never beaten any non-conference
team on the road during the Bronco Mendenhall regime.
As a matter of fact, betting against BYU on the road against non-league
foes, is almost a sure winner.
Since 2000 BYU has a 4-14 mark against non conference teams and have lost
nine straight road games and 12 of its last 13 against non-league teams.
They have lost when they were underdogs and they have lost when they are
favorites.
Maybe it is a good omen for the Cougars that there is no opening line out
of Las Vegas as of early Monday morning.
There is no line because the Vegas oddsmakers list Max Hall as
questionable.
Hall did take a good lick against UNI and had his bell rung and was
excused early from post-game interviews when he wasn't feeling well, but we
expect him to be ready and play.
Once the Vegas boys come the same conclusion, we expect them to list the
Cougars as a 3-4 point favorite.
That may seem like a slim margin based on the 44-10 shellacking that
Washington took last week against Oregon and based on the inordinate number
of freshmen the Huskies are playing, but remember, the game will be in
Seattle, not Provo.
BYU will be facing the most athletic quarterback they have faced in years.
Jake Locker is a playmaker and will put pressure on the BYU defense to
contain him.
He is a very ordinary passer, but BYU defensive history says that they
have trouble with mobile playmaking quarterbacks.
We can guarantee that Dennis Pitta will not have another 200-plus yard
game against the Huskies.
UW will do what it takes to make sure of that. That means that the Cougars
will have to move the ball on the ground and get the wideouts the ball.
On paper, we like BYU in this spot. In Seattle, we don't.
We call it Washington 24 BYU 20.
NEITHER RAIN, SLEET OR SNOW...
With Ricks College football gone the way of $1.89 gas, Snow College in
Ephraim is now the new feeder school and placement center for BYU.
The two latest to matriculate from Snow this past spring have both turned
out to be contributors.
Coleby Clawson distinguished himself and earned more playing time with his
knockout (literally) performance against Northern Iowa generally and NIU
quarterback Patrick Grace specifically.
The 6-3, 220 pound transfer was neck and neck with Vic So'oto at outside
linebacker coming out of fall camp. Even Bronco Mendenhall singled out the
juco transfer for his play last Saturday.
So'oto will have to pick it up if he expects to hold off Clawson.
While So'oto is making the adjustment from tight end to linebacker,
Clawson has made the adjustment from defensive end at Snow to linebacker for
BYU.
While at Snow, Clawson was the WSFL defensive player of the year last
season. Clawson prepped at North Sanpete HS and is from Wales in Sanpete
County.
Tough Times
His toughness that was exhibited against NIU, also lent some credence to
the old adage we have heard for years about Sanpete County.
The way it has been told to us is that a father was giving his son some
advice on picking a wife. He told him that he should try and marry a girl
from Sanpete County, because no matter how tough times get, she has already
seen worse.
We don't know if that same adage is reciprocal and applies to girls
looking for husbands, but based on Clawson's play Saturday, if BYU was
looking for a tough linebacker, the apparently found him in Sanpete County.
Andrew Rich also transferred from Snow to BYU last spring. He didn't
receive a scholarship, but is now the third safety on the current depth
chart.
He turned down scholarship offers from Cal and Boise State to walkon on in
Provo and should be next in line to receive a grant in aid.
Rich, a 6-3, 205 pounder, was an all WSFL first team defensive selection
last year as a freshman. As a sophomore, he has three years of eligibility
remaining for BYU. Clawson is a junior and has this season and next to play
before his eligibility clock expires.
Trio
There is currently a trio of players on the Snow Roster this year that
have BYU connections. Atem Bol is a 6-2, 200 pound wide receiver from Texas
that signed with the Cougars last February. He didn't qualify academically
and BYU placed him at Snow.
Star Lotulelei is a 6-3, 280 pound defensive lineman that signed with BYU
in 2006 out of Bingham HS, but also didn't qualify academically. He didn't
enroll anywhere last year and is now taking up football again with the
Badgers.
Sam Doman also was a scholarship quarterback with the Cougars two years
ago. He transferred to Oregon as a walkon, and has now transferred back to
Snow where he will be a tight end as soon as he recovers from a leg injury.
While there was a lot of talk about Mantangi Tonga, the talented former
defensive lineman from BYU, surfacing at Snow this season, he is not on the
roster.
Tonga had a huge upside but ran into some legal problems after his
freshman year in 2006 and was booted from the team and school.
His playing problem is that his eligibility clock is still ticking.
Football Food Chain
Snow isn't alone in serving as a feeder program to other schools. BYU is
currently feeding Southern Utah with players. The SUU roster currently lists
three former Cougars.
Cade Cooper, a quarterback, transferred to BYU from Snow College, was
injured, made a pit stop at Oregon and is now in Cedar City.
Tico Pringle, a cornerback, has almost the same travel itinerary. He came
to BYU from Snow, bypassed Oregon and went directly to SUU.
Levi Mack transferred to BYU from Eastern Arizona JC, and after a year, is
playing for the Thunderbirds.
NAMES AND GAMES
Michigan Muss and Fuss...We watched Utah's 25-23 win over Michigan last
Saturday. We were impressed with the way the Utes moved the ball offensively
with their spread offense.
Then reality set in.
We remembered that this was Michigan, the same team that couldn't stop the
spread offense of Appalachian State last season and was absolutely
humiliated by the spread attack of Oregon a year ago.
Utah looked good, but so has every other spread offense that faces the
Wolverines.
Our advice to Ute fans is to take a deep breath. You have a very good
football team, but in a few more weeks, that win will be diminished by how
many more teams beat up on Michigan this year.
We remember when BYU won the national championship in 1984 by defeating Bo
Schembechler and Michigan in the Holiday Bowl 24-17.
Most national pundits discredited the Cougars because the Wolverines were
only a 6-5 team coming into the bowl game.
We expect the Ute's big win to suffer the same fate and fade. Michigan
will be lucky to be 6-6 this season.
Apparently we aren't the only ones to think this way. Michigan will host
Miami of Ohio this Saturday and the oddsmakers have only made the Wolverines
a 14-point favorite.
This is a Miami team that lost at home last week 34-13 to Vanderbilt.
Please Manti, Make It Okay
It is no secret that BYU is trying to bust the BCS and get a bowl bid from
the big boys who control college football.
It is a nice goal, and if it happens, it will be laudable and lucrative.
While BYU strives to bust through the BCS ceiling, there is another
barrier to be burst, that, in our opinion, is even more important and
urgent.
Bronco Mendenhall and company need to somehow convince "top tier"
Polynesian recruits that it is okay to come and play for BYU.
Who knows, maybe breaking the BCS barrier will lead to the popping of the
LDS Polynesian ceiling in recruiting.
While the Cougars have more than their share of very good LDS Polynesian
players on the roster who have contributed to the success of the BYU
football program, they have not had any success in landing the elite LDS
Polynesian prospects when it comes to recruiting.
It started decades ago with Mosi Tatupu opting for USC instead of BYU. It
has continued through the years. In the beauty pageant of recruiting, when
BYU is up against the elite of college football, the Cougars are always
crowned Miss Congeniality.
You know the list. We will just remind you of some of the most recent
names.
J.T. Mapu...Tennessee
Duce Lutui...USC
Sione Fua...Stanford
Stanley Havili...USC
Uona Kavienga...USC
We are not naive. BYU isn't the only school losing top prospects to USC
and the Pac 10, but BYU is the only school losing top-tier LDS prospects to
USC.
Right now, USC is the cool choice. They are hip and they are very, very
good.
Somebody, somewhere, has to make it okay for these top LDS Polynesian
recruits to play for BYU.
The next hope will be Manti Teo, the LDS linebacker from Hawaii.
BYU wants him in the worst way. So does USC.
Busting the BCS would be a good thing. Hopefully, it will also help break
through the current recruiting roof that has kept the Cougars from landing
the LDS Polynesian top dogs.
Please Manti, make it okay.
BASKETBALL BRIEFS
BYU has definitely improved its athleticism for this year. In fall
informal workouts, Charles Abouo, the new incoming freshman, certainly meets
the athlete test.
The return of Jackson Emery from his LDS mission also will increase the
athletic ability of this BYU team.
Chris Miles is not nearly as athletic as Emery and Abouo, but he is much
improved from last season.
Noah Hartsock just showed up, but has been home from his LDS mission for
two months. He spent those two months at home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
He will play because he can score. He will not be in shape, but he will
score. When this guy gets a year under his belt, watch out.
Speaking of watching out, BYU coaches were watching as two of their top
targets this recruiting season were on visits this past weekend to other
schools.
Tyler Haws was at Stanford and Brandon Davies was visiting Cal.
Both are on BYU's priority list with Haws at the top. Davies will still
have some academic work to do before he can make it to Division I, but that
isn't stopping top programs from going after him.
TELEVISION TIMETABLE
BYU vs. Washington
Saturday, Sep 6 at Seattle
Kickoff: 1:00 PM Mountain Time
TV: Fox Sports Northwest, Utah, West, Pacific, Arizona, Detroit, Midwest,
North, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain, Southwest and Sport South
BYU vs. UCLA
Saturday, Sep 13 at Provo
Kickoff: 1:30 PM Mountain Time
TV: Versus
BYU vs. Wyoming
Saturday, Sep 20 at Provo
Kickoff: 1:00 PM Mountain Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs. Utah State
Friday, Oct 3 at Logan
Kickoff: TBA
TV: TBA
BYU vs. New Mexico
Saturday, Oct 11 at Provo
Kickoff: 4:00 PM Mountain Time
TV: Mtn
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