September 2009 - Cougarsportsline - mailman.xmission.com

Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 8
by hb arnett 28 Sep '09

28 Sep '09

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 8
by hb arnett 28 Sep '09

28 Sep '09

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 8 - September 28, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions BYU 42 CSU 23 WINNING IS STILL THE ULTIMATE COUGAR COSMETIC There were a few blemishes last Saturday in LaVell Edwards Stadium. BYU's defense looked a little splotchy and spotty and Max Hall continued to break out with a few unwanted pimples and picks on offense, but winning is still the perfect Cougar cosmetic. Thanks to 42 points of BYU blush on offense and defensive lipstick that limited Colorado State to just 23 points, Bronco Mendenhall and his Cougars are sitting 1-0 in Mountain West Conference play. As the CSU Rams showed, BYU's complexion in conference play won't be smooth and silky. The Cougars will have some bags under the eyes and baggage on both sides of the ball that will require some cosmetic and coaching adjustments if BYU hopes to coverup and capture its third conference championship under Bronco Mendenhall. Speaking of makeup, CSU couldn't make up for the three first quarter touchdowns they gift wrapped and gave the Cougars. BYU got out of the gate early thanks to two Ram tipped passes that resulted in interceptions deep in CSU's own territory. Cougars Capitalize The Cougars capitalized on both for two touchdowns and added a third when Matt Marshall blocked a Ram punt in the same quarter. BYU converted that turnover into 7 points and at the end of the first quarter it was BYU 21 and CSU looking for a total makeover or at least a do-over after 15 minutes of play. The Rams put up 438 yards of total offense on BYU's defense. Conversely, the Cougars had 373 yards of offense against CSU. Like Florida State the week before, CSU showed that teams that can protect their quarterbacks can throw the ball against the Cougars. For BYU cornerback Brian Logan, it was "the best of times and the worst of times" for the new juco transfer. He had a "Dickens" of a time against the Ram passing game. His best came in the first quarter when he was involved in both CSU interceptions. He was on the receiving end of the first interception and broke up the second that resulted in Andrew Rich coming up with the ball. The rest of the game didn't work out so well for him as CSU continually tried to mismatch him with bigger receivers. Two of the Ram touchdown passes were against Logan. Sticks and Stones While CSU was throwing sticks, stones and touchdowns over Logan, Bronco Mendenhall words were much kinder. Before the game he said that Logan is the best field corner he has coached at BYU since taking over the program 5 years ago. We agree. Logan is a major upgrade at cornerback for the Cougars from the last two seasons. Winning also is the perfect cosmetic for covering up rashes. A rash of interceptions is what Max Hall is currently throwing. Here is a stat that even globs of makeup and cosmetics will be unable to cover up. In four games, Hall's touchdown-to-interception ratio is not good. He has thrown 8 touchdown passes and 8 interceptions. Balance offensively is good, but balance in td/int's is not. In Hall's sophomore year when BYU won the MWC championship, that ratio was much better. He threw 26 touchdowns and had 12 interceptions. Last year he threw 36 TDs and 14 picks. Harvey Unga's hamstring doesn't need any cosmetic enhancement. The junior running back is doing quite well on his own. Unga turned in another nice rushing performance Against CSU. He ran for 113 yards on 22 carries and scored 3 touchdowns. He currently has gained 227 yards on 35 carries for 4 touchdowns in basically two games. He didn't play against Oklahoma and saw just one quarter of play against Tulane. He currently is averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Rouge In the recurring blemish department and cosmetics, the BYU kicking game could certainly use more rouge. In Canadian Football it is called a rouge or single when a team kicks the ball into the opponent's end zone and they can't or don't run the ball out. The last few seasons, rouge has been rare for the BYU kicking game. Despite all the recruiting promises of big-leg kickers, BYU seldom can get the ball into the end zone on kickoffs. It wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that BYU kickers are at 4000-plus feet and when we randomly change channels while watching other college football games, kickers at sea level seem to have no problem reaching and rouging the end zone. AGGIES ARE AN OFFENSIVE TEAM We have never liked Utah State. This year we find them particularly offensive. Based on their first three games, USU, under new coach Gary Anderson, the former Utah defensive coordinator, has no problems moving the ball and scoring touchdowns. They just have had problems winning games. In case you haven't been paying attention, BYU's opponent for this coming Friday night in LaVell Edwards Stadium, is 1-2 on the year. They opened their season in Salt Lake against Utah and lost 35-17. They then travelled to College Station and lost to Texas A&M 38-30. Last week they finally played a home game and defeated Southern Utah 53-34. Losing is not new for Logan. What is different is the Aggie offense. They move the ball at will. Utah State is averaging 489 yards per game offensively. They put up 342 yards agaist Utah, 521 yards against Texas A&M and 604 last week against SUU. The Aggies have a formula for giving the BYU defense fits. They have an experienced and returning quarterback in Diondre Borel. Even worse, Borel is a quarterback that can make plays with his legs. Problems BYU has problems containing mobile quarterbacks. The latest example was Christian Ponder of Florida State. Ponder was just mobile enough to keep plays alive. Borel is more athletic and more mobile and able to make big plays with his feet. Utah State is pretty balanced offensively. They have racked up 800 yards passing in three games and 667 yard rushing. They have playmakers on that side of the ball. It will be interesting to see how BYU and its defense game plans for the Aggies. We are sure that their top priority will be to keep Borel from getting outside of containment. That is when he is most dangerous. Defensively, The Aggies are giving up about the same yardage that they are producing on offense. In three games, they have let their opponents have 1459 yards of offense and giving up 35 points per game. This has the makings of an offensive shootout. Its a good thing that offense is the strong suit of BYU. We call it BYU 48 USU 31. The game will be televised live on the Mtn with kickoff set for 7:00 pm. DAN HAWKINS SPEAKS TO MY VIEW OF BYU FOOTBALL I admit that I used to be insecure about BYU football. When the Cougars were in their heydays of the '80s, I followed the national polls religiously. I couldn't believe that the Cougars were always underrated and not higher in the polls. The East coast bias bugged me. I intensely disliked Barry Switzer and Bryant Gumbel for their total lack of respect for the BYU football program. I used to eagerly await post game shows just to hear what opposing coaches said about BYU after the Cougars had defeated them. I was always sure that they would be effusive in their praise of BYU after the Cougars whipped them. I hated it that the Cougars weren't given enough accolades for their accomplishments. I used to subscribe to the Kevin Bacon and six degrees of separation football theory. If BYU beat Weber State, who beat Idaho State who beat Portland State who upset Oregon State who beat Washington State who upset UCLA, it proved that BYU could win the Pac 10. Pundits and Polls I no longer care what the polls or pundits say. It doesn't bother me if others across the country don't think BYU is a top five football program, because I don't think they are either. My football philosophy is now more in line with Dan Hawkins, the head coach of Colorado, when he screamed in 2007, "It's Division I football. If you don't like it, go play intramurals." In case you missed it or forgot, here is an audio clip of Hawkins' infamous tirade. YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4T26x6GZEw&feature=PlayList&p=E04B814E7C98D 239&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=63> - Dan Hawkins - Go Play Intramurals Brother It used to be that if BYU lost a game or even won, but didn't play well, I couldn't sleep at night. How could the Cougars let me down? Those days are long gone. It's Division I football. Good teams lose. Great teams lose. Bad teams occasionally win. If BYU played Oklahoma another 9 times this year, they would lose at least seven of those games, with or without Sam Bradford. The Sooners now have tape of the Cougars. Who cares? BYU's win over OU was the ultimate entertainment and is one of my all-time favorite BYU football moments. If BYU played Florida State another 9 times this year, the Cougars would likely win at least five of those games. How can Florida State pummel BYU but struggle to whip Jacksonville State and get beat by South Florida? It's Division I football. College football is a lot like the national political scene. Substance is gone, regardless of party affiliation. Without a playoff, we don't really know which teams can beat other teams. Talking Heads Instead, it is about sound bites, snippets of video and talking heads on networks who tell us who is good and why we should think like they do. Take away the studio hosts and sets and it is still Division I football where real teams with real players with abilities and talent are spread among all teams. Those teams then actually go out and go mano a mano on the football field. How else do you explain USC getting beat by Washington last week and this week Cal getting pummeled by Oregon or highly regarded Penn State taking it on the chin at home against Iowa. How do explain a nondescript team like Colorado State making BYU look ordinary? Pardon the backtracking to Kevin Bacon, but in their opening game at home this season, Iowa had to hang on for dear life and a bad opposing field goal kicker to defeat Northern Iowa. That means that since BYU pounded Northern Iowa last year, they could beat Iowa and in turn could have beaten Penn State. Crown the Cougars champions of the Big Ten. Top 25 At the risk of sounding like one of those talking heads, BYU is a very good football team, one of the top 25 in the nation, but they are not an elite team. They don't have a good enough defense or enough speed to bang heads consistently with the elite teams of the nation. Regardless, they are still very entertaining to watch and follow. They are what they are. Craving respect is in my rear view mirror. What I am looking for is entertainment and some much needed recreation and relief from real life. BYU football provides that, thank you. BYU will win some big games. They will lose some big games. Harking back to Hawkins, "It is Division I football." That is what happens. In the last two decades BYU has won a lot of football games and most of the time looked good doing it. That said, there are plenty of teams that can beat them or make them look ordinary just because it is Division I football. BYU isn't the only team with decent coaches who watch film and find deficiencies they can attack and defeat. Give any coach in the MWC a little bit of talent in the right spots, enough looks at enough film and enough times on the same field with BYU, and they will eventually make it competitive. As Dan Hawkins shouted, "It's Division I football." QUARTERBACK QUEUE Max Hall...Completed 18-of-29 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Also threw two interceptions. Riley Nelson...Did not play against Colorado State. James Lark and Jason Munns...Both are still serving missions. Lark is due back in January and Munns will return in May. Jake Heaps...Completed 17 of 22 passes for 272 yards and five touchdowns in Skyline's 55-6 win over Newport HS. Tanner Mangum..The sophomore qb from Timberline HS in Boise completed 23-33 for 301 yards and three touchdowns in a 19-6 win over Borah HS. He also had one pick. Alex Kuresa...Completed 18-of-24 passes for 356 yards and six touchdowns in 50-17 win over Box Elder HS. Football Fluff and Stuff We don't know if he is LDS, but with a name like Mahonri Bostrom, it is a possibility. The 5-9, 180 pound senior running back for Nampa HS in Idaho rushed for 362 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries last week in a 45-38 win over Skyview. He is also the reigning 4A Idaho state champion in the 200 meters. He has rushed for 973 yards on 106 carries in four games so far this season. He is African American. A week or so back Tom Holmoe was speaking to a luncheon group and said that BYU is well aware of its speed issues in football. He basically said it would likely take another 15 years of LDS Church growth and an increase in ethnic diversity in the Church population for that speed to start to arrive at BYU. He stated what we have know for some time. Speed and talent for BYU football will have to primarily come from the LDS membership base. Holmoe also stated that after the Oklahoma win, he was contacted by a top-five program want to inquire about scheduling the Cougars in football, but no immediate compatible dates were available for both schools. TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. Utah State Friday, Oct 2 at Provo Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. UNLV Saturday, Oct 10 at Las Vegas Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. San Diego State Saturday, Oct 17 at San Diego Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. TCU Saturday, Oct 24 at Provo Kickoff: 5:30 pm Mountain Time TV: Versus

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 7
by hb arnett 21 Sep '09

21 Sep '09

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 7 - September 21, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions Seminoles Shellac Cougars 54-28 FLORIDA STATE AND BYU BOTH ADD TO THEIR CEMETERIES The Florida State Seminoles have one of college football's great traditions. Their 54-28 thumping of BYU last Saturday in LaVell Edwards Stadium added to that tradition. In games which the Seminoles deem the outcome significant and important, they take a piece of sod from the field of the defeated team and plant it in their "Sod Cemetery" located near their football facilities in Tallahassee. A piece of BYU's new grass field now has a celebrated resting place on FSU's campus. Not to be outdone in football funerals, the Cougars also added another embarrassing epitaph in the BYU Boot Hill of Blowouts. Every time the Cougars and their fans start thinking they are one of college football's elite programs, they bomb out and add another tombstone in their Boot Hill of Blowouts. If you haven't visited lately, besides the newest plot being dug for the Florida State fiasco, here are some of the other markers from this decade that are planted firmly in the turf and in reality. 2008 - TCU 32 BYU 7, Utah 48 BYU 24 2007 - Tulsa 55 BYU 47 (not a blowout, but a defensive disaster) 2003 - CSU 58 BYU 13, Boise State 50 BYU 12 2001 - Hawaii 72 BYU 45 More mature markers from the '90s include: 1993 - UCLA 68 BYU 14 1990 - Texas A&M 65 BYU 14 BYU is a very good football program. They just aren't an elite program. Like BYU, elite teams all lose football games. Last week USC lost to Washington. BYU defeated Oklahoma in Dallas a few weeks back. Elite teams lose, but they don't get blown out of the water when those losses take place. BYU is a good team and a good program, but their Boot Hill of Blowouts, is too full to be considered one of college football's elite programs. Get Over It While blowouts are bummers, they usually are quickly forgotten, unless guys like us continue to dig them up. Rehashing blowouts proves our point. They are extremely painful for a week, but the disappointment dissipates as soon as the next win comes around. That will also happen with the Florida State loss. In two weeks, it will be old news. BYU is still a good team and well thought of nationally. The fact that BYU is still in the national rankings in both polls says the Cougars are considered a very good team. They are No. 19 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the Coaches poll. They are just not an elite program. Will BYU ever reach that elite status? Bronco Mendenhall thinks so. In one of the ironies of the past week, Mendenhall was in Salt Lake City a few days before the FSU-BYU matchup telling the Cougar Club that a national championship was the goal and that in his opinion, it could be achieved with the current model and players recruited within that model that is currently in place in the Cougar football program. The message was warmly received. Model The model is certainly fine, but a look at BYU's Boot Hill of Bombs would indicate that the players certainly need an upgrade on the defensive side of the ball. BYU is an equal opportunity employer when it comes to blowouts. Dick Felt, Ken Schmidt, Bronco Mendenhall and now Jaime Hill have all been bludgeoned by offensive blowouts while serving as defensive coordinators. It isn't about the defensive scheme or coaches. It is about players. Good football teams and programs require a two-car garage. BYU has almost always had a top-of-the-line offensive automobile parked in their garage. Defensively, they continue to drive a car that at its best is serviceable, and at its worst, mostly leaks a lot of oil in games against good and elite teams. That is why we still maintain that BYU's best football team was not the 1984 National Championship squad, but the 14-1 1996 Cotton Bowl team. They were very, very good on both sides of the ball. BYU fans like to talk and gloat about the Cougar offense. When it comes to recruiting talk, most of it centers on offensive players, especially quarterback, receivers and running backs. Everybody can name the two latest and greatest offensive commits for this coming BYU recruiting class. If you need a hint, how about Jake Heaps and Ross Apo? Now name the defensive commits that you think will make an impact. Offense will get you a ticket to the ball and national rankings, but by itself, it won't get you into a BCS game. SPEAKING OF BCS The earliest chance BYU will have for a BCS appearance will now be in 2011. Even if the Cougars don't lose again this season, an 11-1 record won't get them an invite because of the 54-24 blowout to Florida State that will be on the resume. If the Cougars were a member of a BCS conference, there is a slight possibility that the blowout would be forgotten, but as a non-BCS outsider, it will be something that can't be overcome. If you want a glimmer of hope for this year, in 2001, Nebraska was 11-0 before being blown out by Colorado in the final regular season Big 12 North division game for both teams. The final was CU 62 Nebraska 36. CU went on to defeat Texas in the Big 12 championship game, but according to the BCS formula in effect that year, Nebraska was still selected to play in the national title game against Miami in the Rose Bowl. The Canes defeated the Huskers 37-14. Don't expect any BCS bowls next year either. BYU will be breaking in a new quarterback and that never bodes well for the Cougars or BCS hopes. HOLY TOLEDO, HE WAS RIGHT! After BYU whipped Tulane, Bob Toledo, head coach of the Green Wave, said that BYU was very good, but that his team made the Cougars look better than they actually were. It sounded like sour grapes then, but actually sounds about right now. Bobby Bowden, the coach of Florida State, had no comment on BYU after his Seminoles put a 54-28 beating on the Cougars, but we do. We will use the Toledo take. BYU is not as bad as Florida State made them look. That doesn't sound very credible after watching FSU gash and gore the BYU front seven with 313 yards of rushing. It happens sometimes to even good teams. Dallas rushed for over 250 yards this past week against a good New York Giants defense. BYU couldn't get off the field against FSU's ground game. The Seminoles ran 77 offensive plays, of which 49 were runs. They completed 22-of-28 passes for another 199 yards. What killed the Cougars is what has always been their Achilles heel defensively. Mobile Quarterbacks They can't defend mobile quarterbacks. We saw it last year with Jake Locker at Washington. We saw it this week with Christian Ponder of FSU. Ponder isn't as elusive or talented as Locker with his feet, but he was good enough to keep drives alive by taking off out of the pocket and converting critical third downs. The good news is that BYU won't see another mobile qb this year. Oops, we forgot Diondre Borel of Utah State, Andy Dalton of TCU and Terrance Cain of Utah. Watching Ponder play reaffirms our opinion that despite the hype about Jake Heaps and the return from missions by James Lark and Jason Munns, Riley Nelson will be the starting quarterback for the Cougars next season. He also is no Jake Locker and he has no special speed, but he is elusive and can make plays with his feet when a play breaks down or a pass attempt is not there. We saw how that worked out for Ponder and FSU. Nelson is also not in the same league with his legs as Steve Young, but again, a mobile qb who can make just enough plays with his feet presents major problems for opposing defenses. Just ask Jaime Hill about last week. New Dimension Nelson will give that dimension to the offense. None of the other candidates have shown us yet that they have that ability. They can all throw it extremely well, but Nelson has that extra dimension to his game. Our early assessment is that Nelson could be another Brandon Doman, who is the current BYU qb coach. Doman was not a spectacular passer, but he was a great playmaker. Despite the defensive deficiencies, BYU had a chance to still win this game if they had been able to hold serve offensively. Moving the ball wasn't a problem for the Cougars, hanging on to it was. BYU had five turnovers. Max Hall threw three interceptions and O'Neill Chambers fumbled once along with Jan Jorgensen, who coughed it up on a kickoff return. This game also showed why Harvey Unga is still the premier running back in the BYU stable. Bryan Kariya and J.J. DiLuigi have both had some nice performances in the first two games, but they are not at the same level of Unga. All he did was rush for 97 yards on 10 carries, before tweaking his lingering hamstring injury again. CATCHING UP ON COLORADO STATE AND OTHER FUTURE OPPONENTS Now seems like a good time to take a look at the remaining teams on BYU's football schedule. Colorado State will be making an appearance in Provo this weekend. It will mark the start of Mountain West Conference play for both teams. The Rams are 3-0 on the year with wins against Colorado, Weber State and most recently, Nevada. Weber and Nevada were both played in Fort Collins. They should have lost the Weber game and it took a big stroke of luck and a quarterback/center bobble to give the Rams the win. We look for a big bounce back here from BYU and especially the Cougar defense. We call it BYU 42 CSU 17. Utah State...The Aggies are 0-2 with their latest loss a 38-30 setback to Texas A&M. They have yet to play a home game. The Aggies can move the ball. They had over 500 yards of offense against A&M. UNLV...The Rebels are 2-1. The loss was to Oregon State. The wins are against Sacramento State and Hawaii. All three games have been in Las Vegas. The road will tell us how good UNLV is. SDSU...Despite the addition of two tough-guy coaches in new head coach Brady Hoke and defensive coordinator Rocky Long, the Aztecs still look like the Aztecs. They are 1-2 with losses at UCLA and Idaho. The win was at home against Southern Utah. TCU...The Frogs look to be the cream of the crop in the MWC. We will know a lot more after they face Clemson in South Carolina this weekend. They are 2-0 with wins on the road at Virginia and at home last week against Texas State. They still run the football and play defense. Wyoming...The Pokes appear to be a Big Hat with No Cattle team. That will likely improve as new coach Dave Christensen brings more cattle into the program. Wyoming is 1-2 with a win over Weber State and losses to Texas and Colorado. New Mexico...The Lobos are 0-3 and anyway you cut it a bad team. The losses have been at the hands of Texas A&M, Tulsa and Air Force. New Mexico is averaging only 9 points of offense per game ad giving up 40 per game. Air Force...As usual, the Falcons will be competitive and play hard. They will beat at least one of the MWC big three this season. Currently they are 2-1 with the lone loss on the road at Minnesota. The wins have come against patsies Nicholls State and New Mexico. Another patsy, SDSU is on tap this weekend. Utah...The winning streak came to an end last week at Oregon. The Utes are 2-1. They will still give BYU and the rest of the league all they want. They have a green, but extremely talented qb. Watch out next season for Terrance Cain. QUARTERBACK QUEUE Max Hall...Completed 20-of-31 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. Those are almost exactly the same numbers he produced a week ago in a win over Tulane. This time those numbers resulted in a 54-28 loss to Florida State. The Difference? Three interceptions and a BYU front seven that was gashed and gored by the Seminole running game. Riley Nelson...The Utah State transfer again saw mop-up action, but this time that action came as a result of the other end of the stick. Against Tulane, it was a blowout in favor of BYU. Against FSU, it was a blowout with BYU on the losing end. Nelson threw three passes against the Seminoles and completed all three for 59 yards and a touchdown. James Lark and Jason Munns...Both are still serving missions. Lark is due back in January and Munns will return in May. Jake Heaps...Skyline HS suffered its first defeat of the season, a 28-25 defeat at the hands of Oaks Christian HS of California. Heaps reportedly played sick and completed just 13-of-31 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown. He also threw three interceptions. Oaks Christian has two BYU verbal commits on their team in Zac Stout a linebacker and Alani Fua, a defensive end and tight end for his prep school. He had two touchdown receptions in the game. Tanner Mangum..It wasn't a good day for Mangum, the LDS sophomore from Timberline HS in Boise. His team was swamped 52-7 by Capital HS last Friday. Alex Kuresa...In a low-scoring affair, Kuresa completed 7-of-10 passes for 62 yards in a 16-6 Mountain Crest win over Bonneville. BASKETBALL BRIEFS Kyle Collinsworth is still the top recruiting priority for Dave Rose and his BYU basketball program. They will have some stiff competition for the 6-7 guard from Provo HS. Rose and BYU have already had an in-home visit with Collinsworth and will have him on campus this weekend for his official recruiting visit. USC is still pursuing Collinsworth heavily. They like him because they reportedly think he is one of only a handful of players in the nation coming out of high school this year that can play either the 1, 2, or 3 spots. Collinsworth made his official campus visit to USC on the weekend of Sept. 4-5. His escorts were Jordan Cameron, the former BYU basketball player who is now playing both football and basketball for the Trojans. James Dunleavy also helped host Collinsworth. Dunleavey is the son of LA Clippers coach Mike Dunleavey. Collinsworth has also unofficially visited Arizona State, Kansas, UNLV, Utah and Stanford, but has eliminated all of those schools and reportedly doesn't feel a need to take an official visit to any of those schools. Virginia is still in the mix and still working to set up an in-home visit and an official visit. Collinsworth was the first recruit offered by new Virginia coach Tony Bennett when he took the job at UVA. Bennett also was recruiting Collinsworth hard when he was at Washington State. TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. Colorado State Saturday, Sept 26 at Provo Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. Utah State Friday, Oct 2 at Provo Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. UNLV Saturday, Oct 10 at Las Vegas Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. San Diego State Saturday, Oct 17 at San Diego Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. TCU Saturday, Oct 24 at Provo Kickoff: 5:30 pm Mountain Time TV: Versus

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 7
by hb arnett 21 Sep '09

21 Sep '09

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 6
by hb arnett 14 Sep '09

14 Sep '09

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 6
by hb arnett 14 Sep '09

14 Sep '09

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 6 - September 14, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions Florida State a Step Up BYU DELIVERS A 54-3 MATURE MAULING OF TULANE Tulane head coach Bob Toledo kept saying all week leading up to the BYU-Tulane game that BYU was mature, married and massive. Thanks to the 54-3 mauling of Tulane delivered in New Orleans last Saturday, Toledo can now say that the Cougars are mature, married, massive and moving up in the national rankings. The Cougars are now ranked No. 7 in the recently released AP poll and are listed at No. 9 in the USA Today/Coaches poll. They leapfrogged Boise State in the process in the USA poll. The Broncos are No. 10. The USA ranking is one of the polls used in the BCS formula. Speaking of formulas, BYU's was very simple against Tulane. Except for one turnover - a Max Hall interception - and a kneel-down final drive, the Cougars scored points on every possession they had against the Green Wave. In the process they racked up 527 yards of total offense. The BYU defense held Tulane to just 162 yards of offense and one token field goal. New Orleans, home of Tulane, is known for its cuisine, but if we had to describe the Green Wave gastronomically, they would be the ultimate cupcake. BYU savored every crumb and in the process was able to get their entire traveling roster on the field for some needed action and seasoning. Goulash When it comes to Florida State and gastronomy, we would describe the Seminoles as goulash. You really never know what's in the Hungarian dish and with FSU we really don't know much about what kind of team the Seminoles really are. They showed a lot of team speed and an explosive offense against Miami two weeks ago. They showed a defense that also allowed a lot of offense in their outing against the Hurricanes. Without seeing Miami again this past week we still don't know if they are any good. Florida State certainly looked sloppy in sloppy and wet conditions last Saturday against Jacksonville State. They trailed the entire game and with 35 seconds remaining needed two scores to secure the 19-9 victory. What we do know about FSU is that they are a passing team and have a good quarterback in Christian Ponder. He can throw it and has a stable of speedy receivers who can go and get what he throws. We will finally find out just how improved the BYU secondary really is when they match up with the Seminoles. For a good showing, the Cougar secondary will need some help from the BYU front seven. They have to find a way to get pressure on Ponder. With BYU also in a passing mode, the key to this game will be which team can balance its offense with a decent running game. It should be interesting, but it also should be another BYU win. We call it BYU 38 Florida State 28. KICKING, KARIYA AND KYLE BELL The BCS euphoria for BYU is building after a 2-0 start and serious national exposure. Before Cougar fans get too amped about a BCS bowl invitation, however, they need to take a peek at reality. The BYU kicking game is not BCS quality. Unless there is a serious improvement and soon, the lack of a consistent kicking game will bite BYU sometime and somewhere before this season is over. The most glaring weakness is the inability to get the ball even in the area code of the goal line on kickoffs. You don't have to watch much college football on television to see that the Cougars don't measure up in that department. Brian Kariya has been a surprise. His coming out party against Oklahoma was nice. He followed it up with another good outing against Tulane. The former walkon running back has produced. He will never look flashy, but he gets the job done. We have tried to think of somebody he reminds us of and the closest we can come is Kyle Bell, the former Colorado State tailback, of a few years ago. Before Bell hurt his knee and saw his game and playing time diminish for the Rams, he was a very good and productive North and South runner. In other BYU football notes, we reported last week that former Cougar Aaron Francisco was cut by the Arizona Cardinals before the start of the NFL season. He immediately was picked up and signed by the Indianapolis Colts. Pedestrian Production In our preseason evaluations of positions, we didn't expect much but pedestrian production from the defensive front seven of BYU. It is still a little early and a long season, but it appears we may be the pedestrian that was run over in the Cougar crosswalk when it comes to our early evaluation of the BYU defense. They are much better than anticipated. The outside linebackers, especially Jordan Pendleton, have been good. The defensive front is producing. Okay, we will finally admit what most have known for some time. Jan Jorgensen is a player. We have no word as yet on the condition of Braden Hansen, the starting left guard on the BYU offensive line. He suffered some sort of knee injury against Tulane. Hopefully he can return quickly back to action. In case he can't, BYU played true freshman Fono Vakalahi last Saturday against Tulane. The Cougar coaches had hoped to redshirt him, but with the number of bodies dwindling on the offensive line, they have put him in the mix. Here is a list of BYU bodies on the offensive line and their current status. 54 Ryan Freeman, 6-2, 280, So...in the two deep mix 60 Terence Brown, 6-3, 340, So...starter at right tackle 61 Tui Crichton, 6-3, 357, Fr...currently redshirting 62 Marco Thorson, 6-3, 321, So...replaced Hansen at Tulane 63 Jesse Taufi, 6-4, 302, Jr...BYU needs him to clear up his academic issues pronto. He is enrolled in school, but has yet to practice. There is a serious sense of urgency now. 64 RJ Willing, 6-5, 308, Sr...starting center 65 Houston Reynolds, 6-2, 303, Fr...gone for year with ACL surgery. We hear he had surgery and then had some infection issues. 66 Andrew Crawford, 6-5, 284, Fr...walkon who is redshirting 70 Matt Reynolds, 6-6, 329, So...BYU's best lineman 72 Nick Alletto, 6-6, 330, Jr...starting right tackle 73 Jason Speredon, 6-5, 313, Jr...gone for the year with injury 74 Ryan Mulitalo, 6-2, 277, Fr...redshirting 76 Braden Hansen, 6-6, 300, Redshirt Fr...hurt at Tulane, status pending. 77 Terrance Alletto, 6-3, 290, Fr...redshirting 78 Fono Vakalahi, 6-3, 330, Fr..because of Hansen's injury, no longer redshirting and is now in the mix. With Vakalahi now active, and depending on the status of Hansen's injury and Taufi's academics, BYU will go into the Florida State game with just seven offensive linemen. Hopefully Hansen will return to action soon and Taufi can finally see the practice field soon. SIGHTINGS AT SAN MATEO We have been wondering who will replace Harvey Unga when he is gone either after this year or next? Brian Kariya has been having a nice early season as a backup to Unga. He was especially impressive against Oklahoma, but in our opinion, he isn't the back of the future for the Cougars. Here is our take on running backs when it comes to BYU. The Cougars are seldom going to get a big-time shake-and-bake game breaker who is a quick and fast running back like you see in the big-time programs. A Ronney Jenkins is a once every two decades kind of guy. What the Cougars have to hang their hat on when it comes to a tailback is a big bruising back that can be physical and run north and south. Maybe Kariya is the guy after all. Unga, when completely healthy, fits that description. We originally thought that the heir apparent for Unga would be Seta Pohahau, the 5-11, 215 pound back that BYU signed in 2008 out of Aragon HS in Northern California. There was always hope last year that he would qualify academically, but that never happened. He is now at College of San Mateo and is a freshman running back for the Bulldogs. In the opening game of the season on Sept. 5, he rushed for 58 yards on 10 carries as CSM demolished DeAnza 55-23. We don't expect to see Pohahau at BYU because the Cougars, under Bronco Mendenhall, are unlikely to be signing any juco backs anytime soon. We are still sticking with our prediction that Adam Hine (formerly Timo) will be an outstanding back for the Cougars after he returns from an LDS mission and enrolls in school. He doesn't have break-away speed, but in our opinion, he will be an outstanding back for the Cougars. Cougar Connections There are two other players at San Mateo that have Cougar connections. One has a past connection and the other could have a future connection. The past player is Matangi Tonga, the talented defensive lineman who played at BYU as a freshman in 2006. After that season he ran into some off-the-field legal and law enforcement issues. He has again resurfaced on the football field at San Mateo as a sophomore. In his first game back, he had 5 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Because his eligibility clock started ticking in 2006 he will have just one more year of eligibility left after this season. It is likely that he will go Division II next season. The other player at San Mateo that we will be watching is Joe Sampson. He is a 6-0, 195 pound safety. He led the Bulldogs in their first win of the season with 8 tackles. He played last year at Foothill JC before moving over to San Mateo this year. If Foothill rings a bell it is because that is the school where current Cougar starting cornerback Brian Logan played last season before signing with BYU. He and Sampson were teammates. They are also cousins and the word we get is that Logan is encouraging him to take a look at BYU. Sampson reportedly already has serious interest from Cal and ASU, but is going to send in transcripts and tape to the staff in Provo. Again, Mendenhall's philosophy on signing jucos is that it is on a need basis. If you take a look at the safety spot for next year, there just might be a need. Of the two current starters, Andrew Rich will return, but Scott Johnson will graduate. There are three young players behind them. That would be Craig Bills, Shiloah Te'o and Jray Galeai. It is likely that Bills and Galeai could be leaving on LDS missions after this season. That leaves just Te'o and Steve Thomas, along with Rich, as safeties for next year. It could be worth keeping an eye on Sampson. VERSUS AND VIEWING The BYU-Florida State football game this Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo is set to be televised nationally on Versus. Kickoff is set for 5:00 pm Mountain Time. If you have Direct TV you likely know that Versus and Direct TV are at odds in their current negotiations and that Versus is currently no longer available on that particular satellite provider. If the stalemate isn't resolved between now and Saturday, you will need to find a friend or family member that has Dish Network or Comcast cable. Versus is still being carried on those providers. As a matter of fact, Dish is now offering Versus to all of their subscribers, regardless of programming tiers, and says they will continue to do so until the current football season concludes. As with all programming disputes, we expect this one between Versus and Direct TV to eventually be resolved, but until it is, try and find a Dish Network neighbor or friend. As of now, the only two BYU football games set for Versus are the FSU game on Saturday and the TCU game in Provo on October 24. If it drags on beyond October, you will likely have to drag out your friendship with your neighbor. BYU basketball has two regular season basketball games set for Versus. They include the February 6 game against UNLV in Las Vegas and the February 27 game against New Mexico in Provo. Some of the MWC tournament games are also set to be shown by Versus. QUARTERBACK QUEUE Max Hall...Completed 24-of-32 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns in 54-3 win over Tulane last week. Combined with his outing against Oklahoma, Hall is now headlining as a Heisman candidate. ESPN has him currently in fourth in their handicapping of the Heisman. He is behind Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy and Jahvid Best. Riley Nelson...The Utah State transfer saw his first action as a Cougar against Tulane. He completed both passes he threw and ran the ball twice. One of those carries was a one-yard TD. That had to infuriate Aggie fans who saw it all unfold on national television. James Lark...Will be a redshirt freshman when he returns from LDS mission in St. Petersburg, Russia. Due back in Jan of '10. Jason Munns...Ditto for Munns. Will be a redshirt freshman when he returns in May '10 from Oaxaca, Mexico Mission. Jake Heaps...He threw 2 touchdown passes in a 28-point first quarter blitz of Ballard HS. The final score was Skyline HS (Heaps) 42 Ballard 12. Heaps also ran for a score before taking an early exit from the game because of the lopsided score. Next week Heaps will matchup with Nick Montana, Joe's son, in a showdown between Skyline and Oaks Christian of Westlake, California. Oaks also features two current BYU commits in Zac Stout and Alani Fua. Both are linebackers. The game is set to be televised nationally on ESPNU. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time. Tanner Mangum...The LDS sophomore signal caller at Timberline HS in Boise completed 24-of36 passes for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns in his team's second win of the season, a 46-27 thrashing of Skyview. Alex Kuresa...Outlasted Pocatello HS in Idaho with a 28-21 win. Completed 13-of-19 passes. Kevin Prince...BYU offered this LDS quarterback coming out of high school a couple of years back. He turned down BYU for UCLA. He is the current starter for the Bruins and last week in his first game at UCLA he completed 18-of 29 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions. He is a redshirt freshman. On Saturday he led the Bruins to a 19-13 win against Tennessee in Knoxville. He completed 11-of-23 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. He also broke his jaw late in the game and will miss the next 3-4 weeks. Nick Graziano...Here's another LDS college quarterback. Graziano, a 6-2, 227 pound qb is a senior at Arkansas Tech in Russellville. He was the starting qb at Nevada-Reno as a redshirt freshman but broke his foot after five games. He came back, but when he did, Colin Kaepernick was on the scene and he eventually transferred to the Division II school. He prepped at Campolindo HS in Moraga, California. If we remember correctly, there was some kind of BYU tennis connection with his mother. One reason for including this LDS qb in our list is that there are some scouting services that list Graziano as one of the top 25 NFL qb prospects for this coming season. The primary reason for mentioning Graziano, however, is because we have always wanted to mention the Arkansas Tech nickname in this letter. they are called The Wonder Boys. After three games with The Wonder Boys, Graziano has completed 58-of-97 passes for 850 yards. He has thrown 7 touchdowns and had 2 interceptions. TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. Florida State Saturday, Sept 19 at Provo Kickoff: 5:00 pm Mountain Time TV: Versus BYU vs. Colorado State Saturday, Sept 26 at Provo Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. Utah State Friday, Oct 2 at Provo Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. UNLV Saturday, Oct 10 at Las Vegas Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn

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