October 2018 - Cougarsportsline - mailman.xmission.com

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by HB Arnett 15 Oct '18

15 Oct '18

HB Arnett's "Lite" hbarnett(a)fiber.net <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> 801 372 0819 Your Subscription to Cougar Sportsline Lite is close to expiring. You have 1 issue remaining on your current subscription. To renew your subscription Click Here <http://oldmancougar.com/product/Order-Cougar-Sportsline?ID=3173> . Thanks, HB Arnett

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CS Lite, Vol. 38, Issue 12, October 15, 2018
by HB Arnett 15 Oct '18

15 Oct '18

HB Arnett's "Lite" <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett(a)fiber.net 801 372 0819 Vol. 38, Issue 12, - October 15, 2018 BYU Breaks 3-Week Football Fast With 49-23 Hawaiian Feast I'm an internet expert on fasting. I've tried the 16-hour daily fast to lose weight. <https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide> Intermittent Fasting. Didn't work. Too many good taco food trucks and carts available that are still open at 9 pm. In high school we used to play Calexico HS yearly. We would always cross the border at Mexicali to buy the delicious street tacos for a dime each. A teammate made the mistake of asking the vendor what kind of meat he was using. He replied, "Carne es Carne". Translated: Meat is Meat. Don't know what he was expecting for a dime. I watched the Netflix special on the benefits of fasting. It was intriguing and fascinating. I recommend it as a great informative watch. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrZQei5BdcQ> The Science of Fasting. But my addiction to Banana Flavored Laffy Taffy and Diet Mtn Dew is a hard stumbling-block to overcome. I used to be a mormon, but I am now a proud member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Certain Women's auxiliaries of my Church have been asked to fast for various periods of times from Social Media by our Prophet, <https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/sisters-participation-in-the -gathering-of-israel?lang=eng> President Nelson. A new fasting diet that some are now pushing is called "reverse fasting". This one is simple. You can only eat when you are backing out in reverse from your driveway or parking stall at work. This one is tricky and requires hand to mouth coordination coupled with great rear-view mirror vision in a very short period of time during the day. <https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/reverse-fasting-benefits> Reverse Fasting. Thankfully for BYU football fans worldwide, Kalani Sitake, set the standard late Saturday night for breaking a 3-week football fast offensively with BYU's 49-23 win over Hawaii. Sitake used the Blythe, CA. (where I grew up) technique taught to me by my dad. During the summers when the temperatures reached 115 degrees, I would ask my father if we at least could drink some water during our monthly fast. His response was that it would probably be okay if just before we passed out, we could take a small sip of H2O. Sitake used the same technique. His coaching seat was getting extremely hot. Just before he passed out from looking like he had no clue, he took a sip of Zach Wilson and looked like he may have revived himself and BYU football. Ilaisa Tuiaki, the Cougars defensive coordinator, broke his fast at a Las Vegas style buffet of blitzes. Just when it looked like he was passing out as an unimaginative defensive coordinator, suddenly he gorged and gutted Hawaii's vaunted passing attack with blitzes BYU fans had not seen for two years. Forget moderation in all things. He stuffed himself and Hawaii with a mouthful of Corbin Kaufusi. The BYU defensive buffet was serving up Kaufusi in a variety of ways. Middle Linebacker, Defensive End, Spy and Sacker. For Hawaii's offense, Kaufusi was a one-man horror movie called "The Thing" which rhymes with ka-ching, the sound of NFL money potentially to be made by Kaufusi for his herculean performance against the UH Warriors. Wilson saved Tom Hanks from going crazy in the movie <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO_MYX_Oto0> Cast Away. In this short scene portrayed by clicking above, Hanks is profusely saying sorry to Wilson. Kalani Sitake and Jeff Grimes might be thinking the same thing. "Sorry Zach Wilson, we should have played you sooner". If you remember, Wilson was lost at sea, during a perilous time for Hanks. Nobody knows where he ended up. Now we know. He showed up on the BYU football shore and appears to have shored up what had been an anemic offense of the past year and a half. Based on Wilson's debut performance as a Cougar, we want to get a head start on getting a good nickname for him. How about ZDub? Let's try Kid Rock. With the plethora of freshmen playing offensively for BYU this season, what about Nursery Leader? My vote is cast for "DG". That stands for Darn Good. Since we have already talked movies, my R rated nickname would be HDG. That would be Hoover DAM Good! Fluff and Stuff Taysom Talks the Talk and Wilson Walks the Walk.Here's what Taysom Hill says about Zach Wilson and then watch Wilson walk the walk about which Hill talked by <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSU9KPJY5Q4> Clicking Here.Wilson and Women.The BYU Women's Volleyball team is not a castaway but far and away the best team I've seen in the decades I have been covering Cougar athletics. They are currently rated No. 1 in the nation and are currently 18-0 overall and 8-0 in WCC play. Just how good is this team? They have only lost 5 sets during this entire season. Next up is Loyola Marymount this Thursday at 7 pm in Provo. The match will be televised by BYUTV and will allow you to also see how good this team is.We Do Hard Things was the Michigan Lansing Mission slogan. Tanner Mangum has epitomized that slogan during his career at BYU. With all the polarization and pillaging taking place in the political arena and even in the local pigskin arena, Mangum has shown grace and good despite the public fact checking and editorials concerning his football skills and private life. Despite having his football career and personal life dissected and dissed for two years by the media and public, he has taken it all with the grace of a statesman and stud who bleeds BYU blue. Barring an unforeseen injury to Zach Wilson, we won't be seeing him on the football field again, but the character he has shown in his career at BYU, guarantees that we will be seeing him again as a successful contributor to society somewhere in this life. He has been the face of BYU football for the last three seasons and faced adversity personally and as a player and done it all without movie makeup or makeover. Just my opinion, but he is the genuine grace and goodness of a true statesman and spokesman for what is right with BYU and the world.Bronco Mendenhall is making waves in Virginia. <https://www.dailyprogress.com/cavalierinsider/three-things-we-learned-about -virginia-coach-bronco-mendenhall-in/article_fbbc0990-cff8-11e8-a688-2f0690c b0c3d.html> Click to read what they are saying in Charlottesville about the former BYU coach and his former BYU staff after a 16-13 win over ranked Miami. Just in Case Hawaii Won.. I like to be prepared for any occasion. Here is what I penned last week before the Hawaii/BYU showdown in Provo in preparation for a BYU loss. Robert Frost Weighs in on the Future of BYU Football The Road Not Taken BY <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-frost> ROBERT FROST Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. America's Most Widely Misread Literary Work According to The Atlantic, the magazine Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" is often interpreted as an anthem of individualism and nonconformity, seemingly encouraging readers to take the road less traveled. This interpretation has long been propagated through countless song lyrics, newspaper columns, and graduation speeches. But as Frost liked to <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/89511/robert-frost-the-road-not-t aken> warn his listeners, "You have to be careful of that one; it's a tricky poem-very tricky." In actuality, the two roads diverging in a yellow wood are "really about the same," according to Frost, and are equally traveled and quite interchangeable. In fact, the critic David Orr deemed Frost's work "the most misread poem in America," <http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/09/11/the-most-misread-poem-in-amer ica/> writing in <http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/09/11/the-most-misread-poem-in-amer ica/> The Paris Review: "This is the kind of claim we make when we want to comfort or blame ourselves by assuming that our current position is the product of our own choices. The poem isn't a salute to can-do individualism. It's a commentary on the self-deception we practice when constructing the story of our own lives." In the final stanza, we can't know whether the speaker is sighing with contentedness or regret as he justifies the choices he's made and shapes the narrative of his life. Frost wrote the poem to tease his chronically indecisive friend, Edward Thomas, who misinterpreted the meaning and enlisted in the military shortly thereafter, only to be killed two years later in WWI. BYU Fans Most Widely Misread Perception on BYU Sports, Particularly Football and Basketball, According to Me Here are the two roads that must both be traveled by BYU coaches. There is no option if you want a paycheck. HONOR CODE and ACADEMICS. The way it is now with BYU athletics, both of those roads eventually lead to less talented athletes overall than other competing schools have to deal with. I don't care if it is Robert Frost, Scott Frost, Nick Saban, St. Nick, Leach, as in Mike or Lingo, as in Johnny, no other school or coach in the nation has to traverse those two roads. I'm old enough and have followed BYU athletics long enough to remember when the two roads of Honor Code and Academics were much less visible and consequently much more flexible for coaches of an earlier era. The biggest detriment to BYU football and basketball, in my opinion, are cell phone cameras and social media. I'm not advocating a revisit to the old days. I'm just pointing out that it doesn't make a significant difference who coaches at BYU as long as the two Roads and blocks are what they are. I'm not advocating a change, just pointing out what I consider to be the unalterable facts. Regardless of whose face is leading the program and what road they choose. Until those two roads are widened, paved and made more passable, even Robert Frost couldn't compete with the big boys for the talent needed to compete on the college football biggest stage. Now after the game, here is my new take on "the road not taken". Consulting a Google Map would have been very helpful in determining the decision on who would be the BYU starting quarterback before the season started. Knowledge of where each road was headed and ended could have saved a lot of anguish for coaches, players, fans and Robert Frost. It still wouldn't have stopped the road-kill drubbing put on BYU by Washington and Utah State. But, according to the inalienable 20/20 hindsight of myself and all BYU football fans who have shouted to Sitake, "I told you so", it is always appropriate to remember what Jean de La Fountaine reportedly said about BYU football results, records and recruiting: "A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it". For those of you who may have forgot, de La Fountaine was a 4-star recruit from France and one of the most widely read and recruited poets of the 17th Century. He was recruited by Alabama, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Harvard and Princeton. He took the road less traveled to Arizona Western JC in Yuma. That's why he is quasi-quoted in a less traveled and less read rag like Cougar Sportsline.

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CS Lite, Vol. 38, Issue 11 - B, October 12, 2018
by HB Arnett 12 Oct '18

12 Oct '18

HB Arnett's "Lite" <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett(a)fiber.net 801 372 0819 Vol. 38, Issue 11 - B, October 12, 2018 All Signs and Sources Indicate That Zack Wilson Will Start at QB tomorrow night against Hawaii Which makes this email received from a subscriber this week very appropriate. YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A BAD TEAM WHEN. . . . everyone is talking about a quarterback change, mid-season. That got me to thinking: Has a QB switch, mid-season, ever made much of a difference at BYU? Mostly, no. A bad team is a bad team. But there have been a few times. . . when it HAS made a difference. Here are three years that come to mind: 1. 1975: My memory is a little foggy here, and I don't have box scores for all the games. But it seems to me that Gifford Nielsen came in after a few games had already been played. Possibly he was practicing with the basketball team before that. He was recruited (out of Provo High School) mostly as a basketball player. But he had been quarterback for the Provo High football team, so that was in the back of everyone's mind. BYU lost its first three games in 1975, then beat a bad New Mexico team by one point. It looked like it was going to be a long season. But then something happened, and that something was Gifford Nielsen. BYU won the rest of its scheduled games that season, except for the one against ranked Arizona. BYU was not yet used to beating Utah, but in 1975 the score was BYU 51, Utah 20. That was news back then. (It would be news today, too.) 2. 1987: BYU was floundering under non-passer Bob Jensen. After six games it was 3-3, and the schedule hadn't been all that tough. This was a team going nowhere. At some point, in 1987, Bob Jensen sat and a new guy named Sean Covey took over. Covey almost looked like a new BYU great at first, and BYU did finish the season with six straight wins (before a bowl loss to Virginia). But it was an illusion. Covey was too small, too fragile, and probably not as good as he looked when he first joined the team. Still, he really turned things around in 1987. 3. 2000: This is the one time that a quarterback change made a gigantic difference, and it doesn't reflect well on LaVell Edwards, who was finishing his tenure at BYU (along with Norm Chow). BYU had been going with Charlie Peterson, and then with strong-armed Bret Engemann (after Peterson got hurt). They also had a guy named Brandon Doman sitting on the bench (he'd been on the bench the year before too) but Norm Chow insisted that Doman wasn't good enough to play for BYU. Doman was strictly a reserve, said Chow. Not a good passer--that was the word from the geniuses who were running BYU's offense. Eventually all of the other quarterbacks were hurt, and Doman had to play. Guess what? He was spectacular, and he saved the season all by himself. BYU had been a dismal 4-6 going into the penultimate game against Rocky Long's New Mexico team. It looked like LaVell was going to go out a loser. But then Doman happened--because he was the only guy left. And Doman kicked butt. The Doman Cougars beat New Mexico 37-13. Remember, New Mexico was a Rocky Long team. 37 points against a Long defense was a big deal. Then BYU played Utah in the final game of the season. And BYU, in a ferocious comeback and in one of the many magical games in LaVell's long career, won that game too, 34-27. Doman went on to win the first 12 games of the 2001 season, under Gary Crowton. So he won his first 14 games as a starter. That was the last time--the last time--I felt that BYU football was something special. They've been good since, but not magical good, like they were under Doman (and Luke Staley). Don't look for a change like that this year. BYU doesn't have the receivers, the brains, the magic--that it had under LaVell and under Crowton too, at the beginning. This is a prosaic team. But sure, play Zach Wilson. I'd like to see what he can do. Robert Garrick In the Spirit of Full Disclosure. Quarterback controversies are good for business. People pay attention and are interested. I always feel for the quarterbacks involved in the controversies, but regardless it fuels readership and discussion. After Saturday against Hawaii, the current 2018 BYU QB controversy will either be resolved or exacerbated until next March and the start of spring football. I'm talking the Zack Wilson vs. Jaren Hall debate on tap for 2019. A season opening schedule of Utah, Tennessee, USC and Washington guarantees a QB controversy between them. Wilson will have the head start and could have a lock on the job depending on how he performs during the remainder of this season. But don't discount Hall, the returned missionary from Mapleton. So, let's get started early because it is coming. Zack Wilson.Jaren Hall <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKoEax6Xqrc> Click to Watch Wilson <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q8Y8v6Q5SY&t=95s> Click to Watch Hall Finally, here's BYU's scary Halloween video for tomorrow. That would be UH's sophomore QB Cole McDonald. There is no QB controversy in Honolulu. This was his first start against CSU on the road. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcEaZcNtvaE> Click to Watch McDonald

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CS Lite, Vol. 38, Issue 11 - A, October 9, 2018
by HB Arnett 09 Oct '18

09 Oct '18

HB Arnett's "Lite" <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett(a)fiber.net 801 372 0819 Vol. 38, Issue 11 -A, - October 9, 2018 Bronco, Grimes, Mangum and Wilson Remember when Bronco Mendenhall told a UVA booster group in the summer that he had only 27 ACC caliber players on his roster? That caused a buzz. Click here <https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/6/11/17448438/bronco-mendenh all-virginia-acc-caliber-players-power-5> to read one version of his remarks and response of the media and fans. How many Division I caliber players does BYU currently have on its roster? Apparently not enough, according to Jeff Grimes during his comments on BYUTV's Coordinator's Corner Monday. Click here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QOeC25xPOc> to hear and see what he said. Click here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99R3aUnCjLQ> to hear what Grimes said about the BYU offense and why I think it is obvious that Zach Wilson will start this Saturday at quarterback for the Cougars against Hawaii.

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CS Lite, Vol. 38, Issue 11 - October 8, 2018
by HB Arnett 08 Oct '18

08 Oct '18

HB Arnett's "Lite" <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett(a)fiber.net 801 372 0819 Vol. 38, Issue 11, - October 8, 2018 Kolmogorov complexity The definition of Kolmogorov complexity in a nutshell is the length of the shortest possible set of written mathematical instructions that can produce a given result. Kalani complexity The definition of the Kalani complexity in a nutshell is the number of wins he will need in the remainder of this 2018 season and in the upcoming 2019 season to keep his job. I'm no mathematician, but I can give a pretty good equation explaining this Cougar complexity of Kalani. USU45>BYU20=3-3 record +(6 more games-2guaranteed losses left=7-5season+<2019 season=Utah, Tennessee, USC, Washington=unemployment unless something changes. For the above equation to not be valid, here is a more practical equation that Kalani needs to solve before this coming Saturday: 4-2=future is now or never. Zach Wilson has played in two BYU football games. He can play in two more before losing his redshirt freshman season. The math running through Kalani's head now must be between saving Wilson for next year or sinking or swimming with him now to get him ready for next year's even tougher front-loaded schedule. Nothing on the line here except Wilson's eligibility and Kalani's job security. Sometimes Math can be maddening. Sometimes it can save a season and future employment. Re-run and Re-read In keeping with the election season and the constant re-running of political ads, to emphasize my point, here is what I wrote September 10. I also love me some BYU winning football games. BYU isn't going to win many of those games until they get a mobile quarterback. The only thing wrong with Tanner Mangum is that he is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has all it takes to be a star at Stanford or USC. He just doesn't have the feet or mobility to win at BYU. You are who you hang out with. It's not his fault BYU has no serious playmakers on its current roster. So, if I can figure this quarterback thing out that for BYU, that to win, they need a more mobile quarterback who opposing defenses must account for in the running game, don't you think BYU coaches have it figured it out. Of course, they have. They know they currently have two true freshman quarterbacks on the roster now that fits the job description. What they haven't figured out is how to make the transition from pure arm to arms and legs. Or maybe they have, and we are watching it take place right now. They key words in this equation are true freshman. How to make the transition at quarterback from good to good with legs? Is that what Cougar offensive coaches are doing right now? Are they waiting until the punishing part of the schedule with Wisconsin and Washington is over before they go mobile? If that's the case, then Mangum deserves two Y blankets at the last game presentation. He may not make the Athletic Hall of Fame, but based on his loyalty, integrity, grit, passion and team first mentality, he deserves all the accolades he gets. I personally think coaches realize this more than we the fans do. They also realize that accolades won't get BYU back in the quarterback business. It is a good arm and at least decent legs. They will get four of those decent to good, and if we are lucky, great legs in three weeks with true freshmen Zach Wilson and Jaren Hall. Oh yeah, they can also throw it. Why throw your future at quarterback to the meat grinder of Cal, Wisconsin and Washington, when if you wait, you can see what you really have for the future against McNeese State, Utah State, Hawaii, UMass and New Mexico State. A little seasoning of mobile quarterbacks in those games may make the Utah game at least interesting this season. And it will make next season's seasoning worth waiting for. THEY CALL IT "FOOT" BALL, NOT "ARM" BALL! I can think of only a few college teams that can consistently win without a quarterback that can run or scramble effectively. USC is the one college team that comes to mind. Stanford also fills that bill. The ultimate "arm" ball team in college is Washington State. Coaches and pundits and scouts are always talking about footwork for every position on the field. The only time I ever hear the word arm is when describing the strength of a quarterback's said appendage. BYU used to get by with "arm" quarterbacks BC. That would be before cornerbacks and defensive coordinators got more athletic and smarter. The last 9-win season BYU produced was not with an "arm" quarterback, but with a "feet" QB in Taysom Hill. Tom Brady and Drew Brees are "arm" quarterbacks, but in college the top teams are those that not only have a quarterback that can throw it, but also can run it and be elusive enough to cause defenses problems. Need proof. Start watching college football's top teams. Of the most recently rated Top Ten Teams in college football, here are teams that have QB's that can throw it but also run it. Alabama: Tua Tagovailoa Ohio State: Dwayne Haskins Penn State: Trace McSorley Notre Dame: Ian Book Texas: Sam Ehlinger UCF: McKenzie Milton When it comes to the State of Utah there is only one quarterback that can beat you with his arm and legs and we saw both of those appendages in action last Friday when Jordan Love, Utah State's outstanding quarterback, shredded BYU in a 45-20 loss. It could have been worse. This is just my opinion, but arm, ordinary receivers and soft schedule made BYU a national name in college football. I hate to go scriptural, but at BYU football, you can't trust in the arm of a quarterback to get your wins any more. You have to put the "foot" back in football. Again, my opinion, but a quarterback with "foot" will improve the arm and anemic current BYU passing game. Now, I know it is a meager sample, and against second unit defenses, but watch this video of BYU putting a foot back in football and tell me what you think. Here is the Bruno Mars "Hip Hop" version <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSfUiupLpVo> Is the BYU "Foot" Ball Future Beginning This Week or Next Year? Here is the Donny Osmond Version <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYW9QDvagQs> Is the BYU "Foot" Ball Future Beginning This Week or Next Year? So, What's the Hurry? Try this for urgency for BYU football To Go Change or Go Home. This was sent to me by a subscriber. Current 2018 NCAA College Football Stats BYU Offense Total Offense Ranked 112/130 Points per Game: 21,2 - Ranked 118/130 Total Passing Yards: 1137 - Ranked 92/130 Total Rushing Yards: 699 - Ranked 107/130 Tanner Mangum Total QBR: 50.6 Ranked 90/130 BYU Defense Total Defense Ranked 72/130 This Looks Familiar 2017 Total offense for the season: 107/130 2017 Total defense for the season: 73/130 And while we are keeping tabs and score on BYU football's situation, here is an article doing the same. <https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/columnist/dan-wolken/2018/10/ 07/auburn-poor-start-puts-malzahn-49-million-deal-under-microscope/155805200 2/> It's USA Today College Football Misery Index. Click to read. BYU is in good company. The article talks mainly about Auburn, but also laments Louisville, Kansas State, Michigan State and at the end, BYU. I thought it was interesting reading. The article mentioned the defensive deficiencies of Oklahoma which were remedied yesterday when they fired their defensive coordinator Mike Stoops. That coincides with BYU and Bronco Mendenhall's firing of their defensive coordinator, Jaime Hill 8 years ago in 2010. Coincidentally, the firing came after a thrashing by Utah State in Logan. Here are the salient sentences by Mendenhall giving his reasons for dismissing his defensive coordinator midseason. Mendenhall discusses decision to fire defensive coordinator PROVO -- BYU head football coach Bronco Mendenhall is explaining the <http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=272&sid=12667809> firing of defensive coordinator Jaime Hill. Hill was shown the door Saturday after the team went to 1-4 with a loss at Utah State, marking BYU's worst start since the early 1970s. Mendenhall says it was the right choice, motivated by "feelings, instincts, promptings." "I did what I thought was best for the program," Mendenhall told reporters Monday at his weekly news conference. "Difficult decision, but I've aligned myself now with the way that I think I can make a real difference in our program at a deeper level." Mendenhall said he fired Hill because of differences in coaching and leadership philosophies, but he also wanted to have more influence over his team. "I think my influence on the defense -- that's what I consider my strength, it's where I think I can have the most leverage, and it's where I think I can influence our program the most," Mendenhall said. Contacted over the weekend by KSL Newsradio, Hill said he was the "scapegoat" and BYU had "no reason" to fire him. Mendenhall said the scapegoat comment was "not accurate." Hill did not return calls to KSL Newsradio when asked for further comment Monday. Mendenhall hopes taking over as defensive coordinator will instill some "heart" and "soul" into his team. "I don't think right now we're getting their personal best, and that is something that is the most lingering issue to me that I really want to help them with, and maybe they haven't seen it from me," Mendenhall said. You can read the entire article reported in October 2010, by KSL.com by <https://www.ksl.com/article/12690056/mendenhall-discusses-decision-to-fire- defensive-coordinator?print=1> clicking here. Random Thoughts on Firing Coaches Mid-Season If I was a head football coach, I personally wouldn't fire my brother who was serving as a defensive coordinator. Neither did Bob Stoops at Oklahoma. He kept his brother Mike on as DC for years. I don't know what Stoops rationale was for keeping his brother on the payroll, but I know what my rationale would be. If I fired my brother, who would bring the potato salad at the next family reunion? There is a BYU and Bronco Mendenhall connection to the firing at Oklahoma. Ruffin McNeil was hired by Bronco at UVA after McNeil was fired as head coach at East Carolina. McNeil worked for Mendenhall for one season before he left to coach the defensive line at Oklahoma where Lincoln Riley, the OU head coach also named him Assistant head coach. Riley had worked for McNeill as his offensive coordinator at East Carolina. This season's BYU defensive showing has not been good. Maybe serviceable is the best that can be said about it. If I notice it and almost all BYU football fans notice it, don't you think that Kalani Sitake notices it? Ilaisa Tuiaki is not Sitake's literal brother, but I'm wondering if there hasn't been some thought given about who's bringing the potato salad to the next reunion. Potato salad didn't figure in with the removal of almost an entire offensive staff after last season, but maybe it might be time to re-stir the defensive salad at BYU and give Ed Lamb a shot at the texture and taste of said current salad. Sorry, just thinking out loud when it comes to a defense that is playing like potato salad. Speaking of reunions and potato salad, regardless of how soggy, sour or spoiled the BYU football potato salad is, I am always going to go to the reunions. Family trumps potato salad every time.

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CS Lite Vol. 38, Issue 10 - October 1, 2018
by HB Arnett 01 Oct '18

01 Oct '18

HB Arnetts Lite <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett(a)fiber.net 801 372 0819 Vol. 38, Issue 10, - October 1, 2018 Dennis Green Got it Right! When it comes to BYUs performance against Washington in a 35-7 loss, Dennis Green got it right about BYU. Take 8 seconds to watch this video, before we move on to the actual game. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKT8Df_3Ak> Click Here to Get Greens Perspective and my perspective on BYU In August, a projected 3-2 BYU football record after the first 5 games of the 2018 schedule made everyone happy. A month later an actual 3-2 record has suddenly become the end of the BYU football world. What changed in a months time? The sequence of the wins and losses. Transpose the Wisconsin and California games and results and BYU is right where we all thought they would be at 3-2. Actually, a 2-3 start would have made a lot of people happy. Greed, even on the gridiron, can be a nasty thing. Thirty days ago, 6 wins would have made Kalani Sitake a miracle worker. After a win over Wisconsin, anything less than a 11-1 record and a Playoff spot, and Sitake should be shown the door for underperforming. Perspective evidently remains in flux during the football season. Even counting two probable losses on the road still to come against Boise State and Utah, an 8-4 record would have been considered a miracle and deserved coach of the year consideration. Now 8-4 and even 7-5 and dont let the door hit Sitakes backside out the door. BYU is still a good football team. They are just not one of the elite teams in college football. Horse Racing Its a lot like horse racing, one of my favorite sports. You can take a decent horse doing well at a track like Turf Paradise in Phoenix or even Delta Downs in Louisiana, but if a good horse at those tracks, could somehow gain entry into a race in Breeders Cup where the best horses in the world take the track and turf, they would be outclassed just like BYU was against Washington. BYU just didnt have the horses to run with the Huskies. Great horses make good trainers look good. Same with football coaches. It takes good to great football players to make a coach and game plan look good and competent. Even good horses dont always win. Sometimes they get boxed in on the rail. Sometimes they get a bad start out of the gate. There are a lot of variables in horse racing, even at the highest levels. Same with football and players. Take Tanner Mangums performance versus Jake Brownings performances last Saturday night. Browning was 23-25 for 277 yards and one touchdown. Mangum was 18-21 for 160 yards and no touchdowns. Its Browning in a landslide. Right? Who knows. What if Browning was throwing for BYU and Mangum throwing for Washington. Would the stats be the same? Want to talk about a muddy track. Go back and just watch a few minutes of the game on tape. How long did Browning get to stay in the pocket untouched or unhurried before throwing the ball to wide open receivers? How long did Mangum have to find mostly covered wideouts? Still Lose Based on the overall athleticism and speed of both teams, give the Cougars Jake Browning and they still lose. Give Washington Mangum and they still win. I think you can make that comparison at all positions on the field. Washingtons guys were just better than BYUs. Just where did BYU stand out at any spot on the field? We thought that would be true a month ago, but somehow thought the situation would change after a win at Wisconsin. BYU needs better players. Instead of counting wins and losses, we should count how much better players will eventually be under Sitake. You could bring in Andy Reid or even Bill Belichick, and without an improved roster of players, nothing changes. Speaking of Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots who punished the Miami Dolphins yesterday 38-7, said, Great players make great plays. Cut and Paste That quote can be cut and pasted and used by at least 15 college coaches yesterday. Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Dana Holgorsen, Lincoln Riley, and Kirby Smart. Lets get real. Do you honestly believe that Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, would have beat Washington yesterday with BYUs current roster and Washingtons current personnel? I still hold to my prediction of at least 7 and more likely 8 wins this season for BYU. The difference between 7 and 8 wins will be determined this Friday when Utah State comes to town. Meanwhile BYU and Sitake have much bigger fish to fry for next season. Here is a list of the first 4 games of the year: Utah at Provo; Tennessee at Knoxville; USC at Provo and Washington at Provo. Remember, great players make great plays. BYU either must recruit or develop some more great players and they dont have much time in which to do just that. We Are About to Find Out Just How Good BYU Football Coaches Really Are or Arent Forget about game plans and schemes. Forget about jet sweeps and check downs. As poor as the BYU pass rush is and has been, it is on the back burner now. What we will find out by the start of LDS General Conference on Saturday morning, is what kind of coaching staff BYU really has. It is their job to keep this current team from doing what they did last season. That would be quitting. It was painfully obvious last year that the BYU football team quit on themselves, coaches and fans. Want evidence? Try a 4-9 record and losses to teams like UMass. The bar has been set and the Aggies of Utah State will be the bar exam. It is a Pass or Fail event. Publicly Professed Utah State is coming off a bye week. They have already publicly professed that this is a big game for them and that they will be ready to play. They have good team speed offensively. It is not Washington team speed, but it is good. BYU should control the line of scrimmage, but can they control their hearts and desire to continue to play hard and with enthusiasm. A computer ranking (Sagarin) has the Utah rated as the #31 best team in the country. This same ranking system has Utah State rated at #50, with the Cougars ranked at #64. We shall see. Las Vegas has the Cougars as a 2 ½ point favorite. By Saturday morning we will know if BYU cashed in or simply checked out for the rest of the season. This will be a football game between bits and bytes of a computer and the bets placed in Las Vegas. They both cant be right. Change Something has to change with this current football team and program. Its very rare that something said over the pulpit at LDS General Conference pertains to BYU football, but try this on for size. Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy, gave a great halftime speech to a team and program during the first session of April 2018 General Conference and didnt even know it. He said, Concerning change, consider this simple insight: Things that dont change remain the same. This obvious truth isnt meant to insult your intelligence but is the profound wisdom of President Boyd K. Packer, who then added, And when we are through changingwere through. We will know late Friday night if this is déjà vu of last season or change is actually taking place before our own eyes. Here is one thing that is pertinent to this BYU football team right now. It is a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. Take your pick. Success, it has been said, isnt the absence of failure, but going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm. Friday night against Utah State will make or break the remaining success of this football season. Speaking of change, except for failure to run the ball effectively at Washington, who happens to have an elite defense, BYU should be able to run the ball against the rest of their scheduleif they can pass the ball effectively and efficiently. Changing Quarterbacks That is something that has to change. Changing quarterbacks wont make a difference in the passing game, but something must change or as Elder Packer said, we are through. I dont have the answers, but that is what a BYU coaching staff getting a combined $2 million paycheck (my estimation only) should be doing if they want to earn that paycheck and put the passing game back on the table. Friday should tell us what the menu for the rest of the season will be. Washington and BYU Do Have One Thing in Common Both have dominating athletic teams. UW has football and BYU has womens volleyball. What the Huskies did to BYU on the football field last Saturday, the Lady Cougars have been doing to opponents on the court at home and away. The No. 1 ranked Cougars are currently undefeated and 15-0 on the season. Of those 15 wins, 12 have been 3-0 sweeps of the opponent. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be an Alabama football fan, catch a game at the Smith Fieldhouse and see for yourself. A BYU Basketball Re-Run? Its been 3 years since BYU basketball earned a trip to the NCAA post season tournament. Its been seven years since they won a game in that same tournament. In a Biblical context, I believe they call that a 7-year famine. In a BYU basketball context, they call it golf. You know, drive for show, cant putt for dough. BYU is going back to show. They have ditched their one-year half-court offense experiment and are returning to their tried and true up-tempo offense. The basic description of this offensive attack is that the first guy to find the ball in his hand after crossing the half court line, shoots it. Just kidding. It will be fun to watch. So is a golf long driving contest. All PGA golfers can hit the ball. Those that cash a paycheck, almost always have a short game and can chip and putt when the match is on the line. Drive for Show, Putt for Dough BYU basketball will be fun to watch this year. They will be driving for show. What we dont know is if they can putt for dough when the game is on the line. This team is loaded with big hitters who can shoot the ball from downtown. They look a little short in the putting green paint, however. We will see how it works out. It will be entertaining again for sure, but more than likely disappointing again, when post season rolls around. Hope Im wrong. Here is the current roster. .

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