HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
801
372 0819
hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission.com
Vol. 29,
Issue 2 August 11, 2008
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BAD
NEWS, GOOD NEWS FROM FALL CAMP
Here's the bad
news from BYU football camp.
It consists of
four grueling weeks for players and four long weeks of anticipation for fans.
The good news for
fans and players alike is that the first week is over and there are just three
more left.
After one week of
fall camp, here is our bad news, good news report.
Offensive
Line
Bad News: BYU has the second best
offensive line in the Mountain West Conference.
Good News: That second best offensive
line just happens to be BYU's second unit. The best offensive line in the
league is BYU's first unit.
Unfortunately for
the Utes, BYU is a better team because they have a better offensive line. The
Cougars will control the line of s
Quite frankly,
BYU's talent and depth on the offensive line is almost an embarrassment of
riches.
It was
disappointing when Tom Sorensen, the projected starter at center and transfer
from Vanderbilt, suffered shoulder problems that will likely keep off the field
for 4-6 weeks.
Referring to the Utes
again, it was also disappointing a few years back when starting quarterback
Bret Elliot went down in the first game with a broken foot, only to see Alex
Smith show up and then show off.
That same scenario
could be taking place at BYU. Sorensen can play and would have, and still
might, but his injury has facilitated an easy transition of movement for Cougar
coaches. They switched Dallas Reynolds from left tackle and shifted him to
center.
That has opened up
a spot for redshirt freshman Matt Reynolds to take the field at the left tackle
spot. This is the point of the Bret Elliot-Alex Smith
Sorensen and Elliott are
good legitimate Division I players, but Smith, and in our opinion, Matt
Reynolds are special.
There is still
some battling taking place between Reynolds and R.J Willing for that left
tackle spot and a smaller battle between Willing and Dallas Reynolds for the
center duties.
Regardless, the
bottom line is that BYU has at least 8-9 legitimate linemen with which to work.
Give it another two months for a jc transfer, a returned missionary and a new
incoming freshman to get in shape physically and mentally and the glut of
quality offensive linemen becomes ridiculous.
Christmas never came
this early for Cougar offensive line coach Mark Weber.
Here's how the
offensive line should look for the opener against
That ladies and
gentlemen will be the best offensive line in the Mountain West Conference and
one of the top offensive lines west of the
What about that
second-best offensive line in the conference? Let's start with R.J.
Willing and Garrett Reden. Willing could easily slip in as a starter at center,
guard or tackle. He has loads of experience and plenty of talent. Reden saw
plenty of action last year until he was injured.
Allow jc transfer
Jesse Taufi to adjust to the new schemes and speed of the game at this level
and Terrence Brown to try and get somewhat back into playing shape after
returning from his mission (Brown started 7 games as a freshman before leaving
for two years).
Sorensen will just
add to the depth when he finally returns from his injury. In a pinch, you could
also use true freshman Brock Stringham and you have the makings of a second
unit that other conference coaches would be drooling about.
Defensive
Line
Bad News: If this was Olympic
swimming, this unit has absolutely no buoyancy. They would sink right to the
bottom of the pool. The only thing aquatic about this group are a few nice pass
rushing swim moves. BYU's only chance of a medal would be the one they already
received from Bronco Mendenhall just before the start of fall camp.
Good News: Football is played on a
field and not in a pool. This is one of the better defensive lines we have seen
at BYU since the Cotton Bowl.
Almost everybody
knows about returning starters Ian Dulan and Jan Jorgensen. They both can play.
Jorgensen is a returning all-league player and considered one of the top
defenders in the conference.
Not many outside
of BYU know that the premier defensive player in the league could be playing
between the two returning Cougar starters.
Russell Tialavea,
likely won't get the accolades he will deserve by the media and fans, but he
will certainly get rave reviews from coaches who have to block him and use
special blocking schemes to slow him down.
The junior is back
from his knee injury of a year ago and will have an instant impact on opposing
offenses. You really won't notice him unless you pay attention, but his
presence will be felt at nose guard for BYU.
BYU's second unit
defensive line won't be the second best in the league, but there are some good
players that can provide depth and even a decent pass rush.
Bernard Afutiti,
the jc transfer from
Matt Putnam, the
6-7, 240 pounder, has been moved back from linebacker to defensive end and
could be used as a designated outside speed rusher.
While he isn't a
defensive lineman now, Coleby Clawson, the juco transfer from
At BYU, he will
line up as an outside linebacker. That means he now has more space in which to
make his moves and get by a tackle and to the quarterback.
Rushing the passer
is something this defensive group should be good at this year.
Others on the
defensive line who will see time and play are Brett Denney, Tevita Hola, Rick
Wolfley and Mosese Foketi.
Linebackers
Bad News: This group won't be as good
as they were last year. In our opinion, there are just too many journeymen type
players in the middle and no step up guy to look to inside.
The fact the
coaches are talking about how good true freshmen Spencer Hadley and Iona Pritc
Good News: BYU has a proven
player in David Nixon outside and has an extremely talented, but totally
inexperienced guy on the other side in Vic So'oto. All he has to do now is
prove himself when the "lights go on."
Linebacker play
will be a work in progress, but based on the defensive success of the last two
seasons, by the time key games against TCU and
Kicking
Game
Bad News: BYU has never had a
great kicking game. The Cougars have never had a kicker good enough to carve
out more than a cup of coffee on an NFL roster. We
When it comes to
punting, Lee Johnson actually had a decent NFL career. He is not on the BYU
roster this season.
Good News: BYU's kicking and punting
games will be better than they were last season.
That isn't saying
much. We still expect inconsistency in the field goal department, but we, along
with coaches, do expect kickoffs this year to at least be in the same area code
as the end zone.
Justin Sorensen is
fighting back from a ankle injury on his plant foot that kept the incoming
freshman from kicking for five months. He just started kicking again a month
ago.
Sorensen and Matt
Payne, who is now healthy this season, are dueling for the right to kick field
goals. Regardless of who wins that job, we still
Quarterback
Bad News: Max Hall has just two
seasons of eligibility left.
Good News: Max Hall still has two
seasons of eligibility left.
Defensive
Backs
Bad News: We had a subs
His retort was,
"Based on BYU's defensive back history, that's not saying much."
Good News: We still maintain this is
the most athletic defensive back group we have seen at BYU in years.
We also still
adhere to our long-time belief that we would rather have talent than experience
any day.
You can always
acquire and develop experience, but you can't coach talent. You have to re
Our assessment of
this group is that it will start off shaky, become solid and before the year is
over be semi-stellar (in comparison with past BYU defensive back standards).
It is good news
that when the Cougars take the field against
BYU has already
improved by 50% in that regard, in our opinion.
The two former
walkons are Kellen Fowler at safety and probably Scott Johnson at boundary
corner.
Johnson and Bran
Bran
David Tafuna is
back from his foot injury of last season and he will join Fowler as the other
safety.
Andrew Rich is the
third guy and will replace and rotate with both Fowler and Tafuna. Rich is a
juco transfer from
For those who
revel in the walkon stories, and we
Running
Back
Bad News: Harvey Unga won't have as
good of rushing numbers this season as he produced last year.
Good News: Unga will still be a big
time player, but last year there was no other reliable tailback to help carry
the load. This year, you can add J.J. DiLuigi to the mix and subtract a few
yards from Unga’s impressive totals of last season.
DiLuigi is a Reno
Mahe clone, but stronger and a better inside runner. This could be a very good
tailback tandem for the Cougars.
BYU will miss
Manase
After two sub par
years, if Fui Vakapuna can finally get back to the form he showed as a freshman
and show he can also block and catch out of the backfield, the running game at
BYU should still be very good.
Tight
End
Bad News: BYU lost a very good tight
end that had size, could catch the ball and block. That happened when Vic
So'oto switched over from offense to linebacker on defense.
Good News: So’oto won't be
missed as a tight end. That says volumes about the talent and depth BYU has at
this position.
Dennis Pitta is
big and can catch the ball. He can also run with it after the catch. He has
enough speed to cause match up nightmares for defensive coordinators.
Andrew George is
also a player and will get on the field backing up Pitta and in two tight
end-formations.
Wide
Receivers
Bad News:
BYU took a public relations hit last week when incoming freshman receiver,
O'Neil Chambers, popped off on ESPN's web site about Cougar receivers with less
talent than he, getting more reps than he was.
His brashness
irked some Cougar fans. On the 1 thru 10 "Irked Cougar Fan Public
Relations Scale, we gave it a 2. If you want to see what we rate a 6, click here.
Something like this would normally rate higher, but, in our opinion, you have
to put in the context of BYU-Utah.
Good News: As old time baseball
pitcher Dizzy Dean said, "It ain't braggin' if you can do it."
For those younger
readers who
Chambers can learn
BYU football etiquette. He can be taught the BYU and Bronco way, but you can't
teach talent.
He has it.
So does Austin
Collie. He still has it, but can't use it until his stress fracture in his leg
heals. If healthy, he will still be the go-to guy.
Michael Reed will
be a solid contributor to this receiving corp. Luke Ashworth is making waves
with his play while getting reps that normally go to Collie.
This will be a
good group and if Collie can get healed and if Chambers can make headlines on
the field instead of in the media, Max Hall will have some serious weapons to
use.
Re
Bad News: There are still no verbal
commitments from top-rated LDS re
Good News: While BYU still waits and
still re
The latest was
Fono Vakalahi, a 6-4, 320 pound offensive lineman from Bryan HS in
That brings to 12
the number of commitments the cougars already have on the books for this year's
re
Vakalahi had an
offer on the table from Baylor and was starting to hear from other schools like
Texas A&M, UNLV,
FOOTBALL
FLUFF AND STUFF
Bronco Mendenhall
has said that he is implementing a new redshirt policy for the football program.
He will now not
make decisions about which players will redshirt until the end of each season.
If a player does
not play during one of his early seasons, he now has to prove that he deserves
a redshirt year by how
According to
Mendenhall, it is all about earning a redshirt year and it will no longer be a
given that a player who doesn't play early in his career will have a redshirt
year to use.
This new
philosophy dovetails nicely with all the other principles Mendenhall has
inserted into the BYU football program.
In our opinion, it
doesn't hurt either, that if a player doesn't look like he will ever be a contributor
on the field, this also accelerates his passing of eligibility.
The real intent of
the new program is to teach accountability and productivity to all players,
but, in our opinion, it also helps streamline the normal attrition rate and
sifting of non-productive and productive players. This is part of every
football program, including BYU and facilitates a continual influx of new
talent into the program through the re
We are sure that
is not the intent of Mendenhall, but it appears to be a nice ancillary product
of the new principle.
Adam Timo, the
senior star running back from Snow Canyon HS in St. George, will play
quarterback for his team this season.
We mentioned last
week that the Warriors implemented a spread offense last year. That requires a
quarterback who can run. That is what Timo does. It should be interesting, but
Timo will be a running back for the Cougars next year.
TELEVISION
TIMETABLE
BYU vs.
Saturday, Aug 30 at
Kickoff: 4:00 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
Saturday, Sep 6 at
Kickoff: 1:00 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Fox Sports Northwest
and Fox Sports
BYU vs.
UCLA
Saturday, Sep 13 at
Kickoff: 1:30 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Versus
BYU vs.
Saturday, Sep 20 at
Kickoff: 1:00 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
Friday, Oct 3 at
Kickoff: TBA
TV: TBA
BYU vs.
Saturday, Oct 11 at
Kickoff: 4:00 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
TCU
Thursday, Oct 16 at
Kickoff: 6:00 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Versus
BYU vs.
UNLV
Saturday, Oct 25 at
Kickoff: Noon Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov 1 at
Kickoff: 4:00 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov 8 at
Kickoff: Noon Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
Air Force
Saturday, Nov 15 at
Kickoff: 1:30 PM Mountain
Time
TV: CBS C
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov 22 at
Kickoff: 4:00 PM Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn