HB Arnett’s

801 372 - 0819

hbarnett@fiber.net

1391 West 800 South – Orem, Utah 84058

 

Vol. 35, Issue 8 –September 12, 2014

 

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Figure Skating and Football Now the Same

I Hate the FBS College Football Playoff System

 

The P5 Conferences and their playoff system have ruined college football for me.

 

Based on the scoreboard, BYU is now 3-0 on the year with a 33-25 win over Houston last night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

 

Unfortunately, it is no longer about scoreboard but all about style points and subjective judging by a FBS football panel that smells a lot like the French figure skating  judges at the Olympics a few years ago.

 

The fix is in. If the judges have a built in self interest in the conferences with whom they are affiliated, then teams should just take off the pads and don the flesh colored skin tight outfits so prevalent in figure skating.

 

And if you don’t think the host nation of these playoffs (ESPN) doesn’t have a vested interest in who they want to see playing on New Year’s Eve and Day, you need to have your skates sharpened.

 

The game is no longer about winning or losing, but about lutzes and triple salchows.

 

Case in point; BYU didn’t lose to Houston last Thursday, but you would have thought they did based on all the in game and post game angst among Cougar fans, Those fans were pouting because the Cougars didn’t rack up enough style points for the national pundits to ponder that would put BYU higher in the polls.

 

Lutz or Losing?

 

Taysom Hill landed lots of lutzes in keeping BYU from losing, but his form and flow wasn’t what judges wanted to see. While his two touchdowns, one on the ground and one passing, officially count for 6 points each, Cougar fan judges and national pundits only gave him a 4.9.

 

In case you missed it, BYU beat Houston last night. On the scoreboard and for the season’s record, the Cougars nailed it. Unfortunately, they will be docked for degree of difficulty and style points in the self serving beauty contest known as the Football Playoff System.

 

If this is the way college football is going to be for the have nots of the world, then BYU has the wrong coach. They need to replace Bronco Mendenhall with somebody like Scott Hamilton, the figure skating analyst and guru. He then can bring in Kristi Yamaguchi as offensive coordinator and Michelle Kwan as the defensive coordinator.

 

And forget the 9-11 inspired American Flag helmets. If it’s all about flair and style, next week BYU should come out with sequins on their shoulder pads for the game against Virginia.

 

Meanwhile back to the contest against the Cougars from Houston. Statistically, BYU dominated this game. Especially on the ground where Taysom Hill had 160 yards rushing and  Jamaal Williams added another 139 yards of production.

 

BYU had 32 first downs to Houston’s 18. The Cougars produced 523 yards in total offense compared to Houston’s 325. BYU controlled the clock with 35:30 versus 24:30.

 

Turnovers

 

BYU also led in the turnover battle. The Cougars gave up three, (2 interceptions and 1 fumble). Houston didn’t turnover the ball once. Take away those miscues and Houston’s ability to capitalize on BYU’s miscues and this was truly a dominant game for BYU.

 

In the spirit of holding up cards to judge what we saw, here is my card for the Cougars. On a scale of 6.0, I give the team’s performance a 5.3. Hill didn’t lose, but he was shaky on some of his lutzy lobs downfield. He gets a 5.1 on my card for his passing and a 5.99 for his running.

 

Defensively, BYU gets a 6.0 and perfect score for defending the run. Defensive coaches get a 4.2 for their performance.

 

Every time the Cougars brought pressure, they successfully took away the outstanding pass game of Houston’s John O’Korn and his NFL talented receivers. When BYU opted to just rush 3, O’Korn ate them up.

 

As Tony Robbins says, “If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.”

 

If pressure proved to be good, why not bring more of it?

 

If you take away style points and degree of difficulty, the only score on the card that matters is the 3.0 BYU received with the win. That means they have won 3 games and lost 0.

 

I’ve never been an ice skater or judge, but I do put ice in my Dr. Pepper. That always makes things better. So does winning football games. A Cougar win and ice cold Dr. Pepper; it doesn’t get any better than that.

 

BYU Offense Has Huge HC Problem

 

Take a deep breath. HC doesn’t stand for Honor Code. It stands for Hill Centric.

 

Taysom Hill is the BYU offense. Take him out of the equation and there is no Cougar offense.

 

That is why I personally think this Robert Anae offense will not be sustainable or viable in the near future.

 

As long as Anae has a HH (Healthy Hill) BYU will put up good to great offensive numbers. But what happens when Hill is hurt or uses up his eligibility?

 

Hill is a once-in-a-2-decade-type talent. Take him away and this offense won’t be productive enough to make any national noise. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

 

I hate it when ESPN announcers agree with me. That is the ultimate insult but even they pondered and pontificated about what would happen to BYU this year if Taysom Hill was injured.

 

Texas A&M was able to replace Johnny Manziel with Kenny Hill and the beat went on. Who replaces Hill when he is gone? On paper, there are two options; the talented Tanner Mangum, currently serving an LDS mission, and Trent Hosick currently in exile at Arizona Western in Yuma.

 

I don’t think Hosick is the answer. The Missouri transfer opted to sit out his required transfer year by playing football at Northeastern Oklahoma. Unfortunately, he couldn’t win the starting job for the Norseman and left for Arizona Western. He still isn’t starting at AWC. The Matadors were trounced last week at Snow 24-7.

 

Again, on paper, it looks to me that the HD (Hill’s Departure) answer will be Mangum. Here’s a hint. If you liked the way John O’Korn of Houston threw the ball against BYU, you will love Mangum.

 

Now the question is, will we like Robert Anae and the adjustments he will have to make to find a quarterback replacement for Hill? I personally don’t see how the Cougars can continue to run this Hill Centric offense without Hill.

 

The good news is that Anae also ran an offense that took advantage of Max Hall’s abilities and was around as a player when BYU was synonymous with throwing the football.

 

Meantime, BYU fans, including myself, need to maintain an attitude of PA, HH and HC.

 

That translates to mean Pray Always that Hill’s Health will permit the Hill Centric offense to continue to function.

 

AAC Commissioner Welcome, But Not their Officials

 

Mike Aresco, the commissioner of the American Athletic Conference, was in town for the BYU-Houston game.

 

Unfortunately, the game officials from the same conference were also in town. BYU has played against UConn and Houston, two teams from the same league, and in both contests the officials were from the ACC.

 

Against UConn, BYU was whistled 15 times for 150 yards. Last night, the Cougars were flagged 11 times for 98 yards. Against Texas, BYU had 6 penalties for 40 yards.

 

Aresco makes no secret that he would love to have BYU in his league. He has actively been waving the AAC flag in front of BYU officials. The not so pleasant flag waving and tossing of his league officials, however, certainly can’t be scoring any points with Bronco Mendenhall.

 

BYU-Houston Roster Ruminations

 

If you are like most football fans, you probably don’t pay close attention to all of the players that make an appearance on the field for BYU. We can all identify most of the starters, but not many can name the substitutes that make an appearance during the game.

 

Keeping track of who makes it on the field gives a good idea of who is hurt, who is redshirting and who just doesn’t play for whatever reason.

 

For example, Harvey Langi, the touted Utah transfer, actually saw the field against Houston. Keanu Nelson, the Stanford transfer didn’t.

 

Below are the starting lineups on offense and defense for BYU against Houston. Also listed below is the official list from the box score of those Cougars that also played. In some cases, it may have been only a cameo appearance of one or two plays or in the case of Edward Fusi, it was for significant time because starting center Tejan Koroma was kicked out of the game for supposedly throwing a punch.

 

WR  

10 

MATHEWS,Mitch  

LE  

92 

ROWLEY,Graham  

WR  

9  

LESLIE,Jordan  

NT  

91 

TUILOMA,Travis  

TE  

84 

MAHINA,Devin  

RE  

44 

PECK,Remington  

LT  

71 

LAPUAHO,Ului  

SLB  

5  

FUA,Alani  

LG  

67 

JOHNSON,Kyle  

MLB  

47 

STOUT,Zac  

C  

56 

KOROMA,Tejan  

BLB  

22 

PIKULA,Manoa  

RG  

74 

STRINGHAM,Broc  

WLB  

42 

ALISA,Mike  

RT  

57 

WESLEY,De'Ondr  

FC  

15 

DAVIS,Michael  

QB  

4  

HILL,Taysom  

BC  

0E 

DANIEL,Roberts  

RB  

21 

WILLIAMS,Jamaa  

FS  

20 

BILLS,Craig  

WR  

87 

JUERGENS,Mitch  

KAT  

2  

LEAVITT,Dallin  

 

Others seeing the field

 

1-JACKSON,Harvey, 1-APO,Ross, 11-PREATOR,Jordan, 3-PEARSON,Colby, 36-HINDS,Troy, 6-JOHNSON,JORDAN, 7-POVEY,Skye, 11-HOUK,Terenn, 12-NACUA,Kai, 13-HENDERSON,Kurt, 17-BADGER,Chris, 19-BLACKMON,Devon, 23-ARELLANO,Scott, 25-KAUTAI,Teu, 27-SAMSON,Trevor, 28-HINE,Adam, 29-MIKKELSEN,Andre, 30-WADSWORTH,Mike, 31-TAUTU,Sae, 33-LASIKE,Paul, 34-WARNER,FRED, 37-JONES,Grant, 41-HEDER,Austin, 43-LEUTA-DOUYERE, 48-LAULILE,Tomasi, 53-TAKITAKI,Sione, 59-LANGI,Harvey, 62-TAELE,Logan, 72-MATHEWS,Ryker, 50-FUSI,Edward, 75-WILCOX,Brad, 78-KANUCH,Tuni, 85-SAMPSON,Bryan, 86-DYE,Trey, 96-O'MARY,Kevin, 99-JOHNSON,Marques.

 

Speaking of Substitutions…

 

This issue of Cougar Sportsline normally would be sent out Monday. I am sending it early because I will be out of town all of next week for family functions in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of a fatal private plane crash that impacted three families, one of which is mine.

 

I will however, be sending out the early morning and daily Cougar Clicks next week.

 

Thanks for your consideration in this matter,

 

hb

 

TV Timetable

 

BYU vs. Virginia

Saturday, September 20 at Provo

Kickoff: 1:30 pm MDT

TV: ESPN or ESPNU

BYE

Saturday, September 27

BYU vs. Utah State

Friday, October 3 at Provo

Kickoff: 8:15 pm MDT

TV: ESPN

BYU vs. Central Florida

Thursday, October 9 at Orlando

Kickoff: 5:30 pm MDT

TV: ESPN