HB Arnett's 801 372 - 0819 hbarnett@fiber.net 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 34, Issue 13 - October 28, 2013 Click <http://cougarclicks.com/product/Order-Cougar-Sportsline?ID=3173> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions Bye Week Bronco Said I Could After dispatching Boise State 37-20 last Friday night in Provo, Bronco Mendenhall said that he would use this week's bye for rest and recuperation for himself, coaches and players. He didn't specifically mention me, but I took him at his word. This week's letter is being sent a little later than usual because I too am resting and recuperating. Normally when I sleep in and send out an occasional late letter, I use the excuse of technical problems. No need today to stretch the truth. Bronco said I could rest and recuperate so I slept in. If that one doesn't fly, how's this one: Bronco suspended me from sending the letter for 6 hours due to a sleep deprivation violation Actually, with the way BYU is playing, all I need to do these days is just cut and paste a new team's name and the final score. Everything else is becoming redundant. Taysom Hill is awesome. Jamaal Williams is a workhorse. Cody Hoffman and other receivers are making plays. The defense is good and very productive when it needs to be. BYU created four turnovers. That sums it up. Here is the actual Boise State box score <http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=332980252> . Just go back and choose the letters from either of the games with Middle Tennessee State, Utah State, Georgia Tech or Houston and do a little cut and pasting yourself and you've got the letter I would have sent out if not for the Mendenhall mandated rest and recuperation edict. Attrition, Contrition and Attribution I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Here goes. I had shoulder surgery August 13 to fix a torn labrum, torn rotator cuff and bone spurs. The doctor, Bradford Matthews, out of American Fork, was very good and performed the surgery using some newer procedures and protocols. It led to a quick and apparent full recovery I base that assessment on how I played golf last Saturday for the first time since the surgery. It was the best I have played in five years. I'm not going to tell that to Dr. Matthews. He is an outstanding orthopedic guy, but he will now probably want to also charge me for being a golf guru. He actually had some great golf advice. He told me that my shoulder was healed enough to play a little golf, but recommended that I slow down my swing for my first outing since the surgery. It worked. His golf advice was the antithesis to Robert Anae's go fast go hard model for BYU football. The irony is that both strategies; slowing down my golf swing and speeding up the Cougar offense, have been successful. Another irony is that there are times when fast would also work for my golf game and slow would work for the BYU offense. If a following foursome is always hitting into my foursome, it is time to speed up the pace of play. For BYU's current go fast offense, there is also a time for it to slow down. In the spirit of attribution, I am printing an email mail I received this past weekend from a subscriber who has proven over the years that he is a knowledgeable, analytical and thoughtful follower of BYU football. He will remain anonymous, but here is what he says about slowing down the offense: HB, If I was writing about the game I'd make these points: 1. Why, with BYU holding a 34-13 lead in the 4th quarter, with only 14 minutes left in the game, was BYU still running its hurry-up offense? And why were Hill and Williams still in the game? If you were Chris Peterson, would you be happy or sad that BYU was working hard to preserve the clock when you needed three more touchdowns in less than a quarter to tie the game? For the first time in many years, BYU is primarily a running team; it should be able to chew up the clock. But it didn't occur to BYU to do that until there were about four minutes left in the game. I asked this question once before. Memo to Anae and Mendenhall: the clock is important, and keeping your key players healthy is also important. 2. I've written before that Mendenhall continues to put together solid seasons, almost always hanging around the Top 25 and sometimes the top 15, and usually winning a bowl game. But he also manages to lose those one or two key games that make the difference between a good season and a really memorable, one-for-the-ages season. Imagine what this year would be like if BYU had beaten Virginia, which they should have been able to do with blindfolds on. And imagine what this year would be like if BYU had also been able to beat Utah, a team that is perfectly capable of losing to anyone--except for BYU. BYU would be in the BCS discussion; they'd be in the top 10, and things would be pretty darned interesting. The schedule would be lined up perfectly, with winnable (but difficult) games against "name" teams Wisconsin and Notre Dame. But forget about all that with the losses to Virginia and Utah. Get ready for that "Fight Hunter" bowl and wait until next year, when Van Noy and Hoffman will be gone. It'll be another nice, forgettable season with no national impact. I really like Mendenhall. But he's different from Edwards. Edwards typically lost to good teams, and beat bad ones. With Mendenhall, it's more random. Attrition It's no secret that BYU and gone through bodies on the offensive line this season. In an effort to find guys that could play and were healthy enough to play, it has been a constant shuffle and tussle to find a consistently productive offensive line unit. This will likely be the case for the rest of the season. There is hope for next year, however. Here's another email from last week from a subscriber who has also proven that he knows his football and also has some big time connections to the athletic program. HB, BYU offensive line woes started with Gary Patterson not releasing Fabuluje The O-line will be much better next year because of Tayo Fabuluje, who is head and shoulders (almost literally and certainly figuratively) above anyone on the line now. Tayo played last year at TCU at 6'7" and 350 lbs; he says his back hurt a little at that weight so he will play at a svelte 330 for BYU next season. He ran a legit 4.6 as a 270 lb tight end, but could only do a 4.8 at 350 lbs. Thinks he'll be quicker at 330. Curse Gary Patterson for not giving Tayo a release and costing him a year of eligibility. Tayo is no worse than a 2nd rounder and barring injury should go late 1st round after next season. With him at LT next year, and a finally-healed Ryker Mathews staying at guard, Yeck moves back to RT, and Kearsley plays either center or LG and you have the makings of a good line. In the meantime, Tayo is at BYU as a non-member and on his own dime, staying with the xxxxxxxxxx family in xxxxxxxxx. (The subscriber provided name and location of the family and where they live, but I redacted it because this family also has a well known son on an athletic scholarship other than football.) You should contact him and invite him to dinner and an interview. He is an articulate, class act, but always in need of a good meal. No NCAA violation issues since he is not on scholarship. And Finally, Contrition I am contrite that I didn't take the $10 bet in this email from a non-subscriber sent to me August 13. It was in response to my glowing preseason report on how good Taysom Hill was as a quarterback and how BYU was going to be at least 10-2 on the year. HB, I recently read your latest issue. My Utah relatives seem to enjoy your coverage. It gave me many laughs as well, but for different reasons. I hope BYU can score as many points as you say. You may want to add a quarterback named Mariota to your list next time. Keep cheering for the Y and keep those folks excited, but remember to cheer for Oregon in the national title chase. :) P.S. $10 says Boise State finishes higher than the Y this year, and Southwick is a better QB than Taysom. Believe me, I can relate to this email from someone whom I ascertain to be a Boise State and Oregon guy. Boise State is now going through what BYU fans had to deal with while in the WAC and MWC. As Cougar fans we always had delusions of grandeur and greatness. Then eventually reality set in. This is the phase Bronco fans will now have to go through. You can beat a few name teams and beat up on the cannon fodder in the WAC and MWC, but when you finally face a season without a quality quarterback, reality is a bear to live with. Boise State and BYU have one thing in common. They are only as good as their quarterbacks. This year BYU has one and Boise State doesn't. Please send my $10 at your earliest convenience. More Attrition I believe in aviation parlance the phrase is "on a wing and a prayer." That's how BYU's secondary is flying these days. It's now officially "downright scary." BYU's two best secondary players have now both missed playing time the past two weeks because of concussions. Against Houston and Georgia Tech Bronco Mendenhall had to make do without Craig Bills. Daniel Sorensen took a blow to the head making a tackle and was forced to miss the entire second half against Boise State. Mike Hague, who was already functioning as a stop gap guy also reinjured his shoulder against the Broncos. With the upcoming bye, it is likely that both Bills and Sorensen will be on the field against Wisconsin, when it comes to cornerbacks BYU is now officially backed into a "corner". The trio of Skye PoVey, Dallin Leavitt and Michael Davis, does not instill confidence in my heart and certainly doesn't instill fear in the hearts of offensive coordinators of teams remaining on BYU's schedule. BYU will need more bodies in the defensive secondary next season. Robertson Daniel is playing corner this year for the Cougars, but he was recruited as a safety and should join Bills next season as a replacement for Sorensen. That leaves the corner spots wide open. BYU has three currently in the program, but injured. Trent Trammell could probably play the last few games of the season, but BYU is not going to pull him off a redshirt year after injuring his knee last January. Jordan Johnson is still rehabbing his knee and he won't be ready for action until next July or August. He started for BYU at corner last year and played well. Sam Lee signed last year, but has had a bad back. He should be ready to go in the spring. He was out of College of the Canyons in California. It appears to me that BYU still needs to go the juco route and bring in at least one more jc corner during this coming recruiting campaign. As this season pointed out, you can never have too many corners. MOVE OVER TAYSOM, ERIC IS NOW ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK In case you forgot, after three games this football season, there was a flock of fans that were vocal and active on the internet message boards and in letters to the editors of newspapers, calling for the benching of Taysom Hill. They said he couldn't throw the ball. He would never be a BYU passing quarterback. It was time to face reality and sit Hill down and turn over the offensive reigns to Ammon Olsen. Taysom is now the toast of the town when it comes to BYU faithful and original fault finders. All of which brings us to Eric Mika. Remember him. He was the highly recruited, athletically gifted freshman big man. BYU basketball fans were drooling. Now go back to those same BYU internet message boards and after just one game, which was a meaningless exhibition game against Colorado College which the Cougars won 94-59, and Mika has replaced Hill as the favorite whipping boy of disgruntled Cougar fans. In 20 minutes of play, Mika scored 6 points had four rebounds and two blocked shots. Here's a little advice based on the Taysom experience of just a few weeks ago. Give Mika at least a month to prove himself. Trust Dave Rose when he says that Mika is extremely talented and will have to be counted on for the Cougars to be successful. When completions were scarce, Bronco told us that Hill was a good to great passer. He proved to be a prophet. Now Rose says that Mika will be spectacular. Here's betting that he will be right. BYU will face Alaska-Anchorage this Saturday in another exhibition game in Provo. Tip is set for 7 pm Mountain Time and the game will also be televised live on BYUtv. Fluff and Stuff The No. 24 ranked BYU women's soccer team went on the road last Saturday night and upset No. 6 ranked Portland 1-0. It was a landmark win for the Cougars for this season. But as good as the victory was for BYU fans, the post game reaction of Portland's coach was even more interesting, in my opinion. Here's the YouTube video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmEfimb5afw> . BYU is now 11-4-1 and 5-1 in WCC play. In volleyball, the Lady Cougars lost their first conference match of the season last week at St. Mary's. BYU is still leading the league standings with a 10-1 mark and a record of 17-4 overall. BYU was ranked No. 19 last week. BYU Television Timetable BYU vs. Loyola Marymount (Women's Volleyball) Thursday, Oct 31 at Provo Match Start: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. San Diego (Women's Soccer) Friday, Nov 1 at Provo Match Start: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Pepperdine (Women's Volleyball) Saturday, Nov 2 at Provo Match Start: 1:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Alaska Anchorage (Men's Basketball exhibition) Saturday, Nov 2 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Pacific (Women's Soccer) Thursday, Nov 7 at Provo Match Start: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. South Dakota State (Women's Basketball) Friday, Nov 8 at Provo Tipoff: 3:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Weber State Friday, Nov 8 at Provo (Men's Basketball) Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv Wisconsin vs. BYU Saturday, Nov 9 at Madison Kickoff: TBA TV: TBA BYU vs. Stanford (Men's Basketball) Monday, Nov 11 at Palo Alto Tipoff: 9:00 pm Mountain Time TV: ESPN BYU vs. Idaho State Saturday, Nov 16 at Provo Kickoff: 1:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv
