HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
801
372 0819
hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission.com
Vol. 29,
Issue 1 August 5, 2008
Click
Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions
BYU
FOOTBALL IN 2008 WILL BE UNBELIEVABLE, BUT NOT UNBLEMISHED
We love August and
BYU football.
It is rah, rah,
rah, 24-7.
It is always our
best month of the year for subs
This year there is
a bonus. Not only are the Cougars still undefeated, they are also ranked 17th
in the pre-season rankings of the USA Today Coaches poll. The last time BYU was
ranked nationally in a pre-season poll was 1997. Coincidentally, they were also
ranked 17th that year. They finished with a 6-5 record.
This month has the
best BYU buzz we have heard in decades. We attribute it to the BCS talk in the
air.
Did we mention
that BYU is undefeated in August?
Better yet, we
Quite frankly,
this is a team that could be absolutely scary good when every offensive play
starts with the ball in Max Hall's hands.
In the 30 years we
have been covering and observing BYU football, which includes all the glory
years and a gang of good quarterbacks like Sheide, Nielsen, Wilson, McMahon,
Young, Detmer etc, the best Cougar offense we ever saw was the one Gary Crowton
put on the field in his first year as the head coach in 2001.
Prolific
Passers
BYU has had some
prolific passers, but it wasn't until they combined the passing game with a
legitimate running attack in 2001, that they were virtually unstoppable.
In case you
forgot, they were 12-0 until injuries to Bran
What was really
impressive in 2001 were the points put up by that BYU offense.
They scored 70
(Tulane), 52 (
We also watched an
equally great offense in 2004. It wasn't the Cougars'. It belonged to
Here is how
Barring every game
being played in torrential rain, hurricane-like wind, a season-ending injury to
Max Hall or the BYU offense averaging 5 turnovers a game, we would expect to
see this BYU offense turn in those same type of point totals that the 2001 BYU
and the 2004 Utah offense did.
Scary
Good
That is our
definition of scary good.
Barring a game in
which BYU turns over the ball 5 or more times, our assessment of this 2008
Cougar offense is that any and all opponents on this year's schedule will need
to score at least 31 points if they hope to have a chance to beat the Cougars.
If we are anywhere
close on that assessment of this offense, this really could be an unbelievable
season.,
We said that the
expectations for this year's offense are unreal. While that is true, we also
said that the Cougars' record wouldn't be unblemished.
We expect to see
at least one loss again this season, despite an unbelievable offense.
We base that
expectation on history and the fickleness of football.
In case you
forgot, in 82 years of playing football, BYU has only had one undefeated season
in its history. They were 13-0 and National Champs in 1984.
In those same 82
years, they have only had 5 seasons with just one loss. The Cougars were 8-1 in
1932, 11-1 in 1979, 12-1 in 1980, 11-1 in 1983, and 14-1 in 1996.
Conference
Play
We expect to see
BYU on the losing end of the scoreboard at least once this season. We also
expect that loss to come in conference play.
Again, just look
at history.
The past two
seasons, BYU is 16-0 in MWC action. That is unbelievable and unsustainable.
It doesn't happen
in any league over the long haul.
It shouldn't have
happened in BYU's case over the last two years. During those 16 games, there
were at least 5 contests that we can recall where it took unbelievable luck,
providence, and or fortunate bounces and fumbles for BYU to escape with
victories.
There were three
conference games last season that could have gone either way. It really did
take a fortuitous play against
In case you
forgot, with less than three minutes on the clock, TCU was driving for the
go-ahead score in
We still buy all
Bronco Mendenhall is selling, but we also buy into the reality of conference
games.
Rare
It is extremely
rare for a team to go back to back seasons without stumbling at least once
against a conference team.
As a matter of
fact, in the 46 years that BYU has been a member of the WAC and MWC, the
Cougars have had just 6 seasons in which they went through league play
undefeated. That happened in 79, 83, 84, 96, 06 and 07.
After just three
years on the job as BYU's head coach, Mendenhall is already responsible for 33%
of those undefeated league seasons.
That says
something about him. Either he is an extremely good coach or the law of
conference averages are about to catch up to him.
We
That is the bad
news. The good news is that while we
That means the
BYU-Utah match up will still be for an outright title or piece of the league
That also means
that the game will determine which team is headed to
We
The winner of
BYU-Utah should get the nod for a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl. That game is set
for Saturday, Dec 20.
COUGAR CONFLICT
If BYU makes a
fourth-straight appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl this year, there will be a
scheduling conflict with BYU basketball.
BYU is slated to
face
While the official
BYU basketball schedule has not been released, at least some of the
non-conference games for Dave Rose and his team are already known.
In addition to
playing ASU in
A game against
NO
SHOWS, PARTIAL SHOWS AND SHOWS
Let's start with
those not showing in camp because of injuries. This especially impacts
the linebacking corp.
Terrance Hooks,
the junior middle linebacker, was ticketed for plenty of playing time this fall
until he suffered a knee injury during this past spring. He is not listed on
the current roster, but is still on the team and expected to return for next
season.
A similar
situation corresponds to sophomore outside linebacker Grant Nelson. He was
going to back up David Nixon this season and saw minutes last year.
Because of renal
ramifications, he will be undergoing surgery soon and will miss the entire year
while recovering.
It didn't seem
like a big deal when jc linebacker re
With the
linebacker injuries, even before camp starts, his release is now being felt on
the roster.
Speaking of
no-shows revisited, the inability of BYU coaches to reel in Uona Kavienga last
February, has turned up the spotlight on BYU's inability to consistently land
the big LDS fish.
Kavienga, who said
he was going to sign with BYU, only to renege and sign with USC, just reopens
old re
There are two
other no-shows.
Atem Bol, the wide
receiver re
Seta Pohahau, the
highly touted running back from
Part of the
no-shows for this fall camp include two missing missionaries. They were both
part of the most recent re
Holt is ticketed
for two years in
Partial
Shows
Austin Collie is
on campus and was on the field for the start of fall camp, but he is not
available for any serious action or practice because of a recently diagnosed
stress fracture in his leg.
The prognosis is
that he will miss 2-3 weeks and be back and good to go.
Another linebacker
is a partial show. Matt Bauman, the junior from
Bernard Afutiti is
also in camp, but can't participate. The junior college defensive end is still
awaiting academic paperwork from his previous jc.
Shows
There is only one
real show for BYU this season and it is all about the quarterback. It is the
same s
The show this year
is Max Hall. As he plays and performs, so go the Cougars.
Fortunately for
the junior signal caller, he has a phenomenal supporting cast to back him up.
Harvey Unga, Austin Collie, Dennis Pitta and a very good offensive line, should
help this show be a major smash with big-time reviews and plenty of wins.
Previews
Once this team
gets a week of real practice under its belt, we will begin next week detailing
depth c
BASKETBALL
BRIEFS
There has been a
little surge in the regional hype for two BYU basketball prospects.
We mentioned a
week ago that Bran
Davies really
elevated his game and consequently, his re
A lot of major
schools a
Those schools
include west coast mainstays, Gonzaga, ASU, USC and
For some, the
emergence of the Provo HS duo has come as a surprise. Not so for BYU coaches
who have been on the re
Trust us when we
say that when it comes to LDS basketball prospects, there are no se
The biggest
evaluation mistake recently was with JC Carroll, who was not offered by BYU and
signed with
That mistake was
not made by Dave Rose. It was another Steve Cleveland assistant who made the
trip to
Davies
Davies is a
concern for BYU. The concern is not his play, but his academics. He still needs
work to be able to qualify for Division I basketball.
While Davies is a
priority, Tyler Haws is still numero uno when it comes to BYU's re
Haws was invited
to several prestigious national camps this summer and did nothing but improve
his stock.
He also spend a
lot of time this summer playing with his Lone Peak HS team.
The most recent
appearance with his team was at the Honda Classic at
In game 1, Haws
had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Game 2 saw him score 29 points and pull down 9
rebounds. In game three, Haws was perfect from the line, 3-4 from three point
land and scored 31 points and had six boards.
Game 4 had Haws
sitting out the entire fourth quarter, but he still managed 30 points and 7
rebounds.
Game 5 was more of
the same. He had 26 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. Game 6 was his biggest
scoring outing. He had 41 points.
In the final,
BYU Team
Camp
Haws, Davies and Collinsworth
also played against each other this summer at BYU's team camp.
The Knights beat
Blackfoot HS from
Haws only had 12
points against Tooele in limited time. The final: Lone Peak 60, Tooele 18.
Springville held
him to 24 points and 7 boards in a 49-37
While Dave Rose
spent a lot of time in
Another name to
watch is Ian Haward, a super skinny 6-10 post player from Orem HS. He was hurt
for most of his junior season, but has performed well this spring and summer.
He reportedly would like to play at BYU, but Dave Rose and staff have not
extended an offer as yet.
He does have an
offer from
TRACKING TIMO
BYU now has 11
verbal commitments for the coming re
Here is the latest
list: Mulitalo; Remington Peck, 6-5, 215, TE, Bingham HS, UT; Anthony Heimuli,
5-11, 225, RB, Mt. View HS, UT; Mitch Mathews, 6-5, 200, WR, Southridge HS, OR;
Trevor Bateman, 5-11, 180, DB, Palm Desert HS, CA; Peni Maka'afi, 5-10, 215,
RB, Northridge HS, UT; Tui Crichton, 6-4, 280, OL, Timpview HS, UT; Terry
Alletto, 6-3, 260, Ponderosa HS, CO; Craig Bills, 6-2, 205, DB, Timpview HS,
UT; Jray Galea'i, 6-0, 170, Kahuku HS, HI and Adam Timo, 6-1, 185, RB, Snow
Canyon HS, UT.
We still think the
diamond of this class will be Timo. He will be a big-time running back in
college. He didn't get the press he deserved last season as a junior because he
had a new coach who implemented a new spread offense. He also plays in St.
George and that precludes major media coverage along the Wasatch Front.
This year, those
living in the
He will play three
games early this season in
They open at home
Sept 5 against Las Vegas HS in St. George and then return to
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