HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
801
372 0819
hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission
Vol. 28,
Issue 12, October 22, 2007
Click
Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions
As a
subscriber, you are allowed to access our new blog. You can view it by going to
www.cougarsportsline.blogspot.com
Just a reminder that we are now sending the newsletter via
two separate email accounts to help solve distribution issues that many
subscribers experienced last year. That means you may receive two identical
letters. If that is the case, please just discard the extra.
BYU
THUMPS EWU 42-7
BYU got exactly
what they scheduled this past summer with EWU. It was an Easy Win Understood.
That was how it
played out this past Saturday in LaVell Edwards Stadium with BYU easily
whipping
The game and
weather were both sloppy, but when the scoreboard and skies finally cleared,
the Cougars were 5-2 on the year and just one win away from becoming bowl
eligible.
Thanks to a stingy
BYU defense and another outstanding day by Harvey Unga, this game was never in
doubt.
The Cougars came
up with three interceptions and held the EWU ground game to just 42 yards.
Against the
Eagles, Unga had his second consecutive big rushing game of the season. The
redshirt freshman churned out 145 yards rushing on just 21 carries. He also
scored 2 touchdowns. One was a 22 yard catch and run and the other a 13-yard
scamper.
Unga also led all
BYU receivers with 4 catches for 57 yards.
At his present
clip, Unga will become the most prolific freshman running back at BYU ever.
Ronney Jenkins
holds the frosh running record with 733 yards which was established in 1996.
Plateau
After seven games,
Unga has racked up 684 yards. He has topped the 100-yards rushing plateau in
four games this season.
In conference
games, he is averaging 114 yards per contest.
The emergence of
Unga as the go-to-guy in the BYU offense is perfect timing.
It coincides
nicely with the slowdown in production from the so-called BYU quarterback
factory.
There have been no
layoffs as yet at the factory, but there have been some consecutive lackluster
performances in the last two outings by Max Hall.
Based on the
15-30-1-156 numbers that were produced by Hall against EWU, there appears to be
a kink in the assembly line.
No one is
suggesting that the factory go off shore or Brenden Gaskins go off the bench to
replace Hall, but passing production is definitely in a downturn.
Hall, who started
his career looking like former factory executives Detmer and McMahon , now
appears more lunchbox like as in Kevin Feterik and Steve Lindsay.
Management
Meetings
You can expect
some high powered management meetings this week by BYU coaches to try and
identify the current slump in passing production.
It may be a lack
of quality raw materials on the offensive line and at wide receiver.
It may be
mismanagement from the sideline in play calling or it may be that Hall is still
seasoning and assimilating the offense while getting his on-the-job training.
One thing is
certain, if BYU hopes to reach its production goals of a MWC championship and
Las Vegas Bowl appearance, the passing slump can't continue much longer.
The Aztecs, whom
BYU will face this coming Saturday in
Once a
Game
After seven games
Hall has thrown 9 picks and has been intercepted at least once in every contest
as a Cougar in which he has played. We don't expect that to change against the
Aztecs, but we do expect the BYU passing game to make a much needed resurgence.
The Lobos threw
for 239 yards against the Aztecs and rushed for 126 yards.
SDSU only had 133
yards passing against UNM but did rush for 166 yards. Aztec qb, Kevin O'
Connell, was the leading rusher for SDSU with 82 yards.
He is the Aztec
offense.
Until the last
couple of games, Max Hall was the BYU offense.
With the emergence
of Harvey Unga, that is no longer true, but Hall does have to find himself and
the Cougar passing game soon.
BYU VS.
Here's the good
news for the Las Vegas Bowl which will be held Dec. 22.
The game is a
sellout. The only tickets left are the allotments held back for the two
participating teams.
You can thank BYU
fans for the sellout. They have anticipated that BYU will be back in
As of right now,
those buying BYU tickets look like they are brilliant strategists.
If BYU is the
outright Mountain West Conference champ, they will be invited to the Las Vegas
Bowl.
If the Cougars
stumble and lose a game and end up as co-champions with either
There are a couple
of reasons. The Poinsettia Bowl, which has the second pick from the MWC would
like to get the Cougars for the Dec. 20 date in
If Navy can win
one more game, they will be invited. Poinsettia people would love to match them
up against the Cougars to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Holiday
Bowl when Navy and BYU were the first invitees to that game.
Co-Championship
Unless there is a
MWC co-championship, there is no chance of that happening.
If Air Force gets
by
All BYU has to do
is stumble once against SDSU, CSU, TCU,
With BYU already
making two straight appearances in
Admittedly, there
are a lot of dominoes that have to fall just right for BYU not to be invited
back for the Las Vegas Bowl.
If the Cougars are
invited, just whom would they play?
Most automatically
assume it will be a team from the Pac 10. Not so fast. There may not be enough
Pac 10 bowl eligible teams available to fill the
Fifth
Pick
Most assume that
the Las Vegas Bowl will get the fourth pick from the Pac 10. Not so. This year,
the Emerald Bowl of San Francisco has the #4 pick with the LV Bowl taking the
#5 pick from the Pac 10.
If the Pac 10 gets
two teams invited to BCS bowls, the pickings and chances of there being a Pac
10 bowl eligible team for the Las Vegas Bowl are looking slim.
In the most recent
BCS Standings,
The Holiday Bowl,
Sun Bowl and Emerald Bowl all get to pick before the Las Vegas Bowl.
The way the
current season is going for the West Coast conference, if two Pac 10 teams get
BCS invites, there just may not be enough bowl eligible teams from that league
to meet its
As of this week,
here are the latest Pac 10 standings.
League
Overall
ASU
4-0 7-0
UCLA
4-0 5-2
USC
3-1 6-1
OSU
2-2 4-3
Stanford
2-3 3-4
UofA
1-4 2-6
UW
0-4 2-5
WSU
0-4 2-5
If the LV Bowl is shut
out from the Pac 10's lack of bowl eligible teams, they could turn to the Sun
Belt Conference for a team. Even the Sun Belt Conference Champion, however,
which looks like it will be
FOOTBALL
FLUFF AND STUFF
We always like to
read the fine print when it comes to football rankings. A week ago in the AP
poll under others receiving votes, UCLA was no where to be found. This week
they were at the top of the list with 77 votes.
Two weeks ago, Air
Force had 4 votes and BYU 2. This week, the Falcons received 11 votes and the
Cougars 6. We prefer to call this part of the poll the David Copperfield list.
How else do you explain the disappearance of UCLA's two embarrassing losses to
We know we are
advancing in age and our memory is borderline, but didn't BYU drub Air Force
fair and square on the field on Saturday, Sept. 22?
It reminds us
somewhat of the recent
Before Mitt Romney
supporters deluge me with emails, I have actually donated to his campaign. Of
course, I have also been known to buy tickets to BYU sporting events. That
doesn't mean I have decided to vote for Romney or decided that BYU is the best
athletic program in the nation.
I am still
evaluating those decisions.
What I have
decided, however, is that there is a
Most of us, and
especially those voting in the polls, are working well below that line when it
comes to rational thinking and rankings.
In baseball, the
The Mendoza Line
in sports media is determined by I.Q. and waistline. When the waistline
measurement is higher than the I.Q., you are officially a sports media person.
I am not going to
disclose my waist line or I.Q., but I am going to let you decide for yourself
if I am writing below the
Fui Vakapuna is
one of the most popular players on BYU's roster. He is strong and tough and a
leader on the team.
In my opinion,
however, he is limited as a running back. I know he has been injured and know
that there have been games when he has run over defenders and racked up some
nice yardage.
Again, in my
opinion, he has liabilities as a running back. He has power, decent speed and a
big heart, but productive running backs don't have to come to a complete stop
before changing directions.
With Harvey Unga,
Manase
He is a fine
athlete with great football instincts. We think those attributes would benefit
BYU more next year as a linebacker instead of a running back.
Below the belt or
below the
Here are most of
the missionaries for BYU that should be back in the program for the 2008
season. They include Stephen Covey, DB; Luke Ashworth, WR; Spencer Hafoka, WR;
Terrance Brown, OL; Rhen Brown, DB and Brandon Ogletree, LB.
Garrett Reden, the
redshirt freshman offensive lineman, dislocated and broke his ankle against
BASKETBALL
BRIEFS
Local BYU
basketball fans will get a first glimpse of the BYU men's and women's teams
this Wednesday evening in the
The event begins
at 7 pm, is free, and will feature a men's scrimmage.
One thing fans
should see is plenty of offensive firepower from the wings on this club.
Cougar coach Dave
Rose is loaded with productive players here.
He has enough to
mix and match against almost any and all defensive combinations.
The two newcomers
at the wing to keep an eye on are Archie Rose, the 6-5 transfer from Lee JC in
While the Cougars
appear to have plenty of possibilities in the front court and on the wing, the
success or lack of, will be determined by the point guard play.
BYU will need
someone to step up here and get the team into the offense, defend and produce
points in the open court.
We should get an
early peek to see if there is any hope of that occuring this Wednesday.
On the recruiting
front, you can expect BYU to sign just one player during the early signing
period in November. That player will be Charles Abouo, the 6-5 wing from
Abouo graduated
from Logan HS in
He is extremely
athletic and should have his best basketball in front of him, beginning at
Brewster where the basketball program has had 30 players in the last four years
land at Division I programs.
This year will be
no exception. Besides Abouo, who will ink with the Cougars,
The next
recruiting task for BYU will be to pull out all of the stops to land Tyler Haws
and Jeremy Olsen.
They are the top
two LDS prospects for 2009. Haws is the 6-4 guard from Lone Peak HS in
TELEVISION
TIMETABLE
BYU vs.
Saturday, Oct. 27 at
Kickoff: 7:30 Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov. 3 at
Kickoff: Noon Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
TCU
Thursday, Nov. 8 at
Kickoff: 7:00 Mountain
Time
TV: Versus
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov. 17 at
Kickoff: Noon Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov. 24 at
Kickoff: Noon Mountain
Time
TV: Mtn, Versus, and CSTV