HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
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hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission.com
1391
West 800 South –
Vol. 30,
Issue 6 – September 14, 2009
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BYU
DELIVERS A 54-3 MATURE MAULING OF TULANE
Tulane head coach
Bob Toledo kept saying all week leading up to the BYU-Tulane game that BYU was
mature, married and massive.
Thanks to the 54-3
mauling of Tulane delivered in New Orleans last Saturday, Toledo can now say
that the Cougars are mature, married, massive and moving up in the national
rankings.
The Cougars are
now ranked No. 7 in the recently released AP poll and are listed at No. 9 in
the USA Today/Coaches poll.
They leapfrogged
Speaking of
formulas, BYU's was very simple against Tulane. Except for one turnover - a Max
Hall interception - and a kneel-down final drive, the Cougars scored points on
every possession they had against the Green Wave.
In the process
they racked up 527 yards of total offense. The BYU defense held Tulane to just
162 yards of offense and one token field goal.
Goulash
When it comes to
You really never
know what's in the Hungarian dish and with FSU we really don't know much about
what kind of team the Seminoles really are.
They showed a lot
of team speed and an explosive offense against
Without seeing
They trailed the
entire game and with 35 seconds remaining needed two scores to secure the 19-9
victory.
What we do know
about FSU is that they are a passing team and have a good quarterback in
Christian Ponder.
He can throw it
and has a stable of speedy receivers who can go and get what he throws.
We will finally
find out just how improved the BYU secondary really is when they match up with
the Seminoles.
For a good
showing, the Cougar secondary will need some help from the BYU front seven.
They have to find a way to get pressure on Ponder.
With BYU also in a
passing mode, the key to this game will be which team can balance its offense
with a decent running game.
It should be
interesting, but it also should be another BYU win. We call it BYU 38 Florida
State 28.
KICKING,
KARIYA AND KYLE BELL
The BCS euphoria
for BYU is building after a 2-0 start and serious national exposure. Before
Cougar fans get too amped about a BCS bowl invitation, however, they need to
take a peek at reality.
The BYU kicking
game is not BCS quality.
Unless there is a
serious improvement and soon, the lack of a consistent kicking game will bite
BYU sometime and somewhere before this season is over.
The most glaring
weakness is the inability to get the ball even in the area code of the goal
line on kickoffs. You don't have to watch much college football on television
to see that the Cougars don't measure up in that department.
Brian Kariya has
been a surprise. His coming out party against
He will never look
flashy, but he gets the job done.
We have tried to
think of somebody he reminds us of and the closest we can come is Kyle Bell,
the former
Before
In other BYU
football notes, we reported last week that former Cougar Aaron Francisco was
cut by the Arizona Cardinals before the start of the NFL season. He immediately
was picked up and signed by the Indianapolis Colts.
Pedestrian
Production
In our preseason
evaluations of positions, we didn't expect much but pedestrian production from
the defensive front seven of BYU. It is still a little early and a long season,
but it appears we may be the pedestrian that was run over in the Cougar
crosswalk when it comes to our early evaluation of the BYU defense.
They are much
better than anticipated. The outside linebackers, especially Jordan Pendleton,
have been good. The defensive front is producing. Okay, we will finally admit
what most have known for some time. Jan Jorgensen is a player.
We have no word as
yet on the condition of Braden Hansen, the starting left guard on the BYU
offensive line. He suffered some sort of knee injury against Tulane. Hopefully
he can return quickly back to action.
In case he can't,
BYU played true freshman Fono Vakalahi last Saturday against Tulane. The Cougar
coaches had hoped to redshirt him, but with the number of bodies dwindling on
the offensive line, they have put him in the mix.
Here is a list of
BYU bodies on the offensive line and their current status.
54 Ryan Freeman, 6-2,
280, So...in the two deep mix
60 Terence Brown, 6-3,
340, So...starter at right tackle
61 Tui Crichton, 6-3,
357, Fr...currently redshirting
62 Marco Thorson, 6-3,
321, So...replaced Hansen at Tulane
63 Jesse Taufi, 6-4, 302,
Jr...BYU needs him to clear up his academic issues pronto. He is enrolled in
school, but has yet to practice. There is a serious sense of urgency now.
64 RJ Willing, 6-5, 308,
Sr...starting center
65
66 Andrew Crawford, 6-5,
284, Fr...walkon who is redshirting
70 Matt Reynolds, 6-6,
329, So...BYU's best lineman
72 Nick Alletto, 6-6,
330, Jr...starting right tackle
73 Jason Speredon, 6-5,
313, Jr...gone for the year with injury
74 Ryan Mulitalo, 6-2,
277, Fr...redshirting
76 Braden Hansen, 6-6,
300, Redshirt Fr...hurt at Tulane, status pending.
77 Terrance Alletto, 6-3,
290, Fr...redshirting
78 Fono Vakalahi, 6-3,
330, Fr..because of Hansen's injury, no longer redshirting and is now in the
mix.
With Vakalahi now active,
and depending on the status of Hansen's injury and Taufi's academics, BYU will
go into the
SIGHTINGS AT
We have been
wondering who will replace Harvey Unga when he is gone either after this year
or next?
Brian Kariya has
been having a nice early season as a backup to Unga. He was especially
impressive against
Here is our take
on running backs when it comes to BYU. The Cougars are seldom going to get a
big-time shake-and-bake game breaker who is a quick and fast running back like
you see in the big-time programs. A Ronney Jenkins is a once every two decades
kind of guy.
What the Cougars
have to hang their hat on when it comes to a tailback is a big bruising back
that can be physical and run north and south. Maybe Kariya is the guy after
all.
Unga, when
completely healthy, fits that description.
We originally
thought that the heir apparent for Unga would be Seta Pohahau, the 5-11, 215
pound back that BYU signed in 2008 out of Aragon HS in
There was always
hope last year that he would qualify academically, but that never happened.
He is now at
We don't expect to
see Pohahau at BYU because the Cougars, under Bronco Mendenhall, are unlikely
to be signing any juco backs anytime soon.
We are still
sticking with our prediction that Adam Hine (formerly Timo) will be an
outstanding back for the Cougars after he returns from an LDS mission and
enrolls in school. He doesn't have break-away speed, but in our opinion, he will
be an outstanding back for the Cougars.
Cougar
Connections
There are two
other players at
The past player is
Matangi
He has again
resurfaced on the football field at
Because his
eligibility clock started ticking in 2006 he will have just one more year of
eligibility left after this season. It is likely that he will go Division II
next season.
The other player
at
He led the
Bulldogs in their first win of the season with 8 tackles. He played last year
at Foothill JC before moving over to
If Foothill rings
a bell it is because that is the school where current Cougar starting
cornerback Brian Logan played last season before signing with BYU.
He and Sampson
were teammates. They are also cousins and the word we get is that
Sampson reportedly
already has serious interest from Cal and ASU, but is going to send in
transcripts and tape to the staff in
Again,
Mendenhall's philosophy on signing jucos is that it is on a need basis. If you
take a look at the safety spot for next year, there just might be a need.
Of the two current
starters, Andrew Rich will return, but Scott Johnson will graduate. There are
three young players behind them. That would be Craig Bills, Shiloah Te'o and
Jray Galeai.
It is likely that
Bills and Galeai could be leaving on LDS missions after this season.
That leaves just
Te'o and Steve Thomas, along with Rich, as safeties for next year. It could be
worth keeping an eye on Sampson.
VERSUS
AND VIEWING
The
Kickoff is set for
5:00 pm Mountain Time.
If you have Direct
TV you likely know that Versus and Direct TV are at odds in their current
negotiations and that Versus is currently no longer available on that
particular satellite provider.
If the stalemate
isn't resolved between now and Saturday, you will need to find a friend or
family member that has Dish Network or Comcast cable.
Versus is still
being carried on those providers.
As a matter of
fact, Dish is now offering Versus to all of their subscribers, regardless of
programming tiers, and says they will continue to do so until the current
football season concludes.
As with all
programming disputes, we expect this one between Versus and Direct TV to
eventually be resolved, but until it is, try and find a Dish Network neighbor
or friend.
As of now, the
only two BYU football games set for Versus are the FSU game on Saturday and the
TCU game in
If it drags on
beyond October, you will likely have to drag out your friendship with your
neighbor. BYU basketball has two regular season basketball games set for
Versus. They include the February 6 game against UNLV in
Some of the MWC
tournament games are also set to be shown by Versus.
QUARTERBACK QUEUE
Max Hall...Completed
24-of-32 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns in 54-3 win over Tulane last
week. Combined with his outing against
Riley
Nelson...The Utah State transfer saw his first action as a
Cougar against Tulane. He completed both passes he threw and ran the ball
twice. One of those carries was a one-yard TD. That had to infuriate Aggie fans
who saw it all unfold on national television.
James
Lark...Will be a redshirt freshman when he returns from LDS
mission in
Jason
Munns...Ditto for Munns. Will be a redshirt freshman when he
returns in May '10 from
Jake
Heaps...He threw 2 touchdown passes in a 28-point first quarter
blitz of Ballard HS. The final score was Skyline HS (Heaps) 42 Ballard 12.
Heaps also ran for a score before taking an early exit from the game because of
the lopsided score. Next week Heaps will matchup with Nick Montana, Joe's son,
in a showdown between Skyline and Oaks Christian of Westlake, California. Oaks
also features two current BYU commits in Zac Stout and Alani Fua. Both are
linebackers. The game is set to be televised nationally on ESPNU. Kickoff is
set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time.
Tanner Mangum...The
LDS sophomore signal caller at Timberline HS in
Alex
Kuresa...Outlasted Pocatello HS in
Kevin
Prince...BYU offered this LDS quarterback coming out of high
school a couple of years back. He turned down BYU for UCLA. He is the current
starter for the Bruins and last week in his first game at UCLA he completed
18-of 29 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two
interceptions. He is a redshirt freshman. On Saturday he led the Bruins to a
19-13 win against
Nick
Graziano...Here's another LDS college quarterback. Graziano,
a 6-2, 227 pound qb is a senior at Arkansas Tech in Russellville. He was the
starting qb at Nevada-Reno as a redshirt freshman but broke his foot after five
games. He came back, but when he did, Colin Kaepernick was on the scene and he
eventually transferred to the Division II school. He prepped at Campolindo HS
in
TELEVISION
TIMETABLE
BYU vs.
Saturday, Sept 19 at
Kickoff: 5:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: Versus
BYU vs.
Saturday, Sept 26 at
Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: The Mtn
BYU vs.
Friday, Oct 2 at
Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: The Mtn
BYU vs.
UNLV
Saturday, Oct 10 at
Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: The Mtn