HB Arnett’s
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West 800 South –
Vol. 33,
Issue 9 – October 1, 2012
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Book ‘em Bronco! BYU Busts
BYU produced a new pilot episode last Friday night in LaVell Edwards
Stadium as a possible spin off from the current network TV show,
It’s called BYU 47-0.
It details the total pounding and pummeling of
Because of the total mismatch in talent between the two teams and the numerous
injury timeouts it certainly didn’t make for very good television.
But thanks to some very good performances in this BYU beat down of the
Warriors by former Cougar role players on the national ESPN stage, it will,
however, make for some very interesting BYU football drama for the future.
The storyline will be an instant classic. It will involve Bronco
Mendenhall having to make a choice about what will be best for his football
family not only for the remainder of this season, but into the future.
His choice will be between playing protagonists with whom he has strong
relationships based on trust, love, grit and loyalty and players that are
obviously more talented, explosive and ready for prime time. A preview of this
new drama can be found in a story below.
While Steve McGarrett and Dano were the stars of the original
“Just the facts
ma’am.”
Fact 1…
Fact 2…There
are no Heisman hopefuls for BYU this year, but there were huge numbers posted
and put up by BYU’s offense and stingy and small numbers put up by the
Cougar defense. For example: Total Yards
- BYU 540 Hawaii 149; First Downs
– BYU 30 Hawaii 9; Rushing
– BYU 396 Hawaii 41; Passing
– BYU 144 Hawaii 108.
Fact 3…Without
equivocation, Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams were great high school players at
their respective alma maters; Hill at Highland HS in
Based on the small sample size of their performances against
Hill, BYU’s starting quarterback against
Passing the ball, Hill completed 12 of 21 attempts for 112 yards and 2
touchdowns. He also threw an interception. The touchdown passes were to Ross
Williams was just as spectacular. The seventeen year old running back finally got some significant touches because of an early-game injury to starting running back Michael Alisa.
Williams jumped on the chance and all over
He also had two receptions for 30 yards which gave him 185 yards of total offense on just 17 touches.
Fact 4…Light
and lean is long gone. BYU’s offensive line performance was much, much
better against
Fact 5…The
BYU defense is good, very good. They absorbed the season ending injury to of
Eathyn Manumaleuna against
Another injury on the defensive line would be devastating, but so far
the only devastation being dished out is by the Cougar defense. They just keep
making plays. But before we go off the giddiness grid, we want to see what they
do with
BYU-USU GAME PLAN EASY FOR BOTH SIDES
The game plans for both BYU and
Both teams will focus on forcing the opposing quarterbacks to throw the ball.
The Aggies have a very good and mobile quarterback in sophomore Chuckie Keeton. BYU will counter with either Riley Nelson, if healthy, or Taysom Hill. All three are mobile and can extend plays and make opposing defenses pay if allowed to run with the ball.
The plan for both teams will be to keep the quarterbacks contained and force them to throw the ball down field.
The team that throws the best will win this Friday night.
That doesn’t mean that there won’t be production on the ground from other players on both teams.
The Aggies have a nice tailback in Kerwynn Williams. He is averaging 103 yards per game. BYU has a nice tailback in Jamaal Williams. In his first real foray in BYU football last week, he rushed for 155 yards.
Look for the battle between the Williams backs to also be a determining factor in the outcome of this game.
This will be the best offense BYU’s defense has faced this season. If they are for real, we should have it confirmed by their performance this week against the Aggies.
What has already been confirmed is that the BYU kicking game is suspect. If it comes down relying on it, the Cougars are toast.
We like Taysom Hill getting another start here, but what we really like is the BYU defense.
So do the
Fluff and Stuff
We have
had several calls the past week wanting to know what the television broadcast
plans are for the BYU vs.
No plans have yet been announced. We would expect a decision on this game sometime this week. ESPN holds the broadcast rights for this game and it would surprise us if they don’t announce that it will be either a ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC regional game.
Worst case scenario would be an ESPNU game. If ABC gets the nod, then this could be a late morning or afternoon contest.
The fact
that
ESPN has
already announced that BYU’s last two games will be shown on ESPNU and
ESPN3. Those are games against
You can
expect the
With the
Notre Dame matchup set for October 20 in
BYU Basketball
That is also the same weekend that Jabari Parker will be making a campus recruiting trip to Duke. The in-home visits with coaches are now over for Parker. We get queries frequently wanting to know what BYU chances are.
Here is
my take. From my perspective, all of the media stories and updates that favor
Duke and
There are
never any quotes or info originating from Parker himself or his mother. It is
my opinion that means BYU is still in the hunt. Also, the fact that Jabari has
eliminated
What is already told when it comes to talent is that Dave Rose hit the mother lode this recruiting season and will cash in with the early signing period in November with or without Parker.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Eric Mika and Nick Emery are absolutely the real deal. The Lone Peak HS duo by themselves will give Rose a top ranked recruiting class. Emery’s credentials on the national scene are well documented. Mika has been a shooting star on the summer AAU circuit, but despite all the Mika hype, he is still not being recognized for how good this kid really is.
Here is a
tease to get you excited. Click
Here. He is wearing No.45. This was filmed just recently at an event in
Other
prospects that will sign in November are Luke Worthington, a 6-9 front court
player from
Meanwhile Damarcus Harrison, the former BYU guard has been granted a waiver from the NCAA and will be eligible to play this season at Clemson. He was headed on an LDS mission this summer after playing his freshman season at BYU, but those plans were delayed ecclesiastically. When he wanted to return to BYU for this fall, his scholarship was already given to Cory Calvert, an incoming freshman guard.
Harrison
then pursued a transfer to Clemson, just 30 miles from his home in
With
Chris Collinsworth having to give up basketball and getting a medical hardship,
that frees up a scholarship, but because of the timing and because Harrison was
already enrolled at Clemson when the Collinsworth decision was made, the
scholarship couldn’t be given to
While
All About QB
Earle
Bruce, the former
It is all about the quarterback and always will be.
Bruce was responding to a question about why the Big Ten conference was so ordinary this season in football. This is how he responded in a recent ESPN article.
"The
thing I noticed most is a lack of great quarterbacks in the league," said
Bruce, who coached the Buckeyes from 1979-87 and served as an
"I don't know whether the evaluation of the quarterbacks has been wrong, or they had injuries or whatever, but the quarterback position is down in the Big Ten. There's no doubt about that."
BRONCO CATCHES A BREAK
Bronco
Mendenhall is on a roll after the 47-0 thumping of
He proved
that going for two against
He still
is on the losing end of the
Mendenhall is now 1-1 in the vindication games.
What
Bronco needs now in his personnel decisions are a few good breaks. He got those
good breaks because of bad breaks for both Michael Alisa and Riley Nelson last
week against
Alisa
broke both bones in his right forearm in the first drive of the night against
For Bronco, who openly favors putting players on the field who have “earned” his trust through grit, determination and leadership, he was now forced to go with players who are probably not as trustworthy, but obviously much more talented than those they replaced.
Does Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams ring a bell?
Bronco and loyalty were let off the hook last week because a couple of good breaks for him, and a couple of bad breaks for Alisa and Nelson.
It is my opinion that injury is the trump card that now allows Mendenhall to put his best talent at quarterback and running back on the field without having to compromise his coaching credo of grit, determination and trust.
It’s the biggest break Bronco has received this year and it will be an even bigger break for him as the season progress and next year shows up on the horizon.
If BYU football was all about feel good stories and determination, grit and trustworthiness, the Cougars would be reigning national champions. Unfortunately, it is also about putting your most talented players on the field.
We saw that happen for BYU last week on the offensive line, at quarterback and at running back.
If it was all about “feel good and good guy” football, Michael Alisa and Riley Nelson are All American. Their stories are inspiring.
Talent also is a factor. If this was BYU fantasy football and you were picking your team and wanting to win, who do you choose? Riley Nelson or Taysom Hill. Michael Alisa or Jamaal Williams?
Thought so.
Bronco has got a break and has a way out of his predicament of staying true to his coaching credo and putting his best talent on the field at the same time. It’s just unfortunate that his break had to come in the form of bad breaks for Alisa and Nelson.
Last Week’s review and results…Here
is a look at a review and results from BYU’s 2012 football opponents. We
are now going to start including
Television Timetable
BYU vs.
Friday, Oct 5 at
Kickoff: 8:15 pm Mountain Time
TV: ESPN
BYU vs.
Saturday, Oct 13 at
Kickoff: TBA
TV: TBA
BYU vs.
Notre Dame
Saturday, Oct 20 at
Kickoff: 1:30 Mountain Time
TV: NBC
BYU vs.
Georgia Tech
Saturday, Oct 27 at
Kickoff: TBA
TV: TBA