HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 9 - October 5, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions AGGIES HAND BYU ANOTHER "FEEL BAD" WIN Since 1994, BYU is 10-0 in the win-loss column against Utah State when the two teams have faced each other in football. Domination and dynasty are a few words that come to mind. Yet, despite the latest 35-17 victory over the Aggies last Friday night in LaVell Edwards Stadium, some Cougar fans choose to use words like disappointment and downer in describing BYU's fourth win of the season. After a quick check in the official BYU Football Media Guide, we were unable to find a "Feel Good", "Feel Bad" category describing the BYU-USU football history. Thank goodness for the internet, chat rooms and message boards. That is where football is like figure skating and games are like gymnastics. The scoreboard is now obsolete. What really counts are what the judges post as to artistic content and presentation. A missed Lutz landing is now worse than a loss. A solid floor routine can't have any fumbles or other foibles less the judges deduct points on their score cards and pollsters punish teams for lack of difficulty in their dismounts and schedules. Never has one team made BYU so dominant in the last decade and BYU fans so despondent. Win-Loss When it comes to the Aggies and the win-loss column of the last ten years, BYU is 7-0. In the fan's "Feel Good" - "Feel Bad" column, BYU is just 1-4 against Utah State. The other two games of the last decade were redacted from the record when the judges from Romania and Ruwanda couldn't agree on whether the Cougars had run it up enough against the Aggies. Here are some of BYU's highlights against Utah State. Hopefully, they won't make some of us "feel too bad". The BYU defense held USU to just 322 yards of offense. The Aggies came into the game averaging 489 yards of total offense per game. Until a late-game drive of 73 yards in the fourth quarter against BYU's second unit, the Cougar defense had man-handled the Aggie offense. They also shut down heralded USU running back Robert Turbin. He came into the game averaging 127 yards rushing per contest. The Cougars held him to just 47 yards on 17 carries. Harvey Unga rushed for 118 yards against the Aggies on 21 carries. For the game, BYU rushed for 213 yards. Brace yourself. Max Hall, the ultimate BYU "feel bad boy" for some Cougar fans, did his best to live up to his reputation. He threw two interceptions. Bad, Bad, Bad. Oh yeah, he also threw three touchdown passes. It could have been worse. He could have thrown four touchdowns passes. Instead of "feeling bad", we would have felt "really bad". Aggies Give it to the Aggies. They make us long for the good old days when we had "feel good" quarterbacks and wins. What we wouldn't give to have a quarterback that doesn't throw interceptions. Wouldn't it be nice to have Ty Detmer back? Oops, he threw 28 picks during his Heisman Trophy year. Winning football games is okay, but feeling good about winning is so much better. It's just around the corner. Interception-free football is on the horizon. Riley Nelson, Jake Heaps, Jason Munns and James Lark have never once thrown an interception in a Cougar uniform. We feel better already. BYU'S Next Opponent REBELS REELING AND ODDS RISING Las Vegas is a city of odds. According to oddsmakers, BYU is a 14 1/2 point favorite over UNLV this coming Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium. We also find it odd that Mike Sanford is still coaching in that same stadium. His record as the head coach of UNLV after 52 games at the Rebel helm is 13-39. When it comes to handicapping head coaches in the Mountain West Conference, we defer to Joe Glenn and Chuck Long. Barring a win over BYU on Saturday, the dismissed duo from last season has Sanford as an odds-on favorite to join them playing golf next fall. If they are looking to add a little "punch" to their foursome, Mike Locksley, may not be far behind. So far the New Mexico head coach only has one win on his record. It came via a TKO against his own assistant coach in a staff meeting a few weeks ago. He stamped himself as a contender in the ring, but a pretender in coaching circles. Back to football and UNLV. This game looks too easy for the Cougars. That is why we expect it to be a close game. Sanford is coaching for his job and he still has enough players on his side that will play hard for him in order to keep him employed. The only team to defeat the Cougars this year was Florida State. They did it by running the ball down the Cougars throat. That is how UNLV will have to do it if they also hope to defeat BYU. This game will be determined by the ground game. The team that is better rushing the ball will win the game. Both teams will throw the ball and move the chains while they do it, but it is on the ground that the outcome will be determined. Based on UNLV's most recent defensive effort last week, it would appear that the Cougars will have no problems running the ball. UNLV gave up 559 yars rushing last Saturday to Nevada-Reno. BYU won't come close to those numbers, but they do have to get at least 150 yards rushing if they expect to win. That is what we see happening and call it as a close game, but also a Cougar win. We see it BYU 31 UNLV 24. ONE-WAY TICKET OUT OF TOWN Hold on Hotwire. Pause on Priceline and take a deep breath and exhale before you log on to Expedia. Before you call for a one-way ticket out of town for Max Hall because he is throwing too many interceptions this year, lets couch the Cougars in economic terms. When it comes to interceptions, Hall is in a quarterly downturn, but he is far from reaching the recession levels of interceptions that Robbie Bosco and Ty Detmer had in their prime. Nobody called Greyhound inquiring about one-way tickets out of town for those two BYU quarterback legends. Based only on the criteria of interceptions thrown, both Bosco and Detmer should have been shown the same door that some Cougar fans want to hold open now for Max Hall. Hall is going to have to hurry if he hopes to match interceptions thrown by Bosco and Detmer. After five games this season, Hall has thrown 10 picks. In Ty Detmer's Heisman Trophy winning season in 1990, he threw 28 interceptions. BYU fans were happy to have him back the following season for his senior year. In 1985 Robbie Bosco threw 24 interceptions. He is still drawing a BYU paycheck and was put on a pedestal despite those picks. Hall would have to throw another 20 interceptions this year, for a total of 30 picks this season, if he is to eclipse the 55 interceptions Detmer threw during his last three seasons at BYU. Going back 45 years, Hall isn't even in the top 12 of BYU quarterbacks based on interceptions thrown during one season. Here is the list with year and interceptions thrown. Ty Detmer, 1990...28 Robbie Bosco, 1985...24 Gary Sheide, 1974...19 Gifford Nielsen, 1976...19 Steve Young, 1982...18 Jim McMahon, 1980...18 Marc Wilson, 1980...18 Steve Lindsley, 1986...18 Virgil Carter, 1966...16 Ty Detmer, 1989...15 Marc Wilson, 1979...15 Kevin Feterick, 1999...15 John Walsh, 1993...15 Matt Berry, 2003...14 Steve Sarkisian, 1995...14 John Walsh, 1994...14 Bob Jensen, 1987...14 Max Hall, 2008...14 Ryan Hancock, 1992,...13 John Beck, 2005...13 Marc Wilson, 1978...13 Steve Sarkisian, 1996...12 Max Hall, 2007...12 In contrast, here is another list of BYU quarterbacks. Hall could end up being on top of this chart by the end of the current season. This list details Cougar quarterbacks and the number of wins they generated during their careers while starting for BYU. Ty Detmer...28 wins Marc Wilson...28 wins Max Hall...24 wins and counting. If Hall stays healthy and BYU wins 5 of their remaining 8 games, which assumes BYU will have a bowl game this season, Hall will be the winniest BYU qb in history. Jim McMahaon...23 wins Robbie Bosco...23 wins Kevin Feterick...23 wins John Beck...22 wins Steve Sarkisian...21 wins Steve Young...19 wins John Walsh...16 wins Gifford Nielsen...15 wins I am not an attorney, but I have watched a lot of Ben Matlock on television. I know a strong case when I see one and I have no trouble defending Max Hall as one of the best BYU quarterbacks ever. FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL FLUFF AND STUFF Last week we mentioned a high school running back from Nampa HS in Idaho. He rushed for 362 yards and we surmised he was LDS because his name was Mohonri Bostrom. Turns out that his full name is Mohonri Moriancumr Bostrom and yes, he is LDS. He is aveaging 200 yards per game. He has a brother who currently is an offensive lineman at Auburn by way of Bakersfield JC in California. Jorell Bostrom is 6-3, 353 pounds and is Polynesian. The younger brother and running back is 5-9, 180 pounds and is African American. According to the reports we received last week from Nampa, all the siblings are adopted. In the running back resume department, BYU currently has verbal commitments from three prospects. They include Algernon Brown, of Skyline HS in Salt Lake City, A.J. Moore of Murrieta Valley HS in California and Drew Phillips of Boaz, Alabama. Brown has racked up 428 yards on 49 carries so far this season for an 8.73 yard per carry average. He has also scored 7 touchdowns. Moore has carried the ball 62 times for 481 yards and a 7.76 yard per carry average. He has rushed for 6 touchdowns. Phillips rushed for 213 yards on 32 carries last week in a 24-22 loss to Fort Payne. He now has rushed for 1137 yards on 175 carries after six games. That is an average of 6.4 yards per touch. As expected, Kyle Collinsworth has said that he will sign an early basketball letter of intent with BYU and Dave Rose in November. The commit is a huge one for the Cougars. Collinsworth was a national-caliber prospect who earned real recruiting interest from USC and Virginia. He has the potential to play any of three spots for the Cougars, but most teams recruiting him like him at the point. He has size at 6-7 to go along with guard skills. What he can do is get to the rim when he wants to. Before heading out on an LDS mission, he will play one season next year with his brother Chris Collinsworth who returns from his mission in Australia. Don't be surprised if Dave Rose and his staff don't take a recruiting look at Johnathan Loyd this year. Loyd is a senior point guard at Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas. The 5-9 guard averaged 14.2 points per game and 6 assists per game last year. BYU has some connections here. The Bishop Gorman coach is Dave Rice's brother. Rice is the lead assistant at BYU and Dave Rose's right hand man. Loyd is also the little brother of current Cougar basketball player Michael Loyd, Jr. When it comes to recruiting, BYU already has identified the top LDS basketball prospects that are in the ninth grade. Here are the ninth grade novas and shooting stars that BYU is already into. We have been talking about Nick Emery, a 6-1 guard and freshman at Lone Peak HS for a couple of years. He is the younger brother of current Cougar Jackson Emery. Here is another ninth grade name to follow. Jabari Parker is a freshman at Simeon HS in Chicago. He, like Emery is also LDS. He is currently a 6-3 shooting guard, and if his father, former NBA player, Sonny Parker, is to believed, Jabari is a little bit of Magic, some Charles Barkley, with Lebron James thrown in there too. We shall see. QUARTERBACK QUEUE Max Hall...Completed 16-of-23 passes for 218 and three touchdowns. Also had two interceptions. Touchdown tosses were for 6 and 13 yards to Dennis Pitta and a 48-yard strike to Luke Ashworth. Riley Nelson...Had one touch against his former team, Utah State. Rushed for 13 yards on a quarterback draw. James Lark and Jason Munns...Both are still serving missions. Lark is due back in January and Munns will return in May. Jake Heaps...In a ho-hum blowout, Heaps threw two touchdown passes in a 55-0 win over Garfield HS. Tanner Mangum..The sophomore qb from Timberline HS in Boise completed 18-39 for 244 yards. Had one TD pass and one TD run in 34-20 loss to Eagle HS. Alex Kuresa...Team had a bye TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. UNLV Saturday, Oct 10 at Las Vegas Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. San Diego State Saturday, Oct 17 at San Diego Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. TCU Saturday, Oct 24 at Provo Kickoff: 5:30 pm Mountain Time TV: Versus