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Vol. 38, Issue 10, - October 1, 2018
Dennis Green Got it Right!
When it comes to BYU’s performance against Washington in a 35-7 loss, Dennis Green got it right about BYU.
Take 8 seconds to watch this video, before we move on to the actual game.
Click Here to Get Green’s Perspective and my perspective on BYU
In August, a projected 3-2 BYU football record after the first 5 games of the 2018 schedule made everyone happy. A month later an actual 3-2 record has suddenly become the end of the BYU football world.
What changed in a month’s time?
The sequence of the wins and losses.
Transpose the Wisconsin and California games and results and BYU is right where we all thought they would be at 3-2. Actually, a 2-3 start would have made a lot of people happy. Greed, even on the gridiron, can be a nasty thing.
Thirty days ago, 6 wins would have made Kalani Sitake a miracle worker. After a win over Wisconsin, anything less than a 11-1 record and a Playoff spot, and Sitake should be shown the door for underperforming. Perspective evidently remains in flux during the football season.
Even counting two probable losses on the road still to come against Boise State and Utah, an 8-4 record would have been considered a miracle and deserved coach of the year consideration. Now 8-4 and even 7-5 and don’t let the door hit Sitake’s backside out the door.
BYU is still a good football team. They are just not one of the elite teams in college football.
Horse Racing
It’s a lot like horse racing, one of my favorite sports. You can take a decent horse doing well at a track like Turf Paradise in Phoenix or even Delta Downs in Louisiana, but if a good horse at those tracks, could somehow gain entry into a race in Breeders Cup where the best horses in the world take the track and turf, they would be outclassed just like BYU was against Washington.
BYU just didn’t have the horses to run with the Huskies.
Great horses make good trainers look good. Same with football coaches. It takes good to great football players to make a coach and game plan look good and competent.
Even good horses don’t always win. Sometimes they get boxed in on the rail. Sometimes they get a bad start out of the gate. There are a lot of variables in horse racing, even at the highest levels.
Same with football and players. Take Tanner Mangum’s performance versus Jake Browning’s performances last Saturday night. Browning was 23-25 for 277 yards and one touchdown. Mangum was 18-21 for 160 yards and no touchdowns.
It’s Browning in a landslide. Right? Who knows. What if Browning was throwing for BYU and Mangum throwing for Washington. Would the stats be the same? Want to talk about a muddy track. Go back and just watch a few minutes of the game on tape. How long did Browning get to stay in the pocket untouched or unhurried before throwing the ball to wide open receivers? How long did Mangum have to find mostly covered wideouts?
Still Lose
Based on the overall athleticism and speed of both teams, give the Cougars Jake Browning and they still lose. Give Washington Mangum and they still win. I think you can make that comparison at all positions on the field. Washington’s guys were just better than BYU’s. Just where did BYU stand out at any spot on the field?
We thought that would be true a month ago, but somehow thought the situation would change after a win at Wisconsin.
BYU needs better players. Instead of counting wins and losses, we should count how much better players will eventually be under Sitake. You could bring in Andy Reid or even Bill Belichick, and without an improved roster of players, nothing changes.
Speaking of Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots who punished the Miami Dolphins yesterday 38-7, said, “Great players make great plays.”
Cut and Paste
That quote can be cut and pasted and used by at least 15 college coaches yesterday. Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Dana Holgorsen, Lincoln Riley, and Kirby Smart.
Let’s get real. Do you honestly believe that Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, would have beat Washington yesterday with BYU’s current roster and Washington’s current personnel?
I still hold to my prediction of at least 7 and more likely 8 wins this season for BYU. The difference between 7 and 8 wins will be determined this Friday when Utah State comes to town.
Meanwhile BYU and Sitake have much bigger fish to fry for next season. Here is a list of the first 4 games of the year: Utah at Provo; Tennessee at Knoxville; USC at Provo and Washington at Provo. Remember, great players make great plays. BYU either must recruit or develop some more great players and they don’t have much time in which to do just that.
We Are About to Find Out Just How Good BYU Football Coaches Really Are or Aren’t
Forget about game plans and schemes. Forget about jet sweeps and check downs. As poor as the BYU pass rush is and has been, it is on the back burner now.
What we will find out by the start of LDS General Conference on Saturday morning, is what kind of coaching staff BYU really has.
It is their job to keep this current team from doing what they did last season. That would be quitting.
It was painfully obvious last year that the BYU football team quit on themselves, coaches and fans. Want evidence? Try a 4-9 record and losses to teams like UMass.
The bar has been set and the Aggies of Utah State will be the bar exam. It is a Pass or Fail event.
Publicly Professed
Utah State is coming off a bye week. They have already publicly professed that this is a big game for them and that they will be ready to play.
They have good team speed offensively. It is not Washington team speed, but it is good. BYU should control the line of scrimmage, but can they control their hearts and desire to continue to play hard and with enthusiasm.
A computer ranking (Sagarin) has the Utah rated as the #31 best team in the country. This same ranking system has Utah State rated at #50, with the Cougars ranked at #64.
We shall see. Las Vegas has the Cougars as a 2 ½ point favorite. By Saturday morning we will know if BYU cashed in or simply checked out for the rest of the season. This will be a football game between bits and bytes of a computer and the bets placed in Las Vegas. They both can’t be right.
Change
Something has to change with this current football team and program. It’s very rare that something said over the pulpit at LDS General Conference pertains to BYU football, but try this on for size. Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy, gave a great halftime speech to a team and program during the first session of April 2018 General Conference and didn’t even know it. He said, “Concerning change, consider this simple insight: “Things that don’t change remain the same.” This obvious truth isn’t meant to insult your intelligence but is the profound wisdom of President Boyd K. Packer, who then added, “And when we are through changing—we’re through.”
We will know late Friday night if this is déjà vu of last season or change is actually taking place before our own eyes.
Here is one thing that is pertinent to this BYU football team right now. It is a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. Take your pick. “Success,” it has been said, “isn’t the absence of failure, but going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.” Friday night against Utah State will make or break the remaining success of this football season.
Speaking of change, except for failure to run the ball effectively at Washington, who happens to have an elite defense, BYU should be able to run the ball against the rest of their schedule…if they can pass the ball effectively and efficiently.
Changing Quarterbacks
That is something that has to change. Changing quarterbacks won’t make a difference in the passing game, but something must change or as Elder Packer said, “we are through”.
I don’t have the answers, but that is what a BYU coaching staff getting a combined $2 million paycheck (my estimation only) should be doing if they want to earn that paycheck and put the passing game back on the table.
Friday should tell us what the menu for the rest of the season will be.
Washington and BYU Do Have One Thing in Common
Both have dominating athletic teams. UW has football and BYU has women’s volleyball. What the Huskies did to BYU on the football field last Saturday, the Lady Cougars have been doing to opponents on the court at home and away.
The No. 1 ranked Cougars are currently undefeated and 15-0 on the season. Of those 15 wins, 12 have been 3-0 sweeps of the opponent. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be an Alabama football fan, catch a game at the Smith Fieldhouse and see for yourself.
A BYU Basketball Re-Run?
It’s been 3 years since BYU basketball earned a trip to the NCAA post season tournament. It’s been seven years since they won a game in that same tournament. In a Biblical context, I believe they call that a 7-year famine.
In a BYU basketball context, they call it golf. You know, drive for show, can’t putt for dough.
BYU is going back to show. They have ditched their one-year half-court offense experiment and are returning to their tried and true up-tempo offense. The basic description of this offensive attack is that the first guy to find the ball in his hand after crossing the half court line, shoots it. Just kidding.
It will be fun to watch. So is a golf long driving contest.
All PGA golfers can hit the ball. Those that cash a paycheck, almost always have a short game and can chip and putt when the match is on the line.
Drive for Show, Putt for Dough
BYU basketball will be fun to watch this year. They will be driving for show. What we don’t know is if they can putt for dough when the game is on the line.
This team is loaded with big hitters who can shoot the ball from downtown. They look a little short in the putting green paint, however.
We will see how it works out. It will be entertaining again for sure, but more than likely disappointing again, when post season rolls around. Hope I’m wrong.
Here is the current roster.
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