HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
801
372 0819
hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission.com
1391
West 800 South –
Vol. 30,
Issue 14 – November 9, 2009
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BYU 52
COUGARS
OUTSCORE COWBOYS, BUT NOT WEATHER
BYU totally
dominated
The Cougars scored
on their first-seven possessions while jumping out to a 31-0 halftime lead
before calling off the dogs en route to a 52-0 win.
Max Hall was
spectacular. So was the BYU running game.
The Cougar defense
shutout the Cowboys and looked dominant in doing it.
Don't you hate it
when there is nothing to criticize after a BYU football game?
Wait, as certified
Cougar curmudgeons, we finally found something critical to say. Bronco
Mendenhall and the Cougars couldn't outscore the game-time temperature in
LaVell Edwards and
Gary Crowton never had that problem. Winning in
Don't let
Mendenhall's 5-0 record against
Perfection
And don't let Max
Hall's 20-of-22 for 312 yards and 4 touchdowns fool you either. When is he
going to learn that if you want to be considered as a BYU quarterback great,
you need to complete all of your passes.
Max Hall threw two
incomplete passes against the Pokes. He now only has three more games in the regular
season to achieve the perfection fans expect of him.
What's with Robert
Anae? Doesn't he understand the game?. All good pitchers understand the
importance of a good change up. It keeps hitters off balance.
You just can't
throw fastballs all the time. A fastball is all Anae and his offense threw the
Pokes.
Trust us, scoring
on seven straight possessions will come back to kill you. Good hitters and
coaches will eventually catch up to the fastball if it is all you have.
Good offensive
coordinators would have thrown in an occasional change up with a three-and-out,
and a few punts.
It keeps opponents
off balance.
Anae may think
that racking up 52 points and punting only once while amassing 231 yards of
rushing and 312 yards passing for 543 yards of offense is good, but the real
Cougar cognoscenti know better (sorry, but if Todd Christensen can use
cognoscenti in his broadcast, we have no problem borrowing it).
Played
Well?
Jaime Hill and his
BYU defense may think they played well by holding Wyoming to just 13 first
downs, no points, 225 yards and picking off two passes, but they are no Utah.
The Utes showed
how real defenses play
Despite the same
numbers, we all know that BYU is bad and
We will be glad
when we can get back to criticizing the Cougars for real next week.
That might be hard
because next week is 0-9
Just wait, we will
be proven right. BYU is not as good as they looked against
We call it BYU 42
UNM 21.
NUMBERS
TELL THE TALE
You can tell a BYU
blowout by the numbers. The most obvious tell is the scoreboard: 52-0. That is
what showed in
If you were at the
game, the second biggest tell of the BYU blowout was how often you had to refer
to the game program in the fourth quarter.
There were players
for BYU seeing time that seldom, if ever, see the field.
Before the
scoreboard ballooned to its final tally, 10:10 was a pretty good tell of what
was happening.
That was the time
left in the third quarter when the
If you didn't see
the game, know the score and only heard the post-game comments, 27 is a telling
number. That is how many times the words execution, preparation and passion
were used by Cougar players and coaches. Actually, on second thought, that
isn't that great of tell because those same words preceded by "lack
of" were heard in the two games this season in which BYU was blown out.
Good
Tell
Riley Nelson's
numbers are also a good tell. The backup quarterback took 17 snaps in this
game. That means the Mendenhall mercy rule was in effect early with Max Hall
going to the bench in the middle of the third quarter. Part II of the mercy
rule was also in effect. That was when third-unit qb Brenden Gaskins replaced
Nelson and promptly took a knee three times.
The Cougars,
Cowboys and
Throw in the 55-7
spanking in 2006 and when it comes to playing BYU,
We can explain the
BYU-Wyoming discrepancy. BYU is pretty good and
Explanation
This may be a good
time to explain the 222-0 Georgia Tech-Cumberland discrepancy. It isn't Cougar
related, but thanks to Wikipedia, we found it interesting and wanted to share.
MARRIAGE
COUNSELING
I have been
married 33 years. During that time, I have received a lot of marriage advice.
Some of it came from books, seminars, ecclesiastical instruction and even a few
hints from my wife.
The best marriage
advice I have ever received, however, came several years ago from my heating
and air conditioning guy while he was repairing my furnace.
He told me his
rule for a successful marriage: "I would rather be happy than right".
Trust me. It is a
sound matrimonial philosophy.
It also can apply
to coaches and their relationship with their fan base.
It is my opinion,
based on observation and the words of Bronco Mendenhall, that he considers the
Cougar fan base as a necessary nuisance and requirement of his job description.
For a guy who
continually professes that he never reads the paper or listens to sports shows,
he certainly is well aware of what the BYU fans say and think about him.
Like a lot of
misguided husbands, he also wants to have the last word when it comes to those
fans.
There is no
question that fans are usually uninformed, uneducated and just plain
unrealistic in their expectations of BYU football.
Bronco has said so
many times. He is subtle and sophisticated in how he couches those comments,
but it is obvious that is how he feels. It still rankles him that he was booed
in his first game of his career.
Blame it on Al
Gore. Since he invented the internet, he has turned up the heat and inanity
from fans towards coaches.
Bronco is a good
coach, but if he wants to be a happy coach, we suggest he call our heating and
air conditioning guy.
It is better to be
happy than right in marriage and dealing with a fan base.
QUARTERBACK
QUEUE
Max Hall...With the Wyoming win, Hall
now has won 28 games as the qb starter for BYU. He is one more win away from
matching Ty Detmer who currently holds the record for wins by a BYU
quarterback.
Riley Nelson...Rushed for 71 yards on
just 10 carries against
James Lark and Jason Munns...Returning
from LDS missions for next season.
Jake Heaps...Now in the state
playoffs, Heaps threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in a 42-0
blowout of Kendtridge.
Tanner Mangum..Season is over for the
sophomore from Timberline HS in
Alex Kuresa...He threw four touchdowns
and ran it in for another while completing 23-of-31 passes for 407 yards in a
quarterfinal state playoff 48-7 win over
BIG WEEK
FOR BYU BASKETBALL
BYU will kick off
its basketball season for real this Friday in the
The Jim Les
coached team will be a pretty good barometer for BYU basketball.
The Braves are
coming off a 21-15 record from last season and also will get a boost from the
return of their best player and athlete on the team coming back from a redshirt
year.
Andrew Warren is a
6-5 guard who missed last season due to a broken foot.
BYU is coming off
an easy exhibition win over Trinity Western last week. The Cougars defeated the
Canadian team 74-56 and were lead by Jimmer Fredette's 24 points.
Before facing
Bradley, Dave Rose and his team will play another exhibition Tuesday night
against
Signing
Two
The following day,
Wednesday, is the early letter of intent signing day for basketball. You can't
win without talented players and BYU will be signing at least two. More on that
later.
Meanwhile, here is
how we see BYU basketball shaking out this season.
They have the
makings of a very good team with Jimmer Fredette and Jonathan Tavernari both
returning. Fredette will be the go-to guy this season and be counted on to make
the big shot in big games.
It is well
documented that BYU is expected to be good with the big cast of returners who
have experience.
Going from a very
good team to a great team, will be decided by how the boys from
Great teams have
an inside presence. Just ask the Utah Jazz. When Trent Plaisted and Rafael
Araujo produced, BYU was almost unbeatable.
The problem with
the post play of BYU over the years, however, is that, in our opinion, the play
has been inconsistent or non-existent.
That is where
BYU's hope for a
post presence will have to come from senior Chris Miles, freshman Brandon
Davies, both from Provo and James Anderson, a junior from Page, AZ.
Miles has the body
to bang at this level, but if he hasn't shown any consistent offensive game in
his first three years, we shouldn't expect that to change this season.
Brandon Davies is
too new and too raw to make any immediate impact, but he is also very athletic
and talented.
One of the raps on
the BYU coaching staff over the years is that they don't have a coach that can
develop post players. We will finally see if that is really true because with
Davies, they have an unmolded, but extremely talented post player.
If BYU is going to
be making the next step from good to great anytime soon, it will be because
Davies develops and becomes the post presence that BYU needs.
It will be a very
good season, with just enough glimpses of good post play to keep the hope for
greatness alive.
BYU WILL
SIGN AT LEAST TWO
Dave Rose and his
staff will sign at least two new basketball recruits on Wednesday during the
early letter of intent signing period.
The big fish is
still Kyle Collinsworth, the 6-7 multi-talented guard from
His outside shot
could still use some work, but despite not looking extremely athletic, he can
get to the basket whenever he wants.
This is a big get
for the BYU program.
Anson Winder is a
guy we first mentioned a few weeks back. He is a 6-3 guard from
We will have more
details and bios on these two latest recruits after they officially sign later
this week.
We also still
expect BYU to sign another junior college player, but think that signing and
scholarship will be held until next April and the spring signing period.
TELEVISION
TIMETABLE
BYU vs.
Tue, Nov 10 at
Tipoff: 7:30 pm Mountain
Time
TV: BYUTV (live)
BYU vs.
Bradley
Fri, Nov 13 at
Tipoff: 7:30 pm Mountain
Time
TV: The Mtn
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov 14 at
Kickoff: Noon Mountain
Time
TV: The Mtn
BYU vs.
Air Force
Saturday, Nov 21 at
Kickoff: 1:30 pm Mountain
Time
TV: CBS C
BYU vs.
Saturday, Nov 28 at
Kickoff: 3:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: The Mtn and CBS C