801 372 - 0819 <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett@fiber.net 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 36, Issue 12- October 26, 2015 Click Here To Order or Renew Your Subscriptions <http://cougarclicks.com/product/Order-Cougar-Sportsline?ID=3173> Violation of team rules saving account! In BYU's 70-6 Win over Wagner, BYU and Bronco Could have Cached some Cash for a Rainy Day BYU's 70-6 lopsided win over Wagner was an "outside the box" game. In a contest where the talent disparity was so lopsided, Bronco and his staff had to be creative in finding ways to keep their side of the scoreboard under control. To say BYU dug deep on the depth chart to accomplish that feat would be an understatement. Give Bronco and his staff some credit for managing this game, but obviously, Bronco is not the ultimate outside-the-box thinker. If he was really a proactive and preemptive coach, he would have handed out one-game suspensions for the Wagner game to all his players on the first and second offensive and defensive units. That would mean that his top 44 players, would all have a suspension in the bank for both Bronco and the player to use if the actual need ever arose sometime during the remainder of the season and bowl game. Any subsequent miscues or "violation of team rules" by a top player and he and Bronco could pull out the "get out of jail free" card by claiming that the player had already been punished for his deed and served a one game suspension against Wagner. As for the actual game, anybody actually think that the third unit BYU guys and walkons couldn't have whipped the Seahawks? As for Sione Takitaki, Bronco should have issued a one-game suspension to the talented outside linebacker in the season opener against Nebraska. Oops, he already did that. Looks like Takitaki's bank account is already overdrawn. In case you were cashing in on taking BYU and the 51 points given by off shore books, you might not have known that Mendenhall suspended Takitaki for the rest of the season. All which supports my long-time BYU football theory that says that the more talented the player, the more off the field issues he usually has. Of course that theory is shot down 95 percent of the time by the Tanner Mangum's, Taysom Hill's, Bronson Kaufusi's and Travis Tuiloma's of the BYU football team. Issues Speaking of issues, Mangum had none against Wagner. He completed 12-of-13 passes for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns.all in less than two quarters of action. The only issue Algie Brown had was with the BYU ROTC cannon in the end zone. Other than a lacerated leg from the big BYU gun, Brown lacerated the Wagner defense by rushing for 109 yards on 6 carries, two of which went for touchdowns. If Bronco holds to his creed of holding players responsible, he should also hold the cannon culpable and give it a season ending suspension. Or at least exile it to video and only boom it on the big screen after scores. If a Texas Longhorn player was ever gored by Bevo after scoring a TD, Bevo would immediately be basted and barbequed before halftime was over. Which also proves my theory of the more talented the player, the farther away the cannon should be from the end zone. If you wanted to know how many concealed weapons were being carried at LaVell Edwards Stadium last Saturday, they all would have been drawn and fired if it was Tanner Mangum who lacerated his leg because of a cannon close to the field. Speaking of close to the field and close to the vest, Bronco certainly isn't holding his recruiting cards close. He has to think that BYU's recruiting the last couple of years and going forward is good. I base that opinion on the number of true freshmen who saw the field and burned a redshirt year, after not seeing a single down of action in the previous seven games. Bronco apparently thinks these guys are talented and ready to play after half a season, or is confident that if they aren't, he has the recruiting pipeline full of players that will be once they get on campus. Receivers Akile Davis and Josh Weeks both saw their first action of the season. The surprise to me was seeing freshmen offensive linemen Jacob Jimenez and JJ Nwigwe see lots of playing time. BYU coaches are high on these two Texas freshman. They might have burned their redshirt years because of the need for more productive offensive linemen on the depth chart to help finish out the year. The depth is thinning due to injuries to Ryker Mathews, Kyle Johnson and Ului Lapuaho who most likely is done for the year and will require surgery. Next up for BYU will be San Jose State on the road in a Friday night game set for November 6 to be televised on the CBS Sports Network. That will give the Cougars a bye week to try and get healthy for the four-game finishing run ahead of them. What ESPN Wants, They Get With the Wagner win, BYU is now bowl eligible. The only two options for the Cougars this year, now that New Year's Six Bowl game is off the table, are the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl set for December 19 and the Hawaii Bowl on December 24. Teams for the Hawaii gig normally are selected from the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and the American Athletic Conference (AAC). In a normal year, the Las Vegas Bowl draws it participants also from the MWC and Pac-12. In case you missed the announcement from Tom Holmoe in April, here it is again. PROVO, Utah (April 30, 2015) - Brigham Young University has accepted an invitation to play in either the Hawai'i Bowl or the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl following the 2015 football season. The Cougars will play in the other bowl game at the conclusion of the 2019 season. Both invitations hinge upon BYU being bowl eligible and not selected to participate in the College Football Playoff. Some early Bowl prognosticators have BYU facing Temple in the Hawaii Bowl and possibly Washington State in Las Vegas. If I had to guess, I see BYU's brass being told by ESPN to opt for the Hawaii venue and cutting a ticket deal with both the bowl game guys and the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in basketball where Dave Rose and his Cougars will be playing games on Dec. 22, 23, and 25th. That leaves a convenient date open on the 24th for the BYU Bowl game and allows the Cougar athletic department to promote a twofer; BYU football and basketball on the same ticket, flight and deal. Did I mention that both the Hawaii Basketball tournament and Hawaii Bowl Game are owned by ESPN Events and televised by ESPN. Don't think that there will not be some political pressure from BYU's cash cow source on the Cougar athletic administration to show up in Hawaii with teams that could help ticket sales and TV ratings for both events. On the other hand, ESPN Events also owns the Las Vegas Bowl. Let's just say this; what ESPN wants and not what BYU football fans want, is where BYU will be playing their bowl game in December. Plenty of Sub Plots BYU Basketball Kicks Off Season This year's BYU basketball season can be broken down into three categories: Bigs, Guards and Lone Peak just around the corner. Let's start with the bigs. BYU didn't have any last year. This year they do. Last season's post play and defense was provided by Luke Worthington, Corbin Kaufusi, Isaac Neilson, Josh Sharp and Ryan Andrus. And don't forget that when BYU actually needed scoring, rebounding and defense, they put Kyle Collinsworth down low. This year they have Corbin Kaufusi, the most athletic big, back with a year's experience under his belt. Also back is Nate Austin, who has proven he can rebound. Throw in newcomers Kyle Davis and Jamaal Aytes and the low post scoring and rebounding should be dramatically better. For depth, Dave Rose has two returning missionaries in Braiden Shaw and Jakob Hartsock. Rose has options again this season in the front court. And if 7-2 Alan Hamson is physically able to go for more than a few minutes a game, Rose will have bonus options in the front court. The back court is as simple as 1-2-3. Number one is Kyle Collinsworth. He will be the go to guy this season as long as his health holds up. Rose will have to manage his practice minutes and rest and recuperation time between games, but when the ball goes up so will Collinsworth. Number 2 is Chase Fischer. He will be the no-conscience-put-it-up-from-distance- anytime-and-anywhere guy. Number 3 is Nick Emery. He is still trying to get in top form game-playing shape and still shaking off the rust from lacerations on his foot, but he will see plenty of time this year. I think of him as Skyler Halford, with talent. Halford was a dynamo on the court offensively and defensively, but he was limited athletically. Emery can do for Dave Rose what Halford did last year. He will be the third guard needed to score when called upon and can actually play some defense. Number 3 is Lone Peak in general and TJ Haws in particular. Haws and Eric Mika both get back from missions in time for next season. Mika will be a big boost in the post along with more depth provided by Payton Dastrup coming back and Haws will just be a plain, ordinary, run-of- the mill superstar. I know it, Dave Rose knows it, but more importantly so do the other guards currently on the team. That's why guys like Jake Toolson, Jordan Chatman, Cory Calvert and Zac Seljaas are anxious to prove to Rose and his staff that they are good enough to not only get minutes this year on the court, but good enough for Rose to give them minutes next season when the Lone Peak backcourt of Emery and Haws will be reunited. Last season, Toolson showed flashes, but was shackled by Rose and his staff. He reportedly was told to stay out of the paint and not go to the rim to not clog up the middle for Tyler Haws and his game. This year, Toolson gets to play his game. It should be noticeable. Chatman, also will finally get to show his talents and compete for minutes. He is finally healthy and ready to play. Seljaas is a poor man's Scotty Pippen at 6-7. He is an offensive weapon. A two-year mission stint after this season would be good for him and Rose to put a couple of seasons between him and Haws, Emery, Toolson and Chatman. Dave Rose should be smiling and he is. He has a team that can play his preferred style of basketball. They can get out in the open court and run and hit wide open threes. This team should also be able to rebound to get the ball to the open court and score enough inside to keep defenses honest. What is yet to be determined is if this team can play defense. On paper, there should be improvement. As always, we will wait and see what happens on the court. This team has the talent to capture their first WCC title, now it is up to Rose and his staff to coach them up enough to accomplish that goal. BYU Basketball and TV Schedule Wednesday, Oct 28, Cougar Tipoff, at Provo, 7:00 pm MDT, BYUtv.org (streaming) Friday, Oct 30, Arizona Christian, at Provo, 7:30 pm MDT, BYUtv Saturday, Nov 7, Alaska-Fairbanks, at Provo, 7:30 pm MST, BYUtv ? Friday, Nov 13, Utah Valley, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST, BYUtv Monday, Nov 16, Long Beach State, at Long Beach, 11:45 pm MST, ESPN2 Friday, Nov 20, Adams State, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST Wednesday, Nov 25, Mississippi Valley, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST Saturday, Nov 28, Belmont, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST Wednesday, Dec 2, Utah, at Salt Lake City, 8:00 pm MST, Pac-12 Network Saturday, Dec 5, Weber State, at Salt Lake City, 1:00 pm MST Wednesday, Dec 9, Utah State, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST Saturday, Dec 12, Colorado, at Boulder, 6:00 pm MST Friday, Dec 18, Central Michigan, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST Tuesday, Dec 22, Harvard, at Honolulu, 2:30 pm MST, ESPNU Wednesday, Dec 23, Auburn/New Mexico, at Honolulu, TBA, ESPN Networks Friday, Dec 25, TBA, at Honolulu, TBA ESPN Networks Thursday, Dec 31, Saint Mary's, at Moraga, 9:00 pm MST, ESPNU Saturday, Jan 2, Pacific, at Stockton, 4:00 pm, MST, Root NW, TWC Thursday, Jan 7, Santa Clara, at Provo, 9:00 pm MST, ESPNU Saturday, Jan 9, San Francisco, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST, BYUtv Thursday, Jan 14, Gonzaga, at Spokane, 7:00 pm MST, ESPN or ESPN2 Saturday, Jan 16, Portland, at Portland, 4:00 pm MST, Root Rocky Mountain Thursday, Jan 21, Loyola Marymount, at Los Angeles, 9:00 pm MST Saturday, Jan 23, Pepperdine, at Malibu, 6:00 MST, BYUtv Thursday, Jan 28, Loyola Marymount, at Provo, 9:00 pm MST, ESPNU Saturday, Jan 30, Pepperdine, at Provo, 8:00 pm MST, ESPN2 Thursday, Feb 4, Saint Mary's, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST, BYUtv Saturday, Feb 6, Pacific, at Provo, 2:00 pm MST, Root RockyMountain Thursday, Feb 11, San Francisco, at San Francisco, 8:00 pm MST, BYUtv Saturday, Feb 13, Santa Clara, at Santa Clara, 2:00 pm MST, Root Rocky Mountain Thursday, Feb 18, San Diego, at San Diego, 9:00 pm MST, ESPNU Saturday, Feb 20, San Diego, at Provo, 7:00 pm MST, BYUtv Thursday, Feb 25, Portland, at Provo, 9:00 pm MST, ESPNU Saturday, Feb 27, Gonzaga, at Provo, TBA, ESPN or ESPN2 Mar 3-8, WCC Basketball Championships, Las Vegas, TBA, ESPN Networks Additional games may be picked up by BYUtv (live or streaming) or other networks. Last year BYUtv did just that and we expect them to announce that they will also do the same this season. Television Timetable BYU Men's Basketball Tipoff (Intra Squad Game) Wednesday, October 28 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv.org (streaming) BYU vs. Pepperdine (Women's Soccer) Thursday, October 29 at Provo Start Time: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. San Diego (Women's Volleyball) Friday, October 30 at Provo Start Time: 5:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Arizona Christian (Men's Basketball) Friday, October 30 at Provo Tipoff: 7:30 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Loyola Marymount (Women's Soccer) Saturday, October 31 at Provo Start Time: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYE (Football) Saturday, October 31 BYU vs. Saint Mary's (Women's Volleyball) Thursday, November 5 at Provo Start Time: 7:00 pm MDT TV: BYUtv BYU vs. San Jose State (Football) Friday, November 6 at San Jose Kickoff: 9:30 pm MST TV: CBS Sports Network Saturday BYU vs. Pacific (Women's Volleyball) Saturday, November 7 at Provo Start Time: 1:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv