HB Arnett's "Lite" <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett@fiber.net 801 372 0819 Vol. 38, Issue 9, September 24, 2018 Cougar Skeptics and Skating Judges Give Cougars only a 5.1 BYU OUTSKATES MCNEESE 30-3 I occasionally watch figure skating and gymnastics. At their highest levels, they feature phenomenal athletes. But in my opinion, they, along with movies, are entertainment only and not sport. Sorry, if any of you grandpas or dads have children involved in any of these activities. I don't want to demean what skaters and gymnasts do. No question they are athletically gifted, but it is not a sport.in my opinion. In my opinion, anything where the winner is determined by a subjective score of judges is not a sport. It is aesthetic, athletic and demands great skill, but it is not a sport. Heck if football winners were determined by judges' votes, it too would not be a sport. Wait, football rankings and playoff teams are determined by votes of judges. Okay, strike that comment from the record please. But at least, the national championship game is decided by score, not skating judges. Here's my point. BYU put up 30 points on a good McNeese football team. They also held the Cowboys to just 3. That's good enough for me. Unfortunately, there seem to be multiple skeptical skating judges that want to deduct points from the Cougars, because of style points. They only hit one triple salchow, instead of three. And the salchow performed wasn't high enough, deep enough or catchable enough. I love football because when a football team is bigger, stronger and mostly faster than their opponent, they will beat said opponent 8 out of 10 times they match up on the football field. BYU is currently 3-1 on the year, but if you read the papers and chatrooms that follow BYU football, the Cougars are really only 1-3. They have had too many points deducted for lack of artistic execution in the passing game and lack of sequins in their offensive scheme. What the Yamaguchi is going on here? The Cougars beat the spread as a favorite by two Triple Lutzs (6 points). Many living-in-the-past pundits consider this 30-3 winning performance on par with Woody Allen's description of a hot dog in one of his movies. He said, it was "Artistically subtle and artfully demure." In football talk when it comes to the Cougar offense, it means there isn't enough mustard or relish on the BYU passing and polish dog. At the risk of getting too Biblical, remember the best college football is still played in the Bible Belt of the Southeast Conference. Just my opinion, but decades ago Esau and BYU sold their big boy football heritage for a mess of passing pottage. It solved the immediate problem of trying to stay on the same stage and field with more physically talented teams. As Mike Leach has proven over the years and as Old Dominion proved in its upset of Virginia Tech last week, you can win passing the ball exclusively, but you will never be a serious contender for the big boy payout of pottage of the College Football Playoffs. BYU is no longer the lutz and klutz on the gridiron that had to go gimmicky to stay competitive. BYU skated by for a couple of decades with a sequined and shiny passing game. Now the rest of the college football world has figured it out. So has BYU. You have to eventually be able to run the football if you want to hang with the big boys. Otherwise, it is just showbiz skating. It's time BYU fans, including me, also figure it out. A win is a win and the more the better. BYU is still skating, but they are using their blades and bodies to play rough and tumble hockey. That's were the winner is determined by putting the puck in the net more times than your opponent can. Salchows are nice, but scores are better. This is what artistically subtle and artfully demure now looks like in the box score. Here is what Post Pottage BYU Now Looks Like in The National Rankings Associated Press Top 25 1 Alabama 2 Georgia 3 Clemson 4 Ohio State 5 LSU 6 Oklahoma 7 Stanford 8 Notre Dame 9 Penn State 10 Auburn 11 Washington 12 West Virginia 13 UCF 14 Michigan 15 Wisconsin 16 Miami 17 Kentucy 18 Texas 19 Oregon 20 BYU 21 Michigan State 22 Duke 23 Mississippi State 24 California 25 Texas Tech Here is What Old BYU Pottage Looked Like Here is What New BYU Punishment Pottage Looks Like Geneva Steel Closed. Now there is a New Factory in Town If you had to say what the strength of the BYU offense is now, 97 percent of respondents would say it is the offensive line. The other 3 percent would say it is the artistically subtle and artfully demure hot dogs sold at the stadium. Here's the deal. You have to sell and recruit to your strengths. BYU's offensive line is very young and is good now and will be better down the road. That is what you hit the road selling to an upper-end running back. You show him film of just how dominant and how big the holes are up front that this offensive line is producing. Kalani Sitake has said that we can get big and talented linemen. He is right. To back up his point, one of the nation's premier offensive linemen, is LDS and just a junior at Columbine HS in Colorado. Here is what a subscriber sent detailing and describing this kid. A recruit by the name of Andrew Gentry, a junior at Columbine High in Denver, is a top 30 recruit nationally ranked and high 4 star and rising, considered widely to be the best lineman out of the state in years. Is LDS, has a BYU offer, ( his brother is a freshmen at BYU now, and is on scholarship ), and was at the Cal Game. Loved Wisconsin, and has offers, from Ohio St, Wisconsin, Alabama, Stanford, and about every big program going. Incredibly active church member, with parents with BYU history, Dad played hoops ( was slotted behind the Reid brothers, so he transferred to USU ), Grandpa was a standout player in the 50's, and Uncle, Mike Madsen, was a safety in the Crowton years. This could be the highest ranked recruit we have a real shot at in years, as he is 6'8 320 already, and is very strong. But other schools are working hard to get in the door, from what I have heard. Yeah, Big Deal. Now What? If you have a great offensive line, you make that a selling point to premier college running backs. After 30 plus years of following BYU recruiting, it is obvious that the LDS recruiting market doesn't provide premier running backs very often. So, what is the next step? Occasionally BYU can land a good to decent juco running back, but you can't go to the bank with that strategy. There is now another option. Check the new waiver wire. Remember, beginning October 10, the NCAA will let players transfer to another school without having to be released by their current coaching staffs and they become immediately recruitable. That list is made available to all NCAA schools. I can guarantee that BYU will be scrutinizing that list carefully and begin recruiting prospects from that list that look like they can be good running backs. So why would a possible premier running back leave a school and transfer? Three words. Eligibility and playing time. Good example is Bryce Perkins, Bronco Mendenhall's new starting quarterback at Virginia. Perkins signed out of Chandler HS in Arizona with Arizona State. He redshirted as a frosh, was hurt as a sophomore and was beat out by another QB at ASU. He transferred to Arizona Western JC in Yuma and then hopped across the continent to see starting time for Bronco and his boys. A running back wants to run the football. What BYU has in their favor is playing time or lack of it at several programs in the West. The chances of landing a running back transfer east of Colorado is slim to none. Just look at the rosters of PAC 12 and Mountain West Schools and I can guarantee you there are prospects that would prosper in Provo with BYU's offensive line. In case you forgot, BYU's current best running back is a Washington State transfer. How many running backs do these other schools have on their roster? How many of those rostered running backs actually are carrying the ball this year or project to carry it next year. Talent is great, but when there is equal talent or better talent in front of you, playing time enters the thought process. Another option would be 5th year seniors who have already graduated at their present schools. They become immediately eligible. The running back prospects from this list will be slim to none. That's because if the running back wasn't good enough to merit an NFL sniff after his senior season at his current school, he likely isn't worth a sniff by BYU. The final option for BYU landing a good running back is luck. Every 10 years the Cougars stumble accidently upon a Luke Staley, Jamal Willis, Rey Braithwaite, Ronny Jenkins or Jamaal Williams. I don't know how to make this happen, but I am sure that BYU offensive coaches know just how special a special running back would have it behind this special BYU offensive line. You can bet that they will be working hard to make it happen. Television Timetable BYU vs. Pepperdine (Women's Volleyball) Tuesday, September 25 at Malibu Start Time: 7:00 pm MDT TV: ESPNU BYU vs. Gonzaga (Women's Volleyball) Thursday, September 27 at Provo Start Time: 7:00 pm MDT TV: TheW.tv BYU vs. Portland (Women's Volleyball) Saturday, September 29 at Provo Start Time: 1:00 pm MDT TV: BYUTV BYU vs. Gonzaga (Women's Soccer) Thursday, September 27 at Provo Start Time: 7:00 pm MDT TV: BYUTV BYU vs. Portland (Women's Soccer) Saturday, September 29 at Provo Start Time: 7:00 pm MDT TV: TheW.tv BYU Football Television Timetable BYU is a 17-point underdog against the Huskies, according to Las Vegas Odds Makers. In four games, BYU has covered the point spread in every game except Cal. This information is not for gambling, but for entertainment purposes only and for extending the length and breadth of this newsletter in hopes it will seem more scholastic, academic and artistically subtle and artfully demure.