BYU at TCU Preview

I've been anticipating this game since halftime of the UCLA whipping. People have been critical of BYU's schedule to this point, which is understandable. Well, here is a road game against a good ranked team. BYU has another chance to shut up their critics again.

BYU's Offense vs. TCU Defense

This is strength against strength. BYU is 16th in total offense while TCU is 1st in total defense. TCU's main strength is against the run. BYU will have to pass to set up the run. TCU will likely put 7-8 in the box to nuetralize the run game. Also, they typically isolate their corners 1 on 1 against opponents recievers. They will likey double up on Pitta or George. This means BYU will have to attack through the air to backs and recievers. Look for Collie to have another big game and for Reed to make 4-5 key catches. Also, the backs will likely catch some dump offs. If Hall can connect with his recievers early, TCU will be forced to put in another DB or play zone. Then Unga can get some more runs. TCU will need to pressure Hall, which no team has been able to come close to. I see BYU scoring between 21 and 38 points. BYU has the right kind of offense to score against TCU, as they have shown the past 3 seasons. TCU has struggled against passing teams who protect the QB well. TCU is great at getting off the field and controlling the clock. BYU will have to convert on 3rd down and have long scoring drives.

TCU's Offense vs. BYU's Defense.

TCU is 39th in the nation in total offense and BYU is 31st in total defense. However TCU isn't balanced at all. They are 13th in rushing offense and 97th in passing offense. TCU is successful when they control the clock, convert on 3rd down, and run to set up the pass. I don't see them being successful against BYU. BYU won't give up big plays. They will force TCU to go the entire field on them. No team has been able to run the ball well on BYU this season, and the Frogs will have to. Bronco has set up this team to limit points, and they are currently #1 in the nation in scoring defense at 10 points a game. TCU will score between 0 and 17 points.

Intangibles

For TCU to be successful, they must win the intangibles. They must protect the football and force turnovers. They must limit their penelties and hope for BYU to have plenty of them. They must play sound in the special teams. This will be difficult. BYU has been great at making plays on special teams this year and is #3 in turnover margin this year. TCU must win that battle.

I see a statement game for BYU. BYU starts fast and cruises to victory. Gary Patterson will melt down. BYU wins this game 34 - 17. Go Cougars!

BYU 21 UNM 3

This is about the game I expected. With the exception of 2006, UNM usually plays hard against BYU but loses the game. I wouldn't call this a blowout, but it was a solid win against an improving Lobo team. Here are my thoughts about the game.

1. The run game has to improve. I don't blame Unga, but I do blame the O-line. For some reason, the O-line is struggling with run blocking. They do outstanding with pass blocking, but the holes that were so huge last year in the run game simply aren't there right now. Last year the O-line left gaping holes that allowed Unga to get into the secondary and plow over pansy safeties like Stevie Tate. BYU has a big, physical, and experienced group up front. There is no excuse for Unga not getting into the secondary more often. 95 yards on 22 carries for Harvey isn't bad, but BYU should do better than that.

2. Max Hall had an efficient mistake free game. 22 of 34 for 265 yards and 3 TD's with no picks. While that's not spectacular, it's nothing to complain about. Once again the defense chose to stop the run and limit our tight ends, which left Collie 1 on 1 with one of the best DB's in the conference. And of course, Collie tore him apart ala Bryce McCain. 9 catches for 162 yards and a TD. Wow. #9 will hold almost all the receiving records at BYU before he goes to the NFL if he stays for his senior year. Collie is big, fast, physical, runs great routes, and is great after the catch. BYU fans don't appreciate him enough.

3. The defense is doing great. 70 yards for Ferguson is too much in the first half. However, he had only 20 in the second half. That's especially good considering Ferguson usually wears down a defense in the second half. There were some missed tackles throughout the game, but no big plays. Plus the D stood tough when they needed to, only allowing 3 points. That's 17 points IN FOUR GAMES allowed by this defense. That is outstanding. All the naysayers that said this D will be inexperienced and suspect have been shut up. Plug and go baby, plug and go.

4. Ahh Rocky Long. One of the biggest crybabies in history. In postgame comments he called the officiating "criminal" saying they "took the game away from us". All this from one penelty. The call was an illegal block in the back. Watching the replays, it was a touchy, though correct, call. Dulan was pushed in the back after attempting to bring down the ball carrier. It was a much better call the phantom offensive PI called on Collie earlier that wasn't which took points from BYU. The bottom line: The call hurt but didn't kill the Lobos. A wide open receiver was missed on the very next play which would have scored a TD. Then Rocky decides to go for it on 4th and 22 instead of kick a field goal which would have cut it to an 8 point lead. They obviously failed and got no points. Then the Lobos gave up a beautiful long drive culminating in Hall's third TD throw. I am so tired of whiners like Rocky. When asked about his thoughts about BYU's team, he classfully said, "I don't want to talk about BYU. Enough people are talking about BYU". What a baby. Him and Kryle need to go do a yoga class or something. Bottom line: Good teams win, losing teams whine.

Another good win for the Cougars. Feels great to be 6-0 heading in to the most difficult game of the season, to this point. TCU will be amped for this game. Preview is forthcoming.

BYU at Logan St. Recap

BYU - 34
Logan St. - 14

This is the worst I've seen BYU play since the UNLV game last year. Luckily it came against the mighty Aggies. Here are some thoughts about the game.

- Bye weeks suck for BYU. After the bye last year, BYU struggled againsts lowly UNLV, winning 24-14. I blame the coaching staff for this. Coach Mendenhall does so much right, but he needs to work on this. It affects the offense for the most part. Last year BYU should have put up at least 40 points on UNLV. But Hall threw 3 ints in that game. This year BYU should have put up at least 50 points on Logan St. But Hall threw 2 ints, and the O-line had a horrible game. Also, 12 penelties for 123 yards? Clean it up Bronco!

- Aggies fans are so cute! I guess playing for Logan St. must have its benefits. Lose by 20 at home, and your fans act like you just won. At least they didn't rush the field like yewt fans do after slipping past a mediocre OSU. Hilarious on both accounts!

- Austin Collie is the man. Another 100+ yard game for #9. 2 more TD's. He is starting to put up some sick numbers and is making great plays. I was most impressed with his second TD. Max threw that ball way high, and Collie had to make an incredible leaping catch. He is still living right.

- The defense is playing great. More missed tackles than I'de like to see, but another good overall effort. It sucked to see the shutout streak end after 11 quarters, but it had to happen sometime. The front seven are definetely the strength of the defense - five sacks in this game. BYU's defense is amazingly underrated.

Overall assessment: A lot of BYU fans are scared by this game. I'm not. BYU got up 24-0 really fast, and then got comfortable. They paid for it by Logan St. keeping up the rest of the game. Count it as a good learning experience for the team. They won't get complacent again. This team has the ability to completely dominate in every facet of the game when they are playing composed football. They only did it for one quarter and still won easily. They won't get complacent against decent competition.