A Pre-Christmas Treat: Roasted Duck
BYU cooked the Oregon Ducks in the Las Vegas Bowl tonight and served them up on a lovely Christmas platter. In other words the Cougs crushed the Ducks. BYU rolled over the perennial Pac10 contenders as if the Ducks were a JV team. 38-8? Wow!
There were lots of fun side stories here too — senior John Beck broke his own Las Vegas Bowl passing record. That is impressive in itself but the fact that the Ducks had the #10 pass defense in the country coming into the game makes it truly remarkable. Senior Curtis Brown became the leading rusher in BYU history by racking up 118 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 17 carries. (He was also hauled in 7 passes for another 56 yards.) Senior Jonny Harline was named MVP of the game with another jaw dropping performance on the evening. The All-American tight end caught nine passes for 181 yards and an touchdown.
The Cougar offense was clearly rusty to start the game with Beck slightly off target at times and with receivers dropping easy passes at other times. (What was up with normally sure-handed Matt Allen in the first quarter? I was pleased that he caught that 34 yarder later in the game.) But the defense came ready to play and completely shut down the Ducks the entire first half. By the second quarter the BYU offense found its rhythm and it was 17-0 by halftime. Things continued to roll after the half and the Cougs had a comfortable 31-0 lead before the Ducks finally found the end zone on a long pass play and ended the Cougar D’s attempts at a shut out. Oh, did I mention the Ducks came into this game ranked 8th in the nation in total offense?
You had to feel for former BYU head coach and current Oregon offensive coordinator Gary Crowton though. The Duck offense got bullied all night by a Cougar defense that is filled with players he recruited. The Ducks played musical QB’s all night, shuttling their two quarterbacks in and out for a possession or two at a time. It didn’t help. The Oregon QB’s weren’t good and the Cougars kept dropping 8 men into coverage to make them look even worse. One can only hope that the game of musical QBs Oregon played was over the objections of Gary Crowton. He tried that at BYU with similar terrible results.
But tonight was all about BYU’s seniors and their new head coach. Bronco Mendenhall appears to be the perfect replacement for Lavell Edwards — the very thing that Crowton proved not to be. Heck, Bronco even seems to be emulating the Edwards stoic sideline coaching manner these days. But on top of winning consistently perhaps Bronco will be able to create a tradition that even Lavell never managed in his time at BYU — consistently winning bowl games. If the performance tonight is any indication, regularly winning bowl games looks like a real possibility in the years to come.
Well done Cougs.
Ok, I liked the line the ESPN guy used better than my headline. His was “Did somebody step on a Duck? BYU did.”
Comment by Geoff J — December 22, 2006 @ 2:26 am
Nice review Geoff:
Maybe BYU is back. A lot was made of getting back to BYU style football. It seems to be working. I have heard that recruiting at BYU has been pretty good the last couple of years. Do you think this sets BYU up for being ranked in the top 20 to start next year?
Comment by Eric Nielson — December 22, 2006 @ 8:46 am
Do you think this sets BYU up for being ranked in the top 20 to start next year?
Not unless you find quick replacements for a great QB and an All-American Tight End. Not going to happen. To paraphase a poster from a Ute fan board, ‘Mr Harline, thanks for finishing your four years of eligibility. You will not be missed.’ While your recruiting may have been good I would chalk up next year and possibly the year after to rebuilding/bringing a new QB along.
Comment by Jon in Austin — December 22, 2006 @ 9:51 am
Wow … very nice. I wouldn’t have expected BYU to do that well against the Ducks.
Is Beck not back next year? What are we looking at for next year’s BYU football team?
Comment by danithew — December 22, 2006 @ 9:56 am
One of the greatest parts of the story is that the Oregon coach said before the game that BYU wouldn’t even compete as a mid-level Pac-10 team, a statement he didn’t back down from after they were trounced. The arrogance is galling.
Comment by Rusty — December 22, 2006 @ 10:21 am
I live in Norman OK (am a Sooner fan), and the love for the “Mormons†has exploded here recently. Number one reason is of course C.J. Ah You. Number two reason, last night’s game. I couldn’t believe all the “Go Mormons!†I heard last night from my evangelical buddies (typically anti). Awesome game, I was so happy to see the replay of the on-side kick robbery in Eugene.
Comment by Carlton — December 22, 2006 @ 11:05 am
Oh, I forgot to give kudos to senior cornerback Justin Robinson for his LV Bowl record two interceptions. He was one drop away from getting a third too.
The media from both schools is having a field day ripping Oregon coach Mike Bellotti for claiming the Cougs could not compete with the better teams in the Pac10. I suspect it is that kind of ridiculous arrogance that led to the tail-whipping his team suffered in the first place. Check this article as an example.
Comment by Geoff J — December 22, 2006 @ 11:52 am
As for next year, I think there is a good chance that BYU could end up reloading in 2007 rather than rebuilding. The biggest holes to fill are at QB, tight end and inside linebacker. But BYU is bringing back a lot of the starters from this year on both sides of the ball.
On offense the 2007 team will return most of the offensive line and both Tonga and Vakapuna at RB. Plus most of the receivers are coming back and former freshman All-American receiver Austin Collie is coming home from his mission in a couple of weeks. The biggest question is QB but there are several highly recruited guys waiting to compete for the job and with such a strong potential running game the new QB probably won’t have to play like Beck did this year for the team to win. There are also several very highly touted tight ends waiting to step in and show their stuff.
On defense the inside linebackers are going to be new but most of the D-line and the outside backers are returning. The DBs will lose some starters but will return several starters as well.
I think it is likely that BYU could finish this season as high as #15 after the drubbing they gave Oregon last night and both BYU and TCU could very well enter next season in the top 25. (Plus if Utah and New Mexico win their bowl games that would make the MWC 4-0 in bowls this year and that would definitely help with the perception and rankings of MWC teams heading into next year.)
Comment by Geoff J — December 22, 2006 @ 12:05 pm
Oh, did I mention how annoying the TV coverage on ESPN was getting? It’s like they forgot there was a game going on half the time with all the other crap they were covering in that booth. Plus Musberger and friends repeatedly displayed their ignorance of all things related to the Mountain West conference (though the color commentators were less egregious).
Comment by Geoff J — December 22, 2006 @ 12:12 pm
I learned more about Bobby Knight last night than the game in front of me. It was pathetic.
Comment by Rusty — December 22, 2006 @ 12:40 pm
Have you ever seen a more confused head official? He made some sort of mistake just about every time he turned on the mic.
“Half the distance to the penalty.”
“Offsides on the offense.”
[Pointiing towards the receiving team] “Personal foul, number 28, kicking team.”
“Offsides false start on the offense.”
The dude looked to have one foot in the grave. I hope he gets a nice retirement watch in the offseason.
And I agree that the TV coverage was lame. The Tarkanian conversation just kept going on and on.
But the game was fun. Those Oregon QB’s sure made BYU’s secondary look good. There were several “coverage” sacks throughout the game. My suspicion is that the sacks were more due to gun shyness and lack of confidence on the part of the Oregon QB’s rather than great BYU coverage. I mean, it is the BYU secondary.
Comment by Tom — December 22, 2006 @ 12:45 pm
Hehe. Good point about that poor head official Tom. He did have a few senoir moments.
I mean, it is the BYU secondary.
Actually it was the BYU secondary plus 4 linebackers most of the night. Dropping 8 and rushing 3 makes covering the 3-4 receivers a lot easier. The cool thing is that the three BYU D-lineman managed to get several sacks even without blitzes. Very nice defensive coordinating job by Bronco I thought.
Comment by Geoff J — December 22, 2006 @ 12:53 pm
Don’t get too excited. Oregon had been way overrated all year long. This is not a quality win over a quality opponent. The PAC-10 takes turns beating each other up, so maybe Bellotti is right.
Comment by Jared — December 22, 2006 @ 12:55 pm
Jared,
The excitement is about 10 straight wins, a top 20 finish, and a bowl victory. Beating the tar out of Oregon is just the final ingredient in a season that is very worthy of being excited about. Plus the trajectory of the team under Bronco is the real reason for Cougar fans to be excited.
Comment by Geoff J — December 22, 2006 @ 1:14 pm
Don’t get too excited. Right.
GO COUGS!
Comment by Adam Greenwood — December 22, 2006 @ 2:25 pm
Don’t mind me, I’m still bitter about 1984 when BYU stole the national championship from the University of Washington. Don’t let me rain on your parade. 10 straight wins is impressive. How is that people when they find out that I am LDS just assume that I must be a BYU fan?
Congrats, hopefully you guys will have just as good of season next year.
Comment by Jared — December 22, 2006 @ 2:43 pm
Ditto to many of the comments.
The head ref was annoying. How many times when speaking did he assign the penalty to the wrong team?
But the ESPN coverage was horrible. Well, let me correct that. The announcing. The video coverage was fantastic. Clear pictures. Good replays. Amazing camera angles. However as others said the announcers seemed to not care there was a game on. There would be an injury and half the time would never follow up on it. Further they did these ridiculous interviews during important plays. I listened to the radio when going to the store and everyone was griping about how bad the ESPN coverage was.
The question then becomes, given similar bad announcing when we played BC, is ESPN out for us due to the new network? I mean, what’s up with that.
I did feel for Crowton who I felt got a raw deal from BYU. However last night illustrated his worse failing: how he handles QBs. (Although he can’t take all the blame for that since he wasn’t head coach) Has there ever been a team that swaps QBs that does really good by it? (Think Utah this year)
Comment by Clark Goble — December 22, 2006 @ 3:14 pm
2 Maybe BYU is back. A lot was made of getting back to BYU style football. It seems to be working.
Yes, for now. I believe Bronco’s figured out how to be what BYU is — disciplined, team-based, and two teams on the field together: pre- and post-mission players and uses it to the advantages it does offer. I can see how in 4-8 years, this could surpass “getting back to BYU-style” and become a new, higher level.
The old BYU Edwards/Chow/French teams won with OK talent and superior game planning and coaching. I recall an interview with Gifford Nielsen in which he said playing was fun because the other teams had no idea what we were doing with the innovative passing attack. In contrast, Bronco’s teams outplay and outexecute; Belotti said that there wasn’t a single thing we did last night that they hadn’t seen, and Beck said the whole year, including last night, they just stuck to their game plan.
I believe that Bronco can take us beyond innovative (to us) / trick (to established programs) offenses to simply outplaying the opponents. This would yield consistently higher rankings and excape the Boise-State syndrome.
8. As for next year, I think there is a good chance that BYU could end up reloading in 2007 rather than rebuilding. The biggest holes to fill are at QB…
Ben Olson, we hardly knew you. And he likely will *not* be UCLA’s starter when BYU visits UCLA on 9/8/2007 — how could Cowan not be UCLA’s starter after: (1) beating USC and (2) saving Dorrell’s job. But Brother Ben would have been a nice bridge for the next 2 years in BYU’s program. (sigh)
11. I mean, it is the BYU secondary.
Yes, however. Bronco’s doing a good job recovering from the dismissal of the ace secondary during the recent unpleasantness that brough him to his current job. I believe more improvements are coming.
13. This is not a quality win over a quality opponent.
I agree, they weren’t a quality opponent and more’s the shame after Beck, Harline & Co. were buried in that religious network — so-called because here in SoCal we only have faith that BYU’s games were broadcast somewhere; we never saw them.
I’ll leave the quality/character discussion to others.
14. …the trajectory of the team under Bronco is the real reason for Cougar fans to be excited.
Well said! I heard Bronco speak at a sports fireside here in SoCal last year. He’s laying a solid foundation of character and completeness for this program. E.g. completeness: near the end of last night’s game, after artfully dodging the victory dousing from the players, he focused on coaching the players on the field, not even turning around to acknowledge the ones who’d tried to douse him.
16. Don’t mind me, I’m still bitter about 1984 when BYU stole the national championship from the University of Washington.
And the third game of the following year, BYU beat Washington 31-3.
Nobody noticed because the week before, BYU had lost to UCLA 27-24 and Washington had lost to Okla St (?).
17. I did feel for Crowton who I felt got a raw deal from BYU.
After the rape, etc. scandals, what about the deal BYU got from Crowton??? If any part of the purpose of BYU’s football program is to be an ensign of our standards (reader to complete rant here).
Comment by manaen — December 22, 2006 @ 4:31 pm
16. Redux: Don’t mind me, I’m still bitter about 1984 when BYU stole the national championship from the University of Washington.
Barry Switzer, Oklahoma’s coach back then, kept running his mouth about how his team or at least the winner of the Okla-Wash bowl game should be ranked #1 instead of BYU. Washington won and Mr. Switzer kept his word, endorsing Washington for the top ranking.
Payback came twice:
(1) 10 years later, when BYU beat Okla by 25 points in the Copper Bowl
(2) Immediately
Comment by manaen — December 22, 2006 @ 4:45 pm
A lot of nice commentary here. Very interesting stuff. I’m excited to watch Cougar football next year.
Comment by danithew — December 22, 2006 @ 10:31 pm
“And the third game of the following year, BYU beat Washington 31-3.
Nobody noticed because the week before, BYU had lost to UCLA 27-24 and Washington had lost to Okla St (?).”
But alas, it doesn’t matter what happened the year after or even the year before. It does matter that all BYU had to do was beat a 6-5 team in December.
Lets get a playoff system in place and things like this will go away and be a thing of the past.
Comment by Jared — December 23, 2006 @ 1:48 am
BTW, this year, BYU went 5-1 against bowl teams (including Oregon) with our only loss the 2xOT @ BC.
Not bad for for the 2nd year ever as a head coach, after 3 losing seasons. The two questions I have for next year are:
* sustainability with the loss of the seniors, which leads to
* can Coach Mendenhall make something of his comments:
It will serve as a great motivational tool. What these players have done is establish a whole new mindset. They won’t be satisfied. They’ll ask, ‘What’s next?’ Tonight was another step in our evolution of returning to where this football program needs to be. We showed that (in the Las Vegas Bowl).
and
Last year, we were motivated after losing to Cal in the Las Vegas Bowl to work harder, to get bigger, faster and stronger. It motivated us all season long. That’s what this win tonight, and this whole season, will do for this program next year. We’ll keep getting better.
and
This is the next step in our evolution to being a great program. This team won’t be satisfied with just this.
So much for “Aw, Shucks — we’re just fortunate to be able to play PAC-10′s tied-for-5th team.” What does he have in mind; maybe wiping away the implicit smirk in Uncle Rico’s (“Napolean Dynamite”) fascination about faded football glory from the 1980′s with some current national titles? We’re headed towards some interesting seasons.
Comment by manaen — December 23, 2006 @ 2:27 pm
Payback came twice:
(1) 10 years later, when BYU beat Okla by 25 points in the Copper Bowl
(2) Immediately
1. Switzer was not the coach in ’94, duh! How’s that payback?
2. Many BYU fans, of the Utah-Mormon variety, embarrass themselves with their anti-Switzer obsession. If your team had been there before, you might’ve known how to act. The inferiority-complex reaction was understandable to football fans with tradition. The Salt Lake County Council of Governments sounds like a model government entity – NOT! (Borat style):-)
Either way, most Sooner fans I know really enjoyed BYU’s superior play against the Ducks.
Comment by Carlton — December 27, 2006 @ 10:07 am
Not to be too pointlessly bitter, but I don’t see how ’94 represents any sort of revenge at all: a victory over a 6-5 team that neither wanted to play in the bowl game nor expected lame duck coach Gary Gibbs back shouldn’t be much more than a formality. But whatever, right? It was OKLAHOMA, dadgummit! While I can agree that BYU was underrated through the 1980s, Switzer’s point was quite reasonable: comparing WAC football and Big Eight/Big Ten/Pac-10/SEC football is simply not possible. I don’t mean to disparage any individual WAC team or champion of that era, but going unbeaten in that conference simply doesn’t prove a whole lot. Individual teams might well have been good (indeed, I expect a real test from Boise tonight, even though they come from a much weaker WAC than the 80s model), but tearing through the conference shows me nothing in terms of the final resume.
On point though, serious congratulations are in order. It’s obvious Oregon entered a tailspin following the Cal loss, but this was still a devastation and vindicates a fine season on the part of the Cougars. Can they keep it up? Tough to say. I’ve said before that the MWC is in a tough spot: obviously superior to the CUSA/WAC/MAC crowd, but behind the Big East and nowhere in sight of the five top conferences. What that means to me is that BYU has to step out and face quality nonconference opposition in order to make any national noise. Next year, they’re facing Eastern Washington and Arizona at home, with road trips to UCLA and Tulsa. That’s a perfectly fine nonconference schedule that compares very favorably to many national powers. It’s certainly tougher than OU’s (pending what happens at the U). But, at the end of the day, I don’t know that it’s enough. Replace EWU with at least a mid-level BCS opponent (I’m thinking Georgia Tech/Missouri/Alabama caliber) and you’d be moving in the right direction. Ideally, you’d schedule a top-15 type team and beat them. That’s probably not fair: I do think the MWC is a legitimate conference that deserves some respect, although it certainly isn’t on par with the major conferences. But it’s reality. Unless BYU wants to limit its aspirations to dominating the area between Lubbock and Berkeley, that’s a necessary step forward (and one that I think BYU’s able to take, if they’re willing to do a 2-for-1 with somebody).
Comment by D-Train — January 1, 2007 @ 3:38 am