Comment by Last Lemming — November 21, 2005 @ 11:59 am
A little gloating never hurt anybody LL.
I actually respect Kyle Whittingham so part of me is happy for him (though it is admittedly a small part). And at least now my record-predicting skills look better since I have been predicting a 6-5 regular season all along…
A BYU bowl victory will take the sting out of this loss for me. (Plus a multi year winning streak over the Utes for the rest of this decade wouldn’t hurt…)
In the meantime I’ll even pull for the Utes in their bowl — a MWC bowl victory is always a good thing after all.
Reports are a little sktechy at this point, but BYU campus riot police were called out after the game, as a precautionary measure, to discourage any social unrest.
They were prepared to put the entire campus in lockdown should anything get out of hand. To date, the only reported incident even remotely connected with the game was a BYU coed being cited for grazing at the stadium. Oh, that and a UofU freshman was cited for posession of regular can coke.
It is difficult to express my frustration with BYU during this game. The end of the first half was a circus with BYU stupidly going for fourth down. And then the last play of the game where Beck lobbed the ball in the air as if he was being pressured when he could have ran for the six yards EASILY!!! They rushed ONE person, that means all he has to do is walk behind his linemen and he can get the six needed yards.
And that Ratliff dude, he could do no wrong. How many times did he get pressured and then run for 15 yards? Ugh…
As I said at the beginning of the year, it’s nice to have BYU back in classic form: exciting high-flying offense that can score at the drop of a hat, come back from ridiculous deficits, but unreliable defense frustrating the hell out of me.
I’m with you Rusty. Utah was clearly the best team BYU has faced since Notre Dame and the Cougar mistakes in the first half were just too much to overcome. That dropped pass on the first play boded poorly for the team. Beck was off his game a bit too and was missing open receivers more than he has in many games. And the complete inability of the defense to stop the QB scrambles was truly painful to see.
The question now is if this indoor practice facility will help as the Cougs prepare for the bowl game (whichever game it may be). I’m crossing my fingers. A bowl victory will go a long way for fans, players, and recruits.
I didn’t see the game, just read about it. I certainly didn’t expect Utah to win, especially with a back-up QB. What I did read implied that BYU was surprised by Ratliff’s running ability. Did he really gain over 100 yards on scrambles, like some articles have suggested? Weren’t the Utes running a bit of the option?
Regardless, times haven’t been this good since the 34-31 games when I was a student!
Good luck to both teams in their possible bowl games. I do feel sorry for whoever doesn’t make it to a bowl between Colorado State and New Mexico.
Comment by Matt Jacobsen — November 21, 2005 @ 2:42 pm
For me, the season lost a lot of its luster. A 6-5 season is not a great improvement over last year, especially when you consider that last year there was no D IAA opponent to push around last year.
Bronco did not understand the nature of the rivalry in the same way that Whittingham does. Bronco said that he tried to prepare for this game like every other game, when in reality, this game is different. His players were not as well prepared mentally for this game. After calming the kids down during half time, Bronco helped BYU mount a great comeback but in the end the playmakers didn’t make the plays that mattered most.
In addition, this was the year to take back the homefield advantage. The Utes have now won 4 in a row and all but two games at LES in the last 12 years. LES is as good as a home game for them at this point.
Matt J,
Yes, he gained a LOT of yards scrambling, and virtually none of it was from the option. It seemed like every time they passed BYU put pressure on him but he ALWAYS got away, often with 10-20 yard gains. I only remember two sacks and those were late in the game.
Matt S,
I think you’re right, they didn’t seem prepared for what this game was. I think the most frustrating drive was when Utah had around six penalties and STILL scored a touchdown. Ugh…
For me, the season lost a lot of its luster. A 6-5 season is not a great improvement over last year, especially when you consider that last year there was no D IAA opponent to push around last year.
Good point. Last year’s team at least beat Notre Dame. In addition, the loss to Utah was easier to swallow because that was admittedly a great Utah team (led by a future #1 draft pick no less). It could be that the triumph of this season is the scheduling as much as anything else.
The defense is a major problem this year. The holes became apparent but were not plugged. Every time the Ute QB took off it turned into 15 yards. Now to be fair, Utah did have the #1 offense in the conference (if the TV stats are to be believed). But I agre with Rusty that the most frustrating part of the game was watching Utah consistently get out of 3rd and long holes. Equally frustrating was the last play where Beck seemingly could have easily run for 6 yards and bought another four downs.
I still like the direction the team has taken though. The unity seems greater and the discipline seemed better. I think Bronco ought to seriously consider hiring a defensive coordinator though. When the defense stinks he has no one to blame right now…
The loss stinks. But I have no doubt what team is on the way up, and what team is on the way down.
Comment by John Kane — November 22, 2005 @ 12:41 am
I agree Geoff and John. The direction and tone of the program is good. That’s what I like about Bronco. I really hope that he brings in a d coordinator as well. If for no other reason than to allow him to better focus on the team as a whole. I’d like to see the Cougars get rid of the 3-3-5 but I don’t see that happening for a few more years.
Let’s remember that Bronco is learning as much as everyone else. I sadly was working and didn’t see the game on Saturday. But even to my eyes I’ve seen changes in the team under Bronco. The big issue will be less how BYU performs this year than next year and how Bronco does with recruiting.
Most importantly there is the scary issue of whether the defense will be even worse next year…
I might be at the game, Matt. (If ASU is the opponent I’ll have lots of takers to go with me… If not I’ll have to work harder.)
Clark – I think the defense next year and recruiting are connected questions. Bronco needs some serious secondary help and I’m hopin he can get it from the ranks of the JCs. Some solid corners and DBs will make a world of difference.
After the way the season started (1-3) I think the team showed a lot of progress winning 5 of the last seven. We even hung in longer than expected with Notre Dame, and could have made it interesting if not for Watkins’ alligator arms. (Watkins was one of the major disappointments BYU has had in recent memory). And we almost pulled out the Utah game.
I think the biggest surprise was the fact that we figured out how to run the ball (Brown averaged 120 ypg the last 7 games). I think we’re setting ourselves up to have a pretty nice run next year considering we’re not losing too many players, and I believe our only tough non-conference game is at BC. Who knows?
Unfortunately the probability that we’ll recruit High School players who can make a difference on the defense next year is pretty negligible. Rather our defense will depend upon guys largely coming off missions who were recruited 2 years ago.
I do agree that Watkins was a big disappointment this year. He really dropped a lot of balls that he should have caught – most of them for big plays. He did that in most games. He’s had some big games, but he just didn’t have consistency.
Not gloating. Not gloating. Not gloating.
Comment by Last Lemming — November 21, 2005 @ 11:59 am
A little gloating never hurt anybody LL.
I actually respect Kyle Whittingham so part of me is happy for him (though it is admittedly a small part). And at least now my record-predicting skills look better since I have been predicting a 6-5 regular season all along…
A BYU bowl victory will take the sting out of this loss for me. (Plus a multi year winning streak over the Utes for the rest of this decade wouldn’t hurt…)
In the meantime I’ll even pull for the Utes in their bowl — a MWC bowl victory is always a good thing after all.
Comment by Geoff J — November 21, 2005 @ 12:09 pm
Reports are a little sktechy at this point, but BYU campus riot police were called out after the game, as a precautionary measure, to discourage any social unrest.
They were prepared to put the entire campus in lockdown should anything get out of hand. To date, the only reported incident even remotely connected with the game was a BYU coed being cited for grazing at the stadium. Oh, that and a UofU freshman was cited for posession of regular can coke.
Comment by Brian Duffin — November 21, 2005 @ 12:09 pm
It is difficult to express my frustration with BYU during this game. The end of the first half was a circus with BYU stupidly going for fourth down. And then the last play of the game where Beck lobbed the ball in the air as if he was being pressured when he could have ran for the six yards EASILY!!! They rushed ONE person, that means all he has to do is walk behind his linemen and he can get the six needed yards.
And that Ratliff dude, he could do no wrong. How many times did he get pressured and then run for 15 yards? Ugh…
As I said at the beginning of the year, it’s nice to have BYU back in classic form: exciting high-flying offense that can score at the drop of a hat, come back from ridiculous deficits, but unreliable defense frustrating the hell out of me.
Comment by Rusty — November 21, 2005 @ 12:15 pm
I’m with you Rusty. Utah was clearly the best team BYU has faced since Notre Dame and the Cougar mistakes in the first half were just too much to overcome. That dropped pass on the first play boded poorly for the team. Beck was off his game a bit too and was missing open receivers more than he has in many games. And the complete inability of the defense to stop the QB scrambles was truly painful to see.
The question now is if this indoor practice facility will help as the Cougs prepare for the bowl game (whichever game it may be). I’m crossing my fingers. A bowl victory will go a long way for fans, players, and recruits.
Comment by Geoff J — November 21, 2005 @ 12:24 pm
I thought it was nice of BYU to be so stupidly accomadating to the U, screwing up enough so that Utah could also be in a bowl game.
I only get to see the play by play on the internet (I work Saturdays) but that was frustrating….I’m sure even worse on TV.
Comment by Don — November 21, 2005 @ 2:09 pm
I didn’t see the game, just read about it. I certainly didn’t expect Utah to win, especially with a back-up QB. What I did read implied that BYU was surprised by Ratliff’s running ability. Did he really gain over 100 yards on scrambles, like some articles have suggested? Weren’t the Utes running a bit of the option?
Regardless, times haven’t been this good since the 34-31 games when I was a student!
Good luck to both teams in their possible bowl games. I do feel sorry for whoever doesn’t make it to a bowl between Colorado State and New Mexico.
Comment by Matt Jacobsen — November 21, 2005 @ 2:42 pm
For me, the season lost a lot of its luster. A 6-5 season is not a great improvement over last year, especially when you consider that last year there was no D IAA opponent to push around last year.
Bronco did not understand the nature of the rivalry in the same way that Whittingham does. Bronco said that he tried to prepare for this game like every other game, when in reality, this game is different. His players were not as well prepared mentally for this game. After calming the kids down during half time, Bronco helped BYU mount a great comeback but in the end the playmakers didn’t make the plays that mattered most.
In addition, this was the year to take back the homefield advantage. The Utes have now won 4 in a row and all but two games at LES in the last 12 years. LES is as good as a home game for them at this point.
Frustrating regular season ending.
Comment by Matt S. — November 21, 2005 @ 3:35 pm
Matt J,
Yes, he gained a LOT of yards scrambling, and virtually none of it was from the option. It seemed like every time they passed BYU put pressure on him but he ALWAYS got away, often with 10-20 yard gains. I only remember two sacks and those were late in the game.
Matt S,
I think you’re right, they didn’t seem prepared for what this game was. I think the most frustrating drive was when Utah had around six penalties and STILL scored a touchdown. Ugh…
Comment by Rusty — November 21, 2005 @ 4:18 pm
For me, the season lost a lot of its luster. A 6-5 season is not a great improvement over last year, especially when you consider that last year there was no D IAA opponent to push around last year.
Good point. Last year’s team at least beat Notre Dame. In addition, the loss to Utah was easier to swallow because that was admittedly a great Utah team (led by a future #1 draft pick no less). It could be that the triumph of this season is the scheduling as much as anything else.
The defense is a major problem this year. The holes became apparent but were not plugged. Every time the Ute QB took off it turned into 15 yards. Now to be fair, Utah did have the #1 offense in the conference (if the TV stats are to be believed). But I agre with Rusty that the most frustrating part of the game was watching Utah consistently get out of 3rd and long holes. Equally frustrating was the last play where Beck seemingly could have easily run for 6 yards and bought another four downs.
I still like the direction the team has taken though. The unity seems greater and the discipline seemed better. I think Bronco ought to seriously consider hiring a defensive coordinator though. When the defense stinks he has no one to blame right now…
Comment by Geoff J — November 21, 2005 @ 5:31 pm
The loss stinks. But I have no doubt what team is on the way up, and what team is on the way down.
Comment by John Kane — November 22, 2005 @ 12:41 am
I agree Geoff and John. The direction and tone of the program is good. That’s what I like about Bronco. I really hope that he brings in a d coordinator as well. If for no other reason than to allow him to better focus on the team as a whole. I’d like to see the Cougars get rid of the 3-3-5 but I don’t see that happening for a few more years.
Anyone going to Vegas December 22?
Comment by Matt S. — November 22, 2005 @ 3:22 pm
Let’s remember that Bronco is learning as much as everyone else. I sadly was working and didn’t see the game on Saturday. But even to my eyes I’ve seen changes in the team under Bronco. The big issue will be less how BYU performs this year than next year and how Bronco does with recruiting.
Most importantly there is the scary issue of whether the defense will be even worse next year…
Comment by Clark Goble — November 22, 2005 @ 3:25 pm
I might be at the game, Matt. (If ASU is the opponent I’ll have lots of takers to go with me… If not I’ll have to work harder.)
Clark – I think the defense next year and recruiting are connected questions. Bronco needs some serious secondary help and I’m hopin he can get it from the ranks of the JCs. Some solid corners and DBs will make a world of difference.
Comment by Geoff J — November 22, 2005 @ 4:18 pm
After the way the season started (1-3) I think the team showed a lot of progress winning 5 of the last seven. We even hung in longer than expected with Notre Dame, and could have made it interesting if not for Watkins’ alligator arms. (Watkins was one of the major disappointments BYU has had in recent memory). And we almost pulled out the Utah game.
I think the biggest surprise was the fact that we figured out how to run the ball (Brown averaged 120 ypg the last 7 games). I think we’re setting ourselves up to have a pretty nice run next year considering we’re not losing too many players, and I believe our only tough non-conference game is at BC. Who knows?
Comment by Tim J. — November 22, 2005 @ 8:05 pm
Unfortunately the probability that we’ll recruit High School players who can make a difference on the defense next year is pretty negligible. Rather our defense will depend upon guys largely coming off missions who were recruited 2 years ago.
I do agree that Watkins was a big disappointment this year. He really dropped a lot of balls that he should have caught – most of them for big plays. He did that in most games. He’s had some big games, but he just didn’t have consistency.
Comment by Clark Goble — November 23, 2005 @ 1:14 am