Make your 2006 BYU football predictions here
Are you ready for some football… predicting? Well alrightee then. The 2006 BYU football season starts in less than two weeks and here is your chance to publicly predict how the Cougs will do this year. I’ll be there in the flesh as they open the season down in Tucson so I’ll report back on how they look in person then; but in the meantime let’s do some guessing!
Here are my predictions for which games we’ll win and which games we’ll lose:
09/02/2006 @ Arizona……………..W – BYU 31 Arizona 27
09/09/2006 Tulsa…………………..W – BYU 49 Tulsa 35
09/16/2006 @ Boston College……..L – BYU 17 BC 35
09/23/2006 Utah State…………….W – BYU 45 USU 27
09/28/2006 @ TCU………………….L – BYU 24 TCU 37
10/07/2006 San Diego State………W – BYU 52 SDSU 42
10/21/2006 UNLV……………………W – BYU 63 UNLV 24
10/28/2006 @ Air Force…………….L – BYU 35 AFA 45
11/04/2006 @ Colorado State…….W – BYU 28 CSU 21
11/09/2006 Wyoming……………….W – BYU 49 WYO 17
11/18/2006 New Mexico……………W – BYU 28 NM 24
11/25/2006 @ Utah…………………W – BYU 24 Utah 21
Regular season record 9-3.
Sure it’s optimistic; sure a 7-5 record is just as likely; but I’m a fan so I’m letting it hang out.
What have you got?
I’m thinking more along those lines as well, Geoff. Another year in the system and a lot of players coming back on offense should bode well for BYU.
09/02/2006 @ Arizona……………..L – BYU 17 Arizona 21
09/09/2006 Tulsa…………………..W – BYU 59 Tulsa 31
09/16/2006 @ Boston College……..L – BYU 21 BC 24
09/23/2006 Utah State…………….W – BYU 48 USU 27
09/28/2006 @ TCU………………….L – BYU 14 TCU 20
10/07/2006 San Diego State………W – BYU 49 SDSU 27
10/21/2006 UNLV……………………W – BYU 52 UNLV 16
10/28/2006 @ Air Force…………….W – BYU 48 AFA 38
11/04/2006 @ Colorado State…….W – BYU 24 CSU 20
11/09/2006 Wyoming……………….W – BYU 45 WYO 24
11/18/2006 New Mexico……………W – BYU 35 NM 17
11/25/2006 @ Utah…………………L – BYU 24 Utah 31
I’m going 8-4, but every loss I predict will be winnable, all of which are on the road.
Comment by Tim J. — August 22, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
I haven’t a clue. I keep hearing mixed things about the defense. Until I see them play with this new defense I’d not want to make any predictions.
Word around the campfire is that folks expect an 8-4 record. The pessimist in me wonders if they’ll make it.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 22, 2006 @ 12:47 pm
BYU just isn’t that consistent guys. Here are mine:
@ Arizona……………..W – BYU 42 Arizona 38
Tulsa…………………..W – BYU 23 Tulsa 10
@ Boston College……..W – BYU 35 BC 31
Utah State…………….W – BYU 52 USU 38
@ TCU………………….W – BYU 32 TCU 28
San Diego State………W – BYU 38 SDSU 7
UNLV……………………W – BYU 63 UNLV 24
@ Air Force…………….L – BYU 21 AFA 38
@ Colorado State…….L – BYU 38 CSU 45
Wyoming……………….W – BYU 28 WYO 10
New Mexico……………W – BYU 45 NM 42
@ Utah…………………L – BYU 21 Utah 35
Comment by Rusty — August 22, 2006 @ 12:59 pm
Ha! You say BYU is inconsistent then give the Cougs 9 wins Rusty? Love it. Gutsy move predicting a win in Boston, BTW.
Comment by Geoff J — August 22, 2006 @ 1:16 pm
I must say Tim that you have BYU being quite low scoring. One thing I’m confident of is that offense will do a lot. I’m just not sure but what the defense won’t lose it for them. (Admittedly if they get tired in the 4th quarters then scores might be lower) But I’m expecting a lot of high scoring games. Probably by both sides.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 22, 2006 @ 1:23 pm
It’s an average of 36 ppg. That would put them top twenty nationally this year.
Arizona, TCU, BC, and Utah have above-average and very physical defenses which are the types of defenses we have trouble with. I believe TCU’s was #1 in the nation last year and Arizona’s coach was the mastermind of Oklahoma’s top-rated defenses. Add to that the fact that our offense usually struggles on the road, I think these games will be a big struggle for us.
Comment by Tim J. — August 22, 2006 @ 1:37 pm
Whoops. I was actually looking at the original one by Geoff and thought I was looking at yours. Geoff has relatively low scoring by BYU with CSU and NM. Although you have only 21 with Air Force.
Utah, I’ll grant you can go anyway. It’s such an unpredicatable game. (Isn’t Utah 9/13 at those games – with more than a fair share of blow outs) So I’d never predict anything about the Utah/BYU game.
Still, even though I think TCU has the conference probably wrapped up this year, only 14 seems a bit low.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 22, 2006 @ 1:44 pm
Actually 36.3 PPG would have placed 10th in the country last year, though it is only 3 point increase over last year. But like I said, we’ve got some tough road games this year, so I don’t see much improvement in those games.
Comment by Tim J. — August 22, 2006 @ 1:46 pm
The TCU game was an overtime shootout, an absolute anomaly. I’m sticking with that total just because its at TCU, and they probably learned a little bit about us from last year.
Comment by Tim J. — August 22, 2006 @ 1:50 pm
Clark,
Well my average guess for BYU overall is 37+ points per game so I think it is pretty generous. I gave several defenses the benefit of the doubt because it seems unlikely that BYU will kill it every week. BC, NM, Utah, and TCU all seem to usually field strong defenses and I was just guessing that the CSU defense might step up. I am hoping that the Arizona defense won’t be prepared in game one to handle BYU’s offensive returners… (Though the receivers and O-Line — especially shotgun center snaps — have me a little worried. I am hoping the exceedingly strong tight ends, running backs, and Beck can more than make up for less strong areas on offense though.)
Comment by Geoff J — August 22, 2006 @ 2:05 pm
Rusty, you have the Tulsa game as the lowest scoring game? Tulsa is your typical Great Offense, No Defense game. Should be fun to watch–oh wait, I won’t get any of their games on TV.
Comment by Tim J. — August 22, 2006 @ 2:06 pm
Who they beat is inconsistent. I think they have a good shot at any good team this year (hence the win at BC) but will likely fall to a weak team. The only problem is trying to guess which weak team(s) it will be.
Comment by Rusty — August 22, 2006 @ 3:46 pm
Has anybody predicted 0-12 yet? Well, we can always hope. *evil grin*
Comment by Capt. Obsidian — August 22, 2006 @ 4:02 pm
That does it — I’m going to have to start referring to you as Capt. Oblivian on my BYU posts thanks to that last comment… (grin)
Comment by Geoff J — August 22, 2006 @ 4:34 pm
Well the issue isn’t the average since you had some pretty big scores. I was more curious about the low value games.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 22, 2006 @ 5:00 pm
Losses at TCU and BC. Maybe Utah. I bet we can win the rest.
Comment by Eric Russell — August 22, 2006 @ 5:19 pm
@ Arizona…W – 38-35
Tulsa……… W – 31-21
@ BC………. L – 28-34
Utah State…W – 41-21
@ TCU……L – 16-28
SDSt………W – 38-14
UNLV…………W – 63-17
@ Air Force…L – 21-31
@ ColoSt…….L – 24-28
Wyoming……W – 21-10
New Mexico…W – 41-16
@ Utah…… L – 21-28
For a record of 7-5. Rise and Shout, or Sit and Yawn.
Comment by queuno — August 22, 2006 @ 9:22 pm
Unfortunately, your picks seem very reasonable to me queuno…
Comment by Geoff J — August 22, 2006 @ 9:32 pm
At this stage when none of us have seen the defense, I think things are so up in the air that a lot sounds reasonable. I could at this stage just as easily see BYU having a few less than 10 point games and finishing 4-8 as I can see them have consistently high (20+) games and finish 8-4. Too much is in the air and all the accounts from scrimmage have me shaking my head. There’s a lot of weird stuff going on.
Plus I remember what everyone thought last year after seeing all the practices and then seeing what the defense was like. (Although admittedly part of that was due to the strategy they started with when training – the current scheme seems better suited to our level of athletism.)
My biggest concern is the line followed closely by the secondary. I’ve heard they’ve improved tons over last year. But who knows…
Comment by Clark — August 22, 2006 @ 11:21 pm
BTW – has anyone heard if the BYU games will be on Dish yet? I heard a rumor they are going to be on the CSTV channel.
Comment by Clark — August 22, 2006 @ 11:25 pm
Rumor has it that negotiations are still in the works for Dish. Same thing for a CSTV/Mtn deal with Cox out here in AZ. Since I’ll be at the Sept 2 game (which will be televised on TBS I believe) I just need the COx deal in place before Sept 9…
Comment by Geoff J — August 22, 2006 @ 11:30 pm
I’ll make really good odds that if the BYU game isn’t broadcast there will be riots in Utah. (grin)
Comment by Clark Goble — August 23, 2006 @ 9:24 am
BYU will go 6 and 6 at best. BC will beat them, they have a descent team returning. (Besides the ACC worst is a top team the mid-major mountain west.) BYU has no chance against TCU either, and Arizona has one of the better defenses in the PAC-10 (for what that is worth).
Comment by adam — August 23, 2006 @ 9:43 am
That Adam is obviously the Old Adam, the Man of Sin. This reborn Adam predicts a Coug win in every single game they play, but an overall record of 8-4.
Comment by Adam Greenwood — August 24, 2006 @ 11:47 am
So does this report about more snapper woes make any of you rethink things? This may be a huge issue for the offense. (Remember some of the bad snaps last year – and this sounds worse)
Comment by Clark Goble — August 24, 2006 @ 3:17 pm
Yeah, as I mentioned in #10 the shotgun snapping thing could be a backbreaker. There’s nothing worse for momentum than losing 15-25 yards (or the ball) because of a bad snap. It sounds like the Cougs have not made it through an entire scrimmage without any yet.
Any predictions on the number of bad snaps we have in Tucson?
Comment by Geoff J — August 25, 2006 @ 11:00 am
I should note for folks who might be confused, this latest problem is an issue with the Center and not the snap to the punter which was a problem last month.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 25, 2006 @ 11:42 am
Methinks that we should pick against the spread each week. If only because the Church would frown on us actually gambling against the spread.
As a BYU graduate, I do profess some allegiance. But I also graduated from a UT school with a football team, so I figure I get to claim the Longhorns as my MS alma mater football team.
BYU is a nice distraction but in the overall NCAA scheme, they don’t really count.
[At any rate, I live in the shadow of the 2006 MWC Champion, TCU.]
Comment by queuno — August 26, 2006 @ 9:36 pm
Errr, meant to say in #28, paragraph 2, sentence 2, “a UT school WITHOUT a football team”…
Comment by queuno — August 26, 2006 @ 9:37 pm
So queuno, is it true that despite being so good TCU has few fans in the area? I know UoU fans are a fickle lot. BYU fans have shown their mettle the past few years. UoU fans have historically been more “anti-BYU fans” until they actually had a great season. Seeing how they reacted last season was very disheartening.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 28, 2006 @ 1:58 pm
Saying that BYU has no chance against TCU I believe is waaaay wrong. How can you say that given the game last year. I believe our teams a very evenly matched; TCU is good but I think they are over-rated:
Sat., Sep 2 BYU 28, Arizona 17 0
Sat., Sep 9 BYU 35, Tulsa 21 0
Sat., Sep 16 BYU 24, Boston College 28 0
Sat., Sep 23 BYU 49, Utah State 10 0
Thu., Sep 28 BYU 30, TCU 38 0
Sat., Oct 7 BYU 56, San Diego St. 33 0
Sat., Oct 21 BYU 24, UNLV 21 0
Sat., Oct 28 BYU 50, Air Force 21 0
Sat., Nov 4 BYU 35, Colorado St. 28 0
Thu., Nov 9 BYU 38, Wyoming 17 0
Sat., Nov 18 BYU 28, New Mexico 24 0
Sat., Nov 25 BYU 31, Utah 28 0
Comment by Jeff Skousen — August 29, 2006 @ 10:43 am
BYU fans crack me up. So much hope I admire that. But we will see after this week when their 0-1 on their way to uphold their proud tradition of Meritocracy. Best wishes
Comment by adam — August 29, 2006 @ 11:17 am
I think we are actually going to have more trouble with Tulsa than with Arizona. Arizona had a terrible run defense last year and we have a phenomenal record when we run the ball well. Given that we have an experienced O-line and a plethora of good RB’s I think we will control this first game. It may take a quarter or two to get rolling, but we will definitely roll. Tulsa was the Conference USA champ last year, and our embarrassing loss to Marshall a few years ago shows that we can’t overlook them just because they don’t come from a BCS conference.
Also, I wonder why anyone would worry about our receivers. We lost one receiver from last year and we’ve gained two play-makers in Hague and Jacobsen. I know Todd had the speed and he often opened up other receivers by drawing double teams, but I think Jacobsen will do just fine filling those shoes. I think he’ll be a lot like Austin Collie in that he’ll get overlooked as a freshman but play like a veteran. The same goes for Hague. The rest of our receivers aren’t big names but this offense worked with them last year and it will work again this year now that they all have a year with this scheme. Watkins will be missed but the receivers will pick up the slack, collectively.
BYU-38………Arizona-17
Unless we get hammered with some really serious injuries to key players, I don’t think there is any way we’ll end up 4-8. We are an improved and experienced team with some confidence and swagger that has been lacking in recent years. I don’t know that we’re good enough yet to upset BC or TCU, and out of habit we’ll probably lose one more game to a lesser opponent. But I predict a 9-3 season with a win at Utah (8-4 is more realistic but I can’t help it, I can’t pick Utah over BYU). Who knows what will happen in the bowl game but I am going to be optimistic (again) and pick the Cougars.
Comment by Johnny — August 29, 2006 @ 1:25 pm
10-2 huh Jeff? That’s gutsy.
Johnny – Good point about Tulsa. That is an upset just waiting to happen (if Tulsa beating BYU really could be called an upset…). You make a strong argument about the receivers too. Let’s hope the shotgun snaps work out so Beck can attempt passes to them. I also think your point about the ground game at Arizona is useful. BYU has really strong RBs this year so I expect they will be used liberally.
Comment by Geoff J — August 29, 2006 @ 3:26 pm
Interesting set of analysis on the upcoming Arizona game over at Cougar Blue. (OK, I’m dropping the link for those who might not know about that site)
Comment by Clark Goble — August 29, 2006 @ 10:47 pm
Oh, for anyone who didn’t know, BYU’s opener is going to be on TBS at 7:15 PM. So we don’t need to start a protest in front of the Mountain West offices just yet because they don’t have the Mountain on Dish Network yet. However the following week (Sept 7) is on The Mountain so they better have things worked out.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 29, 2006 @ 10:50 pm
One more thing. For those of you who don’t know, here’s BYU’s Schedule including TV stations. “Versus” is the Outdoor Life Channel (OLN) which is that channel that shows the Tour de France. It’s part of most Dish packages. I don’t know about you folks with cable. Kind of odd there are so many games on a channel I didn’t even know did football.
Comment by Clark Goble — August 29, 2006 @ 10:52 pm
I think that is 7:15 PDT (not Mountain time).
Comment by Geoff J — August 29, 2006 @ 11:17 pm
Are you sure? It says all times local to where the game is played. I’ll admit Arizona time always confuses me, but aren’t they on mountain time in the summer?
Comment by Clark Goble — August 30, 2006 @ 1:10 am
Nope, we’re Pacific time right now. (We don’t switch when the rest of the country goes to daylight savings time.) The game starts at 7:15 here so it is 8:15 where you are as I understand it.
Look for me in the crowd — I’ll be wearing blue.
Comment by Geoff J — August 30, 2006 @ 1:28 am
We got a first look last night at a few of our opponents.
BC struggled against Central Michigan, winning 31-24. Now, it was the first game and it was on the road, but CMU isn’t very good, and they were playing with their backup QB.
Tulsa ripped Stephen F. Austin 45-7 after leading 31-0 at the half. Not sure if we can take anything from this since they were playing a 1-AA opponent.
And SD St. lost at home to a solid UTEP team 34-27.
Comment by Tim J. — September 1, 2006 @ 8:39 am
Yeah I was bummed about my Aztecs losing (my other alma mater)… But they did make a nice comeback after getting way behind early.
Tulsa looks good so far. But the BC game was engcouraging for the Cougs. The BC defense looked pretty vulnerable and the offense was nothing to cower about. I suspect Tulsa may be tougher that BC — thankfully we get Tulsa at home though.
So the Tucson media seems to be focusing almost entirely on the BYU passing game. They feel great about their secondary so they seem to be hoping that BYU will pass all night long. I won’t be surprised to see BYU run more than pass in the game though. And I imagine a majority of the passes will be dump-offs that are similar to runs anyway.
Comment by Geoff J — September 1, 2006 @ 11:47 am
Our running game with Brown is definitely the key to our season. In our 6 losses Brown averaged 58 yards per game and only had one game over 100 yards. In our 7 wins he averaged 129 yards per game and only failed to reach 100 yards once.
So, as Brown goes, so goes our season. Go ahead and let Arizona worry about the passing attack.
BTW, there was a nice write-up in yesterday’s USA Today about our TE Johnny Harline. Things are looking promising this year.
Comment by Tim J. — September 1, 2006 @ 11:58 am
I was surprised the Aztecs lost to UTEP. A lot of people thought the Aztecs would be reasonably good this year. (Although wasn’t UTEP ahead in the spread)
Comment by Clark Goble — September 1, 2006 @ 1:14 pm
QB troubles got the Aztecs behind early. But UTEP under Mike Price has become a very good team too.
Comment by Geoff J — September 1, 2006 @ 1:22 pm
11-1 suckas!
BYU 33 – Arizona 24
BYU comes out firing and jumps to an early lead. The secondary struggles late however and Arizona closes the gap, but not enough.
BYU 44 – Tulsa 38
This one should be a barnburner. BYU’s defensive line will be tested, but the offense will prevail against an inexperienced Tulsa D. Unfortunately, a casualty of a close game may be Ross’s wedding reception. Sorry Diddy, but I think you’d make the same choice.
BYU 38 – Boston College 35
BYU kicks a field goal with under a minute to go to win this one. After watching BC barely beat Central Michigan last night, I have no doubt the Cougs can come out victorious. The offense should be able to march down the field with ease. The question is if the secondary can slow down BC’s passing game enough.
BYU 51 – Utah State 14
The Cougs improve to 4-0 after dominating an overwhelmed Utah State team. Suck on that Cade and Sam.
BYU 31 – TCU 20
A relatively low scoring game compared to last year’s overtime showdown. The hype will really begin to build after this victory over last year’s conference champs (who will also be undefeated at this point). Curtis Brown will rush for 150+ yards.
BYU 24 – San Diego St. 35
After winning on the road against TCU, the Cougs have a letdown and forget to show up for this game in Provo. As much as a home loss will hurt, it will refocus the team for the second half of the season.
BYU 55 – UNLV 13
After a bye week to think about their mediocre performance against SDSU, BYU will wipe their butts with UNLV. This year’s homecoming game will be over by halftime.
BYU 38 – Air Force 28
John Beck has a huge game against Air Force, throwing for over 400 yards in a Cougar victory. Special teams will have a big impact in this game as well. Watch out for McKay Jocobsen.
BYU 14 – Colorado St. 10
This will be a sloppy game and a lackluster performance by the Cougs, but they will squeak it out. It will be another reminder to not overlook anyone.
BYU 41 – Wyoming 21
Another whooping for the Cowboys from Brokeback. It’ll stay close through halftime, but Wyoming won’t be able to keep up as Bronco makes second half adjustments. Go back to Laramie suck faces!
BYU 24 – New Mexico 17
This game should be closer than expected by many because of Beck interceptions. CB will propel the team to victory. Watch for a big play late in the game.
BYU 174 – Utah 0
Those bastards at the U will get their colons cleansed and served up on an honor code platter.
Comment by Trevor — September 1, 2006 @ 5:29 pm
Niiiiice Trevor. The reckless bravado is cracking me up. And if BYU has to lose just one game I want it to be to my other school, SDSU. Let’s hope you are right.
Comment by Geoff J — September 1, 2006 @ 6:07 pm
So Tim came closest to predicting that low scoring game. Wow, did anyone really expect our defense to be as good as it was and our offense as bad (and low scoring) as it was? Everyone was worried about the line on the defense but they really stepped it up whereas the offensive line. . .
Comment by Clark Goble — September 4, 2006 @ 8:53 pm
To be fair, Clark, the offense wasn’t all that bad as far as executing plays goes. They were bad on third down, and the running game was garbage until they started giving it to #1, but Beck had almost 300 yds passing and they looked decent. The problem was penalties.
And our defense did look good but the Arizona offense was pretty sad. They had a lot of dropped balls and dumb mistakes that saved us a few times. Still, I was very much pleasantly surprised by the run defense.
Comment by Tom — September 4, 2006 @ 9:19 pm
Well I picked BYU to score 31 against Arizona and they scored 13… Does that count for something? (Besides over optimism?)
Comment by Geoff J — September 5, 2006 @ 2:01 pm
Wow BYU looked worse then I supsected. 6-6 may be a little high for this team. Arizona looked terrible but BYU managed to look worse. Can BYU tackle? (granted I only watched a few minutes, because ND and Ga. Tech was a better game.) That will be a problem against BC. BC struggled with central Michigan, but central Mich is better then you think. The Mac is a pretty decent conference. ( Better then the mountain west on average.) Look at the bright side BYU has a good punter. I know nothing about Tulsa, best of luck this week. Hopefully BYU will get better.
Comment by adam — September 7, 2006 @ 3:08 pm
BYU likes being the perceived big fish in the little pond, except as of lately they arent even that anymore. They are going to have way more clout staying put then trying to merge in a high powered conference like the PAC Ten. Its better to have a shot at a bowl game and winning your conference then worrying about how to recruit the equivalent talent it would take to go up against SC and the PAC Ten elite.
I think they could make a run but I dont think the administration wants that kind of pressure for itself and its program. Life use to be pretty good in the former WAC conference and Im sure getting back to their old form is all they care about.
Comment by David — September 7, 2006 @ 4:39 pm
Adam: Can BYU tackle?
Yes. The defense looked surprisingly good actually. The real question is can BYU consistently sustain drives on offense without shooting themselves in the foot with motion penalties, false starts, and holding penaties.
The Mac is a pretty decent conference. ( Better then the mountain west on average.)
Doubt it. Any evidence to back that or are you you just pulling that out of your… errr… ear?
Look at the bright side BYU has a good punter.
Clearly you didn’t watch the game, bro.
Comment by Geoff J — September 7, 2006 @ 5:06 pm
David: BYU likes being the perceived big fish in the little pond
Not sure if there is any evidence to back this claim. I will grant that BYU likes to win all of their games regardless of who they play though…
Their old form was good enough to win a national championship so yeah, I’d say BYU would like to get back to that.
Comment by Geoff J — September 7, 2006 @ 5:10 pm
I think BYU got off to a bad start but considering having a heisman canidate QB and a top 20 rated running back in preseason and a fui vakapuna coming out of nowhere to being arguably better than curtis brown i think BYU has a great chance against every team they play, BC will be their only worry.
my final prediction BYU- 10-2
Comment by Lpace — September 14, 2006 @ 8:37 pm
I think TCU may end up being tougher than BC, but I agree BC will be rough especially as we’re on their turf. I think if we beat BC we will have a pretty good season. Their returner in particular is pretty scary. We’ll see if we kick the ball in the end zone most of the time.
Comment by Clark Goble — September 15, 2006 @ 12:32 am
BTW – Congratulations to Jeff Skousen (#31) and LPace (#55) for accurately predicting a 10-2 regular season. I love it when optimism pays off!
Next season I’ll add a bowl prediction component too.
Comment by Geoff J — December 26, 2006 @ 8:23 pm