Up next: The biggest game of the year… Twice
As predicted and as hoped for by the Cougar faithful, BYU pummeled the last place UNLV Running Rebels on Saturday, winning by the score of 55-14. The Cougs again used a combination of punishing runs and efficient passing to rack up more than 500 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns. The offensive outpouring was again a welcome sight for fans that haven’t seen BYU field an offensive juggernaut since 2001 when Luke Staley and Brandon Doman and friends were regularly steamrolling opposing defenses.
The bigger news of the game was that UNLV only scored 14 points. They did put up 300+ yards through the air, but that was offset by three BYU interceptions (all of which led to Cougar touchdowns), nearly no yardage on the ground, five sacks, and of course only 14 points on the board. UNLV knew full well that if they were to win it needed to be by exploiting the weak BYU defensive backfield. BYU backed off on the blitzing and dropped 7 or 8 men into coverage much more often in the game and that led to those three lucrative interceptions. Even better than that, the Cougs even managed to get sacks while rushing three men. Part of that had to do with nobody being open, but the other part had to do with the fact that BYU’s D-Line is very strong this year. It is true that the UNLV offensive line is probably less formidable than any of the O-Lines the Cougs will see for the rest of the year, nevertheless BYU may have finally discovered a strategy to slow down the passing attacks of opponents. (I recommended that strategy last week, BTW… Do ya think Bronco reads BT…?)
For Cougar faithful, the good news is that for the first time this season BYU has a winning record. The bad news is that at this time last year BYU was also 5-4 with two games left in the season. Last year the team lost the final two games to seal a third straight losing season and the fate of head coach Gary Crowton. It is no stretch to say that the Wyoming game in Laramie next Saturday is the biggest game of the year. Win it against a struggling Wyoming team and the Cougs seal their first winning season since 2001. Lose it and the pressure mounts even more in the battle against Utah in two weeks. And of course the Utah game, regardless of the outcome of the Wyoming game, will be the biggest game of the year — largely because it is Utah, but partially because BYU and Utah seem so evenly matched this year.
Bowling
If BYU can win next week they may be looking at heading back to Vegas for a bowl. Rumor has it that the organizers of the Las Vegas Bowl are salivating at the idea of having BYU play there in December. With Vegas being packed with Mormons and a mere six hour drive from SLC (and SoCal and Phoenix with all those Mormons), bringing in BYU is a no-brainer for them. One official estimated that as many as 10,000 of the 23,000 fans at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday were BYU fans!
RUTS?
There has been a lot of annoyance expressed by BYU fans about a long and annoying tirade by ESPN-Plus color commentator Kelly Stoufer accusing BYU of running up the score in the game. His beef apparently had to do with keeping John Beck in the game until midway through the fourth quarter. The problem was not that he brought it up but rather that he ranted about it for a good 15-20 minutes. It was so obvious that even his partner started to get annoyed and began giving clear hints that the guy needed to drop it. Was it some pent up anger by the former CSU player for getting crushed by BYU in the 80s? In any case, UNLV head coach Mike Sanford seemed none too pleased either, leaving Bronco Mendenhall standing in the middle of the field for 5 minutes before shaking hands.
Ah, yes. It’s good to be good enough to be hated again!
Wyoming
Even though Wyoming has struggled as of late, they are a dangerous opponent for the Cougs. They have a solid passing attack with an excellent receiver in Bouknight. With the obvious secondary problems BYU has that is not encouraging. Wyoming also reportedly has one of the stronger defenses in the conference. Combine those things with the notoriously nasty November weather in Laramie and BYU has a potential time bomb on their hands. We’ll see how Bronco does preparing his boys this week.
55 points? That’s nothing. When I played Madden ’05 the other night I scored 77 points.
Comment by Rusty — November 7, 2005 @ 1:10 pm
That’s what I’m talkin’ bout, Rusty! Hey, maybe we are doing UNLV a favor by giving them something to get mad about for next year. (I hope we can show the same kind of tough love to WYO and Utah…)
Comment by Geoff J — November 7, 2005 @ 2:09 pm
I think your analysis is good, Geoff. I don’t think they’ll have much trouble with Wyoming this week. Of course, this is BYU we’re talking about so you never know, but I have a good feeling about it (which incidentally has no direct relationship with the actual outcome of the games, btw).
I see this season as nothing more than an opportunity to give potential recruits confidence in Bronco and the BYU program. A Vegas Bowl would be nice though.
Comment by Rusty — November 7, 2005 @ 2:50 pm
I’d actually consider making the drive out to the Las Vegas Bowl myself. I would just need to find someone who wanted to make the road trip with meet me I guess.
Comment by Geoff J — November 7, 2005 @ 3:38 pm
I didn’t understand why he kept harping on it. Although partway through the 4th I went and did chores. So I missed the continuation of the rant. Both commentators definitely did a lot more UNLV color commentary than BYU commentary.
I thought his point though was more that it was a big risk to have first string players playing that late. An injury could ruin the rest of the season. Important considering how injury prone the Cougars have been this season. Also letting the second string in more would prepare them in case they had to be called up due to an injury in the next two (and hopefully three) games. Plus it would help prepare those players for next season.
I thought those were all excellent points. I honestly don’t quite know what Bronco was thinking other than perhaps trying to deal with psychological issues with the players.
The one thing I was surprised about was how UNLV wasn’t able to make use of our rather limited secondary. There was a period in the second quarter when it seemed like UNLV had figured out what ND had. They were starting to make those passes and make our defense look quite incompetent. Then it stopped.
It didn’t seem to me like it was due to adjustments in our defense. Anyone have any hints as to what went on?
As for Wyoming, the fact we’re playing up at Laramie is always a factor. They have pretty weird grass and obnoxious fans. (Going there as a BYU fan can sometimes be like taking your life in your hands it seems) Plus there is always that tradition that everyone plays their best at BYU. It’s almost as if half the conference (plus Hawaii) is a kind of “rivalry.” However given BYU’s weaknesses of late, perhaps that’ll not be a factor.
I’ve not seen any of the Wyoming games, so I don’t know if their offense is designed in such a way that they might take big advantage of our secondary problems.
Comment by Clark Goble — November 7, 2005 @ 4:14 pm
Geoff J.: Nothing to add other than that I really like reading your Cougar posts. Thanks!
Comment by Nate Oman — November 7, 2005 @ 5:58 pm
Clark – The problem with the long rant wasn’t that he was out to lunch on the point he was making, the problem was that he harped on it FOREVER. It was actually amusing to hear his partner start to get irritated with him because of it. Definitely an odd gaffe.
Regarding why Beck stayed in — I suspect Bronco was sending a message to his own team about not letting up. With the 34 points BYU gave up in the last quarter the week before, I think it was quite justified on his part.
As for the the short out patterns suddenly not working for UNLV, I think that was due to a defensive adjustment. It looked to me like BYU stopped much of the blitzing and got the safeties and linebackers focused more on those quick out patterns. Once they plugged that hole UNLV was left to either run or try to throw down the middle of the field. BYU stopped the run and it was on attempts across the middle that BYU got its interceptions (and the coverage sacks).
Obviously I’m with you on being wary of the Wyoming game. I am comforted with the knowledge that we are not a pass-only offense though. If the weather is a problem BYUs offensive line and running backs have proven they can pound away at opposing defenses in the MWC almost at will (especially in the second half). The weather forcing a ground game wold probably benefit BYU more than Wyoming because of the BYU secondary problems anyway. BYU will be favored, but it ain’t a win until they win.
Nate – Thanks!
Comment by Geoff J — November 7, 2005 @ 6:08 pm
I noticed they stopped blitzing. But I’m afraid I’m not as knowledgeable on football details to see what else they did. It looked to me like the secondary was still having problems.
Anyone with better eyes and knowledge know what they adjusted?
Comment by Clark Goble — November 7, 2005 @ 8:30 pm
“It’s almost as if half the conference (plus Hawaii) is a kind of “rivalry.â€
LOL. Especially the Hawaii part. Some friends of mine used to always joke about this. It’s like we’re Hawaii’s biggest rival and we barely pay them any attention.
I’ve never understood all the fuss about running up the score period. It’s just a game. They train for months for relatively official playing time. Let the players play. It’s what they want, it’s what the fans want. Unless they’re deliberately throwing long bombs with the intent to humiliate, I don’t think it should be an issue.
Comment by Eric Russell — November 7, 2005 @ 8:58 pm
Clark said,
I certainly don’t disagree with the preceding statement by Clark, but I am going to defend the passing defense a little. By some metrics it actually was a pretty good performance (well, at least average measured relative to other MWC teams). UNLV’s passing efficiency rating was 105.54. In all conference games, UNLV has managed an efficiency rating of 114. Jackson (The current UNLV quaterback) has a passing efficiency rating of 105.6 in conference games. Jackson’s efficiency rating was 120 against the Utes.
Comment by Karl D. — November 7, 2005 @ 10:05 pm
I think that is a good point, Karl. UNLV knew that our secondary was the weak spot of the defense so that passed a ton. They got plenty of total yards with that high number of passes but not many points — thus the unimpressive pass efficiency rating. The Cougs will be satisfied with that every time.
Clark – The D was dropping back in zone coverage (for those following that are unfamiliar with that term it means that defender cover an area of the field instead of a specific receiver). Therefore there were quite a few catches in the seams along the way. That sometime makes the secondary look worse than it really is. But the zone coverage also prevented any long pass receptions and led to those three interceptions when balls were tipped or when defenders watched the QBs eyes and squeezed the seams down at the last second. If the three D-Linemen were not also applying heavy pressure at the same time it could have burned us, but they did their jobs exceptionally well and that made the job a lot easier for the guys in the zones.
Comment by Geoff J — November 7, 2005 @ 10:47 pm
I’m with Nate. Good stuff, Geoff.
These next two games are going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Comment by Ryan Bell — November 8, 2005 @ 2:00 pm
Justin Leuttgerordt is currently winning the poll for USATODAY.com’s player of the week. Vote for him and seal the deal.
Comment by Eric Russell — November 14, 2005 @ 2:48 pm