A great win?

No doubt the Cougars desperately needed yesterday's win, but I have to admit I am not very optimistic about the outcome. Here's why:

I've been saying for weeks now that the offense needs to help out the defense by controlling the time of possession. Their 4 losses were a direct product of the defense being on the field for WAY too long because the offense could not sustain a drive. I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that the defense played well enough to keep the team in the game in all 4 losses.

Now let's look at Saturday's narrow win over SDSU. BYU dominated the TOP, holding the ball for just over 45 minutes. That is unheard of. Yet, they still barely squeaked out a win with a little bit of help from a questionable PI call on a critical third down. This game should not have been that close.

So what killed them? Turnovers. In years past the Cougs have been good enough to overcome some Favre-esque (read: interception-prone) play from Max Hall and untimely fumbles by back-up running backs. But not this year. Instead of trying to turn a good play into an amazing one (don't all of the fumbles seem to come at the end of a great pass or long run?), the backs and receivers just need to concentrate on securing the ball.

In summary, the Cougs got a much needed win, but they have plenty of film to pour over. That kind of play will earn you some major embarassment against TCU and Utah this year, both of which the Cougars have to play on the road.