Lets face it. The BYU cougars are just not that good. In fact, I'm venturing to say they are borderline bad. Now, I wont claim that just yet, but I think next week against UCF will tell us if that is indeed true.
The Utah game analysis is hard to begin. Where do you start? The third snap of ball game, thrown 3 feet to Heaps right which he failed miserably to handle that resulted in a Utah defensive touchdown? The continued first half success's that melt once the 30 minute mark comes? The defense that is so amazingly great, yet hasn't recorded a sack yet this season?
Lets start with them in just that order. After which we will see who is responsible for the embarrassment the guys in blue took this weekend from, yes they are, big brother up north.
That snap from center Terrance Brown to Jake Heaps was bad. Its as simple as that. It wasn't even in the arm stretch vicinity of Heaps. Every single game there has been center/quarterback exchange problems. Bobbled snaps, Heaps mishandling them, snap counts misread. You name it and the "battery" of college football is not been reading the same signs so far this season for the cougars. Whose fault does this one come down to? Brown. He is responsible for getting the play in motion smoothly, and he utterly failed at this on Saturday. It baffled me how on the next possession BYU went back to the shotgun, instead of staying under center where the exchange is much more safe. Or so one would think.
Next up is how BYU continues to show they cannot put a full game together. In fact, they have yet to manage a full game through 3 games combined. Against Ole Miss, the first 3 quarters was a struggle to get anything done. Offense wasnt moving, resulting in not rewarding the defenses efforts of giving up merely field goals. The one time BYU was threatening, Heaps threw w pick-6. They finally responded with about 10 minutes to go with a touchdown from Heaps to Apo, and capped it off with a great defensive effort by Kyle Van Noy to get their sole victory. Total time of good football: 10 minutes (rounded)
Against Texas, they had a dominating first half where they moved the football and confused Garrett Gilbert right out of the game. The defense was hitting hard, and the offense was moving. Now the offense didnt punch it in the endzone, but they went into half time with a 10 point lead, and tons of confidence. The second half was the complete opposite. The offense gained a total of 65 yards through 30 minutes, and only had 3 points to show for it. The defense was on the field too long, giving up more and more yardage to Texas' ground game, and gave away that 10 point lead on their way to a hard to swallow 17-16 defeat at the hands of the longhorns. Total time of good football: 30 minutes (1 half)
Then we come to the massacre known as Saturday September 17, 2011. Setting aside the first mishap 2:14 seconds into the game, the offense moved the ball magnificently. However, the trend continued of stalled drives and fumbled opportunities. The defense gave Utah's offense fits, and were hitting what seemed to be harder than ever. Heaps connected with the only guy to score a touchdown so far this year for the cougars, to take the lead with just under 7 minutes to go in the first half. All BYU had to do was not let Utah get in the endzone, since they had the ball to start the second half, and BYU looked to be in good shape. But they gave up a score, and had another possession with just a few ticks left in the half. Poor clock management at the end of the half again could have cost the cougars more if weren't for a great punt from Riley Stephenson to end the half. Then the second half snowballed into a fumbling mess, and poor defense, resulting in the result that ended BYU's 4 game home win streak and sent cougar fans home wondering what just hit them. Total time of good football: 23 minutes (roughly)
So all in all, BYU has put together 63 minutes (roughly) of good enough football to win 3 games which totals 180 minutes on the gridiron. Any questions?
And the final point, our defense is getting over hyped. The cougars are yet to record a sack so far this season, and have a -43 point margin to show for their efforts. Going up against and NFL size offensive line at Ole Miss probably didnt help. And a Big XII powerhouse OL probably just compounds the issue. On top of that, you have a "Pac-12" offensive line that has been opposite of BYU pass rushers. Excuses. This defense has the talent, has the size, and has the speed to get back there. But they haven't. Even Montana State sacked Jordan Wynn twice. Yet Romney Fuga, Van Noy, and Pendleton haven't brought a QB down for a loss yet. This defense has got to find a way to get pressure on the signal callers, or this "great defense" will just be another athletic squad that under achieves.
As for the fumbles... WOW
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