3-1, or, Cougars dine on Rams
BYU came out and looked pretty good against Colorado State today. The final score was BYU 42, CSU 23. BYU started very strongly getting a couple of interceptions and blocking a punt in the first quarter, with the offense punching in touchdowns on all three.
Just a few thoughts:
– Harvey Unga is really good. Man is it great to have him back.
– Max Hall has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season. He has a nasty habit of throwing high risk passes over the middle. A lot of his INT’s happen when he anticipates wrong the direction a receiver will break. Those end up going right to defenders.
– Brian Logan is a really good tackler but at 5’6″ he is going to get abused all year long at his cornerback position. BYU probably needs to figure out how to get someone bigger in there on occasion — especially in the red zone.
– BYU is not a top 10 team right now but they could be later this year if they keep improving.
– Todd Christiansen is a deeply annoying color commentator. I want to pull for him because he is a BYU guy but man is his commentary painful.
– Andrew Rich is a beast. He obliterates people with his tackling every week.
– Basketball coach Dave Rose looked good in the interview today. Cancer-free, less overweight, and more gray hair. I couldn’t be happier for him. Plus, I am calling it right now: BYU makes the Sweet 16 this year. I expect this year’s BYU hoops team will be the best in decades.
Congratulations to the Cougars. Utah State is coming to Provo this Friday in a pre General Conference tilt.
Geoff, Out of curiosity, which channel did you watch this on? (Unless you were there in person…)
Comment by Mark D. — September 27, 2009 @ 8:46 am
This game was only on the MTN which is the Mountain West Conference cable channel. Cox just added it here in my part of Arizona. Last year I had to go to the home of a friend that has DirecTV to get the MTN.
Comment by Geoff J — September 27, 2009 @ 9:37 am
Looks like the Y slipped a bit it the rankings. It will take a while for the voters to get over last week.
Comment by Chris H. — September 27, 2009 @ 11:50 am
The fact that FSU got shellacked at home by unranked South Florida after killing BYU in Provo definitely hurt in the polls.
Comment by Geoff J — September 27, 2009 @ 1:28 pm
FSU looked like a top-10 team in Provo and played error-free ball. How could they lose to South Fla.? The same way that the Y did — they took the game for granted.
The only solid conclusions we have at this point in the season is that: (2) the defense is way too conservative and gave up the chaos blitz packages that made them successful against Oklahoma; (2) without the blitz packages the Y defense ain’t going to get pressure on anybody; and (3) the defense isn’t going to stop anyone without a turnover on a silver platter.
It’s going to be a long season if Logan continues to be our best defensive corner. Colorado St. picked on him all day successfully. The defense doesn’t show signs of stopping anyone.
Comment by Blake — September 27, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
BYU seemed to be trying a “no long bombs” approach on defense since CSU has proven to be able to bomb it this year. The problem was that allowed for way too many 15-25 yard passes to be completed in the middle of the field.
This team looks suspiciously like the team from last year. Unless the defense improves I am not sure how BYU is going to win out even with TCU and Utah coming to Provo.
Then again, CSU is perhaps the 4th best team in the conference this year so a nearly three touchdown win is pretty good.
Comment by Geoff J — September 27, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
I was at the game in the cheap seats above the marching band. So I couldn’t see the play that well. (In general I like to watch important games on TV – although I do have tickets for the Utah match in November) Anyway, from my vantage and admittedly limited perspective it really seemed like a lot of people on the offense were missing assignments. Some of the throws Hall is getting criticized for sure looked like the receiver wasn’t in position and it was a practiced throw. Yeah, one ought expect Hall to adjust and look to where someone is rather than assuming they are where they are supposed to be. But my point is that the offense, despite the score, didn’t look that much better than last week. FSU just played better than Colorado.
As for the defense, I think that as in prior years, our weaknesses are apparent and teams can game plan for it.
I didn’t see the FSU game but read about it. It really does make us look bad. I think we have a chance of winning conference, but we really need to beat TCU. And that means we got to get our game together. No more missed tackles or being out of position on easy plays.
Comment by Clark — September 27, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
In a preplanned exchange during the game –
Marc Lyons: Looking ahead at the schedule, BYU only has conference games remaining.
Greg Wrubell: But wait, Marc, what about next week against the WAC team, Utah State?
Marc Lyons: That’s a general conference game.
Comment by Eric Russell — September 28, 2009 @ 9:06 am
rimshot!
Comment by Geoff J — September 28, 2009 @ 9:09 am