Okay, all you armchair prognosticators, I am willing to risk my blue tinted glasses and subject myself to scorn and ridicule to give a way-too-early forecast of BYU’s upcoming football season. I will base this mostly on the College Football Power Index as found on the ESPN website. The note under the rankings states:" The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season." I’ll let you be the judge if this is true or not, but I used BYU’s rank (63) and those of our upcoming opponents, also factoring in whether the game is to be played at home or away or on a neutral field. I first predicted wins against the 4 weakest opponents: Arizona (102), South Florida (105), Utah State (120) and Idaho State (NR). I also predicted losses against the 2 strongest teams, Arizona State (31) and USC (26). That left 6 that are harder to call. I figured with Utah (57) and Boise State (78), both home games, we should get wins. Between Baylor (47), away, and Virginia (32), home, we would split a win and a loss and with Washington State (90) and Georgia Southern, both away, we OPTIMISTICALLY would also split a win and a loss, giving my final prediction of a 8 win-4 loss season. Thoughts?
Sounds about right…
No scorn or ridicule from me.
I am going to say that is probably an accurate assessment. The QB spot is so vitally important that the teams success is hinged on it. I don’t know if we have a good enough feel for who that will be and if they have the “it” factor.
The other more pressing concern is the lack of a quality DC. If we don’t get a consistent pass rush we will be hard pressed to win 8 games. We may be back to a 6-6 season. We have to get pressure on the QB and play tough man to man to win against good teams. Hope Sitake has figured it out.
Very good point. The more think about our past DC seasons, I am left with the notion that Tui. was trying to hide inherent weaknesses on the D, as in our back field. As we get more talent and better receiver coverage, that should free up our line to get more pressure on their QB, if that makes sense.
We should be good at DB from what I read…we will see if that translates into better defense pass pressure. If not, will be a long season.
I like where Sitake has taken our team, read and outstanding article on how BYU stacks in the P5 realm with 27 in the NFL, puts us in the mid to upper P5 discussion, on Temple has more in the NFL.
8-4 sounds about right, but I think we have to prove we’re past the mental block of playing Utah before I assume any win over them. They’re supposed to be loaded, too, with many NFL caliber guys returning for another season.
I agree completely, but I put them down as a win simply because we play them at home and IT IS TIME. I believe it IS a mental block and is is so important for the team and coaches to get past this. GO COUGARS!
Really tough to say at this point. Could be 8-4 or could be 5-7 or even 10-2. BYU’s QB must be exceptional and stay healthy. Defense is always a concern with Tui-sorry it’s a matter of aggression that BYU has fallen short recently. OL needs to have a chip on their shoulder and open holes for BYU’s good running backs. Get off to a good start is critical this year. Receivers should be B+, RB’s B+, QB ???, OL B, Defense probably a C, but maybe a surprise. Defeat Utah and it will be a good year!
I’ll take 11-1
I forsee 7 and 5
Buy or Sell: ESPNs FPI outlook for each BYU game this season (247sports.com)
ESPN is saying 10-2
Me, I look at who we play on the road:
BYU vs. Arizona. not a true road game and I see BYU being the home crowd with way more fans. Win BYU,
BYU at USU. Lets face it, USU sees this as their bowl game but they are completely rebuilding, Win BYU
BYU at Baylor. Everyone has this as a loss. reason? 1st game outside of Utah (Vegas is more of a home game for BYU) and critically, BYU will have played 7 games in 7 weeks. INJURIES. I won’t argue, BYU Loss.
BYU at WSU. Wash St is two years removed from Mike Leach and yet to find their identity. BYU Win
BYU at Ga So; This team is a G5 but they are really good, really physical. BYU always plays these road game poorly. Everyone has this one as a win for BYU, I will say 50/50. we are going to lose one that we shouldn’t. could be this one.
BYU at USC. We are supposed to be over matched in this game. Win USC
BYU goes 8-4. We lose to Utah as well