BYU has to be the most interesting 4-4 team in America…it is certainly the best 4-4 team by a long shot. Did you know…
That 7-1 BSU, turns out was highly overrated. They were behind most of the game against SJS last night, needed all 52 point to pull out the win.
With the win over 7-2 USU, BYU would be the fav. by a mile to win the MWC if it had stayed. SDSU is 7-1 but has a very anemic offense, ranked 152 and is lucky to get to 20 points against anybody. They got to 30 points once this season against NMS. Rocky Long is on record for never playing BYU again.
BYU QB play and the growing up of a ton of underclassmen is why BYU is dominating our games now. This whole season points to two things only:
Coaches who are growing into a unified group. And players have finally matured enough to be trusted.
Early on this year I talked about the lack of play makers and could point to 4 guys (Williams, Gowaloku, Tonga, Bushman) that was it. Today I would say that all of our QBs are ridiculously good all underclassmen. That has never happened. we have 5 good to NFL talent (Bushman) receivers. Shumway, Hifo, Simon, Romney and now Milne. all underclassmen.
Our Oline is still making stupid mistakes but also making the run game look great. They are very young so it bodes will for the future. Running backs are electric (Katoa and Finou), add Williams to that if he gets a waiver.
On defense, Ghowaliku is the Stud with 2 Kaufusi playmakers and a bunch of linebackers that pick off everything. Au You is a star, Warner, when healthy is a star. Tonga a co seem to thrive with a 3 man rush.
to sum things up, BYU should win out and if we had not been robbed the Toledo and USF game by pooooooor coaching, BYU would be ranked right now and looking very good going into what I see as the toughest BYU schedule ever in 2021. (compare fan sentiment today with the wins over BSU and USU vs a month ago. I may just go to the Liberty game next Sat., I am feelin that good).
Fish,
Have been listening to sports talk over the week. As well as the local sports news on tv.
A couple of things brought up about the Toledo and CFU games.
Late in the toledo games two o-lineman went down and had to use two green freshman lineman to replace them.
The LB’s and DB’s also got bit with injuries. The had to use a true freshman in the UCF game that had never played a D-1 game. a true freshman (Wileger).
I can’t say that is the only reason we lost those games, but several coaches mentioned we have quite a few frshman and sophomore starting this year. Blaine Fowler mentioned the injuries as well, and said while it is frustrating now, the next couple of years is going to look great with these underclassman getting PT.
Interesting thoughts.
FE: Our injuries are generally from playing those four P-5’s in a row. If BYU ever gets into a P-5 conference, it would take several years for us to be competitive. It would also take several years for BYU to have the money to hire big money coaches.
My to cents: Playing 4 very tough P5s, the athletes are just faster, stronger. BYU did not have an identiy yet, starting a new running back, a rusty QB back from surgery QB with what I call maturity issues did not help. Then the middle of two mediocre games but BYU is really banged up at key positions. Running back, Oline and QB. All winnable games coupled with poor defensive calls at critical times. Anemic offensive calls just because we did not know our personal well enough.
And now against BSU and USU. I think there was enough game tape to actually pin point their weaknesses/tendencies to get our players to recognize what these teams were going to run based on how they lined up. It just took 6 games or so for BYU to mature into solid players on both sides of the ball.
We all knew how good Bushman is. but no other receiver other then Hifo had a track record. Simon had speed but just dropped balls before this season. Now he is money. Shumway same. Romney is healthy and solid. A shout out to all the great blocking downfield by receivers that sprung big plays. right? With great receivers and excellent QB play, the running game opens up. So to me it was all about player development. couple that with slower defenses, could it be that the Oline is dominating now because the are not facing a NFL talent laden Utah or Wash team?
Just some random thoughts but I would love to replay Ut or Wash today and see if we could hang with them (BTW, would love to see Utah win out and play on New Years)