In - Game Comments

While this may be true, things can change over the course of the season. The one thing that is bothersome is how BYU gets outcoached all the time. Theoretically the Cougars have increased their talent level but it is not translating into meaningful wins. The win vs. ASU was nice but it was more ASU beating themselves with penalties and dumb turnovers than BYU outplaying them.

It would just be nice to get a solid win where BYU played 4 quarters of solid football on both sides of the ball. 7 games into the season I haven’t seen that.

If any football team plays a good game all the way through the game and loses, then that happens sometimes and I don’t grouse or complain. I do complain when they beat themselves and BYU beat themselves today and last Saturday. But over the last 15 years, this happens often when expectations run high - BYU cannot run the table when the expectations get going. I caught myself up in the hype after the Utah and ASU wins after declaring that I would not get caught up in the hype. Won’t happen again. And the heck of it is I knew BYU was playing dangerously with the first 5 wins. And Arkansas lost today so double whammy. Oh well, whatever happens to BYU the rest of the year happens and if they lose, they lose.

It is easy to get discouraged when the team plays as badly as they did today. Something is seriously wrong with the defense and the running game was completely stuffed today. Hall looked indecisive and consistently under threw the long ball. On the other hand, it’s pretty exciting that there are only 2 seniors in the 2-deep and only after juniors. This team is young and sometimes play like it.

Too funny Arkie…

You know the time will come when you get caught up in the hype again and then you will once again say “won’t happen again”. It is just part of being a BYU fan. Ain’t it great! :grin:

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Most people really saw the way this game was going to play out. It’s mostly because they see what’s in front of their face. This was a tough road game and I actually gave the teams more points than they scored (predicted 42-31 Baylor). The defense, or the way they play defense is BYU’s Achilles Heel, but I actually thought if Romney could play, he might be the better option. All in all, a tough game with another couple coming up. This is a good year for BYU, just not a great one. Predicting a couple of more losses, probably for the cougars, but the next two, they better pay attention, because WSU and Virginia are not gimme’s

You think Romney would have ran 55 yards for a touchdown? Not. I do wonder if Romney would have seen more passes to the TE. If Hall is going to run once a game then play Romney. He has to run 6 to 8 times to take the defense off of Algiers. Ya, he might get hurt. So, play Romney if that’s the excuse.

I don’t know what to do with the defense. We weren’t running the prevent much at all. What we could not do is tackle consistently. Slow to the point of contact as well.

Your defensive philosophy has to be different. Supposedly you have better db’s than you’ve had in a long time, so let them lock up one on one and try and pressure the qb and stuff the run game. I don’t know if Romney would have made a difference, I only know he is more accurate throwing the ball and gets rid of it quicker than Hall, but he isn’t the run threat. The score was predictable and anyone that isn’t delusional could see where BYU was going to have problems

I would have liked to see more blitzing as well.
Without the fumble, the score may have been much closer.
What was the kickoff team thinking? That was a turnover. Without that, we have another turn with the ball. Perhaps we stay with Baylor without those mistakes. Seems like the last two games we made too many turnovers.

I’m sorry, but Hall our so called QB has no quickness. He does not know how to move when necessary. Except for one long run and a couple of fairly long passes he cannot face pressure. He cannot escape from rushes and is not quick enough to overcome and change plays or move on the run to win games. One long run and a couple of long passes will not win games.

The coaches have to call more runs for Hall like the 55 yard touchdown. Do you think Romney or Conover would have done better? No. They are much slower and Hall is quick.
Where I think Hall lacks is finding open TE over the middle. Romney does a better job. Halls passing was good all game. That’s not what the problem is.

Not really. Most of the completions were a result of our receivers going up and getting the ball or making great catches. They were very open a lot of the time but had to fight for receptions. That is NOT good passing, that is good receiving.

Watching Utah completely demolish ASU in the second half. ASU was up 21-7 at halftime and lost 35-21. Terrible.

He was putting the ball where his receivers could catch the ball. Romney was doing the same thing. But, since our receivers can do just that, throw the ball more and have Hall run more.

Hall cannot move on the fly. For sure Romney could have consistently thrown passes much more consistently than Hall… Three of Hall’s long passes were caught because the receivers successfully turned back and got Hall’s passes which were short of them. He doesn’t have the consistent power and accuracy as Romney. Is Allegier injured. He hasn’t run well in the last two games. One long run for Hall is not consistent enough to beat a team like Baylor. At the hald Baylor had 19 plus minutes of possession, BYU had 10 minutes.

After Hall’s 55 yard TD run he wound up with just +31 yards for the game. How may losses for gain did he have between the 55 yarder run and a +31 yards for the game in his rushing. Hall tries had, but he is not quick enough to evade or change course in mid-plays to be more consistent like Romney.

Right on Sr. Burton. We need Romney in at QB. Maybe Hall could play at WR or as an alternate RB for a while. Hall needs maturing, but not at the expense of losing games that we could play closer to an opponent with Baylor Romney in there.

I’m not trying to start a quarterback controversy, I’m just trying to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each individual. I felt that Romney, if he had been available would have been the better choice in the BSU game, because Hall couldn’t run and Romney was the better passer and gets rid of the ball quicker. You were at the Baylor game, so I would guess your comments are accurate. Too many fans want to parlay their thoughts through their emotions, so sometimes they show a lack of common sense. BYU has shown their vulnerability in the last couple of games and if they don’t make adjustments, what started out as a great season, will turn mediocre. Anyway appreciate your thoughts on what you saw and we can hope for adjustments to obvious concerns. BY the way, Boise State lost at home to Air Force which makes that loss by the Cougars even more dismal

Sr_Burton: “Boise State lost at home to Air Force which makes that loss by the Cougars even more dismal.”

Oh well, all is well in Zion. Sitaki is responsible as he is the HC and he needs to get the players better prepared. Wonder how high our Cougars will be ranked today? How many losses the rest of the way and to which teams? I say losses to Wash. St., Virginia and USC. But then 7 wins are ok, even though we could have had a special season, as we so often do. We will get them next year or the year after or the year after that. So all is really well.

Do you know the difference between a run play and a scramble to avoid a sack? The 55 yard run is a run play. The sacks were unavoidable. The coaches have to let him keep the ball on option plays. They need to have more set plays for him to keep the ball. Teams have figured out how to stop our runningbacks. Algiers is not injured. Hall has to keep the ball more instead of always handing the ball off. 6-8 runs a game to keep the defense honest and give Algiers a shot at making big plays.
Hall is waiting too long to throw the ball. But, because we have elite receivers, the short passes are perfect and will continue to work. Against Baylor your Romney would have been sacked even more because of his lack of movement against Baylor.

Don’t disagree with you. I said the same thing about the Boise game and the QBs. So, why was their only one QB keeper play (that worked)? Hall was a 100%. If he runs early, that opens up things for Algiers. It also opens up the middle for the TEs.
Iowa got beat by a weak Purdue team. So, Boise lost. Alabama has lost too. It happens.
The D did not play 3-8. But, they didn’t blitz enough. Just at the beginning. That’s something I don’t understand either. Our reaction time on the outsides is slowed way down. That’s lack of preparation and effort.

I’m thinking it’s entirely possible to lose two of those three games, hopefully not all three. I believe Sitake’s is good for the face of BYU football, but he is responsible for all aspects of the team, DC included. BSU was simply a bad loss. Badly played and badly coached. Unfortunately you don’t get do overs and that loss stings much worse than Baylor.