I think Tom likes BSU but he and I both live in Oregon and Chris lives in Utah. I believe all of us went to the “Y” at certain times. BSU has always had a good program and generally really good coaches. BYU, UofO, BSU for me in that order
I went to BYU. But I have also been a pretty big BSU fan since my son was briefly recruited there and his best friend got a full ride to play QB there (my son was went there for a semester hoping to make the team but didn’t and transferred to play at a D3 school). My son’s friend from the neighborhood (they are still close today) got a full ride to play QB at BSU and helped facilitate the coaches also talking to my son. That kid (Grant Hedrick) went on to become a 2 year starting QB at Boise State, completed over 70% of his passes, and threw for over 300 yards winning the Fiesta Bowl 38-30 over #10 Arizona. That personal connection made me a GIANT BSU fan for a couple years, and I’ve always admired and rooted for the program since. I’ve been to a few games there and it’s a great atmosphere (although I HATE the smurf turf 
)
He was a whack of a player!
Great picture, toe is down, conclusive. But note the jersey torn off his shoulder-pad–shouldn’t there have been a flag thrown on this one, too?
And an even better young man. When Grant didn’t get invited to an NFL tryout, I told my wife, “they think he’s too small” (Grant was MAYBE 6’). My wife’s response: “No, it’s because Grant is just such a nice boy. He’s way too nice to be an NFL football player.” After BSU, Grant was a local cop here for 5 years but quit to become a HS teacher and coach football with his dad. He was a great teammate as a kid, and off the field always had a smile on his face.
Sorry, but I don’t know how to copy video clips from my phone or computer into this message. But I want to break down our D on a couple plays that were representative of–and the reason why–our Defense FINALLY FINALLY clearly “beat the offense” they were facing–limited TOP, forced punts, controlled field position, created momentum–all the things BYU’s D has little or none of for years now. If you recorded the game I’ll note the time stamps and you can go back and watch if you’d like.
DO NOT BELIEVE Kalani’s post game quotes about how “we didn’t change much, we just tackled better” etc etc etc. BYU had a WILDLY CHANGED defensive SCHEME vs BSU. Generally, on 1st and 2nd downs, instead of dropping 7 or 8 guys into a soft zone, BYU brought more guys than BSU could block. That’s called a run blitz. Makes it hard to run. On 3rd downs we disguised pressures and coverages, blitzed, and caused disruption. It’s like BYU had never heard of this before this game.
8:19 First Quarter/2nd and 6 yards to go: BYU is in a base 4-3, but has a corner and SS in a press man look. That’s 9 guys available to play the run. On the snap the two inside 'backers IMMEDIATELY run forward into their assigned gaps. As does SS Harper (Harper reads this play VERY quickly, meaning he has studied BSU film and does an AWESOME job of reading it so fast that he blows by the guy assigned to block him and the guy barely lays a finger on him; also note that when Harper beats his guy, he plants his outside foot on the ground and keeps his body outside of the play–this textbook “contain” meant that had Tanuvasa missed the tackle (which he did not), the guy would have run right into Harper’s arms for a loss either way). This SCHEME puts 7 defenders in close quarters combat run D. The result is predictable: by the time the RB gets the handoff, there are 5 BYU defenders over the LOS and two more on it and the RB is swarmed behind the line.
7:44 first quarter/Next play: 3rd and 7 Obvious passing down. BYU lines up in the 3-8, but a standing DE (BYU right DE is creeping towards the LOS. That guy gets the attention of the LT, who picks him up. The DE guy does an outside rush, taking the LT wide. Meanwhile, the ILB blitzes the “A gap” (up the middle on the side of the LG) over LG, forcing the LG to shift his balance to his right to pick up the blitzing LB. At the same time, the safety is blitzing through the now gaping hole where the LG and LT used to be. Safety gets an open run at the QB, hits him as he throws, and forces him to overthrow an open receiver deep. It’s not ideal that the WR beat Hayes deep, but the other safety was there for help, AND IT DIDN’T MATTER BECAUSE THE DISRUPTION OF THE QB’S TIMING HAD FORCED A BAD THROW.
These are the same players who couldn’t stop a Jr High School offense for most of the last 6 games. Same guys. The difference is that now the coach is using a scheme that allows them to ATTACK and FORCE chaos, instead of REACTING and letting the offense pick them apart. This is incredibly more fun for the kids on D, and their collective energy, effort and enthusiasm was obvious.
People from senior athletic department officials, to former players, down to lowly peon fans like me are probably asking the same thing: “What took them sooooo long to do this?”
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It’s strange how people gravitate from one team to another. Eric Mortensen, was in our ward for a while. I figured him to be a BYU fan. But, no. He was a Utah fan. How? Utah would not recruit him from a high school here in Ventura. But, Lavell gave him a shot. 4 years, a degree, met his wife who was a BYU-49ers cheerleader. Yet, hates BYU. That’s gratitude for you.
I wonder if that has anything to do with the Crowton/Bronco era. As I recall there was a time when former players were upset because they felt neglected by the BYU football program in the early 2000s.
On a related note, Bill McNabb was one of my bishops when I lived he Pocatello. He once played halfback at BYU where his best friend was Kyle Whittingham. If you look back at the aftermath of the 2006 Utah game, you’ll see McNabb comforting KW who is shedding some tears after the game. McNabb developed a strong dislike for the BYU football program after Whittingham became Utah’s coach.
Mortensen played for Lavell. I just think it’s weird that he would hate BYU. So do his kids. I understand when a son or daughter goes to another school parents will become fans. But, given an opportunity to play and then despise the school? And love the school that said “No” to you? Weird.
Sitaki was trying to deflect the criticism of Tui and Lamb. You are right on with a complete change of scheme for at least half of the game. We simply have to get a legit old school DC in this program.
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hahahahhah, Can you tell Tom is a little fired up about this, “we didn’t change much”. Still hearing the cheering on the Locker Room. I didn’t even recognize the D that I saw on the Equally hated (by me) Smerf Turf. It was aggressive, disruptive, unpredictable and most importantly, fun to watch. Rescued byu’s season and recruiting.
To be honest here, I think Kalani is correct, he really did not change the “Scheme” that much, what he did do, was to call different “Sets” within that same scheme. Tuiaki only used a few sets within the scheme, which as you know is the drop 8.
Also, from reports that I heard, Kalani in practice focused mostly on “staying in your lane” and proper technique for tackling.
But then again, everything could be “Coach speak”.
World’s biggest “eye roll” here. I’ve been known to tell a fish story to two.
hahahahahhaa
Actually, I agree with you for the 1st half. We had schemes not used this year and a lot more 4 to 6 on the line. For some reason, it looked like Tuiaki took over again in the 2nd half until the very end when we stopped them.
I had a friend that played collegiately that follows BYU, he pointed out that the scheme never changed, just what sets within the scheme changed.
He is not a fan of Tuiaki nor Hadley, he thinks they are not teaching the players proper techniques.
But in today’s world, everyone is an expert, right?
orem utah, reel outdoors
Just don’t get jealous of all the pictures of all the “Big Trouts, Browns, etc.” he pulls out of the river. LOL
Probably all photoshopped anyway 