Jim, Grasshopper, Th3honestTruth,Rui,thawk,John Brady, mforsey, Floyd,
As front of post disclaimer: I love our coaches, each and everyone of them; I love Tanner Mangum, I like Canada; I think the full team has talent.
Having said that, the 27-0 loss to LSU, as terrible as it was, did not seem as bad to me as the 20-6 win vs Portland State.
In the LSU game, we looked like an over matched Division 1 team after the first quarter, but mostly due to the LSU penalties, we looked like we were competitive in the first quarter. It was after the first quarter that they made the needed adjustments and we did not.
It’s easy to say, change the QB, but in all the practices it is Tanner Mangum that shined and that is in part, why he was chosen as the starter. No QB has the experience of TM. We should be careful of what we ask for.
Canada got 8 yards vs the other RB’s minus yard that gave us a negative 5 yards.
Who can BYU get that would be better to coach our Quarterbacks and be OC than our Heisman Trophy winner with 14 years experience in the NFL.
As many of you suggest, it was not the defense that lost the game for us. Not many defenses on any team could stay on the field as long as our defense had to be on the field and survive any better than ours did.
I am grateful that our coaches don’t make excuses and instead, stand accountable and at the same time, give credit to where credit is due.
Las Vegas sees something in us that we do not see in ourselves. They have us favored to win the Utah Utes by 1.1 points.
The AP gives us more credit than we give ourselves as the 9/4/17 poll has us at #38 while ranking UCLA that tore Texas A.m apart in the second half of the game, but only ranks them, with the win, at # 36, just 2 points better than us with the loss.
The coaches poll is even more tellling 9/4/17with BYU at #43 after the loss to LSU but gives UCLA only 59 points after the win over Texas A.M.
Our team, our QB and our coaches show real class in the way they accept responsibility for their own actions or lack of actions, and at the same time, give credit to the other team for the superior work they did to win the game.
I love the fact that we are learning how to play with the big boys. I accept the fact that we are learning to craw and hopefully will be walking before the end of the season if not running. I am willing to be patient as I see this as the only way of getting into the Power Conference which most of us so desperately want. I never want to give up and go back to the G5 group.
I keep remembering Oklahoma, Texas, UCLA, ND at home, and other great games that could be, if we have enough patience, a weekly routine.