Oh stop it… UAB had a reason to be there, because they had no other chance to play.
BYU could have played in a NY6 game. As for the players not saying anything about not wanting to play, that are they suppose to say?
Majority of the team are not going to the NFL next year. Maybe 5 are upper classman…
All you had to do is watch the game to see they did not want to be there especially when it is raining😄
All you had to do is listen to the players before and after.
Lethargic, shorthanded Cougars get outplayed on both sides of the ball by underdog UAB, fall 31-28 in soggy Shreveport, Louisiana, to end standout season on a sour note
As the Article in the Deseret News said…
Being lethargic means you do not really care about being in this bowl game.
In many many years as a football HC I can say categorically there are games where the players—and coaching staffs—are more focused and energized or less interested. I think almost all coaches at all levels would agree with the following math:
Passive interest + passive defensive scheme= embarrassing result.
“They?” They is you and others who refuse to believe BYU could be beat. I choose not to play that game and say we weren’t prepared to be more aggressive because Hall wasn’t starting or going to play. That was a mistake. And, we know the problem with the defense. It’s never been about effort. So, face the fact we got beat but had a great year beating 6 P5’s.
Everyone else on cougarfan - “I think I might have a possible reason for why BYU got the result they did in the most recent game they played”
Hopper - “blah, blah, blah… I have all the answers and know everything, the rest of you are idiots and know nothing about football even though you have way more experience and understanding than I do blah, blah, blah…”
This is the compelling, ongoing reason people don’t take you seriously or give much credence to your comments. That is all for now.
Lol!!! Thank you for taking my advice 
Everyone should read Gordon Monsoon’s article from today on motivation and reasons for the loss. I’m not a fan of his but this piece was excellent and fair to BYU.
And spelled it out pretty clearly: either A) BYU lacked motivation and focus, or B) BYU is not a good football team and worse than a team that lost to Georgia by 49 and to Rice (barely a D1 team).
No need to. We played 7 P5 teams and were 6-1.
10-2 going into the bowl game. We were down 6 starters on defense and without our starting QB. Allgeirs ran for 192 yards. We we good enough for this one game? Probably not. But for the year, we were great. Greatest? Nope. But, it was a great season.
UAB got better as the season matured. Everyone was losing big to Georgia most of the season. Rice = Boise, a wash.
My analogy is much better than flame thrower Monson.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Their offensive line made our defensive line look pathetic.
WYCOWBOY
Maybe their offense was just good
Name one offense that wasn’t good against BYU’s defense this past season.
They were all good and we stopped most of them enough to win 86% of games against P5 teams.
You mention “P5” as if it is something important. Do you buy into the P5 nonsense? Let’s try and focus on the good teams they beat, not whether those teams were part of some self important, arrogant group that is all about the money. Besides the comment was related to the quality of the opponent’s offense, not if they were part of some elitist group. The defense isn’t designed to stop an opponent, it is meant to slow them and hope they make a mistake. An offense that wins the turnover battle and plays mistake free will beat BYU most of the time. BYU’s defense just wasn’t very good this year.
Yes, P5 teams we play are important. Why would you think they aren’t? We play 5 of them next year including Notre Dame. It’s why we took the opportunity to get into the Big 12.
Disagree on the defense being good this year by comparing them to last year. Last year against mostly very weak teams and having most of our starters playing the defense averages 15.3 points per game
This year with seven P5 teams and losing a lot of starters on defense they gave up 24.7 points per game. Seems comparable and it’s what Sitaki wants. Hold teams to 24 points. With a deeper bench we will improve even with the defense we run. We have to score more than the competition does. We can do that!
THIS YEAR, The 5 PAC-12 teams we played overall record is 30 wins -31 losses = 49% winning percentage.
That is why people think the P5 teams are not important this year.
P5 means nothing when it really comes down to it. It just means that school is in a P5 conference. Kansas State, Duke and Vanderbuilt are P5 football teams. But nobody toots their horns about beating them.
In order to boast that you beat 5 P5 teams, they must be first good teams…
Hopper is just arguing and dragging down everyone else into his rabbit hole. BYU is ranked 47th in points allowed and 70th in yards allowed on defense. The bend but not break defense is actually succeeding in limiting points vs total yards given up. But that isn’t enough because the TOP is so lopsided that the BYU offense has to be perfect to out score the 24.3 points per/game that the defense allows. Who thinks a rank of 47th in pts allowed and 70th in yards given up will lead to success against average to good/great teams? Not me. Neither does any big program in this country or else they would lure away Tui to come be their DC. Not happening. Baylor saw Grimes as the OC last season as a steal and took him away. Tui will stay put right behind Sitake’s protection wall. I don’t even think Tiu will be lured away by G5 schools to be a coach for them, which is too bad!
My own prediction: If Tui remains the DC through the first 3 or 4 B12 years, Sitaki will be fired. Of course, the extra money BYU is paying him will probably last him a lifetime if he is careful.
Can we hold you to this???
Thalk points out this whole charade from Kalani Sitake intended to cover for his DC…ON POINT…Let me add to thawk’s message:
I was thinking maybe some COLD HARD FACTS could enlighten all of us regarding the BYU defense (all my data is from NCAA.com).
3rd down defense: 106th in D1 (opponents convert an absolutely SICKENING 43% of the time)
4th down defense: 111th (an even more abysmal 65% conversion rate)
1st downs allowed: 108th.
So, Tuiaki’s defense is this: it is almost worst in the country in 1st downs allowed and 3rd and 4th down defense. But some say “we bend but don’t break”. Really? We are 77th (bad) in red zone defense. The ONLY reason we are only terrible in red zone defense instead of throw up in your mouth bad is because in the red zone there is less room for BYU to retreat, and a higher sense of urgency to blitz because nothing else is working and you are out of field.
Some say “well our D makes big plays when it needs to.” Cue laugh track.
BYU is 108th in sacks and 75th in total D (yards allowed). Both terrible.
Others say “but look at our great scoring defense.” ARE YOU BLEEPING KIDDING ME? We are 53rd in scoring defense. In a vacuum that is AVERAGE. But defense is not played in a vacuum. Every play our D is on the field, our O is on the sideline. Let’s look at how BYU’s defense HARMS the BYU offensive output…
This BYU offense was one of the best I can remember in many, many years. Good QB play, few turnovers, MONSTER running game, mostly good OL play, and awesome WRs.
Team passing efficiency: 13th!!!
Rushing: 38th.
Scoring: 30th.
Take a second to think about that: 30th in scoring!!! I have not computed points per minute of possession (that would take some time to compile and compare for the top 30 scoring offenses), but I bet BYU ranked near the top, because no top team played nearly as pathetically on defense. The BYU offense was better than almost every single defense it faced. Even against Baylor we moved the ball almost at will through the air. Allgeier simply WRECKED most of the teams we played, and we completed more deep balls than I can ever remember. BUT IN MOST GAMES WE SIMPLY DIDN’T HAVE THE BALL ENOUGH!!!
Statistically we had one of the WORST defenses in the country, yet one of the BEST offenses. It is absolutely insane to have an actual game plan CONCEDING that we would have our terrible defense on the field MORE than our great offense. Sitake would not admit that he was conceding it, but that’s only to provide cover for his DC. EVERYONE watching knew this was the plan and it was a terrible plan.
The biggest indictment of Tuiaki, notwithstanding his embarrassing statistical results, was the high crime of forcing what may have been one of the all time great BYU offenses simply stand on the sidelines and watch the game. By allowing–and let’s face it, ENCOURAGING–the other team to dominate possession and “shorten the game,” Tuiaki may have saved 5-7 or even 10 ppg, but he COST BYU far more PPG by marginalizing the BYU offense. Tuiaki’s fear of challenging the other team allowed EVERY SINGLE game to be competitive, when we should have blown out half these teams.
Our defense was garbage, plain and simple. With any other scheme this team still wins 10 games, maybe more, and we all have more fun.