I have been a UVA season ticket holder for almost 50 years. This game is different from any I have ever experienced. Bronco asbsolutely cares for BYU. Since he came, he did his best not to schedule your team, because he didn’t want the conflict. He always speaks so fondly about the school, the team, and his overall feelings toward BYU. So it is unusual to experience a game where our coach would be happiest with a clean, well-played game that ended in a tie.
I don’t know how much exposure you get to him these days, so I wanted to post.
While I know it’s never good when a coack leaves, maybe a bigger good has been achieved He has brought a complete new way of running a team to a new area of the country. His ethics, the way he lives his life, and the perception he gives us of what values are important to him and members of his religion, have been inspiring. He is showing you can do the right things and still win. In an era where cheating is rampant, he stands above the fray. And to many of us, that reflects the values of BYU and its supporters. So while he left, his affection and loyalty remain intact, and I think his actions reflect positively on BYU and enhance your image in the East.
I’m sure most readers are young, but at my age, things like this matter. He is not just coaching football, he is providing an example for us and our children, so we are thankful to have him, and the values he brings from BYU and his religion.
That being said, good luck. I also hope for a clean injury-free game, but I have to admit, I’m not as neutral.
I’ll probably never be on this site again, so good luck the rest of the year, and in the future in your new conference.
Bronco Mendenhall did a good job as coach at BYU and I was sorry to see him go, but that’s life and we move forward. Having never spent a second looking at Virginia football, I now tune in to their games when I am able and check their progress in the ACC. Thanks for your comments-it’s always good to hear of former BYU representatives making a positive impact wherever they go
Welcome, Mr. Murphy. We appreciate your thoughts and similar values. I Hope BYU wins but it is a clean game and injury-free for all.
Mr. Thomas Murphy, thank you for taking the time to update us on Branco. I have followed him closely since he left Byu for Virginia. I can imagine those athletes were shell shocked when they first met Branco Mendenhall. He is a man of honor and integrity. And to teach those kids those values are even more important than football itself.
Virginia is a playoff team and it is very strange to me that Branco is struggling on defense as that is his forte. As you can tell from our posting we are not that impressed with our own defensive specialist. We all think Armstrong will slice and dice Byu’s bend but don’t break defense so it will be interesting how the game ends up being played. BYU was very creative in the Utah and ASU games mixing it up on defense and bringing pressure but we have not seen that for four games now and we are very pessimistic. Go cougs. With Clemson being in the dumps this year it would be great to see Virginia win the ACC championship and get a very good bowl game
Hey Thomas thanks for the thoughts. UVA has always been a good institution and prides itself on doing things the right way. We need more UVA’s in this country!! Whatever happens on Sat I hope for no major injuries and good sportsmanship on both sides of the ball. Be thankful that we that we screwed up and sent you Joe Harris to help you rebuild …… boy if we had him with Collinsworth, Jimmer, Emery and Hartsock we would have give the national championship a run in 2011 even without Davies! Congrats to Tony on rebuilding the program and doing it right!!
Thanks Thomas,
I always root for Virginia, except this Saturday. Should be a great game.
Thomas, I appreciate your perspective. As a retired coach I can honestly say that looking back, the games that seemed life-or-death at the time now barely matter to me. What matters is seeing these young men grow up to be good adults. I think that really does matter to Bronco, and UVA is blessed for it–as was BYU. Bronco would not have left had BYU not been stuck in independence purgatory, but BYU’s loss has been UVA’s gain. I will never root against Bronco–even this Saturday. If UVA wins, it will be because they deserve it and I’ll be happy for Bronco. Thank you again for taking a moment to post your thoughts.
The great thing about this thread is that most, if not all of us, have become Virginia fans because of who and what Bronco represented and did for BYU. Thomas is right, Bronco has been great for Virginia. I am so glad there are fans like him out there who appreciate the things a coach does beyond football. That is why I love Sitake so much. He cares about what goes on outside of the game, he cares about the program, the players and the fans. Good luck to Virginia. We want BYU to win but won’t be disappointed all that much if they lose.
What? Virginia fans? Did you attend UV? Reminds me how BYU alumni became Boston Celtics fans because of Danny Ainge. Good grief. BYU all the way! I’m no fence sitter like others are. 
Bait thrown out …… don’t take it!
Words to live by!
Ever notice that every single thread on Football or basketball gets hijacked? EVERY SINGLE time, we just can’t stick to the subject, always ends up in some liberal-race-rain-mumbo jumbo cyber space.
Hopper is amazingly consistent in that arena!
We need the seagulls to come into the forum!!
Happens all the time! There are other teams out their besides BYU. I am a fan first of BYU, but I love BSU, Oregon, Virginia and even root for Utah on occasion-sorry but true😳
So, you are a Seattle Seahawk fan??? What I find so interesting is that most members only approve comments that agree with them. Floyd is about the only one who offers opinions, answers opinions and listens to opinions. I don’t often agree with him but I respect him for this. You? Very unhappy insecure person who has to silence those apposed to his opinions.
One last item of note that I don’t believe I’ve seen posted yet. Congratulations to Robert Anae-4th ranked offense in the country, and actually, Virginia has done pretty well offensively since a year or two after Mendenhall took over at Virginia. I wasn’t sure it was a great idea taking him with him at the time, but turned into a pretty shrewd move on Bronco’s part. Congratulations Robert
No one is silencing your opinions Hopper. We are just reserving the right to not engage you when your intent is only argumentative. Which is sadly, most of the time. Seahawks are different than seagulls. Seagulls eat grasshoppers! You know, just to save the crops and clean up the place …… or forum.
If you want to engage people you are more likely to get a response if you are using sound judgement and not trolling people by being an antagonist at every turn. I think most posters are tired of you arguing every point when it is usually silly over the top comments.
But we will try to reward your good behavior and ignore your bad behavior and hopefully you will come around …… or go find another field or forum to argue in or on!!
You are right people have that option as I do also. What I don’t do is try to get others to not engage with others. I welcome other opinions that don’t agree with me. I don’t shut them down because I think their reasoning is not in accordance with mine. I will respond with the reasons for my opinion. And, often times, the discussion will go back and forth with opposing parties justifying their positions. And that’s when someone will say we will just have to agree to disagree. But, that doesn’t need to happen until we’ll down the discussion road and all attempts of reasoning have been exhausted by both sides.
So, as an example, the fumbles in the Boise game. Why is it unreasonable for the rain to have been a major factor, first game of the year in the rain? Those 2 fumbles cost BYU 14 points and the game. 23 out of 24 quarters were without rain and the damage comes in that one quarter? Seems pretty reasonable. But, what did you say and others? “Stop Trolling!” “Don’t engage!” Thoughts?
I am not going to take your bait on rain/water and the BSU game. I think everyone is tired of that discussion. Plus I and others are tired of arguing with you. Maybe the rain was a factor but maybe not. Our lines didn’t do their job against BSU and that wasn’t rain related. There were a lot of factors. Move on and try to state your opinion with facts and don’t go over the top. That is where you lose people. Most people don’t like to argue after a couple of facts are discussed and the actual answer is not known or can’t be known.
You are an expert at pushing the buttons of others where you think they are vulnerable but eventually people just don’t want to deal with you when you do that. But I think you know that and these forums are your only outlet. If your goal is to get into a long drawn out argument, others sense that and will not engage. Just because I tell others to not take your bait, doesn’t mean that they can’t ignore me. I don’t care if they want to engage but most posters see what you are doing and while it takes a little restraint, we feel better about dialing down the temperature when you are trying to raise it! You rarely enter a post without trying to antagonize people. Most have grown tired of your actions.
Once a year I take a moment to try to explain to you, in a reasoned manner, how you are being perceived. So this is my attempt for 2021.
I need to dial down the number of attempts I make EVERY year. I think it is usually in the double digits. I guess I have more at stake because I actually see the hopper in person on occasion. 