Firstly, I have to congratulate our Cougs for playing a very good game in a very tough Rose bowl against a highly ranked UCLA team. Tanner is a stud.
But this was a very manageable game when BYU went up by 10 points and we had picked off Rosin 3 times. Once UCLA had to go to the run for some inexplicable reason Bronco keeps calling KooKoo blitz packages when our linebackers should have been staying home and stopping runs…Just Nuts!
I would also like to thank good ol Anae for calling draw plays up the middle on our last series with less then 2 minutes left in the game. Since when has a Mitch Mathews play (being defended by a 5’8 DB not worked)? Heck, I would take a Houk, Kuntz…any of those guys.
The play calling on defense cost us this game. Perhaps the worst half time adjustments in a long time from Bronco. It’s like he forgot his 24 point rule doesn’t mean let them score 24 points. Terrible defensive calls late in that game, you have to try and take away what the offense is doing, not pass blitzing when it’s a run blitz you need. Crazy, but what did we expect. 2-1 isn’t bad, but I was hoping our program was ready to take the next step.
Our run game was great tonight, and essentially EVERY successful run play was with Ho Ching lead blocking. Good adjustment there.
On our last scoring drive we had converted 4 straight 3rd downs on called passes (scramble/complete/complete/complete) and Anae choked under pressure by running iso dive on 3rd and 5 to concede a FG only.
on the last drive Anae runs delay draw to NATE CARTER? HUH??? I’M STILL LAUGHING…SERIOUSLY? That concedes third and 10. yes, Mangum was not exactly brilliant on the last two botched throws, but that call was ridiculous. Anae had called a great game with lead stretch runs and short passes but failed in the clutch. Matthews WAS BRILLIANT all night and we don’t even look at him on the last series, when we were FIFTEEN YARDS from glory…ugh…
Totally disagree… the play calling on defense was perfect. Rosen was a complete failure in the first half because of it.
The truth is Anae had a solid game plan of his own that was very successful except that he went away from it at critical points in the game. BYU should have been up by 2 or 3 td’s in the first half and they only lead 10-3. The “run blitz” you speak of would have been effective if the team would have filled the lanes and tackled better.
It was a combination of issues that cost BYU at the end but the Robot going conservative and forcing Mangum to throw in the pocket or run those stupid trap dives that UCLA prayed would happen was BYU’s ultimate demise.
UCLA fan on last drive: “Oh, No! BYU is 15 yards away from a game winning field goal, and we cannot guard #10!!! Please BYU, don’t throw it to #10. If only they would just give it to a 150 pound 4th string running back instead.” UCLA prayers answered.
Does anyone remember when Anae put in #13 and Mangum threw it to him? 13 had not been in the game all night long. In a crucial time Robot true to form puts him him. A perfect pass to him and all he heard was footsteps and dropped the pass. Why was he in for a critical time in the game? Then you know why he gives the ball to Carter on the 3rd and 5. Makes no sense.
This is a pattern that we have seen from Anae in the past. It seems as though any time a particular player is having a good game or being effective, he pulls the rug out from under them or throws them under the bus, leaving the fans scratching their collective heads and wondering what exactly he is doing. We have seen it many, many times before. These are just more examples of that same thing…
It is like he thinks that it will go to the players’ head if they get too much fanfare or recognition for their play. In the previous two weeks, Mangum was able to miraculously overcome the curse of Anae and pull victory from the jaws of defeat. We all knew that eventually that luck would run out.
That game last night was really, really frustrating. There are recurrent themes that cost us the game. For example lack of mental discipline of the players at certain points of the game. For another the lack of adjustment during the game. The play calling, particularly at particular times during the game, is suspect as another recurrent - both O and D. If we get beat by a superior team, there is no shame in that. But last night UCLA was not superior to the Cougars. Oh well, another stagger to a possible great season. Now we hope for a good season.
“It can still be a great season”… hmmm never heard that one before.
It is like watching a b-grade movie, no matter how many times you see it, you are going to get the same thing every time. It doesn’t change.
The team is loaded with potential, you see it during the games, and then the coaches go from watching that potential unfold to putting it in situations where it can’t succeed and then resigning it to the same result every year.
The Cougars go to Michigan in what should be a very winnable game. We will see if Anae and Mendenhall can stick with a successful game plan long enough to actually get the win.
Somewhere John Maddon is yelling, “IF YOU ARE GONNA LOSE, GO DOWN WITH THE BALL IN YOUR STAR PLAYER’S HANDS!!” I’ll say it again: Matthews was nothing short of brilliant vs UCLA. 9 catches from a freshman QB, against a bunch of 4 and 5 star DBs and the best D line we will see all year. He has developed into something very special, and I’m glad he’s getting his due in the media. Yet in crunch time, with the game on the line, we ignored our best offensive player. Twice. For a dive into a packed line on 3rd and 5 and then for a delay handoff to a 4th string running back. Our D played the last two drives on roller skates going backwards, without a chance in he$$ to stop UCLA, yet somehow we sat on their doorstep–twice–with a chance to put the game away. The first time all we needed was a 5 yard pass to Matthews, a play that had been indefensible all night…the second time we had a first down only a dozen yards or so from a very makable FG to win it. Both times we ignored John Maddon.
Have to completely agree. Not only that, we have 3 other receivers that have shown to be capable. Which brings up the other point. Who is #13 and why was he put in the game for that one play? Pass right to him and he heard footsteps. Nuts!!!
amen…Anae will continue to enrage the fan base with his stupid play call in critical times during games…Bronco has to share plenty of blame here with his blitz packages where all UCLA was able to do is run. Just sit back and play sound gap defense and the game was ours.
#13 is Kurt Henderson, a Sr. and huge favorite with the players and the coaching staff. I’m told by those who know him that he is one of the greatest kids you will EVER meet. He is the WR version of #26 Nate Carter. And in the past he has caught the ball when it’s been thrown to him. I understand why the coaches want to get him in the game, and I would too, but that was bad timing, because of all times that is when we needed our very best to match up against UCLA’s best. But we simply don’t have the depth to play 3rd and 4th string guys in the 4th quarter in close game against ANYONE, much less a ranked team on the road. When UCLA turns to a backup LB or WR or RB, they are looking at all 4 and 5 star recruits. We are looking at walk ons. We simply don’t have the depth to not shorten our rotations in crunch time, and Saturday was exhibit #1.
Agreed. UCLA outcoached us when they abandoned the pass and we kept up with the sell-out pass blitzes. When it was clear that our D was gassed, and we had already wasted our TOs on D (like usual), and that we could not substitute, and that UCLA had ZERO intention of passing the ball, I too wondered why we didn’t just shift into a cover 2 or some other gap control D where we keep guys in front of us. And it happened on two straight UCLA drives.
Agree on all 3 points tlarimer. I have thought about this yesterday and this morning and I have decided that I have NO faith that Bronco and the current staff will not get us beyond 7-5, 8-4, 9-3, maybe 10-2. Don’t care what folks say, I am not a Bronco basher. We have to have stellar seasons to get sustained national attention and enhance our chances of getting into a P5 conference. I think there was a BIT of choke for both Bronco and Anae in the UCLA game. If we are comfortable with where our FB program is then Bronco and Co. is a great fit. I would way prefer to get into a P5 conference but my life does not center on that happening. I fear that BYU is unable to hire an upgrade.
I don’t know either but it is hilarious and I love it! You may think you’re not mad, but down inside you are. It is “maddening” both of the John variety and the frustrating way in which the coaches always seem to make the wrong call at just the right time. I honestly don’t think this is ever going to change because it has been a pattern over time. In the past fans could say “well, the talent on the other team is just too much to overcome” but that wasn’t the case in this game.
Everything you, fish, aro and many others post are the exact things I am thinking and wondering myself… and it begs the question, “If we can see it, why can’t the coaches”? KC is always defending Anae and I have tried over the years to see it the way he does. I honestly thought Anae was making progress and turning a corner this year. BYU could have scored more points in the first half but I believed Anae’s game plan was excellent and it was working. I should have known better… as I watched the most ridiculous calls come in at some of the most important, key points in the game… when it mattered most he choked. It has got to be frustrating for a player like Mangum or Hill to run a play that has very little chance of working when you know other stuff has been working all night.
Oh well, it’s a tough pill to swallow for a long time fan. I need a bigger glass of water to get it down.
What is it that is limiting them and keeping them from getting to a higher level? This game had all the makings of doing exactly that and when it mattered, both of them choked. Is it pride? is it just simply not knowing what to do? is it the fact that they are just not elite level coaches or not at the level necessary? I mean why were these glaringly obvious decisions on offense and defense made at the key points in the game?