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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 2
by hb arnett 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 2 - August 17, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions UPON FURTHER REVIEW After seven days of fall camp, here is what we have seen and our revised review of the BYU football team FROM COWER AND CRINGE TO ACTUALLY COVERING...It's early, we know, but it looks like BYU has at least four corner backs that are significantly better than anyone that saw the field last season for the Cougars. You remember last season, don't you? That was when BYU went on defense, you tended to cower and cringe, especially against good passing teams. Robbie Buckner, a redshirt freshman and retuned missionary, is a player. He missed most of last week with a tweaked hamstring. The three juco transfers are all better than anything BYU had last season. We especially like Brian Logan and Corby Eason. Lee Aguire isn't bad either. Honest to goodness, this is a major step up for BYU. But, before we get too giddy, all that means is that BYU corners are now MWC caliber. None of these guys could play in the Pac 10, Big 12 or SEC and none would see much of the field at either Utah or TCU, but they are now comparable to the rest of the league. Still, MWC quality is a major step forward for BYU. PACKING SOME SMACK...BYU now has two safeties that can bring some pop and pain to opposing receivers and running backs. Andrew Rich is a hitter. So is true freshman Craig Bills. He will play this season. Scott Johnson is better than anybody that played safety for the Cougars last season. Jray Galea'i is another true freshman who has a very bright future. This is a definite upgrade in talent and skill over last season for Bronco Mendenhall and his defense. LEADERSHIP NOT LACKING IN LINEBACKERS...Team leadership is not lacking in BYU's stable of linebackers. Some of the most dependable, trustworthy and hardest working BYU football players can be found on the Cougar linebacker roster. We have seen nothing after one week to change our mind. This is a pretty generic group. FLAK AND FINDING THE TRUTH...We took some flak last week because we said there were no playmakers on BYU's defensive line. We had lots of people remind us that Jan Jorgensen was a sack machine the last two seasons. We like him. He has a big motor and has nice stats, including sacks, but in our opinion, he is not a disruptive force on defense and neither is any other Cougar defensive lineman. No one has to be double teamed by opponents. The good news is that this group has performed well in the first week of fall camp. The bad news is that we don't know what that means. They have looked good against the BYU offensive line and nobody knows, as yet, if they are any good. A better barometer will be BYU's defensive line play against Oklahoma and Florida State. We hope we are flooded with flak after those games. It will mean that we were wrong and BYU's line play on both sides of the ball is vastly improved. PASS THE ROGAINE...With a slug of returned missionaries manning the offensive line, thinning hairlines are not unusual at BYU. What is a more pressing matter after one week of fall camp, however, is the thinning of the offensive line roster. BYU is running out of bodies. Jesse Taufi has not been able to practice as yet while he tends to academic issues. Matt Reynolds, BYU's best offensive lineman, broke his hand just days into fall camp. He had surgery, but is expected back for the Oklahoma game. His injury leaves the Cougars shorthanded in practice. His brother Houston, is nursing a hamstring injury. Jason Speredon, a projected starter at guard, is gone for the year with a torn rotator cuff. Forget finding starters and getting them ready for the opening game, BYU needs bodies on the offensive line just to be able to practice effectively. We like the talent in this group. There are enough good players to have a good offensive line, but how it is handled, managed and made to last through the remainder of fall camp will be extremely crucial. WE ARE EXPECTING MUCH LESS FROM MAX HALL THIS SEASON...When it comes to interceptions thrown, less is better. Hall's touchdown to interception ratio should be very good. He is having an exceptional fall camp. We expect an exceptional senior season and Hall's first week of practice seems to back up that optimism. Most of the early reviews of Riley Nelson have been mixed. Some are good and some aren't. Our review and expectations for this playmaker haven't changed. He will be good and will be the backup to Hall this season. SPIELBERG IS PLANNING A REMAKE OF HARVEY, THE MOVIE (about an imaginary rabbit)...BYU can expect a remake of Harvey, the running back, as he was as a freshman. Harvey Unga was hurt for most of last season and didn't play at 100 percent. We expect a rerun and remake of his freshman year production. While J.J. DiLuigi has had a nice fall camp and is listed as the backup to Unga, the Cougars also need a rerun and remake of Manase Tonga at fullback. Coaches will find out early this coming week if he will be academically eligible to play this year. Right now all we have are the trailers from Tonga's performance of two seasons ago. If he is good to go, Tonga and Unga together on the same bill could give the BYU a blockbuster hit at running back this season. CATCHING COLLIE WON'T BE EASY...The BYU receiver had 100-plus catches last season. That won't be duplicated by any Cougar wide out this season, but overall, the receiving corp will be much better and more productive that what Max Hall had to throw to last year. McKay Jacobson is the real deal. O'Neill Chambers is improved and there is a boatload of legitimate receivers from returning lettermen and incoming freshman to make this a very deep and capable group. Jacobson is having a great fall camp. YIN AND YANG...We like what we have seen of BYU this fall. They are going to be better than most people anticipate and even better than we thought they would be. We attribute it to the optimism of the first week of fall camp and a Yin and Yang moment. Optimism aside, when it comes to opening game against Oklahoma, we still don't think BYU can Yin, but after watching Y.E. Yang win the PGA Championship yesterday, anything is possible. If Tiger Woods can ying and yank almost all of his putts in a major, then in theory, Sam Bradford, OU's returning Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback, can throw seven or eight interceptions against the improved BYU secondary. Optimism is good, but so is Oklahoma. There is a reason the Sooners are a 21-point favorite in this game. The Sooners are in another league when it comes to college football and web sites. In the first head-to-head matchup of this year between Oklahoma and BYU, the Sooners have already beaten the Cougars in the preseason battle of web sites. Both schools have professional looking web sites that promote their programs. Both programs offer professional quality video on their sites. BYU's site looks nice, but compared to Oklahoma's, lacks content. BYU has fluff and OU has football. Case in point. Last Saturday, both Oklahoma and BYU held closed scrimmages in their respective stadiums. BYU's video for Saturday showed some nice, but fluffy interviews with coaches and some nice shots of players warming up before the scrimmage started. The Sooners, despite the closed scrimmage to the public, showed highlights of that closed scrimmage on their web site. In our opinion, it would be so easy for BYU to be doing what Oklahoma does. The video acumen and resources are the same. When it comes to their respective fan bases, BYU appears to be more paranoid than proactive in promoting and growing its essential fan base. Oklahoma and BYU fans know fluff and they know football. They prefer football. If Bob Stoops thought showing videos of actual practices and scrimmages was a detriment to his program, it wouldn't be on the OU web site. It appears that at Oklahoma, it is more about promotion than paranoia. Maybe the Sooners are so good that they just don't think a few snippets of video is a big deal. In the web site video matchup between BYU and Oklahoma, in our opinion, the Sooners are already running up the score. Here are the two sites. www.soonersports.com/ot/2009_preseason_practice.html www.byucougars.com/football/ THERE IS NO RECESSION IN RECRUITING BYU is having a big year in football recruiting. You have to like the quantity and quality of the Cougars' early commitments for the class of 2010. As of last week, Bronco Mendenhall and coaching crew have 24 early verbals that say they will sign with BYU next February. We don't think the Cougars are done. There will be some senior sleepers in BYU's LDS recruiting base that will have breakout years and there will be some immediate needs exposed somewhere on the team this season. That usually results from unexpected injuries or lack of talent. BYU needs to stay on top of he juco scene to help fill those needs. BYU is doing a very nice job recruiting to its strength and base, which is the LDS athlete. They sign some good ones and do so in great abundance. That said, in our opinion, the only difference between the LDS players BYU signs and the LDS players Utah signs is in volume. The Cougars sign more of them. Over the last decade, you could take the core of LDS players from both the Utes and Cougars and swap them or interchange them without any noticeable difference. BYU's LDS prospects are usually more publicized and promoted, but the results on the field would indicate that they are basically the same caliber of players at both schools. That speaks to the increase in LDS prospects over the years. There are exceptions, of course. BYU has proven that they have a corner on the LDS quarterback market. The good ones seldom go to Utah. Each team has their exceptional LDS athletes. Last year, BYU had Austin Collie and Utah had Paul Kruger, but overall, if you look at it objectively based what actually has happened on the field, the LDS core players for both schools are interchangeable. Utah has participated in two BCS Bowl games in the last 5 years. They did it with a core group of LDS players and with an experienced and good quarterback. They also did it with speed. In our opinion, the difference between the BYU and Utah recruiting models, is that while both rely on LDS recruits, the Utes still can go out and get speed from outside the LDS market. We don't like Utah, but we can't dismiss them and the success they have had with their current recruiting model. BYU has a bigger pool of LDS players from which to form their core and they have an exceptional track record with LDS quarterbacks. BYU's model isn't made for speed, but there are very encouraging signs that speed is getting better from within the current model. That seems especially encouraging from the most recent list of commitments the Cougars have lined up for the 2010 class. Here they are alphabetically. Ross Apo...WR, 6-4, 195, The Oakridge School, TX Jordan Black, OL 6-7, 235, Alta HS, UT Algernon Brown, RB, 6-1, 205, Skyline HS, UT Tayo Fabuluje, OT, 6-5, 255, The Oakridge School, TX Alani Fua, LB 6-5, 210, Oaks Christian HS, CA Kori Gaines, DB, 5-9, 170, Grayson HS, GA Jake Heaps...QB, 6-2, 195, Skyline HS, WA Hauoli Jamora, DL, 6-2, 230, Kahuku HS, UT Jordan Johnson, DB, 5-10, 175, Brooks School, MA Tuni Kanuch...DL, 6-1, 285, Bingham HS, UT Bronson Kaufusi, DL, 6-6, 225, Timpview HS, UT Teu Kautai, LB, 6-1, 200, The Oakridge School, TX Collin Keoshian, LB, 6-2, 225, Santa Clarita Christian, CA A.J. Moore...RB, 5-10, 190, Murrieta Valley HS, CA Manu Mulitalo, OL, 6-3, 305, Granger HS, UT Joey Owens, LB, 6-2, 215, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Drew Phillips, RB, 6-0, 185, Boaz HS, AL Graham Rowley, OL, 6-4, 270, Waialua HS, HI Bryan Sampson, TE, 6-4, 210, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Kona Schwenke, DL, 6-5, 210, Kahuku HS, HI Zac Stout...LB, 6-2, 220, Oaks Christian HS, CA Sae Tautu, LB, 6-3, 215, Lone Peak HS, UT Travis Tuiloma, DL, 6-3, 290, Washburn Rural HS, KS Blair Tushaus, OL, 6-2, 270, Notre Dame Prep, AZ In the recruiting classes of the last two years, BYU signed only three non-LDS high school players. They signed O'Neill Chambers and Garrett Nicholson in 2008 and Cody Hoffman from the 2009 class. In the current list of commits, there are already 5 non-LDS prospects. They include Tayo Fabuluje, Kori Gaines, Jordan Johnson, Drew Phillips and Blair Tushaus. The top headliners of this prospective class remain the same. Jake Heaps is a human headline. If there is a quarterback accolade, he has it, or soon will, when it comes to high school football. Bronson Kaufusi has emerged as a national-caliber recruit and has the talent to qualify for that assessment. He will get a chance to show his stuff this Friday when his Timpview Thunderbirds take on Pleasant Grove HS. The Vikings have at least 8 Division I recruits, including two that have said they will sign with the Cougars in Bryan Sampson and Joey Owens. We still maintain that the commit for the coming class that will have the most immediate impact on the field will be Ross Apo. He can and will play right away. TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. Oklahoma Saturday, Sept 5 at Arlington Kickoff: 5:00 pm Mountain Time TV: ESPN BYU vs. Tulane Saturday, Sept 12 at New Orleans Kickoff: 1:30 pm Mountain Time TV: ESPN2 BYU vs. Florida State Saturday, Sept 19 at Provo Kickoff: 5:00 pm Mountain Time TV: Versus BYU vs. Colorado State Saturday, Sept 26 at Provo Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. Utah State Friday, Oct 2 at Provo Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. UNLV Saturday, Oct 10 at Las Vegas Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. San Diego State Saturday, Oct 17 at San Diego Kickoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. TCU Saturday, Oct 24 at Provo Kickoff: 5:30 pm Mountain Time TV: Versus BYU vs. Wyoming Saturday, Nov 7 at Laramie Kickoff: Noon Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. New Mexico Saturday, Nov 14 at Albuquerque Kickoff: Noon Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. Air Force Saturday, Nov 21 at Provo Kickoff: 1:30 pm Mountain Time TV: CBS C BYU vs. Utah Saturday, Nov 28 at Provo Kickoff: 3:00 pm Mountain Time TV: CBS C and The Mtn

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We Started Without You!
by hb arnett 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

Dear Former Subscriber, We sent out our first issue of Cougar Sportsline for the new publishing year this morning. We would love to have you back on board with us. Now you can renew your subscription at our new low price of just $35 per year or $70 for a two-year subscription. To renew, just click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type=450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> here. If you like, you can also renew via email, phone or check with the following information below. Cougar Sportsline PO Box 50424 Provo, UT 84605 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net Now would be a good time to take advantage of our latest offer below. Thanks, HB Arnett Hunky Body, Has Been, Head Bandage and Hot Burritos When I started Cougar Sportsline 30 years ago, H.B. stood for Hunky Body. Some of you are convinced that it now stands for Has Been. For those Cougar football fans that think BYU has a shot at defeating Oklahoma in Dallas on Sept. 5, H.B. means head bandage. Yours is too tight and cutting off circulation to your brain. It has impaired your rational thinking. Regardless of how tightly your BYU bandage is wound, when it comes to BYU vs. the Sooners, some of you still have too much H.B. (hope and bravado). Here's your chance to make me eat my words while you get to eat some H.B.'s (hot burritos or other menu items from Del Taco). Hot Burritos! If the final scoreboard shows BYU within 21 points of the Sooners, I will send you a gift certificate for $5.00 from Del Taco which is valid at any location across the country and good not only for hot burritos, but anything on the menu. Or, gag me with green sauce if somehow BYU beats Oklahoma in Dallas. If that happens, I will send you a gift certificate for $10.00 from Del Taco. All you have to do is renew or extend your current subscription to get this offer. Who knows, you could be feasting on BYU Burritos covered in "sooner sauce" while I am forced to eat a lot of crow. H.B. also refers to Hope Beyond the opening game. Even if your burrito blows up in Dallas, you can count on the Cougars turning in another 10-win season. That means you can go ahead and renew or extend your subscription to Cougar Sportsline and expect to hear plenty of good news on the coming season. When you renew or extend your subscription to Cougar Sportsline you could literally be putting your money and maybe some Mexican food where your mouth is thanks to Del Taco and our limited-time offer. Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type=450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here to renew or extend your Cougar Sportsline Subscription which is still just $35 per year (40 issues). Be sure to include your shipping info for sending the gift certificates. If you like, you can also send us a check for $35 to Cougar Sportsline, 1391 West 800 South, Orem, UT 84058 or call or email us with your credit card information at hbarnett(a)fiber.net - 801 372-0819 This offer expires Sept 4, 2009

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 1
by hb arnett 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 1
by hb arnett 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 1 - August 10, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions GET OUT YOUR DICTIONARY, THIS COULD BE A DEFINING SEASON FOR BYU BYU really is an elitist institution. If there was a college football dictionary, the definition of a disappointing 2008 football season would list examples of teams like San Diego State, UCLA, Michigan, Tennessee and others who didn't win many games and fired coaches. The dictionary used by Cougar football fans must be much more esoteric and elite. How else do you explain the definition of disappointing season for BYU as a 10-3 record, bowl appearance and a final top 25 national ranking? Any way you want to dice your dictionary, most BYU football fans and most BYU football players and coaches, consider last year's 10-3 performance a disappointment. They all talk about a bad taste in their mouths and refocusing and rebounding for the coming season. Bronco Mendenhall has talked for years about having not just a good team, but a good program. If a 10-3 record is a serious disappointment, maybe the Cougars under Mendenhall have actually now defined themselves as a good program. We don't need a dictionary to define irony. It is that the perceived disappointment from last season can turn into such excitement for the coming year when the roster is still populated by the same players and coaches. Summer Syndrome We attribute it to what we call the "Summer Syndrome". We love summer and apparently so do BYU football fans. It has been a great off season for BYU football...on paper. All reports have the Cougars becoming stronger, quicker, speedier, more focused and determined. If the Cougars actually didn't have to play a game for a few more months, they could be national champs by November, at least in the eyes of Cougar nation. That excitement and estimation of BYU football also carries over to the national media. BYU still has enough juice with the media types to earn a top 25 preseason ranking. The Cougars came in at No. 24 last week in the USA Coaches Poll...on paper. The last seven months have been full of excitement and enthusiasm with the promise of future expectations. On paper and in the press, BYU seems to have found a way to improve its dismal defense of last season. In the last few months, BYU has won the "Star Wars" recruiting game with a boatload of highly touted (on paper) new recruits already in the bag for next year. Never has a team looked so good. Never has so much progress been made on paper and in the press. When you don't actually have to play, it is all good and sure to get better the longer BYU doesn't have to actually take the field against another team. Shred the Paper Come September, it will be time to shred the paper and actually see if BYU is really as good as Cougar fans think they will be. In our opinion, if Bronco Mendenhall and his troops can duplicate the 10-3 record of last season, they really will be good, not only on paper, but on the field. A 10-3 mark this year would mean much more than the 10-3 result of a year ago. That is because the Cougars will spot the national and MWC field one full lap in the race for national recognition and respect. Count on BYU getting whipped by Oklahoma when the two teams kickoff their seasons on Sept. 5 in Dallas. The loss won't be good, but the timing of the loss couldn't be better. Assuming that BYU doesn't get toasted by 40 or more points by the Sooners and assuming they can win the rest of their games until they face TCU and Utah later in the year, that opening loss to Oklahoma will be a non-factor in BYU's quest for a legitimate national ranking. When it comes to national rankings, losing does have an impact, but not as big of an impact as when you lose. Losing early is always more palatable than losing late in the season. Speaking of losing, during the last 11 years, that is what BYU has done every time they have faced a non-conference foe that has been ranked. The Cougars will have two chances to break that streak this season. Actually, it will be just one chance. Oklahoma is ranked No. 3, and as we mentioned earlier, the Cougars have no chance for a win in this game. They will have to pin their hopes on defeating Florida State later in September in Provo. The Seminoles are ranked No. 19 in the preseason. The first three weeks of the season should be interesting. Intoxication The Sooners will sober up all the preseason intoxication of BYU followers. A week later, Tulane will reignite the enthusiasm and expectations. The Green Wave is not a good football team. The real litmus test for BYU will be the next week in Provo against Florida State. That will let us know just what kind of team the Cougars really have. Most of the optimism about BYU football for the coming season is based on statements from coaches and players about how they are refocused and humbled from the bad taste and bad finish of last season. The quotes from players and coaches have been plentiful about how hard they have worked over the summer and how this is a team that can be trusted. On paper, that sounds absolutely thrilling and exciting. Who wouldn't anxiously await watching this BYU team play? As good as it sounds on paper, however, football is played on the field and is a game that is determined by playmakers. Even Bronco Mendenhall, the master modeler of BYU, acknowledges that BYU didn't make enough plays last year. More than words, slogans, jargon and jutting out one's chest, it has always been, is now, and always will be, about having playmakers on your team. Like Missouri? Our assessment of BYU last year and this coming season is that they are a lot like Missouri was last season. The Tigers had plenty of playmakers on offense and were good enough to win plenty of games and garner national recognition. They didn't have a defense good enough and with enough playmakers, however, to stand up to the big boys of the nation or even their own conference. Mizzou finished with a 10-4 record. They won their first five games averaging 50 plus points per game. When it came to facing defenses with speed and quickness, however, they folded flat, losing big to Texas and Oklahoma. A prolific offense is great, but without at least a decent defense to go along with it, you are doomed to disappointing defeats. Like Missouri last season, BYU had playmakers. Unfortunately, in our opinion, they were all on offense last year and few and far between, on the defensive side of the ball. Summer excitement and enthusiasm aside, that is also our assessment of BYU football for the coming year. PRESEASON PLAYMAKER LOOK AT BYU FOR 2009 Defense Linebackers...There aren't any. At least, there are none that are playmakers, which is what you need at this position to be a good defense. When the Cougars were above average a few years back in the early going for Bronco Mendenhall, he had playmakers like Brady Poppinga and Bryan Kehl. He had a very good over-achieving middle linebacker in Cameron Jensen. Those days are gone. There are no playmaking linebackers that we can see, or at least haven't seen yet. There are plenty of guys returning with playing experience, but no real playmakers. Seven months of summer won't make it better, in our opinion. The middle backer spots will be in the lower half of the talent level of the MWC. For that to improve, it won't come from the old guard of linebackers from last year. The best chances for a much-needed infusion of linebackers that are playmakers will have to come from new faces like Brandon Ogletree at middle linebacker. Outside linebackers are in the same predicament. No playmakers, at least that we have seen as yet. There is some good news and bad news at this spot, however. The bad news is that BYU has pinned its hopes for improvements at the outside backer positions by shuffling players from other positions. Jordan Pendleton has never played a down at outside linebacker, and after seven months, and on paper, he is the great hope for BYU fans. The fact that Cougar coaches have moved Richard Wilson, a new incoming freshman, from tight end/wide receiver to outside linebacker, tells us just how desperate the search is to find playmakers at the linebacker spot. That is the bad news. The good news is that both Pendleton and Wilson are big-time athletes, who have been playmakers wherever they played in high school. That at least should give a little hope for the future. Defensive Line.This group is serviceable, but not spectacular. There are no NFL prospects in this group and haven't been any NFL caliber defensive linemen for several years. From our vantage point, there won't be any in the next few seasons either. It is what it is. For whatever reasons, BYU has been unable to sign the big time LDS Polynesian defensive tackle. Until that trend turns around, serviceable, but not spectacular, seems to be the appropriate description of this component of the BYU defense. BYU has nobody up front that is as disruptive as TCU's Jerry Hughes will be and as Paul Kruger of Utah was last season. There is nobody on the BYU defensive line that will demand a double team. Russell Tialavea has postponed his LDS mission call until late December. That means the Cougars will return all three defensive line starters from last season (Tialavea, Jan Jorgensen and Brett Denney), but if they weren't playmakers last year, the chances of them becoming playmakers this year seems slim. The only new bodies on this unit are those who have been shuffled up from linebackers. That would include Vic So'oto and Jadon Wagner. Defensive Back.This is the only place defensively for the Cougars where there is sure to be improvement this coming season. It couldn't be worse, could it? The Cougars were undermanned at safety last season and it showed. Scott Johnson and Andrew Rich should be better. BYU had no corners last year. They are hoping that the pasta approach to recruiting corners will work. Bronco Mendenhall finally figured out what LaVell Edwards knew for years. You always need to recruit 2 or 3 juco corners and then throw them on the wall and hope one sticks. Brandon Howard, last year's starter at field corner, is not coming back for his senior season because of personal reasons. BYU has brought in three juco corners to try and find one that can cover. They are Lee Aguirre, Corby Eason and Brian Logan. Throw in redshirt freshman Garett Nicholson and returned missionary Robbie Buckner and maybe one can be a playmaker. Bottom Line.If you weren't a playmaker as a sophomore or junior, it is highly unlikely that you will be one as a senior. There were no consistent playmakers on the BYU defense last year. Those same non-playmaking players are not likely to suddenly become such. If BYU is going to be improved defensively, they will have to find playmakers from personnel that for whatever reason, never saw the field last season. Any improvement won't come from players that saw action last year. The best hopes, in our opinion, will have to rest with newcomers, especially at linebacker and at corner. Offense Finding playmakers on this side of the ball is not hard to do. Unlike the defensive side of the ball, BYU had plenty of playmakers on offense last season and almost all of them return for another year. Quarterback.It starts with Max Hall, but it won't end with him. Last season, if Hall had gone down with injury, it was over for BYU. This year there is now a serious playmaking backup in Riley Nelson. The quarterback situation never looked so good for the Cougars. There two good ones in hand and with Jake Heaps in the bush, things look rosy. We know that Heaps plans on enrolling next January and competing against Nelson during next spring for the starting spot. If he does win that job, it means he is the amalgamation of John Elway, Brett Favre and Joe Montana all rolled into one. Nelson is very, very good. If Heaps beats him out, he must be very, very special. Running Back.Harvey Unga has been making big plays for the past two seasons. We see no reason why that will stop now. The only question is if he can take the beating he had to suffer last season. That will require some help from the rest of the running back corp. There is still hope that Manase Tonga will be back from academic exile. That should be known later this week. After Unga, BYU has a bevy of backups, but none that shows any promise of being the type of playmaker that Unga is. That group includes guys like J.J. DiLuigi, Malosi Te'o and Mike Hague. Receivers.BYU had two of the best playmakers last season at receiver. That would be Austin Collie and Dennis Pitta. Collie has gone to the Colts of the NFL, but Pitta is back and will be productive and consistent. He can make plays. McKay Jacobson showed glimpse of his playmaking abilities as a true freshman and is now back from an LDS mission to Japan. O'Neill Chambers may be the guy to prove us wrong about playmakers. He certainly wasn't one last year as a true freshman, but we do expect him to be one this season. BYU also has a nice incoming crop of big freshmen receivers, They include Brett Thompson, Cody Hoffman and Mitch Mathews. We expect at least one to show he can make plays before this season concludes. Offensive Line.You don't associate offensive linemen as being playmakers, but without them, it will be hard for Hall, Pitta, Unga et al to show their playmaking wares. Matt Reynolds is the next NFL hope as an offensive lineman. He was good as a freshman, and should do nothing but get better. The Cougars are replacing four starters from this group, but they have at least three players besides Reynolds who have starting experience at BYU. That would be R.J. Willing, Ryan Freeman and Terence Brown. Both Brown and Freeman started games as true freshmen before leaving for LDS missions. Coaches, Team Speed and Counting Wins.One change we will see in coaching this year is that Bronco Mendenhall has finally decided to relinquish his defensive play calling duties. We don't see that making any difference at all on the defensive side of the ball. Where it should help is on the offensive side of things. Mendenhall can now actually manage the game and not just his defense. With him less engaged on defense, he can now see what is happening in the total flow of the game. There are times when a head coach has to get on the headsets and ask his assistant coaches, "What the heck are you doing?" Last year against Utah when BYU refused to run the ball would have been the perfect moment for Mendenhall to have been more engaged in managing the game instead of just his defense. More involvement in game management by Mendenhall is a good move for the fifth-year coach. This summer there has been lots of talk of BYU working on increasing their team speed. We don't buy it. We don't doubt that there was plenty of emphasis and work on increasing speed, we just don't think it will actually show on the field. On defense, with Brandon Howard, the fastest player on the team last year, leaving school, it isn't likely that the Cougars will be faster on that side of the ball. All of BYU's losses last year came against teams that clearly had BYU outclassed in team speed. That would be TCU, Utah and Arizona. Lack of team speed, in our opinion, will still be an issue this year. That should especially be evident in the opener against Oklahoma. When it comes to speed, Provo and LaVell Edwards Stadium is the great equalizer. At home the speed factor seems to be neutralized. That bodes well for the Cougars this season because, other than Oklahoma, the teams on the 2009 schedule with the clear advantage in team speed all have to come to Provo. That would be Florida State, TCU and Utah. We like the Cougars in all three contests. We don't see the Cougars running the table in MWC action, however. They should lose somewhere on the road in league play. Our assessment is that BYU has enough offensive firepower to get 9-10 wins this season. If some playmakers on defense magically appear, 10-11 wins is not an unreasonable hope. Just like Missouri of last season, BYU needs to shore up its defense or even with a prolific offense, they won't have be able to stand up when it really counts against good teams with speed.

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 29, Issue 40
by hb arnett 02 Jul '09

02 Jul '09

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 29, Issue 40
by hb arnett 02 Jul '09

02 Jul '09

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com PO Box 50424 Provo, Utah 84605 Vol. 29, Issue 40 - July 1, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions SENIOR SLOSHINGS This issue wraps up the current publishing year. That means the weekly issues will begin again in early August. If you are counting, next month will mark the start of the 30th year of business for Cougar Sportsline. You may not be counting, but I certainly am. I remember how old I was when I started this rag. Add thirty years and in August I should qualify as an official crotchety old man. Of course some subscribers have already told me that I have been in full-blown crotchety mode for some time now. Doing the same thing for three decades will make anybody cranky and is a good excuse for the depth of drivel I have penned and produced over the years. Unfortunately, it still doesn't make me eligible to collect social security. If I had a nickel for every issue I have written, I would have exactly $58 (If you don't want to do the math, it works out to be 1160 issues.) Shouldn't KSL have paid me money to sponsor this issue? So far I have balked at Botox and face lifts, but I do confess that I now have gut implants. The added girth is strictly cosmetic and allows me to fit in more comfortably with my current church peer group. I can't see any downside to the implants, but I can hear them. They tend to make sloshing sounds when I walk. I initially thought I might have hit the mother lode of a malpractice suit, but my wife, children and grandchildren tell me that sloshing isn't the only noise they have noticed since I entered the senility stage of life. Here then are my latest senior sloshings as they relate to BYU football and basketball Basketball and Food Storage When it comes to food storage, the primary principle is "rotate and replace". When it comes to the BYU basketball coaching cupboard, the recent Dave Rose health saga has illustrated to us that you might be able to rotate some assistant coaches in Rose's place on an interim basis, but replacing the fifth-year head coach of the Cougars is downright impossible. The good news for Rose and BYU basketball fans is that "rotate and replace" is now just a theory and nothing that will have to be implemented. Despite some sobering news of a few weeks ago, Rose is now in remission from the pancreatic cancer that was first detected early in June. As a review, Rose experienced some medical problems while on vacation a few weeks back. He ended up in a hospital in Las Vegas, underwent tests and then surgery to remove his spleen. The initial reports were that he had pancreatic cancer. Later reports indicated he had a less aggressive and less common form of pancreatic cancer called pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cancer. Rose's doctors now say that the tumor was removed successfully at the hospital in Las Vegas and the BYU coach is currently in remission and cancer free. He still needs some recuperative time and will be closely monitored in the future. As of now, Rose intends to continue coaching BYU and says he will be on the court and sideline this fall.. Initial Reports Compared to the initial reports, the prognosis for Rose, his family and BYU basketball is much improved. Now that the initial shock has gone and the news is much more upbeat, it might not hurt to see just how lucky Rose, BYU athletic administrators, BYU fans and the BYU basketball program has been. Nobody wanted to speculate on the future of Dave Rose and BYU basketball in public, but it was certainly being done privately, until the recent positive news. Here is what we think we all learned. Dave Rose is currently irreplaceable. If BYU was forced to select a replacement for Rose, the pickings are indeed slim. The first place BYU would look initially is on the current staff. There is actually an assistant coach on the basketball staff that, in our opinion, would do just fine. That would be Dave Rice. He can recruit, coach and has a nice public presence. He has it all, except membership in the LDS Church. BYU will not hire a head coach in basketball or football that doesn't have a temple recommend. The visibility for the Church in those two positions is as high, if not higher, than the average General Authority profile. It may not be right, but it is real and BYU and the Church know it. The rest of the staff currently consists of John Wardenburg, Terry Nashiff and director of operations Tim LaComb. Add To Resume In our opinion, these are guys that either would have to prove themselves on an interim basis or leave and add to their resumes with experience and success at other schools before seriously being considered as a replacement for Rose. We know that there are still some BYU basketball fans that think BYU could, if needed, move Jeff Judkins over from the women's coaching job he has held for a while. We definitely aren't in that camp. Dick Hunsaker is LDS and at Utah Valley where he has done a very nice job with limited resources, but in our opinion, he still has some Ball State baggage and worked for Rick Majerus at Utah. If that resume won't fly for Hunsaker as a current head coach, it won't fly for an LDS assistant like Alex Jensen. He is at St. Louis and currently working for Rick Majerus, the same coach for whom he played in college. That won't fly either, if anybody asks us. Neither will retreads. Cross Steve Cleveland and Roger Reid off the list. There are other current LDS Division I head coaches, but the temple worthy and recommend rule still applies and they would have to be eliminated from consideration. We aren't going to elaborate, but it isn't hard to figure out who some of these coaches are. The pickings of current LDS assistant coaches on Division I teams is slim and looks to be even more slim with the change of coaches at USC. Gib Arnold was working at USC with Tim Floyd. Floyd is now gone and it remains to be seen where Arnold will land. He has been an assistant at USC, Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, Loyola Marymount and Utah Valley. Before joining the staff at USC, he was the head coach of College of Southern Idaho. Walter Roese is LDS and currently coaching at University of San Diego. He was on the BYU staff before landing that job. There are other LDS assistant coaches on the staffs at Utah, Utah State, and Southern Utah but none that pop out or have the resume of Arnold. Gamble BYU took a huge gamble when they hired from the juco ranks with Steve Cleveland. That hire illustrated just how small the qualified applicant pool has always been. Cleveland was able to restore BYU to winning, but, in our opinion, he was not the strongest tactical coach when it came to x's and o's. He was able to make BYU competitive again in recruiting the best LDS high school basketball prospects. His biggest coup turned out to be his hiring of Dave Rose, another coach with a juco resume. In eight years under Cleveland, Rose proved that he was a tireless and effective recruiter and proved he was more than qualified to replace Cleveland when he departed for Fresno State. Speaking of Cleveland's former assistants, there may be some who think Heath Schroyer, now the head coach at Wyoming, would be a possibility someday at BYU. He is not LDS. Cross him off the list. If and when the time ever comes to replace Rose because of health or him being hired away, the Big Kahuna is still Danny Ainge. He has coached in the NBA and is the current GM of the Boston Celtics. He is also 51 and had recent heart problems. The only way we see him ever coaching basketball at BYU is if he got an Eddie Sutton/Bob Knight deal. Father-Son Deal Sutton, you may remember, was the head coach at Oklahoma State and was able to get his son Sean on staff and named as his successor before he retired. Sean Sutton lasted only 2 seasons as the head man for the Cowboys before he was forced out. Knight, at Texas Tech, was followed by his son Pat who is still currently coaching in Lubbock. This is just pure speculation, but the only way we see Ainge interested in a future vacancy at BYU would be if he could bring his son Austin as an assistant and let him simmer for a few years with the goal of the younger Ainge eventually succeeding his dad. That is the only scenario we can see where Ainge would ever coach basketball at BYU if and when the day would come that Rose was no longer coaching in Provo. We are sure that we will now have many names of LDS basketball coaches brought to our attention, but the bottom line is that if Dave Rose ever does have to be replaced because of future health concerns or his leaving for a big-money and big-name job, the replacement pickings are slim. BASKETBALL BRIEFS While we stand by our assessment of Dave Rose as a good coach and a good fit for BYU, his best asset is that he is a very good recruiter. Just like college football, in college basketball, good coaching is nice, but having good players is better. The recently completed NBA draft illustrates our point. So does BYU's basketball history. In case you missed the recent draft, North Carolina, had four players drafted from its National Championship team. Three of those players went in the first round and the fourth in the second. Wake Forest had two players go in the first round and would have had a third, but freshman Al-Farouq Aminu didn't come out early. He will be a first-round pick next year. BYU had a former MWC player-of-the-year and all league pick in Lee Cummard, but his name was never called in the draft. He will play on the Phoenix Suns' summer league team of rookies and free agents beginning later this month in Las Vegas. He hopes his play will help him find an NBA home or improve his chances of a European contract. This year's MWC Player of the Year, Luke Nevill of Utah, was not drafted either. As a matter fact, no MWC player was considered good enough by the NBA to be drafted. We like Mountain West basketball. It is entertaining, but it is several rungs below the top basketball conferences in the nation like the ACC, Big East, SEC, and Pac 10, despite what provincial pundits, MWC honks and coaches think. For the record, in the most recent NBA draft, there were 60 picks in two rounds. Here is the scorecard of draftees by conference: Big East - 10; Pac 10 - 9; ACC - 7; SEC - 4; C-USA - 4; Big 12 -3; Big 10 - 2; West Coast Conference - 2; Atlantic 10 - 1; Ohio Valley - 1; Colonial Athletic - 1; Southern Conference - 1. The remaining 15 of the 60 picks were international players. We don't see a first-round NBA pick from BYU anytime soon, but it might surprise some to know that the Cougars have had 5 first-round picks and Danny Ainge wasn't one of them. He was an early second round pick by Boston BYU's first round picks were Craig Raymond in 1967; Greg Kite in 1983; Michael Smith in 1989; Shawn Bradley in 1993 and Rafael Araujo in 2004. In the ten-year history of the Mountain West Conference, the league has had six first-round selections: Rafael Araujo - BYU; Jason Smith - CSU; Danny Granger and J.R. Giddens - New Mexico; Marcus Banks - UNLV and Andrew Bogut - Utah. REST, RECUPERATION AND RECRUITING The next couple of months for Dave Rose will consist of plenty of rest, recuperation and some localized recruiting. The LDS basketball prospect scene fits nicely into Rose's recovery plans for the summer. Instead of sitting in gyms across the country during the month of July, he will send his assistants to evaluate and analyze future LDS prospects. The Cougars have already identified and targeted their top recruiting priority that they hope to sign in November. The good news for Rose is that it won't require any plane rides to make the Cougars' in-home pitch later this year. Kyle Collinsworth is just across the street from BYU at Provo HS. His home is just a few miles further south in Mapleton. Collinsworth, who is the younger brother of current Cougar Chris Collinsworth, is ranked as one of the top 100 prospects in he nation. If you are a long-time subscriber you know we have been talking about him since he was still in junior high school. He currently says that he will be making official recruiting visits to five schools; BYU, Arizona State, Stanford, Virginia and Kansas. PREP FOOTBALL RECRUITING HOTBEDS: FLORIDA, TEXAS, CALIFORNIA AND UTAH COUNTY? While the SEC, ACC, Pac 10 and Big Twelve, along with other major conferences, get boatloads of football recruits from the Sunshine, Lone Star and Golden States. BYU has also been able to sign players from those three states, but it also appears the Cougars have some extra interest and focus on recruiting Utah County. Here is what we mean. The current roster of BYU is loaded with Utah County high school football players. Some are on the fall roster, others are on LDS missions and will return to the roster. Some signed last year and will join the roster next month and still more Utah County players have already been offered for the coming recruiting years. Here are the current scholarships players from Utah County as we have identified them. Luke Ashworth, WR, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Rhen Brown, WR, Lone Peak HS, Highland, UT Stephen Covey, WR, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Scott Johnson, DB, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Mike Muehlmann, TE, American Fork HS, UT Matt Reynolds, OL, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Houston Reynolds, OL/DL, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Harvey Unga, RB, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Famika Anae, OL, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Eathyn Manamaleuna, DL, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Jordan Smith, WR, Spanish Fork HS, UT Craig Bills, DB, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Tui Crichton, OL, Timpview HS, Provo, Ut Anthony Heimuli, RB, Mountain View HS, Orem, UT Richard Wilson, TE/LB, Spanish Fork HS, UT Michael Alisa, LB, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Kevan Bills, LB, Timpview HS, Provo, UT Cameron Comer, DB, Springville HS, UT Jake Murphy, WR/LB, American Fork HS, UT Matt Ah You, LB, Lone Peak HS, Highland, UT (was in the program until he decided to transfer in early summer for his senior season) Here are Utah County football prospects for the coming recruiting year that BYU has offered. Some have already committed to the Cougars and some have turned BYU down for other schools and others have yet to make a decision. Sae Tautu, LB, Lone Peak HS, Highland, UT, BYU commit Bryan Sampson, TE, Pleasant Grove HS, UT, BYU commit Joey Owens, LB, Pleasant Grove HS, UT, BYU commit Bronson Kaufusi, DL, Timpview HS, Provo, UT, BYU commit Sefa Tanoa'i, DL, Pleasant Grove HS, UT, undecided Dallas Lloyd, QB, Pleasant Grove HS, UT, Stanford commit Chris Badger, DB, Timpview HS, Provo, UT, Notre Dame commit BYU has already offered two other Utah County prospects for 2011. Austin Heder, LB, Pleasant Grove HS, UT, BYU commit Bryson McKenzie, RB, Timpview HS, Provo, UT, undecided We find just a touch of irony with the sudden surge of BYU's recruiting interest in Utah County. It wasn't that many years ago when there was a lull in LaVell Edwards' tenure as coach of BYU, that some fans began criticizing him and his staff for signing too many players from Utah County. Now under Bronco Mendenhall, Utah County apparently has suddenly emerged as a gold mine for Division I talent. Either football prospects in the county have become much, much better, or they are being marketed much better by the internet and BYU is buying. Time will tell how it shakes out. Time has already proven that the number of players from Utah County has always been a high proportion of the BYU football roster. The number of Utah County prospects who went on to be high-profile players and major contributors to the program have been interesting, but not astounding. Here are the players from Utah County over the last ten seasons that actually started for the Cougars at one time or another in their careers at BYU. Lance Reynolds Jr., OL Timpview HS Dallas Reynolds, OL, Timpview HS Matt Reynolds, OL, Timpview HS Harvey Unga, RB, Timpview HS Scott Johnson, DB, Timpview HS Eathyn Manamaleuna, DL, Timpview HS Jonny Harline, TE, Ricks College (Orem HS) Paul Walkenhorst, LB, American Fork HS Chris Hale, WR, Orem HS Jason Kukahiko, WR, Orem HS Mike Tanner, LB, Orem HS Toby Christensen, WR, American Fork HS Rod Wilkerson, WR, Orem, HS Chad Barney, DB, Dixie College (Orem HS) Brett Engemann, QB, Timpview HS Ifo Pili, DL, Mountain View HS Isaac Kelley, LB, American Fork HS Setema Gali, Jr., DL, Mountain View HS Remember, this isn't a list of all Utah County players for BYU in the last ten years, just those that started sometime in their career at BYU. You likely saw all the same games we saw, so you judge for yourself how many of these Utah County players were, or currently are, impact players or difference makers for the program. Our take is that of these local high school starters from the last decade, only two have had significant impact. Harvey Unga has proven he is a player, and Jonny Harline cemented his status as an impact player with just one catch against Utah a few seasons back. We also think Matt Reynolds will be special, but that is still to be proven. While the recruiting numbers of the last ten years seem a little skewed and top heavy toward Utah County to us, we have to trust the current coaching staff. After all, their jobs and careers are ultimately determined by whom they recruit and sign. They must feel that home grown is the new hotbed of recruiting for BYU football. COMMITMENTS KEEP COMING BYU is now up to 18 verbal commitments for the coming football recruiting season. Here is the updated list. Zac Stout...LB, 6-2, 220, Oaks Christian HS, CA Ross Apo...WR, 6-4, 195, Oakridge School, TX Jake Heaps...QB, 6-2, 195, Skyline HS, WA Tuni Kanuch...DL, 6-1, 285, Bingham HS, UT A.J. Moore...RB, 5-10, 190, Murrieta Valley HS, CA Collin Keoshian, LB, 6-2, 225, Santa Clarita Christian, CA Travis Tuiloma, DL, 6-3, 290, Washburn Rural HS, KS Graham Rowley, OL, 6-4, 270, Waialua HS, HI Jordan Black, OL 6-7, 235, Alta HS, UT Joey Owens, LB, 6-2, 215, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Algernon Brown, RB, 6-1, 205, Skyline HS, UT Bronson Kaufusi, DL, 6-6, 225, Timpview HS, UT Manu Mulitalo, OL, 6-3, 305, Granger HS, UT Sae Tautu, LB, 6-3, 215, Lone Peak HS, UT Bryan Sampson, TE, 6-4, 210, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Hauoli Jamora, DL, 6-2, 230, Kahuku HS, HI Tayo Fabuluje, DL, 6-6, 255, Oakridge School, TX Teu Kautai, LB, 6-1, 220, Oakridge School, TX All are LDS with the exception of Keoshian and Fabuluje.

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 29, Issue 39
by hb arnett 08 Jun '09

08 Jun '09

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 29, Issue 39
by hb arnett 08 Jun '09

08 Jun '09

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com PO Box 50424 Provo, Utah 84605 Vol. 29, Issue 39 - June 8, 2009 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions HEAPS, HEAPS HOORAY! They say some of the first signs of senility in sports writing are that you become confused and take up cussing. If my confusion serves me correctly (more on cussing later in the letter), the last press conference held by a junior in high school that I attended was my own. It was when I announced at the Amapola Cafe in Blythe, California that I was making a choice between Nancy Johnson, Yolanda Gallegos and Etta Lou Hudson as to whom I was taking to the junior prom. Nobody showed up, including Nancy, Yolanda or Etta Lou. In hindsight, it must have either been the venue or menu that kept the crowds away because from my perspective, I was certainly a "can't miss prospect". How could any girl in her right mind not be interested in the No. 8.479 rated prom prospect at Palo Verde High? Had I been able to produce a nice video and post it on You Tube, I am positive I would have been rated much higher. With a well edited video I still think I could have been at least the No. 7.163 rated prom boy. Mark Winegar, Shaler Stinson and Hector Fuentes were all more highly rated than me. Mark might have been a better dancer. Shaler was definitely a better dresser and you could land a helicopter on Hector's haircut. The chicks in those days dug a nice crew cut, but I certainly thought I was the better overall package and prospect. 25-Year Reunion It took a couple of decades and a 25-year high school reunion to finally have my prom self esteem vindicated and validated. That's when I found out that two of the higher rated prom prospects were in prison. I guess I showed those guys. The girls fared much better. Only one of the three was still serving time. Word was that she was prom queen of the state pen and would be out in time for the 30th year reunion. As I have become older, wiser and more sophisticated, I quit attending press conferences held by high school students and focus now on attending more mature multi-level marketing seminars and presentations. Sometimes the line between recruiting press conferences and multi-level presentations becomes a little blurred. Fast forward to late last week to another press conference held at a restaurant in Salt Lake City by a high school junior. The ambience must have been much better than at the Amapola because the attendance certainly was. It probably had to do with Jake Heaps announcing he was choosing to play quarterback in college between Washington, LSU, Tennessee, Cal and BYU. He picked the Cougars. Heaps is the No. 1 rated high school quarterback prospect in the nation for next year's recruiting class. He's a can't miss prospect. No word on his dancing skills, but he was certainly sartorially splendid and had a nice haircut. Mark, Shaler and Hector would have been proud. Mendenhall Mum Bronco Mendenhall and his assistant coaches couldn't tell us how they felt as per NCAA recruiting rules, but after three years of hard work in recruiting Heaps, the Cougar coaching staff have already been vindicated and validated. We'll have to wait and see how they feel 25 years from now. I am still a little confused as to whether last week was a press conference or a multi-level marketing presentation. If it was a press conference, Heaps was impressive and the hope he held out for Cougar football fans was exhilarating. If it was a multi-level pitch, we should all get in now on the ground floor. Based on the Heaps hoopla, now is the time sign up as Bronze, Silver or Golden distributors and donors of the Cougar club. If you hurry, you too can qualify for the BCS bonus money that is sure to follow. In case you aren't already in the down line of Heaps, here are his credentials: At 6-2, 195 pounds, he is the No. 1 rated high school quarterback prospect in the nation (Scout.com) He is 28-0 as a sophomore and junior starter for Skyline High School in Washington. He will be a senior this coming fall. He has led his team to consecutive state championships. Last season, he completed 203 of 312 passes for 2,910 yards and 38 touchdowns. He threw just four interceptions last year and also had seven rushing touchdowns. For his current two-year career, he has completed 405 of 648 passes for 6,104 yards and 69 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and rushed for 21 TDs. He had over 26 scholarship offers, but narrowed down those down to a top-five list of Washington, LSU, California and Tennessee and BYU. BYU was the big winner. In the context of either a press conference or multi-level presentation, Heaps is a certified can't miss...unless he does. Here is the deal about multi-levels that make money. It is all about marketing. If the product is actually decent, it is a bonus. That basically is how we see the Heaps hoopla. Based on his high school, summer camps and combine performances of the last two years, he certainly appears to have talent and ability. History has shown that early talent at the high school level is usually a 50-50 predictor of how that talent turns out at the college level and beyond. Here's a case in point. Ron Powlus was a sure-fire two-time Heisman Trophy winner coming out of high school in Pennsylvania. He never won any trophies at Notre Dame and was lucky to win games. Rick Mirer, also a can't miss prospect at Notre Dame, did miss. He was a cup of coffee guy in the NFL, but had a commercial grade college career. Mitch Mustain of Arkansas high-school-can't-miss territory, is still waiting for his fame fame and glory at USC after a brief stop with the Razorbacks of Arkansas. If we take the high road with Heaps, he very well could be the next John Elway, Peyton Manning or Tim Tebow. Using a baseball analogy, who wouldn't want a .500 hitter? BYU already struck out with Ben Olsen, but hopefully have hit a homerun with Heaps. Time and talent will tell. Apparent What is apparent, however, is while we will have to wait until his talent is fulfilled on the college field, Heaps' marketing prowess is already proven. He used his press conference and national credentials to bring on board two other Diamond Distributors to the Cougar down line and hopefully, BYU's future BCS bottom line. Ross Apo and Zack Stout, along with Heaps, also announced that they will jump on board the BYU football recruiting bandwagon. Both are big gets for the Cougars. They both are LDS, as is Heaps. While we will wait until Heaps actually enrolls in college to give our product analysis of his talent, we have already concluded that the guy is charismatic and a marketing maven. He is the Cougars' best recruiter and has been for the last two years. He has the sizzle and national brand name to sell the program to other potential recruits. That is what he did with Apo and Stout and what he will continue to do with other recruits BYU has on their "A" list for next year. If Heaps has the football substance at the next level to back up the selling sizzle he has clearly demonstrated already, then the Cougar Club will need to implement another level in its donation program for football fans. Forget Bronze and Silver Cougar clubbers. The new "J. Golden" level will be for senile sports writing skeptics and skinflints. It only takes a few dollars a year to join, but you get to say "Well I'll be damned" when Heaps delivers the national title he predicted in his press conference. IT'S STILL ALL ABOUT PLAYERS Jake Heaps gets it. Beyond high school, football is all about players. You can't win on the big stage without players who have talent and ability. Coaching is nice, but good players are better. Heaps is a player. The fact that he could call a press conference and a standing-room only crowd of media and fans show up, speaks volumes of his abilities. The fact that he also brought along two other highly-skilled players with him to the press conference and BYU, indicates that he gets it when it comes to talent and wants it surrounding him at BYU. Ross Apo is the chief case in point. This 6-4, 195 pound receiver from Oakridge HS in Texas, is good enough to have already committed to the Texas Longhorns. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what he did a few weeks back. He has been a star on the summer combine and camp circuit recently. He now says he will be a Cougar and Christmas came early for BYU. He had Texas, Oklahoma, State, Missouri, Nebraska and BYU all offering scholarships. Zac Stout is a 6-2, 220 pound linebacker from Oak Christian HS in Westlake Village, California. Oak Christian is a Division I producing football factory and this year is no exception. With Jake Heaps turning down the Washington Huskies, Steve Sarkisian, the UW new coach, is now targeting Nick Montana of Oak Christian. Yes, he is the son of Joe Montana. Before committing to the Cougars, Stout had official offers from Arizona, Washington, Washington State, Oregon State and Nebraska. While BYU coaches have recruiting restrictions placed on them by the NCAA, Jake Heaps doesn't. He was very instrumental in getting Apo and Stout on board the BYU train and will continue to work on behalf of the Cougar football program. With Heaps, Apo and Stout now committed, here is the latest list of BYU verbals for the 2010 recruiting season. Zac Stout...LB, 6-2, 220, Oaks Christian HS, CA Ross Apo...WR, 6-4, 195, The Oakridge School, TX Jake Heaps...QB, 6-2, 195, Skyline HS, WA Tuni Kanuch...DL, 6-1, 285, Bingham HS, UT A.J. Moore...RB, 5-10, 190, Murrieta Valley HS, CA Collin Keoshian, LB, 6-2, 225, Santa Clarita Christian, CA Travis Tuiloma, DL, 6-3, 290, Washburn Rural HS, KS Graham Rowley, OL, 6-4, 270, Waialua HS, HI Jordan Black, OL 6-7, 235, Alta HS, UT Joey Owens, LB, 6-2, 215, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Algernon Brown, RB, 6-1, 205, Skyline HS, UT Bronson Kaufusi, DL, 6-6, 225, Timpview HS, UT Here is a list of other prospects that BYU has offered, but have not yet commited. LDS Ricky Heimuli, DL, 6-4, 285, Brighton HS, UT Toloa'i Ho Ching, LB, 6-0, 225, Alta HS, UT Kona Schwenke, DL, 6-5, 210, Kahuku HS, HI Alani Fua, LB, 6-5, 210, Oaks Christian HS, CA Sefa Tanoa'i, DL 6-4, 270, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Non LDS Justin Utopo, DL, 6-3, 260, Lakewood HS, CA Cameron Roberson, RB, 6-1, 215, Newbury Park HS, CA Keanon Lowe, DB, 5-10, 170, Jesuit HS, OR Drew Phillips, RB, 6-0, 185, Boaz HS, AL Joseph Champaign, LB, 6-0, 200, Grayson HS, GA Blair Tushaus, OL, 6-2, 270, Notre Dame HS, AZ Jase Butorac, OL, 6-3, 280, Skyline HS, WA Kyle Benson, LB, 6-2, 215, Corona Del Sol HS, AZ Joseph Quezada, RB, 6-0, 200, La Habra HS, CA Brandon Bourbon, RB, 6-1, 210, Potosi HS, MO Cardinal over Cougar BYU offered two LDS prospects, but both chose Stanford over the Cougars. They were: Dallas Lloyd, QB, 6-3, 205, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Chris Badger, DB, 6-1, 195, Timpview HS, UT FLUFF AND STUFF Jim McMahon and Mark Wilson...We bring up these two former BYU and NFL quarterbacks because theirs was a unique playing time situation. Both were talented as evidenced by their NFL careers. The problem for LaVell Edwards was that he wanted to maximize their abilities and talents for the benefit of the program. That is why he redshirted Jim McMahon in 1979 in order to get a two-year gap in their respective eligibility. Consequently, he was able to get three years out of Wilson and two years as a starter from McMahon. That could be what we will be looking at with Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps. Heaps is hoping to compete for the vacated starting job left by Max Hall in 2010 as a true freshman. If Nelson is the backup to Hall this fall as we expect he will be, it will take a herculean effort from Heaps to win that job from Nelson. If neither Heaps or Nelson redshirts, there will be a natural two year spacing in their eligibility. If Heaps redshirts as a frosh and doesn't go on an LDS mission, that would give him the opportunity to be a three year starter after Nelson graduates. As of now, a mission is not in Heaps plans. Our early handicapping of the quarterback derby after Max Hall is done, is that it will take Heaps living up to all his hype, and then some, as a true freshman if he is to wrest the job from Nelson. We smell redshirt or mission for Heaps before he is done at BYU. Mendenhall Mess...Bronco Mendenhall has been a very good coach for BYU, but in our opinion, despite all of his accomplishments, he is not without some serious failings. We are speaking of the current defense. How does a defensive-minded coach and defensive coordinator who has the final say on all recruiting matters, get caught after four full years on the job with no defensive players? Sure you can blame unexpected mission calls and some academic issues, but after four years, shouldn't you at least have some defensive personnel that could start for other teams in the Mountain West Conference. We hope to have to eat our words, but from what we see, the defensive line is very ordinary, the linebacking corp could be worse than last season and while the defensive backfield should be better, there isn't anybody there that could even make the two-deep at the majority of teams in the conference. LaVell Edwards figured it out. You have to recruit juco corners to compete in this league. It looks like Mendenhall has finally got the message, but it is a few seasons too late to help for this year. The coaches are trying to patch the leaks by switching some incoming recruits from offense to defense and by hoping that their incoming juco corners will pan out, but any way you cut it, after four years at the helm with complete control of recruiting, the defensive personnel should be better. In our opinion, it will take some major offensive production from that side of the ball at BYU for the Cougars to be successful and win games this season. Can Cougars Win State of Arizona Championship?...BYU will get to see if they are good enough to capture the mythical Arizona college basketball championship this coming season. The Cougars will host Arizona State in Provo and face the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson on December 28. The ASU game is a return game for BYU after facing the Sun Devils last season in Glendale. The UofA game is part of the Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic, but the game is set for McKale Arena in Tucson. Other non-conference games include contests at Logan against Utah State, at Hawaii against the Warriors, against Fresno State in Los Angeles and games against either Tulsa, Nevada or Nebraska in the Findlay Toyota Classic in Las Vegas.

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 29, Issue 38
by hb arnett 01 May '09

01 May '09

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 29, Issue 36
by hb arnett 03 Apr '09

03 Apr '09

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