HB Arnett’s
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372 - 0819
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West 800 South –
Vol. 35,
Issue 9 –September 22, 2014
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Cougs 4-0 and
Counting
BYU Makes UVA’s “Hoos”
Who List With 41-33 Win Over Cavaliers
After beating
Here are a few paragraphs from the UVA
official football web site describing their take on the game to back up
that claim.
In the third quarter, BYU took its first lead, at 20-16,
thanks to a 15-yard touchdown by Hill, who eluded linebacker Max Valles’
tackle attempt in the backfield. Hill finished with 72 yards and a TD on 17
carries.
That Hill is a superlative runner is common knowledge.
Equally impressive are the strides he's made as a passer. A year ago in
"I told him after the game, he's going to win the
Heisman," said Valles, who led UVa with two tackles for loss. "He's
probably the best athlete I've ever played against, high school or college. So,
props to him."
Hill "is a big, physical guy,"
"That's a good football team we played, and they'll win
a lot of football games."
Here’s what BYU’s “really good quarterback” did
against the Cavaliers. Hill carried the ball 17 times for 72 yards and one
touchdown, a nifty little 15-yard scamper where eluded the grasps of at least
two UVA defenders. One of those defenders was Max Valles, who was quick to
praise Hill after the game.
Hill also completed 13 of 23 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
Jordan Leslie, the UTEP transfer, caught the first throw for an 8 yard score.
Mitchell Juergens reeled in the second scoring toss for a 50-yard touchdown in
the fourth quarter of the contest.
Hill Help
Hill had help in the ground game for BYU. Jamaal Williams had a nice
game pounding the ball on the ground. The junior running back tallied 68 yards
on just 13 carries. He also added a 2-yard TD run.
BYU’s final touchdown came on a 99-yard kickoff return from Adam
Hine. The junior has been “close but no cigar” when it came to
breaking a big return for the last two seasons. Hine was finally able to light
up the scoreboard and crowd with his game clinching score.
Trevor Sampson added the rest of the Cougars’ points with two
field goals from 28 and 37 yards out.
Defensively, BYU got an early jump on Halloween against the Hoos. This
normally solid unit was actually “scary bad” against
All
Delegating Defense?
While Bronco Mendenhall is enjoying his new found role as manager of
the entire BYU football kennel, another defensive performance like the one last
Saturday may force the Cougar head coach to rethink his decision to delegate
the defense.
When Mendenhall was in charge, his defense played like pit bulls an
Poodles or pit bulls, BYU continues to climb in the polls.
The Cougars are now No. 20 in the AP rankings and No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
AGGIES ON AGENDA IN
I’ve heard of being between a rock and a hard place, but BYU is
now between a bye and a bovine.
If Aggie fans can affectionately refer to BYU as
In any case both schools will get a week off in preparation for their
encounter in
For the Cougars the break in the schedule comes at an opportune time.
Two more weeks will allow players like Brayden Kearsley, Bronson Kaufusi,
Algernon Brown and Jordan Leslie (twisted ankle against UVA) to finally heal
and get back to action.
The bye week should also insure the debut of wide receiver Nick Kurtz
against the Aggies. The ultra talented wide out has nursed a hairline fracture
in his foot since the second week of fall camp.
There was some talk of redshirting the 6-6 speedy and smooth receiver,
but with the ankle injury to Leslie, and the less than stellar over the top and
deep performances of the current crew of receivers, look for Kurtz to start to
play.
One guy, who hasn’t played yet, is the touted Harvey Langi,
According to the game participation reports that I read, the sophomore
linebacker and transfer from
Third of Season Gone Grades
Coming out of fall camp I offered grades for the different positions on
the team. I am ready to re-grade those same spots with a third of the 2014
season now in the books.
Defensive Front: My
fall camp description of this group was that they would be good, but not great.
That still seems fair. Against ordinary offenses, they are okay, but as was
proved against
Defensive Backs: In the fall my assessment of this group was that these backs would be the best that BYU has ever had collectively. I still stand by that opinion. With out a pass rush, this group is severely handicapped. They are also being asked to play a bend but don’t break scheme and seldom allowed to use press coverage. Overall, this is still the strength of the defense.
Linebackers: Very Ordinary is my assessment after 4 games. This unit is lacking a dominant playmaker. Alani Fua has not lived up to his preseason hype and billing. Bronson Kaufusi has only played a couple of downs so the jury is still out on him. In the middle, there is nothing special here. There are plenty of journeymen playing hard, but nothing to take notice of.
Offensive Line: Not
a surprise coming out of what I saw in the fall, but this group has played
well. They have face three good defensive front sevens in
Running Backs: For an offense that is all about Taysom Hill, this group of backs has played well under the circumstances. Jamaal Williams is the best of the bunch at running back. Give him a pro set or featured tailback offense to run and he would be getting gaudy numbers. Overall this group is better at blocking against the pass rush and actually protecting the ball better than they did last year. So far so good.
Wide Receivers: Based on my assessment that this would be the best group of wide receivers in decades, this group has been a disappointment. Jordan Leslie is the real deal, but the rest of the group looks ordinary so far. That may change with the addition of Nick Kurtz in a couple of weeks. This group also might be better if Taysom Hill was more patient and not so talented with his legs and feet. I still expect to see an exciting bunch of wide outs with the addition of Kurtz. We will see.
Quarterback: The fact that nobody is clamoring for Christian Stewart says it all about this position at BYU. Taysom Hill is the real deal. Enough said. Yes, as mentioned above, he could be more patient in the pocket and a tad more accurate, but can you imagine how plebian and poor this offense would be without him?
Kicking: The
Cougars are getting great punting from Scott Arellano. They have consistent
mid-range field goal kicking from Trevor Samson, but the jury is still out from
40-yards out. The jury has already returned a verdict on kick offs. For what
seems like a decade, BYU can’t find anybody out of
Stalking the SOS
We are still stalking BYU’s Strength of Schedule to see if there will be a realistic chance of the Cougars landing a spot on the big dance card for New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
Here is how the teams on BYU schedule fared last week:
UConn; lost 17-14
at South Florida, next up:
Middle Tennessee;
lost 36-17 to
UNLV; lost 47-14 to
TV Timetable
BYE
Saturday, September 27
BYU vs.
Friday, October 3 at
Kickoff: 8:15 pm MDT
TV: ESPN
BYU vs.
Thursday, October 9 at
Kickoff: 5:30 pm MDT
TV: ESPN
BYU vs.
Saturday, October 18 at
Kickoff: TBD
TV: TBD