HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
801
372 0819
hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission
Vol. 28,
Issue 4, August 27, 2007
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Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions
BYU WILL
NEED TO MANAGE
BYU coaches are
not expecting Max Hall, BYU's new starting quarterback, to win the upcoming
season opener against
He is simply too
green and inexperienced to make enough plays against a quality defense and do
it all by himself.
What coaches are
expecting, however, is for Hall to not lose the game. That means he will be
expected to protect the ball and give his teammates a legitimate chance to come
away with a win.
Hall is a
gunslinger. He is used to being the big gun on the field. That is how he played
in high school and how he has tried to play this fall. He is used to being a
star that makes plays that lead to wins.
We expect that
same thing to happen at BYU, but not anytime soon and especially not in Hall's
first two games against the legitimate Pac 10 defenses of
If Hall was
running the show, he would come out in full gunslinger mode. That is just who
he is.
He is not running
the show. You can expect BYU coaches to put Hall's gun in the holster for the
next two games.
If you are hoping
for a BYU offensive explosion coming out of the gate against
The
We expect Bronco
Mendenhall and his staff to try and win this game the way most NFL coaching
staffs do.
They will try and
win with field position, kicking and defense.
It makes sense to
us.
The BYU defense is
the strength of this team. Expect Mendenhall to try and let them win this game
for him.
That was with John
Beck, a seasoned and talented quarterback, who is now in the NFL.
We would be
surprised if Max Hall is allowed to throw the ball against
Running
Game
For BYU to win
they will have to have a productive outing from their running game. It will be
required to take the opening game pressure off Hall and to create and maintain
the field position that will be vital to producing a win.
That means that
Harvey Unga will have to live up to his preseason billing and Fui Vakapuna will
have to be healthy enough to return to his early-season physical form of last
year.
Manase
While Hall's job
is to protect the ball and not make any dumb decisions and ill-advised throws
resulting in turnovers, it will be the job of Unga and Vakapuna to rush for at
least 100 yards between them. If they can't, BYU can't win.
We expect the
Cougar defense to do their job.
Scheme
and Talent
Despite some
devastating injuries on the defensive side of the ball, BYU has a good enough
scheme and enough talent defensively to disrupt this new
We expect BYU's
offense to do its job. They should be able to protect the ball and not commit
an extraordinary amount of turnovers. They should have a good enough offensive
line and running game to deflect the heat from Hall in his first outing. They
should also be good enough to not lose the field position war between the two
teams.
The defense under
Mendenhall is a proven commodity. Don't expect
In the three-part
formula for a win, the BYU offense should give the Cougars good field position
and be able to run the ball enough to keep the clock running and the chances of
a win real.
The Cougar defense
will give up an occasional big play to
Kicking
Game
That leaves the
BYU kicking game as the final piece of the game-plan puzzle.
Winning the field
position game requires that you have a decent-to-good punter. It also
implies that you have a kicker that can give you decent field position on
kickoffs.
But most
importantly, it implies that you have a consistent kicker that can make field
goals from 40 yards in.
We don't know if
BYU has that and neither do the BYU coaches.
C.J. Santiago will
be the punter after transferring into the program this summer from
Mitch Payne will
handle the kicking duties. The redshirt freshman is the younger brother of
former Cougar kicker Matt Payne.
Quite frankly, the
Cougar kicking game was spotty during fall camp. There was some improvement
made in the late going of camp, but it should still be a concern for coaches.
An even bigger
concern should be how these two key guys perform when the "lights are
on" and the game is on the line.
Explosion
With a new
quarterback at the BYU helm going up against a veteran and talented Arizona
defense, we would consider anything over 17 points, an offensive explosion for
the Cougars.
We expect this
game to be a defensive battle and a game that will be decided by turnovers.
While we expect
this to be a defensive game, we also expect the BYU offense to shake the
ground just enough to get a win. We call it BYU 20 Arizona 13.
BINOCULAR
BONUSES
Most football fans
focus on the ball when watching a game. Nothing wrong with that.
Here are a few
binocular bonuses that we suggest you watch and think will provide you with
some insight to the match up this Saturday when
Find Antoine Cason
on the
He is a legitimate
lockdown corner for
Who he takes on
will tell you whom the UofA defensive coaches want to take out of the game. We
expect them to have Cason defending Austin Collie for most of the afternoon.
Now find #32 for
BYU on offense. That would be sophomore tight end Dennis Pitta. See how
BYU is hoping this
will be a season-long mismatch for defensive coordinators. They are assuming
that because Pitta is 6-3, 250 pounds and can run and catch, that linebackers
won't have the speed to cover him, and defensive backs won't have the size to
win the one-on-one battles.
Put your
binoculars on wide angle when BYU is on offense and focus on the line of
scrimmage. This is where the game will really be decided with the match up of
the Cougar offensive line versus the
Seven or
Eight
We think you will
be seeing at least seven, and maybe eight, future NFL draft picks battling
against each other.
BYU is thinking
this is their most talented offensive line in some time.
If BYU can run
against this
The key for the
BYU passing game will be the match up of BYU's two offensive tackles, Dallas
Reynolds and David Oswald, against the outside speed rush of Wildcat defensive
ends Louis Holmes and Jonathan Turner.
These match ups
won't show up on any highlight reels or news clips, but they will more than
likely specifically determine the outcome of the contest.
Here's another
one. Look for #62 on BYU's defense. That is Eathyn Manumaluena, the true
freshman nose guard.
He is forced into
play early in his career because of the devastating injury to Russell Tialavea.
If you want to
know how the untested freshman is performing, middle linebacker Kelly Poppinga
will let you know. If Poppinga is making plays around the line of scrimmage,
that means that Manumaluena is doing his job and plugging gaps and eating up
blocks.
If Poppinga is
making most of his tackles downfield, it means that UofA offensive linemen are
getting to the second level and getting a helmet on Poppinga. That will take
him out of the action until he has to make tackles downfield after the Wildcats
have picked up nice yardage.
Recruiting Reality
It is the nature
of football recruiting that fans expect every BYU recruit to see action as a
true freshman because of the talent they exhibited on high school playing
fields.
We all get caught
up in the hype.
It is good for
selling subscriptions and keeping fan interest alive during the off season.
The reality of
recruiting, however, is that very few true freshmen contribute unless they have
freakishly good abilities or freakishly bad depth charts forces them into
action.
Bronco Mendenhall
is hoping that he eventually gets a handle on his depth chart and LDS missions
so he doesn't have to play true freshmen.
BYU's latest recruiting
class is indicative of just how subjective the terms "Can't Miss" and
"Four Star" really are.
If was just a few
months ago that Cougar fans were sure that at least four or five Cougar high
school signees would be starting for BYU this fall. It comes with the fun of
following recruiting, but it isn't reality, at least the way Mendenhall wants
to make it.
Here is the
official signing list of BYU from last February and where they are now. This
will give you a more accurate picture of the talent and time frame from which
the Cougars have to work in recruiting.
Famika
Anae, OL...Will Serve LDS
David
Angilau, DL...Will redshirt this season and be on Scout team
Tyler
Beck, LB...Good enough to make travel and special teams. Is a
player.
Brannon
Brooks, DB...Will redshirt and participate on Scout team.
Braden
Brown, TE...Will Serve LDS
J.J. Di
Luigi, RB...A can't miss, who is missing the year with foot
injury. Even healthy, he would be a spot player this season. Will now redshirt.
Scotty
Ebert, DB...Didn't qualify academically and is now at
Kaneakua
Friel, TE...Will redshirt and see scout team action.
Austen
Jorgensen, LB...Will play this season, but sparingly.
Ryan
Kessman, WR...Was an internet legend, but will now be a
redshirt and scout team participant at BYU.
Star
Lotulelei, DL...Didn't qualify academically.
Levi
Mack, OL...Juco who is now injured and will redsirt.
Devin
Mahina, TE/DE...Will serve LDS mission first.
Eathyn
Manumaleuna, DL...Was just considered a throw in by
recruiting pundits a few months ago, but now is the key guy of the entire class
because he is the only one of the signees that will be a starter. That status
was precipitated by injury, but he would have played this year anyway.
Marcus
Mathews, WR...Serving an LDS mission before enrolling.
Jason
Munns, QB...Big and talented, but will redshirt and qb the
scout team.
Gary
Nagy, DB...Redshirting and on scout team.
Jordan
Pendleton, DB...Is on the depth chart because of rash of
injuries to other safeties.
G
Pittman, DB...Will play because he has shown that he has the
ability to play at this level without redshirting.
Jordan
Smith, WR...Could redshirt, but will dress early in season to
see how receiver injuries shake out. Has some ability because of 6-4 size and
speed.
Steven
Thomas, DB...Should redshirt, but still tentative because of
DB fall camp injuries.
Manaaki
Vaitai, OL...Will redshirt.
Aveni
Leung Wai, LB...Is serving LDS mission first.
Out of the 24
players BYU signed last February, only one will see significant minutes and six
still have a chance to see spot action.
Other scholarship
players that will be redshirting this season include: Matt Reynolds, OL and
Matt Putnam, DL. Walkons also redshirting include: Blake Morgan, Spencer
Wolfley, Steve Fendry and Matt Shirley.
Can't Help But Drool
Despite the
disclaimer that most of recruiting is hype and that at BYU recruiting is a four
year wait because of missions, we still can't help our self.
BYU commit Justin
Sorensen, a kicker extraordinaire, hit field goals from 59 and 51 yards last
week in a battle of the two top high school teams in
Sorensen and
Bingham defeated Alta and star running back Sausan Shakerin 23-20.
Sorensen has a
huge leg. Because he can put the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs, he will
be a huge asset at the next level now that the NCAA has added an additional
five yards to all kickoffs beginning this season. The ball will now be spotted
at the 30-yard line instead of the 35-yard line for kickoffs.
MOUNTAIN
MESS...BIG HAT, NO CATTLE
The Mountain
Network is the perfect drug store cowboy. They are now wearing a big hat extolling
MWC fans to call their satellite companies, but they still have no cattle or
significant cable distribution in place.
The talk and
excuses are big, but without a satellite deal in place, the actual distribution
of the Mtn network is small and limited.
That means,
barring a last-minute surprise, watching BYU football and basketball on TV for
Cougar fans will be the same as it was last year.
You can't watch
the majority of BYU games unless you have access to the Mtn.
TELEVISION
TIMETABLE
BYU vs.
Saturday, Sept. 1 at
Kickoff: 3:30 pm,
Mountain Time
TV: Versus Network
BYU vs.
UCLA
Saturday, Sept. 8 at
Kickoff: 4:30 pm Mountain
Time
TV: Versus Network
BYU vs.
Saturday, Sept. 15 at
Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: CSTV
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