HB Arnett’s

HB Arnett’s

801 372 - 0819

1391 West 800 South – Orem, Utah 84058

Vol. 33, Issue 4 – August 25, 2012

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WHAT ABOUT MITT, BOB, BRONCO AND BYU?

I have made up my mind.

I am voting for Mitt Romney. Not because he is LDS, Republican, has political views that closely parallel mine or might be able to keep this country from becoming the next Greece or Spain.

I am voting for him because he has a summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.

So did Dr. Leo Marvin. That sealed the deal for me.

In case you forgot or haven’t seen the movie, What About Bob? is a film that was released in 1991 and details and delights with the relationship between Marvin, a psychiatrist played by Richard Dreyfuss and his patient Bob Wiley played by Bill Murray.

It is one of the top-five funniest movies I have ever seen. If you haven’t, check it out on Netflix, DVD or some other medium. I’m surprised Romney isn’t distributing the movie to the masses during this campaign. Lake Winnipesaukee certainly got my vote.

Romney was making headlines and news a few weeks back at his summer home at Winnipesauke. While he was prepping, polling and planning for the final stages of his campaign and convention, all I could think about was What About Bob?

That’s when I decided to take my summer tent to Utah Lake and contemplate the question: “What About Bronco and BYU?”

To an outside observer, I was simply casting for carp and catfish, but in my mind I was contemplating Cougar football as the season, just like the convention, both get under way this coming week.

What about BYU? How many (Win)nipesauke(s) will Bronco Mendenhall and BYU have this season?

Will Utah be to BYU what Bob Wiley was to Leo Marvin; A never ending nightmare?

I make no recommendations on how you should vote in November, but I highly recommend What About Bob? any month of the year. I also recommend BYU as a sleeper pick to make some national noise this season in football.

When it comes to analyzing Bob Wiley or BYU, I’m not a psychiatrist like Dr. Marvin. But, remember, I did stay in a tent at Utah Lake located just 4.7 miles from a Holiday Inn.

Consequently, What About BYU?

Based on fall camp, chemistry and the chutzpa and charisma of Riley Nelson, here is my latest Dr. Leo Marvin patient and profile analysis for the coming season.

Let’s start with wins.

BYU will not go undefeated and they will not be going to a BCS bowl. The two go hand in hand. The Cougars would have to be undefeated to even be considered as a party crasher to the Big Boy Cash Club.

They will, however win at least 10 games. I am not claiming any prescience in my picks of wins and losses, just a little schedule surfing. There are six guaranteed wins with Weber State, Hawaii, Utah State, Idaho, San Jose State and New Mexico State. All are clearly games that are Winnipesauke winnable.

The big waves and wonders of the schedule surfing include Washington State, Utah, Boise State, Oregon State, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.

I like the Cougars at Utah, simply because nobody else does. It doesn’t hurt, however, that this is probably the best BYU team in the last decade. While I’m at it, I call for the Pac 12 hat trick for BYU with the Cougars also beating Washington State in the season opener and Oregon State in October.

Speaking of movies, here are some more: Betty Blue, Blue Velvet, Blue Thunder, The Big Blue, The Blue Lagoon, Blue City, My Blue Heaven, Dark Blue World and Baby Blue Marine.

I haven’t seen any of them, but I have seen enough Boise State football to know that they are almost invincible and unbeatable on their less than cinematic carpet and even without Kellen Moore returning at quarterback this season.

Chalk this one up as a loss.

I have no idea how the two games with Notre Dame and Georgia Tech will play out on the road. I just know that BYU will win one and lose one. In which order it will happen, who knows? BYU will be 1-1 in this consecutive week’s doubleheader.

So what if I’m wrong and the Cougars sweep the Fighting Irish and Yellow Jackets and finish at 11-1?

It will be fitting that Boise will be the only bump in the road. It was Boise with an 11-1 record last season that was shut out of any consideration for a BCS bowl appearance.

Ditto for BYU. All 11-1 will get the Cougars is ecstasy on behalf of the Poinsettia Bowl committee.

The Cougars are currently locked into a spot in the San Diego based bowl game set for Thursday, December 20 against the second pick from the Mountain West Conference. Anything less than an undefeated season and that is where and against whom BYU will be playing in the post season.

In case you missed it, let me translate into English what I am saying. Basically I am calling for a 12-1 season, including a bowl game win and barring any unforeseen shoes being thrown onto the BYU track.

That’s a reference to Danica Patrick, the now Nascar driver. She was on track to win the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal a week ago when a fan threw a shoe onto the track and Patrick ran over it with her car. She subsequently had mechanical problems and finished 27th in the race.

What are the Shoes that Could Derail BYU?

They range from fluffy slippers and stinky sneakers all the way up to full-blown combat boots.

Nobody wants the combat boot option. BYU can probably survive an early season-ending injury to any player on the team…except for Riley Nelson.

If Nelson can’t play, all bets are off. We want a recall and recant on our 12-1 prediction. Without Nelson, 8-4 would be fabulous, but 7-5 more realistic. Yes, he is that big of a cog in the Cougars having a magical season.

The fluffy slippers, in my opinion, are still an unproven running game and a tight end spot that is mediocre until proven otherwise. You don’t notice stinky sneakers until you get close enough to smell them. You won’t notice them in a BYU football game until the Cougars get close to a win and need a field goal to close the deal. Again, until proven otherwise, the BYU kicking game is not yet prime time.

Map, Marquee and Movie Stars

When it comes to movie stars and celebrities named Kelly, Kelly Preston and Kelly Ripa come to mind. For us old timers, Grace Kelly was aptly named.

But when it comes to putting BYU’s defense on the map, marquee and bulletin boards of opposing teams the Cougars will face this season, we will go with Kelly Poppinga, BYU’s outside linebacker coach.

"We have more playmakers on the field than we've had in the seven, eight years Coach Mendenhall has been here,'' Poppinga said in several articles talking about the BYU defense that have been published nationally.

Most of you won’t even know who Dizzy Dean was. Just like Lake Winnipesauke conjures up memories of Leo Marvin and Bob Wiley, Dizzy Dean conjures up memories of Falstaff beer and the MLB national baseball game of the week broadcasts. Falstaff was the primary sponsor of those games.

Pee Wee Reese was the announcer and Dean was the color analyst for the games. He was outspoken and inarticulate, but funny. The only thing I can remember him saying, however, was the following quote: “It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it.” He was referring to his short-lived stint as a right-handed pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a phenom until an arm injury curtailed his mercurial career.

We are banking on Poppinga’s braggin’ being spot on. We actually agree and think this defensive unit can actually “do it”.

You may need to let Poppinga’s comments sink in. In Bronco’s tenure as head coach and assistant head coach, he has had such defensive playmakers as Bryan Kehl, David Nixon and Brady Poppinga, all playmakers that made plays all the way to NFL rosters.

Poppinga is saying that what the BYU defense will put on the field this season is better than those guys. “It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it”. He is talking about mainly the linebackers who will be the defensive playmakers. We know about Kyle Van Noy. Here are some other names to notch for watch. Manoa Pikula, Alani Fua and Bronson Kaufusi.

In the defensive backfield, Joe Sampson and Jordan Johnson are the two most likely playmakers BYU will be counting on.

We will see if it is braggin’ or bull in less than a week when this defensive unit lines up against Washington State.

Defensively, BYU had better be good because Mike Leach, the new WSU head coach and offensive guru, also can back up his braggin’.

Here are some excerpts from what Wikipedia has to say about the Wazzu coach:

Mike Leach

The Leach-coached Red Raiders' best finishes came with their nine-win seasons in 2002, 2005, and 2007 and an 11-win season in 2008. In 2002, Tech swept its in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M for the first time since 1997 and then defeated Clemson, 55–15, in the Tangerine Bowl. It was the Red Raiders' first postseason win since 1995 when they beat the Air Force Falcons in the Copper Bowl. In 2005, the Red Raiders opened their season with a 6–0 record, their best start since 1998, and defeated Oklahoma for the first time under Leach. Leach built a strong passing offense at Tech, where the Red Raiders led the NCAA in passing yardage for four years in a row.

Under Mike Leach, Texas Tech was known for its high-scoring offense and come-from-behind victories. A 70–35 win over TCU in 2004 began with TCU leading 21–0 with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. Before Tech's scoring drives started, a TCU defensive back was caught mouthing into a TV camera, "They aren't going to score." Later in the season, Texas Tech beat Nebraska, 70–10, forcing the Cornhuskers to give up more points in a single game than they had before in their 114-year history. In 2005, the Red Raiders were losing to Kansas State, 13–10, late in the second quarter but won the game 59–20. Also in 2005, Tech had a halftime lead of 14–10 over Texas A&M. By the end of the game, they increased the margin to 56–17. It was the Aggies' worst loss to the Red Raiders in the 64-year-old series.

Leach also coached the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A bowl game history in the 2006 Insight Bowl versus the University of Minnesota. With Texas Tech trailing 38–7 in the third quarter, the Red Raiders overcame this 31 point deficit and beat the Golden Gophers 44–41 in overtime, topping BYU's 28 point comeback against SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl. In addition, Leach won the 2008 Gator Bowl 31-28 after trailing 28–14 with 3:39 remaining.

Leach can light up a scoreboard. His record and teams have proven that. This Thursday night game should be decided by the club that has the best defense. I have already stated my belief in this BYU defense.

Now we will see if it’s braggin’ or bull. I call it BYU 37 WSU 24.

FLUFF AND STUFF

BYU is trying to get out ahead of the recruiting curve and has offered Sione Palelei a scholarship. He will be a junior this fall at East Ascension HS in Gonzales, Louisiana.

Here is some info posted on him from the website Hail Florida Hail (www.hailfloridahail.com).

2014 running back Sione Palelei is on the Florida Gators radar, and the explosive Utah native currently holds two offers from Utah and BYU. Both schools have been showing heavy interest in East Ascension all-purpose back (Gonzales, Louisiana).

Palelei is a recruit with interest from some other major SEC programs, including, most notably, LSU and Alabama. He camped with the Tigers in early June and attended a camp with the Crimson Tide on the 15th of July. Ole Miss is also interested in Palelei.

BYU has always shown heavy interest in Sione Palelei, so it was no surprise that the Cougars offered the talented running back yesterday. He runs a 4.35 forty, which is a number I did a double take at when I first saw it. USC, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Running Back U (Oregon) have also shown interest in him.

Here is another story on a BYU football recruit, Michael Davis, BYU’s poor man’s version of Usain Bolt. You can read it here.

Last week we told you that Jabari Parker was on BYU’s campus for a one day look see. According to some rumblings, he will be back again this week for another unofficial visit. It is in conjunction with the Parker family’s annual vacation trip west to visit relatives.

Parker made an unofficial visit to Stanford last week after his brief stay at BYU. We can’t get any confirmation on Parker at BYU again, but we are still sniffing.

The BYU women’s soccer team is currently 2-1 on the year with all three games on the road. They beat the Anteaters of UC Irvine 3-2 in overtime, whipped the Wildcats of Arizona in Tucson 1-0 and lost to Utah Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City 1-0.

Television Timetable

BYU vs. Washington State

Thursday, Aug 30 at Provo

Kickoff: 8:15 pm Mountain Time

TV: ESPN

BYU vs. Weber State

Saturday, Sep 8 at Provo

Kickoff: 1:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Utah

Saturday, Sep 15 at Salt Lake

Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: ESPN2

BYU vs. Boise State

Thursday, Sep 20 at Boise

Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: ESPN