HB Arnett’s
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West 800 South –
Vol. 33,
Issue 6 – September 10, 2012
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WEBER, WAGER, WHITE and WAVING THE
WAND
Let’s start with BYU’s 45-13 win over
The game itself didn’t show Utah jack squat, let those who spend
most of their time squatting on the BYU sideline as reserves some much deserved
playing time and was good enough to earn the Cougars a Top 25 ranking.
At 2-0, BYU is ranked No. 25 by the AP going into the game at
Now comes the hard part. It deals with John White.
BYU will need to contain the
From what we have seen of
Bronco Mendenhall and his defense pride themselves on stopping the run.
This is one time when pride will have to match production. If White
doesn’t go wild, BYU wins.
BYU has put up some really good offensive numbers in their first two
games of the season. They just haven’t look spectacular and sharp in
doing it.
We call that the waving of the magic wand wielded by Riley Nelson.
He has looked ordinary so far this season. He has thrown several almost
picks and seems a step slow in his scrambling. That said, the numbers are still
there. So is the yardage and wins.
Magic Happens. So said Austin Collie and Nelson seems to be
perpetuating that Cougar carpet ride.
We don’t expect the numbers to be good offensively against
But we still see a win.
That’s because Bronco Mendenhall has proven that he actually is a
very, very good defensive coordinator.
If BYU doesn’t turn the ball over, this game isn’t that
hard to figure out.
We are aware of the history and rivalry of the game. We have zero
doubts that
I call it BYU 24 Utah 17.
NAMES AND GAMES
Hill for Heisman?...Whoa,
hold your horses. It’s way too early to start that kind of talk. So far,
after two games, all we have seen are the previews of the Taysom Hill movie.
The previews do look good, however. The freshman transfer from Stanford has
carried the ball 8 times and thrown it four. That’s 12 touches which have
resulted in 3 touchdowns.
I hate to continue to pimp the previews, but going back to last year,
even before he set foot on campus, we called him “Riley Nelson on
steroids”. Hill is bigger, stronger, faster, and has a better arm. A Jake
Locker clone was another description we used in describing Hill.
That said, Riley currently still has the better resume, but Hill is
oozing with hints of big time talent. Forget any future Heisman talk. It is all
about health. If Hill can stay injury free, you don’t have to be an NFL
scout to see that he could end up being something really special at BYU.
BYU can thank Stanford’s football enrollment policy for sending
him the Cougars’ way. Hill had signed with Stanford out of
According to Hill and other reports, he learned while serving his LDS mission, that Stanford does not allow incoming freshmen to join the team until June each year.
"Stanford wanted me to come home four or five months early from my mission, and be home for last football season and I didn’t want to do that. So they said I could come home when I did, but would be at home for four or five months before I could get into school. I didn’t want to do either of those options."
According to Hill, he was unaware of the Stanford
policy on early enrollees when he signed with the Cardinal in 2009. When made
aware of it while on his mission, he and his father initiated contact with BYU
to look for other options. He returned home form
BYU had recruited Hill in high school, so he knew about the Cougar program. “BYU was definitely there and so BYU was available and I did the things necessary in the mission field without taking away from my responsibilities as a missionary. I did those and found out that BYU was where I needed to be, and it has been confirmed ever since I have been here.”
There is a little irony in Hill signing with Stanford, serving an LDS
mission and ending up at BYU. A few years before, his older brother, Jordan
Hill, signed with the Cougars, served an LDS mission and upon returning chose
to enroll at
Offensive Line Getting a Bad Rap…BYU’s
offensive line is not that bad, despite all the early season criticism from
Cougar fans.
Despite the fact that the Cougars have rushed the ball for 348 yards in
two games and are averaging a very good 4.5 yards per rushing attempt, the
perceived impression among fans is that BYU’s offensive front is
struggling in run blocking.
To some extent, I agree. Whether they were fat last year or leaner this
year, BYU isn’t known as a big time offensive line.
But, they aren’t that bad. What they do lack, however, is an
intuitive tailback.
If you watch enough football at the college elite level and on the NFL
stage, it won’t take long to realize that gaping holes are seldom
generated by any offensive lines when they are lined up against decent
defensive fronts and defensive coaches with good schemes.
BYU’s offensive line isn’t generating gaping holes that
fans seem to think are necessary for a productive run game.
Gaping holes, at any level of football, are few and far between, unless
there is a total and glaring mismatch in physical ability between teams.
Pay attention to the line play at the NFL level and at the college
level and you will see that what is generated by good offensive lines are
creases and crevices instead of chasms and canyons for running backs to run
through.
Good offensive lines are made better when they have running backs that
intuitively and instinctively see those creases and have the physical quickness
and first step to get to and through those small openings.
BYU has good running backs, but most of them are not intuitive and
instinctive runners. They use power, hard work and grit to gain yardage, but
they are not physically tooled to see a crease and get to it and through it.
I hate to use BYU’s opponent for this week as an example, but it
is exactly what I am talking about. The Utes do not have an overpowering
offensive line this season and they didn’t have one last year. What they
did and do have is a back that can see the crease, get to it and then through
it. That would be John White III.
Watch him, he doesn’t need big gaping holes to run through to
gain yards. He is a crease and crevice runner that consistently gets 4 or more
yards a carry and then occasionally breaks loose for a big gain or touchdown.
Can BYU’s offensive line be better in the run game? Absolutely,
but the biggest improvement would come with the addition of a back that sees a
crease, gets to it and then through it.
Unfortunately, most of those instinctive and intuitive backs are at the
big BCS schools and in the NFL.
The good news is that BYU may have a back like that in Jamaal Williams.
He won’t play much until later this season, but there is a reason that he
is already averaging 5.2 yards per carry in mop up action. Go back and watch
his carries and see if you see gaping holes that he is running through.
BYU may also have another instinctive runner on the roster, but coaches
won’t risk him as a tailback. That would be Taysom Hill. His value is too
high for the long term, but you can see that he could be a very good crease and
cut type of back.
To make sure you understand that I am not downplaying the talent and
significance of guys like Mike Alisa and David Foote, they are legitimate
Division I backs. They fit the BYU running back historical mold. They will help
the Cougars get a lot of wins this season.
They just aren’t crease and crevice runners that will help the
offensive line shed the unwarranted rap of not being good run blockers.
It’s a Woman’s World…At
least it was last week for the women of BYU’s athletic teams.
It was a good week for the No. 24 ranked BYU women’s soccer team.
They trounced
The victory came in
BYU is currently 6-1 on the year. The lone loss was to
In women’s volleyball, BYU is still undefeated after hosting
their own Nike Classic last week.
The Lady Cougars defeated
In women’s cross country, here is BYU’s latest release
detailing the women’s first meet and win of the year.
“This was just a fun meet to be apart of,” head coach Patrick Shane said. “Our freshman led our team, and we all saw a glimpse of what we have the potential to become. Going into this race, we set a goal to have all 13 of our runners in the top 20, and we ended up accomplishing that goal.”
Warner finished first for BYU and second overall crossing the line in 14 minutes 44 seconds. Teammate Danica Wyson finished just two seconds later to finish second for BYU and third overall (14:46). Rachel Stewart finished third for BYU and fifth overall (14:54), while teammate Laura Young finished fourth for BYU and sixth overall, one second behind Stewart (14:55).
To close
out the Cougars’ top five, Makenna Smith came in at 14:59 to finish
eighth overall. BYU finished with a total of 24 points, 14 points ahead of the
Last Week’s review and results…Here
is a look at a review and results from BYU’s football opponents and some
results from some of BYU’s current crop of football commits.
Last Week’s highlights from BYU football commits for 2013
Trajan Pili, Centennial HS,
Michael Davis, Glendale HS, Ca., had 6 catches for 2 touchdowns and 127
yards
Billy Green, King’s HS, WA, Threw for 419 yards in first game,
now has 6 td passes
Talon Shumway, Lone Peak HS, Had 6 catches for 73 yards and 2 tds
Nathan DeBeikes,
Fluff and Stuff
Last week we detailed the recruiting visit of Luke Worthington to BYU.
He has since given Dave Rose a verbal commit to play for the Cougars. He is
6-9, 230 pounds from Homestead HS in
Television Timetable
BYU vs.
Saturday, Sep 15 at
Kickoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time
TV: ESPN2
BYU vs.
Thursday, Sep 20 at
Kickoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time
TV: ESPN
BYU vs.
Friday, Sep 28 at
Kickoff: 6:00 pm Mountain Time
TV: ESPN
BYU vs.
Friday, Oct 5 at
Kickoff: 8:15 pm Mountain Time
TV: ESPN
BYU vs.
Saturday, Oct 13 at
Kickoff: TBA
TV: TBA