Is our program really slipping?

In addition to having no wins against nationally recognizable opponents, being blown out by our now-BCS rivals, and losing our most recent 5-star QB recruit, this year seems to have amounted in more lost verbals than I have seen under Mendenhall's tenure:



1. Zach Lindsay

2. Bobby Wolford

3. Kolton Donovan



Does all this taken together, in addition to the staffing overhaul last season, mean our football program has some systemic problems? On top of all this, we had some questionable results in our negotiations with potential BCS conference suitors.



I can't help but feel that something is amiss that needs to be fixed in our football program.

Make sure you get that "something is amiss" feeling put down in writing and get it to Bronco A.S.A.P....preferably get it written on some Charmin so at least he can get some use out of it.

Edit: doublepost

cscoug wrote:
I can't help but feel that something is amiss that needs to be fixed in our football program.

Nah, there are a few fans that think the sky is falling, and yes they are amiss, and sure they may need to be "fixed" but I'm not going to do it. I'm not even pre-med.

cscoug,



you must not have been around during the latter part of the Crowton years.



If anything, things are looking up. Nelson looks more than capable to be next years QB. A stable of young QBs in the wings, An OC that is getting better every game, More wins than last year, etc etc etc.



Everyone is going to lose a couple big verbal commits. BYU seems to snag a couple of those as well. Step back a little. It's easier to see the positive.

Zach Lindsay might still be in neverland, but rumors were his grades weren't up to snuff. Given BYU's 77% grad rate and utah's 58% grad rate, not surprising he chose utah.

Kolton chose SUU over BYU, stanford, utah State and Cornell? I'm thinking he doesn't have the grades or perhaps even those offers. that just doesn't add up.

wolford is the only one on the list with an odd decommit. he says it was cultural after giving his "word of honor" but whatever.



This just opens the door for more falsalev/Rich types that BYU loves to turn into stars.

To answer the original poster's question, the answer is yes.



Bronco runs a lot of people off. It could get to a point where the teams academic ranking gets low enough to effect post season play. They were borderline last year, and probably going to be there again this year.

I dont think it is slipping i just think byu is not hte program that we all hope or many of us think it should be.



teams like utah, tcu, and bsu are teams like us who have risen above us while we have been stagnant.



i know i know, 10 win seasons, that is great, i agree, but our record against good teams sucks unlike those teams above.



i love byu and am hopeful that we will continue to rise as a program but this has been a year full of setbacks, despite having a good number of wins.

jonnylingo wrote:
I dont think it is slipping i just think byu is not hte program that we all hope or many of us think it should be.



teams like utah, tcu, and bsu are teams like us who have risen above us while we have been stagnant.



i know i know, 10 win seasons, that is great, i agree, but our record against good teams sucks unlike those teams above.



i love byu and am hopeful that we will continue to rise as a program but this has been a year full of setbacks, despite having a good number of wins.

Do you realize that utah's best win so far this year has been against us? And we didn't lose to any 3 win teams this year either. Oh, I don't think they have passed us. I can almost admit it with Boise state and TCU was probably better then us before the MWC but I think your perspective is a little skewed.

Yeah, when only two of the three decommits that worry you are guys who couldn't make the academic cut, it's probably not a harbinger of doom.....unless you are worried about Bronco overestimating their intelligence.

BYU had a hot finish with one 10-pt loss coming against a slightly better opponent (TCU). Hawaii was a 6-win team and we blew them out at their place in front of 35K fans. We have been good since Nelson took over at the USU game. Sure our schedule is weak, but it's first year as an indy and not much weaker than our MWC slate of UNLV, UNM, Wyoming, CSU, and so on.



A good bowl win will cap this season off nicely. 10-3 is a very good year. Throw out the Utah burp game we're looking at a pretty impressive season.



Are people worried about our perception abroad or just saying crap because our indy schedule is not what we had hoped for? We knew beforehand low-end WAC teams would fill half of the schedule. BYU came to every game and dominated as they should against those teams. I'm not disappointed about any game after USU. My only BYU disappointment in that time period is playing hardball with Big XII and Big East with 3rd tier rights on BYUTV. But at least we are out of the MWC...



How can we be slipping when we showed up for the games on our schedule and followed through with them?

I think you need to step back a bit and look at the big picture. A few years back we were competitive but loosing to weak PAC schools. Now I believe we are a step above that, barely beating weak SEC and PAC schools and barely loosing to Texas on the road. I think we all want the program to be Nationally recognized and relevant similar to Boise but we just aren't there. One area we definitely need to improve on is scheduling. We will never be relevant nationally beating up the Idaho schools (unless it's Boise) and other old WAC leftovers. I'm not saying we have to play all ranked schools. This season would have been better if we had scheduled a couple of lower or mid level BCS schools for the second half of the season. What was Mandel's comment when analyzing our Bowl game, he said something like ESPN was supposed to add exposure to BYU but he didn't see us playing anyone since September. I think part of that is a lot of people turned us off after :utard: and that's understandable but scheduling certainly hasn't helped us in the second half of the year.



Go Cougs!



L Hatton

Louisville, KY

I don't know if our program is slipping, but I do know that BYU football was awful this year. We didn't have a single good win. I was hoping that we would have been much better this year. Hopefully next year is much better, with team chemistry on the upswing, no more QB controversy, etc. I don't know if it will, but since I am an eternal optimist when it comes to BYU football, I always hope each year is great.



BYU's last great football season was 1996, and even then we lost one game. 2001 was great on offense but we were a paper tiger since we had no defense. 2006 should have been undefeated and in a BCS game. We have started 1-2 every season but one under Bronco. His teams peak at the end of they year. If he can fix the start, he could really have something special.



For comparison, if the 2006 team played this years schedule, they would have beaten every team by at least 30 pts. Most by 50+. Ole Miss, Texas, Utah and TCU wouldn't have been close.



Too many people think Utah is in great shape. This year is what Utah will be almost every year in the Pac-12. KWhitt teams usually start well and end well, and suck in the middle. Exactly what he did this year. The difference is that the schedule Utah plays now can't hide that anymore.



Both teams sucked this year. Hopefully BYU is better next year. The potential is sky high.

I think the trends would indicate that either the program is slipping or we already know what the ceiling is. The only team that I think was really BCS worthy by the end of the season was the 2006 squad.



BYU football, as it currently stands, is good to beat teams it should and lose to good teams. In those losses to good teams will come at least one blowout loss that is a complete embarrassment.



I think it is healthy to embrace where we are...a top 50 program, probably somewhere in the mid 40s. The past two years, however, have done little to inspire confidence.

I think the program is on the upswing. Each year we're bringing in more talent and getting more guys back from missions who can actually contribute. I think the future is VERY bright. I don't think we're slipping.



I think we're going to be very good on both sides of the ball next year. I wouldn't be surprsied to see 2011 as the first year of a LONG run (4 to 5 to 6) seasons of 10-plus wins.

frdbtr wrote:

I dont think it is slipping i just think byu is not hte program that we all hope or many of us think it should be.



teams like utah, tcu, and bsu are teams like us who have risen above us while we have been stagnant.



i know i know, 10 win seasons, that is great, i agree, but our record against good teams sucks unlike those teams above.



i love byu and am hopeful that we will continue to rise as a program but this has been a year full of setbacks, despite having a good number of wins.

Do you realize that utah's best win so far this year has been against us? And we didn't lose to any 3 win teams this year either. Oh, I don't think they have passed us. I can almost admit it with Boise state and TCU was probably better then us before the MWC but I think your perspective is a little skewed.

My conclusions are not based upon this year alone. Since 2004 there has been a non aq bcs game up for grabs. utah, hawaii, tcu, and bsu have all made it to that game at least once and some of them have won them more than once. BYU meanwhile with more fans, more money, more resources, and at least as much talent as all these schools has failed to even crack a bcs game.



So maybe we are not slipping, but we are not keeping up the way we should be given who we are. Just my opinion. Now that Utah is in P12 they are in a better position than us. I have to imagine that this will hurt recruiting over time. It hasn't so far but we will see in the future.



I have hope for BYU but I think BYU needs to be in a conference to remain relevant. Either that or win all their games. Given that BYU is unlikely to put together a season with more than 10 wins, I don't see independence paying off like being in a conference would. Just my opinion though.



Our coaches are good, but not elite.

Talent and depth are going way up. We will see it in 2012, and really see it in 2013. The issue will be to get results in the big games with the improved talent. That is what BYU has lacked recently. But the program is on the upward trend. Our roster shows. Hopefully results will follow.