Burned Out

This season has been my least favorites season of BYU Football in over 25 years. Game after game it seems that there is not a single player or play or coaching decision that fans or media have been able to collectively rally around. It has felt like the 1985 UTEP game all season. I think that is horrible. I am not even excited about BYU football at all right now.



I think there are many things that make me feel this way. But, I believe the poor sports fans and the media have a lot to do with the way I feel.



Why not rally around a great play like Nelson to Hoffman on a broken play? Fans and media pick it to death. I am glad that Beck to Harline was not this season. That clearly was a poorly designed, horribly executed play. Someone should have been fired over it (TIC).



It is not about Heaps and Nelson or Doman or anyone individual. It is a team sport. If any single player really makes that much of a difference, it is because not only is his game elevated, but he lifts those around him. Doman did that. So did Bosco. So did Young. I watched all of them play from the stands. None of them were great by themselves, but they made other guys want to work their guts out.



Anyone who does not see A LOT of similarities to RN and Young did not see Young play at BYU. He brought the same butterflies that RN brings when he lobs up the ball while getting sacked. The difference is that Young got carried out on the front lines shoulders, RN just gets picked apart. The same is true for JH.



Everyone, players, media, and fans are so invested in making their opinion fact that everyone attacks everyone. I now know what a Ute fan felt like in the 80's and 90's.



BYU is an awesome program. I did not play for BYU, but I have many friends who did play. I am not the only person burnt out on all of this. Even this board, as well as others, contributes to the negativity that is felt on the team. They read this. They shouldn't, but they do. As fans we have the right to do and say whatever we want, but as BYU fans, we should give more respect to each other. We treat each other like shark bait way to often. On this board, many people get flamed, but it is getting riduculous.



Following this board has been very enjoyable for me the last few years. I admire Hawkwing for making it happen. I admire many of the posters on here like crazy, like spiff, sno, mcgregor, byutx, urroner, lawboy and mars. It has been fun for me to see Stgeorgefan start posting again. I thought he brought great insights on other forums. I hope the foul mood in the room doesn't drive people like that away.



We need to build our team up, not rip them apart. Are they perfect, no. But be careful how you critize, until you have put on the helmet in front of 65k critics and armchair quarterbacks that don't even have enough talent to wear blue to the game, let alone play it. For a couple of thousand $ per year in scholarship money, you don't know what they go through. These men, both Jake and Riley, as well as every other player that comes in w/o any prospect of the NFL play because they love it. I think that deserves some of our respect.

+1,000,000.



It's sad how the internet, talk radio, blogs, twitter, etc. have created a non-stop machine that exists primarily to troll and provoke reactions. There seems to be so many mechanisms in place that exist to prohibit the thoughtful, respectful discussion of sports. The fact that this year is very evidently NOT the worst football season we've had in a while, but feels like it is, testifies to that.

Thanks for the post. You nailed some great posters...There are others too, even if they think I am a raving liberal maniac like Imua and declo and tww..Guys keep it coming! Spiff and Kiwi (what the heck happened to him?) Even Bib's magnus opuses are good to read! I am NOT burned out. This season had plusses and minuses. The biggest plus is I saw more of my Cougars on TV than ever! And I saw some great catches and hits and exciting comebacks and KO and PR touchdowns. Sure we had a few really ugly games and moments but that is where I think we might all be out of whack, or at least some of us--too many of us (including me) have had expectations that are not reasonable and sustainable. We need to quit buying into the hype about this conference invite or that uber starred recruit. more realistic expectations will help...it wo;t cure things like the game with the Utes, but it will simmer down the angst some, yes? Anyways cheers all and merry christmas!

I agree, things are moving smoothly. I think Heaps is saving a lot of fans agony next spring and fall by transferring. Nelson is and should be the guy that leads the team next year. We finally can call this QB "battle" over. Heaps diehards will have to choose whether they are Heaps fans or BYU fans.



Meanwhile BYU is 9-3 and that's all that gets stored in the record book. Heaps leaving? Won't miss him that much with the new talent coming in. Big East and Big XII? Sucks, but we have to move on as fans. Bronco on the hot seat? Only to "fans" who have absolutely no clue. He's more likely to be picked up by a bigger program. No conference championship to play for? We knew that coming in to independence. No BCS title game this year? Yeah, and 120 other teams can say the same thing. It's a real fair system that allows two SEC-West teams to have a rematch. Weak schedule? We all knew how weak it would be before week one. We had 5 games against AQ (TCU is future AQ) opponents to "prove" ourselves and blew 3. Bowl? Winnable game against 8-4 Tulsa.



BTW, we have 6 wins against teams either in AQ conferences or that have 5 wins or more.



SJSU 5-7

USU 7-5

Hawaii 6-7

UCF 5-7

Oregon St. 3-9 + AQ

Ole Miss 2-10 + AQ



Add Tulsa and we have a 7th win against a 8-(5) team. Yeah it's nothing to brag about but it's nothing to gnash one's teeth about either.

Do you guys want to know the real reason BYU fans are so negative this year?



utah 54 BYU 10

Burned out? Maybe that's what I feel. As noted by others, this has been one of the most difficult seasons for me as a Cougar fan. I cite several reasons:



1) Puktah being invited to the PAC10 when it was BYU that overall had merited more so an invitation. For so long we knew we were better as we smoked them overall in conference championships in the MWC and most of the last decade or two in the WAC. Our attendance figures year-after-year made them look like a junior college. There had always seemed to be an element of "BYU envy" on their tongues. That's gone. This issue doesn't change and we are found trying to act like we weren't devastated by such a happening because we have our own TV production facility and channel.



2) Being destroyed by Puktah this season when we literally self-destructed in the worse tasting loss at home that I could have imagined. I honestly don't think there could have been a worse loss. That feeling can be put to bed next year if we could finally reciprocate the beating. Prospect for any games after 2012 appear slim. At least BYU fans can rightfully claim Puktah is afraid of playing us as there is no other reason.



3) Conference realignment. This is the first year of independence and while I do believe it is better to be independent than in the MWC, the realization of how much playing for the conference championship or to be invited to the most prestigious of the bowls associated to that conference (I use the word prestigious very tentatively) is gone and I miss it. It did feel good the year when the Vegas Bowl picked BYU over TCU even though they had a better record. Those were the kind of experiences we had been exposed to many times. We were raised so high as media types who seldom speculate much (Wrubell) even went out on a limb and said it looked like we were going to be invited to the B12. Then TCU of all teams gets the nod over us and we're left in the dark as to what happened with so many unfavorable rumors floating around. I'm not as disappointed in the BE conference ordeal because at least we know now that they wanted us and would have taken us. We pulled a Notre Dame and said, "Thanks, but no thanks."



I think I can handle all the rest of the situations that have affected us fans. I'm disappointed that the JH era ended as it did, but I cite him more to be at fault than anyone, but it does not cast a positive light on the program. Hopefully by the end of next season, Riley Nelson will make us say, "Jake who?"



I'm definitely down, but not yet out for the count. But I feel like I'm holding my breath.

EM_Puma wrote:
Burned out? Maybe that's what I feel. As noted by others, this has been one of the most difficult seasons for me as a Cougar fan. I cite several reasons:



1) Puktah being invited to the PAC10 when it was BYU that overall had merited more so an invitation. For so long we knew we were better as we smoked them overall in conference championships in the MWC and most of the last decade or two in the WAC. Our attendance figures year-after-year made them look like a junior college. There had always seemed to be an element of "BYU envy" on their tongues. That's gone. This issue doesn't change and we are found trying to act like we weren't devastated by such a happening because we have our own TV production facility and channel.



2) Being destroyed by Puktah this season when we literally self-destructed in the worse tasting loss at home that I could have imagined. I honestly don't think there could have been a worse loss. That feeling can be put to bed next year if we could finally reciprocate the beating. Prospect for any games after 2012 appear slim. At least BYU fans can rightfully claim Puktah is afraid of playing us as there is no other reason.



3) Conference realignment. This is the first year of independence and while I do believe it is better to be independent than in the MWC, the realization of how much playing for the conference championship or to be invited to the most prestigious of the bowls associated to that conference (I use the word prestigious very tentatively) is gone and I miss it. It did feel good the year when the Vegas Bowl picked BYU over TCU even though they had a better record. Those were the kind of experiences we had been exposed to many times. We were raised so high as media types who seldom speculate much (Wrubell) even went out on a limb and said it looked like we were going to be invited to the B12. Then TCU of all teams gets the nod over us and we're left in the dark as to what happened with so many unfavorable rumors floating around. I'm not as disappointed in the BE conference ordeal because at least we know now that they wanted us and would have taken us. We pulled a Notre Dame and said, "Thanks, but no thanks."



I think I can handle all the rest of the situations that have affected us fans. I'm disappointed that the JH era ended as it did, but I cite him more to be at fault than anyone, but it does not cast a positive light on the program. Hopefully by the end of next season, Riley Nelson will make us say, "Jake who?"



I'm definitely down, but not yet out for the count. But I feel like I'm holding my breath.

You summed up my feelings pretty well here. Having said that, if the BYU/utah score were reversed in our favor, I have a feeling that fans would have stomached what you outlined above a bit better then we have.

Your least favorite in the last 25 years, teally? You guys need Marty McFly to take you back to the 2002-2003 seasons again. I'll still take 10-54 where the wheels came off yet somehow we were moving the ball and looking promising (followed by another turnover) over 0-3 in the freezing cold. That was the most depressing day ever. Not to mention the loss to a crappy UNLV at home. That's not to say this was the most wonderful year ever, but a little perspective, please.

Sammich wrote:
Your least favorite in the last 25 years, teally? You guys need Marty McFly to take you back to the 2002-2003 seasons again. I'll still take 10-54 where the wheels came off yet somehow we were moving the ball and looking promising (followed by another turnover) over 0-3 in the freezing cold. That was the most depressing day ever. Not to mention the loss to a crappy UNLV at home. That's not to say this was the most wonderful year ever, but a little perspective, please.

I'll take 10-3 over a losing year no matter how supposodly easy our schedule was this year. Having said that, I am only explaining what my perception of the negativity is. I actually feel pretty good about this year. Believe me I wish we had another shot at utah and Texas, I wouldn't mind another shot at TCU again because I have a feeling that we wouldn't give up 28 points to them again on special teams. Unfortunately you can't do that, you have to just stomach what happens. Having lost 54-10 on the 3rd week of the year this year to our most hated rival has simply put a negative cloud over BYU. That is all I am saying.

frdbtr wrote:
Do you guys want to know the real reason BYU fans are so negative this year?



utah 54 BYU 10

Absolute truth has been spoken! This has overshadowed a hell of a lot of good things that have happened in BYU athletics this year. It will take a whole year to cycle out of that one, and only if the Cougs can dominate the :utard: in their own stadium next year.



I don't see Heaps leaving as a bad thing. He just provided me a great teaching opportunity for my 11 year old son.

Dwight wrote:



I don't see Heaps leaving as a bad thing. He just provided me a great teaching opportunity for my 11 year old son.

Got that right! Bam! Mongo like. 8)

Utah in Pac12



Utah beating us down when they suck really really bad



losing to tcu again in their rebuilding year



Losing all three of our "big games".



Quarterback controversy that we thought had died was resurrected again



Two byes and playing horrible horrible teams to end the season while everybody else played in more relevant games tied to their conference championship race.



I think the combination of all of these in one year has been hard to swallow for many.



some bright spots for me have been apo, hoffman, and falslev. Those guys are looking amazing. Also Riley's short and intermediate passes are looking great. On defense it is good to see so many speedy and hard hitting defensive backs.

jonnylingo wrote:
Losing all three of our "big games".

Interesting how before the year, Ole Miss and Hawaii and even UCF were considered big games this year.

Wow...guess I'm...weird because I enjoyed the season. I love sports, college football, BYU football...but there really is more to life than all that.



I think that a lot of fans are experiencing a let down from very very high expectations. I never had anything against Heaps, I wanted him to succeed, but I didn't replace my family portraits with posters of him before he had played a college snap either. Going into this season I thought we had great potential to go unbeaten, but I didn't consider it a done deal and then go into depression when it didn't happen.



But it has not been that bad of a season. I enjoyed watching BYU football players. I focused on having fun watching them play and didn't let myself get caught in all of the drama, which there certainly has been a lot of this season.



BYU started the season at #30 in my preseason rankings (compiled from Lindy's, Athlong, Rivals, Phil Steel, and Massey) and is now at #33 going into the bowl season. So, no we did not end up top ten in a BCS bowl, but #33 is not bad at all.



Yes, Utah blasted us, but they started at #37 and are at #63 now. Who's had the worse season?

EM_Puma wrote:
Burned out? Maybe that's what I feel. As noted by others, this has been one of the most difficult seasons for me as a Cougar fan. I cite several reasons:



1) Puktah being invited to the PAC10 when it was BYU that overall had merited more so an invitation. . . .



2) Being destroyed by Puktah this season when we literally self-destructed in the worse tasting loss at home that I could have imagined. . . .



3) Conference realignment. . . .



I'm disappointed that the JH era ended as it did, but I cite him more to be at fault than anyone, but it does not cast a positive light on the program.

Sorry to truncate your post, but I think you have crystallized the core issues that have caused negativity on this board all season. Most seasons bring one or two major "adversity" issues, but this year the adversity has been pretty constant.



With all that said, although I have been pained and frustrated along with everyone else, it has largely been overshadowed by my excitement to see the Cougars play every game on TV, and to get to be at the TCU game in Jerry's monstrosity. I'm only in my mid-30's, so I don't have the long memory of some on this board, but I can't ever remember a year that I was able to see every game. Even when I was attending BYU, it seemed like there was always a game somewhere that wasn't televised. I remember a lot of years where all I could do all season long was listen to KSL over the internet or follow a game tracker. Independence isn't a perfect solution, but as someone who lives east of the rockies, I am thrilled to be able to watch the team play, win or lose.



And although there were some really ugly moments, I have seen a lot of growth this year. Hoffman has made huge strides, and really so has Apo coming off his season-ending injury from last year, and then having to come back from the early season concussions. Van Noy keeps getting better and better. I was really skeptical about Riley when he was backing up Max Hall, but his progress has been really unbelievable to me. From what I have seen, despite being burned for some big plays, our secondary is the deepest and most athletic I can remember (I was on my mission in 96 and 97). I have seen flashes of brilliance from every unit at some point this season.



Honestly, from a purely football perspective I have really enjoyed this season, apart from the Utah game. But throwing out that outlier, as painful as it was, we took Texas down to the wire in their place. I know that they aren't world-beaters this year, but they are young and talented and Darrell K. Royal Stadium isn't an easy place to play. We faced down the possibility of losing two consecutive games to USU for the first time in like 40 or 50 years, and we came back from a two score deficit. That has been a knock on the Cougs, in recent years, that the couldn't come back from deficits, but they did. They did the same thing at TCU, although the totally inexplicable melt-down of the kicking game and some key poor calls by the officials put them in too deep a hole to dig out before time expired. I got the feeling sitting there in the stands that if we had one more quarter, we would have won that game. The team didn't roll over, they kept fighting to the end.



Overall, it has been an exhausting season because of all of the distractions and adversity off the field, but I am really proud of all of the players and coaches who have gotten back up when they got knocked down, who have dug a little deeper and tried a little harder in the face of adversity. I appreciate all their efforts. I appreciate the good people that they are. I appreciate that we are down because of the transfer of a good player who we care about (whether some of us admit it or not, if we didn't truly care about him there wouldn't be any response to his decison) or the loss of a rivalry game, and not because one of our assistant coaches is an alleged child molester, or some other large scandal.



I'm still proud to be a BYU fan. I'm proud of what the school stands for. It isn't a perfect institution, and it's full of imperfect people, but it is a good institution, full of good people who are striving to do better on all levels. I'm grateful for BYU. I'm dyed in the wool, true blue, through and through. Maybe my goggles are a little too tinted, but I think the future is bright. Like I said earlier, I'm not the oldest guy on this board, but I've seen enough dreary, cold winters yield to spring and enough adversity overcome to have great confidence that things will continue to get better.



Go Cougs!!! :crazy: 8) :love:

It took so long for me to write my post, that several posters posted similar thoughts before I finished. I think we are turning a corner on the negativity about the season because we are starting to understand what has caused it. I know we all want to be done with the negativity, and inside we all believe things will get better, or we would have moved on to another team and another fan site. Cheers Cougar fans! Here's to a bright future!

jonnylingo wrote:
some bright spots for me have been apo, hoffman, and falslev. Those guys are looking amazing. Also Riley's short and intermediate passes are looking great. On defense it is good to see so many speedy and hard hitting defensive backs.

KVN has been big too. I can hardly remember enjoying a defensive player like him. To think he's only a sophmore this season. I just hope we get him more than just next season.

jonnylingo wrote:
Utah in Pac12



Utah beating us down when they suck really really bad



losing to tcu again in their rebuilding year



Losing all three of our "big games".



Quarterback controversy that we thought had died was resurrected again



Two byes and playing horrible horrible teams to end the season while everybody else played in more relevant games tied to their conference championship race.



I think the combination of all of these in one year has been hard to swallow for many.



some bright spots for me have been apo, hoffman, and falslev. Those guys are looking amazing. Also Riley's short and intermediate passes are looking great. On defense it is good to see so many speedy and hard hitting defensive backs.

You're forgetting the Big 12 and Big lEast realignment roller coasters.

I think that a lot of great points have been made in this thread. But, I personally have never felt so "blah" about BYU football.



The closest thing to that would be maybe the rape stuff during the Crowton years.



Even when we were getting beat up and John Beck would cry his eyes out on the post game show, I loved to follow BYU. I looked forward to gameday. I loved the team.



Even when Larry King's nephew could give a perfect TV interview but had less field visibility than Stevie Wonder, I loved to follow BYU. I looked forward to gameday. I loved the team.



Even when my favorite coach to hate of all time, Metro Meyer, beat us 3-0 and took away the longest scoring streak in the history of the world, I loved to follow BYU. I looked forward to gameday. I loved the team.



I think there have been many great things this season. I agree at the end of the season, the only thing that will be remembered by most people is 10-3. But, the lack of loyality of the fans, media and players to BYU football and its legacy is what I will remember.



I love Bronco. I love the way he generally manages the program. There is a lot I don't agree with, but I agree with 99.9% of his philosophy.



Unfortunately, I think to many people in the media, they feel the same way about Gordon Monson.