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scott715The 2011 season turned out to be quite a roller coaster, as Jake Heaps entered the season as an entrenched starter, but struggled more and more as the year wore on. Enter Riley Nelson, and the Cougars managed a ten-win but turbulent season behind the once-again-split leadership. Now Heaps has transferred, and Nelson finally gets his chance as a senior to have the team all to himself, as the Cougars embark on their second year as an independent. The coming season features a more challenging schedule, particularly on the road, so the Cougs have their work cut out for them.
When considering players who would have started all season but were injured along the way and players who started at least six games, BYU has 13 full-year starters coming back in 2012. There are 6 returning starters on offense, while 7 starters return on defense, along with 8 other players who also started at least one game at some point during the 2011 season. There are also 2 return missionaries back who were multi-year starters prior to leaving.
Linebackers:
The 2011 season was a strong one for the linebackers, with a number of capable seniors, now graduated, leading the way. Jordan Pendleton returned to form prior to suffering yet another season ending injury, while Jadon Wagner and Jameson Frazier provided great depth and consistent play at the will linebacker spot. In spite of these losses, the 2012 linebacker corps features a large number of returning players with lots of time under their belts. And of course, the linebackers have arguably BYU's best player at any position in junior superstar Kyle Van Noy.
Personnel:
Three full year starters return for BYU at linebacker, in the form of Uona Kaveinga, Brandon Ogletree, and Kyle Van Noy. Redshirt senior Kaveinga totaled 57 tackles, with 4.5 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass breakup. A true senior, Ogletree started 12 games last year, and led the team with 76 tackles, including 4 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 forced fumbles. True junior Van Noy recorded 68 tackles, including 15 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 3 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 touchdown. Obviously, Van Noy is a defensive machine.
Other linebackers that return with playing experience include Spencer Hadley, Austen Jorgensen, Zac Stout, Alani Fua, Tyler Beck, Ezekiel Ansah, Seth Probert, and Connell Hess. Hadley, a true junior, played in every game and registered 45 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1 interception. The senior Jorgensen played in 9 games last year before a season ending injury, and had 7 tackles on the year. Stout is now a redshirt sophomore, who redshirted due to injury last year after significant minutes in 2010. Fua is a redshirt sophomore who played in 8 games last year, with 6 tackles and 2 sacks. Beck, a redshirt junior, played in 9 games, notching 9 tackles. Ansah is a true senior who played in 12 games in 2012, with 7 tackles. Probert, a true sophomore, played in 1 game last year with 1 tackle. Hess, a senior, played in a single game last year but did not record a statistic.
Linebackers who have been on the team but without playing time are redshirt freshmen Tanner Cox, Kevan Bills, Teu Kautai, Lene Lesatele and Manoa Pikula, who each redshirted a year ago; redshirt sophomore Matt Shirley; redshirt junior transfer from Oregon State Uani Unga, who redshirted in 2011;
Newcomers at linebacker are freshmen walk-ons Creed Richardson and Sean Dyhre, sophomore walk-on Riley Bushman, and scholarship incoming freshman Butch Pauu.
Projected Starters:
Despite losing three major players at linebacker, BYU is in great shape moving forward, as the linebacker unit should be one of the strongest on the team. Kyle Van Noy had a monster sophomore season and is poised only to improve as a junior. It goes without saying that he will be the starter at will linebacker. Similarly, Kaveinga is set to appear again as the Cougar mike linebacker, and Ogletree reprises his role as the buck linebacker. That leaves only one position to be filled, the sam linebacker. The 2012 spring prospectus lists Spencer Hadley in that spot, and his statistical performance clearly warrants it.
Backups listed in the prospectus are Alani Fua at sam, Zac Stout at mike, Tyler Beck at Buck, and Ziggy Ansah at will. Those players will be the main contributors, but Austen Jorgensen should see significant time, too.
Outlook:
Like the defensive backs, there's not much to hate about the linebackers going into the 2012 season. Three very strong starters back, and the Cougars add a new starter who put up big numbers as a backup a year ago, with four talented up and comers serving in backup roles. With a year in the books as starters, the linebackers ought to be among the strengths of the team. Cougar fans can expect a strong performance from the linebacker position this year, featuring one of the greatest linebackers in the country.
You can read Part 1, Defensive Backs, here:http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=8714262 " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
When considering players who would have started all season but were injured along the way and players who started at least six games, BYU has 13 full-year starters coming back in 2012. There are 6 returning starters on offense, while 7 starters return on defense, along with 8 other players who also started at least one game at some point during the 2011 season. There are also 2 return missionaries back who were multi-year starters prior to leaving.
Linebackers:
The 2011 season was a strong one for the linebackers, with a number of capable seniors, now graduated, leading the way. Jordan Pendleton returned to form prior to suffering yet another season ending injury, while Jadon Wagner and Jameson Frazier provided great depth and consistent play at the will linebacker spot. In spite of these losses, the 2012 linebacker corps features a large number of returning players with lots of time under their belts. And of course, the linebackers have arguably BYU's best player at any position in junior superstar Kyle Van Noy.
Personnel:
Three full year starters return for BYU at linebacker, in the form of Uona Kaveinga, Brandon Ogletree, and Kyle Van Noy. Redshirt senior Kaveinga totaled 57 tackles, with 4.5 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass breakup. A true senior, Ogletree started 12 games last year, and led the team with 76 tackles, including 4 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 forced fumbles. True junior Van Noy recorded 68 tackles, including 15 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 3 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 touchdown. Obviously, Van Noy is a defensive machine.
Other linebackers that return with playing experience include Spencer Hadley, Austen Jorgensen, Zac Stout, Alani Fua, Tyler Beck, Ezekiel Ansah, Seth Probert, and Connell Hess. Hadley, a true junior, played in every game and registered 45 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1 interception. The senior Jorgensen played in 9 games last year before a season ending injury, and had 7 tackles on the year. Stout is now a redshirt sophomore, who redshirted due to injury last year after significant minutes in 2010. Fua is a redshirt sophomore who played in 8 games last year, with 6 tackles and 2 sacks. Beck, a redshirt junior, played in 9 games, notching 9 tackles. Ansah is a true senior who played in 12 games in 2012, with 7 tackles. Probert, a true sophomore, played in 1 game last year with 1 tackle. Hess, a senior, played in a single game last year but did not record a statistic.
Linebackers who have been on the team but without playing time are redshirt freshmen Tanner Cox, Kevan Bills, Teu Kautai, Lene Lesatele and Manoa Pikula, who each redshirted a year ago; redshirt sophomore Matt Shirley; redshirt junior transfer from Oregon State Uani Unga, who redshirted in 2011;
Newcomers at linebacker are freshmen walk-ons Creed Richardson and Sean Dyhre, sophomore walk-on Riley Bushman, and scholarship incoming freshman Butch Pauu.
Projected Starters:
Despite losing three major players at linebacker, BYU is in great shape moving forward, as the linebacker unit should be one of the strongest on the team. Kyle Van Noy had a monster sophomore season and is poised only to improve as a junior. It goes without saying that he will be the starter at will linebacker. Similarly, Kaveinga is set to appear again as the Cougar mike linebacker, and Ogletree reprises his role as the buck linebacker. That leaves only one position to be filled, the sam linebacker. The 2012 spring prospectus lists Spencer Hadley in that spot, and his statistical performance clearly warrants it.
Backups listed in the prospectus are Alani Fua at sam, Zac Stout at mike, Tyler Beck at Buck, and Ziggy Ansah at will. Those players will be the main contributors, but Austen Jorgensen should see significant time, too.
Outlook:
Like the defensive backs, there's not much to hate about the linebackers going into the 2012 season. Three very strong starters back, and the Cougars add a new starter who put up big numbers as a backup a year ago, with four talented up and comers serving in backup roles. With a year in the books as starters, the linebackers ought to be among the strengths of the team. Cougar fans can expect a strong performance from the linebacker position this year, featuring one of the greatest linebackers in the country.
You can read Part 1, Defensive Backs, here: