Optimism

Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

For me, it's simple. It is the start of another year of BYU football. Maybe it's the blue goggles, but, I see 12 winnable games ahead of us. It's exciting to see what they do. If they loose in week one, I still see week 2 as winnable, etc. I have confidence that they will win more than they lose and go and be competitive in a bowl game once again. I hope for something very special and until they lose, I can continue to look forward to something very special with optimism. When/if they lose, I maintain the confidence, it is better to be a cougar than an aggie or even worse a :sick: :utard:

Try thinking positive, it's not hard, after all, you're a cougar.

The D won't be as good as last year but should still be very good. QB will be better. Hill was off a mission last year and he got/gets a lot of reps. OL will be better with better coaching and new guys coming in. I think RB will be better as Williams is older, stronger and more experienced. WR/TE about the same maybe better depth.



So O is better maybe much better. Good D. Punting is down but Place kicking can't get worst and may be much better if Sorenson is healthy and get confidence.

northerncougar wrote:
Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

I'm not sure how Taysom Hill will "essentially" be playing for the first time, unless we agree that in this case the word "essentially" is just a longer way of saying "not" I'm not sure how a running back coach needs to have "D1" ("coaching" I presume) experience for us to have a chance to win, and although I was not excited for Anae and his four runs up the middle from the I formation on years past, I have been told by those who know that he is an upgrade to the train wreck that we had last year.



By the way, if the coaches need to "say something " to the team to get excited to play Utah, then we have the wrong group of people on our team. But I suspect that JD Falslev will have quite a bit to say to the team to get ready for the utes so the coaches won't have to....



Because this is a family board, I chose not to put the JD Youtube video here, but I'm pretty sure that you've seen it...

northerncougar wrote:
Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

Since when does Robert Anae not have D1 experience? Since he will be calling the plays, everyone else doesn't matter on offense. The offense will be better than last year, the defense will be nearly as good, BYU will be a better team. Since the schedule is harder than last year we may end up with a similar amount of wins as last year but that is another topic. Now, losing to utah, may happen but I have a feeling BYU is going to win this year. That game is always a crap shoot for BYU so we will have to see.

ABYUFAN wrote:

Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

I'm not sure how Taysom Hill will "essentially" be playing for the first time, unless we agree that in this case the word "essentially" is just a longer way of saying "not" I'm not sure how a running back coach needs to have "D1" ("coaching" I presume) experience for us to have a chance to win, and although I was not excited for Anae and his four runs up the middle from the I formation on years past, I have been told by those who know that he is an upgrade to the train wreck that we had last year.



By the way, if the coaches need to "say something " to the team to get excited to play Utah, then we have the wrong group of people on our team. But I suspect that JD Falslev will have quite a bit to say to the team to get ready for the utes so the coaches won't have to....



Because this is a family board, I chose not to put the JD Youtube video here, but I'm pretty sure that you've seen it...

I say "essentially" because he played two games and then spent the next 5 months not being able to even practice. He doesn't have enough experience for me. In my opinion he is starting from scratch.



As far as coaches, I did mean coaching experience. 2 of the 5 have D1 coaching experience. I think it will take a while to get their game legs under them.



As for Utah, I don't think motivation is the problem. Frankly I don't know what the problem is other than we seem to fall apart when we play them. I hear so many say that this is finally the year we embarrass them. I hope so but since that has hasn't happened for 16 years I am a little skeptical. I don't see where that optimism is coming from.



This season has the potential to be great. It likely will be a struggle to start. I am concerned. Very concerned.

northerncougar wrote:

northerncougar wrote:
Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

I'm not sure how Taysom Hill will "essentially" be playing for the first time, unless we agree that in this case the word "essentially" is just a longer way of saying "not" I'm not sure how a running back coach needs to have "D1" ("coaching" I presume) experience for us to have a chance to win, and although I was not excited for Anae and his four runs up the middle from the I formation on years past, I have been told by those who know that he is an upgrade to the train wreck that we had last year.



By the way, if the coaches need to "say something " to the team to get excited to play Utah, then we have the wrong group of people on our team. But I suspect that JD Falslev will have quite a bit to say to the team to get ready for the utes so the coaches won't have to....



Because this is a family board, I chose not to put the JD Youtube video here, but I'm pretty sure that you've seen it...

I say "essentially" because he played two games and then spent the next 5 months not being able to even practice. He doesn't have enough experience for me. In my opinion he is starting from scratch.



As far as coaches, I did mean coaching experience. 2 of the 5 have D1 coaching experience. I think it will take a while to get their game legs under them.



As for Utah, I don't think motivation is the problem. Frankly I don't know what the problem is other than we seem to fall apart when we play them. I hear so many say that this is finally the year we embarrass them. I hope so but since that has hasn't happened for 16 years I am a little skeptical. I don't see where that optimism is coming from.



This season has the potential to be great. It likely will be a struggle to start. I am concerned. Very concerned.

I've been saying what it is about utah for years. utah game plans for BYU all off season. They implement a completely new scheme that BYU is unprepared for offensively and defensively. They play better against BYU than any of their other opponents. When they were in the MWC that worked because they had so many patsies to pad the sched with but in the PAC it has been a failure. I am hoping that the bye week and the new up tempo offense will be enough to pull out the victory this year but utah is still our hardest game of the year every year because of the above reasons.

I see a solid running game, great receivers, a very good (potentially great) defense, and an O-coordinator who knows how to be consistent, which is all we need if our defense shows up. I'm not saying we run the table or that this will be that "special" season we all keep waiting for, but I think a national ranking and more prominence with recruits are a real possibility and that would make me happy.

frdbtr wrote:

Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

Since when does Robert Anae not have D1 experience? Since he will be calling the plays, everyone else doesn't matter on offense. The offense will be better than last year, the defense will be nearly as good, BYU will be a better team. Since the schedule is harder than last year we may end up with a similar amount of wins as last year but that is another topic. Now, losing to utah, may happen but I have a feeling BYU is going to win this year. That game is always a crap shoot for BYU so we will have to see.

I get the point about Anae but if what you are saying is true, why have the other coaches? I'm being facetious but I think you can see the point here. I don't think we can ignore the lack of experience. I could be way wrong though. I am all the time.



I'm not ready to say this offense will be better than last year. I hope so, but I have heard multiple people say that Anae is worried about the O-Line. If they aren't better than last year the offense won't be either.

Schmoe wrote:
I see a solid running game, great receivers, a very good (potentially great) defense, and an O-coordinator who knows how to be consistent, which is all we need if our defense shows up. I'm not saying we run the table or that this will be that "special" season we all keep waiting for, but I think a national ranking and more prominence with recruits are a real possibility and that would make me happy.

Agree completely. If this happens I will be happy with this season as we should beat Utah. Beating Utah is the most important for me for two reasons:



1) We need to beat them. They are our rival and it is crucial for recruiting and fan support.



2) More importantly beating Utah sets us up for a good run this year. Utah won't be good and if we can't beat them we are in serious trouble this year.

northerncougar wrote:

I see a solid running game, great receivers, a very good (potentially great) defense, and an O-coordinator who knows how to be consistent, which is all we need if our defense shows up. I'm not saying we run the table or that this will be that "special" season we all keep waiting for, but I think a national ranking and more prominence with recruits are a real possibility and that would make me happy.

Agree completely. If this happens I will be happy with this season as we should beat Utah. Beating Utah is the most important for me for two reasons:



1) We need to beat them. They are our rival and it is crucial for recruiting and fan support.



2) More importantly beating Utah sets us up for a good run this year. Utah won't be good and if we can't beat them we are in serious trouble this year.

And I will chime in and say that it isn't because of a little brother mentality. It is because we have lost the last three in a row and and we are about to go on hiatus for another three years. It will hurt recruiting if we don't. If we had beat them every other year, this isn't a must-win game most years. But because we have been falling behind in the series greatly as of late, it has become a must-win game. We have to knock the PAC 12 pride out of them...just like we did to Oregon in the 2006 LV Bowl.

northerncougar wrote:

northerncougar wrote:
Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

Since when does Robert Anae not have D1 experience? Since he will be calling the plays, everyone else doesn't matter on offense. The offense will be better than last year, the defense will be nearly as good, BYU will be a better team. Since the schedule is harder than last year we may end up with a similar amount of wins as last year but that is another topic. Now, losing to utah, may happen but I have a feeling BYU is going to win this year. That game is always a crap shoot for BYU so we will have to see.

I get the point about Anae but if what you are saying is true, why have the other coaches? I'm being facetious but I think you can see the point here. I don't think we can ignore the lack of experience. I could be way wrong though. I am all the time.



I'm not ready to say this offense will be better than last year. I hope so, but I have heard multiple people say that Anae is worried about the O-Line. If they aren't better than last year the offense won't be either.

They are position coaches, they teach fundamentals and execution. It is up to the Ocoordinator to call plays. As far as inexperience, 2j was a very successful head coach at a lower level of college football, Beck was a very successful Ocoordinator at another college, Our receivers coach was a very successful receivers coach at other D1 schools so the only question mark is the RB coach. We have plenty of experience.

My optimism comes from



1. In terms of points allowed, we should be about the same as last year - which is pretty dang good. Our defense will be a bit worse, but still very good, and without Pick 6 Riley around, that ought to nullify the difference. Plus he fumbled all the time giving opponents short fields.



2. Williams - Dude breaks all the freshmen records last year and does not have ONE fumble yet! Not only that, but keep in mind that he accomplishes these feats at age 17 and with ahorrible O line. Not to say we aren't excited about him, but I don't think we're excited enough. And his hands are so good - he made some great snags last year.



3. TO margin - we all know if you can win this battle you can typically win, and for the combined reasons above + KVN we should be in good shape here.

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/daTxt?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=byu-football" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Some Kool-aid to drink.

northerncougar wrote:
Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

As Clark Gable said in Gone with the Wind, "Frankly my dear I don't give a ...." You see only ONE coach (2J) is absent D1 Coaching "experience" but he sure knew hjow to coach JC players with less talent and skill sets and make them into D-1 athletes. He was also all Conference as a player and nobody thinks he can't coach. Atuaia could be another Lance Reynolds which would be a huge error because the fatherly Reynolds was one heck of a guard in his day, but he knew squat about teaching running backs and even less about Tight ends. Sorry, buster but Mark will be as good if not better. He is very aware of the criticisms laid at his predecessors feet as ate grad-assistants Andrew George and LaVell Edward's grandson. The staff is a good one, maybe the best assembled since Roger French and Doug Scovill roamed the sidelines.



The O-Line last year was 90% Riley Nelson's inability to make a play, shorting the pocket, running too soon, failing on his progression reads, and taking 5-8 seconds to make a throwing decision most of the time. FAQNS typically blame the O-Line for failures that can easily be spotted up as either coverage sacks or QB error in about 85% of the cases. FANS don't know the game! They watch the ball and they assume everything that goes wrong on a sack must be the line's fault. Well it isn't. Learn the game. Learn to watch it technically or shut the heck up.



I read where one poster on another site said BYU got pushed around by Weber State so the line must have sucked. WSU was the second game of the year. That same O-Line held UTAH STATE, GT and NOTRE DAME to 3 sacks. Wanna explain that one? Those were three of the best D-Lines in the country last year. BYU alone pushed GT around like that. No other ACC program including Florida State which barely beat the Jackets and USC which was pummeled by Tech in the Sun Bowl pushed them around like that. Hill was QB in one of these games. All toll RN accounted for 22 of 30 sacks in 26 quarters. Hill and Lark accounted for 8 sacks in 26 quarters. Now do you do the math. Do you really want to blame the O-Line?



LED

Sports Forum West

In a little more than a month, we will see how the line does against UVA. Can't wait.

LEDSFW wrote:
The O-Line last year was 90% Riley Nelson's inability to make a play, shorting the pocket, running too soon, failing on his progression reads, and taking 5-8 seconds to make a throwing decision most of the time. FAQNS typically blame the O-Line for failures that can easily be spotted up as either coverage sacks or QB error in about 85% of the cases. FANS don't know the game! They watch the ball and they assume everything that goes wrong on a sack must be the line's fault. Well it isn't. Learn the game. Learn to watch it technically or shut the heck up.

Fans do know the game. I certainly don't think 90% of the OLines struggles were on Riley - especially since he missed 1/3 of the season and the OL struggled to open passing lanes or holes for the running game. And I certainly don't recall too many plays that featured Riley scrambling around for 5-8 seconds. (Which would be espeically odd if he was shorting the pocket and running too soon).



You might also want to check your numbers on the OL giving up "three" sacks against Utah St, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame. I've got Utah St w/ 0 sacks, Georgia Tech w/ 1 sack and Notre Dame w/ 4. But a good OL is more than just preventing sacks.



In those games you mentioned BYU also only averaged 3.1 yards per carry vs Utah St, 4.0 vs Georgia Tech and 2.6 vs Notre Dame. So it's certainly possible to conclude the OL struggled against them.

The OL wasn't just a problem last year. It has been a problem since Weber showed up. I can't believe Weber was kept on for as long as he was. I'm also kind of glad that Reynolds is out. Probably a good guy, but as long as he wanted to stay, there could never be a complete overhaul. I think Anae got hamstrung last time he was here needing to keep some coaches on, and I think Doman wasn't given all the power he needed as well.



Make no mistake about it, but Anae has his guys. No excuses now.

LEDSFW wrote:

Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

As Clark Gable said in Gone with the Wind, "Frankly my dear I don't give a ...." You see only ONE coach (2J) is absent D1 Coaching "experience" but he sure knew hjow to coach JC players with less talent and skill sets and make them into D-1 athletes. He was also all Conference as a player and nobody thinks he can't coach. Atuaia could be another Lance Reynolds which would be a huge error because the fatherly Reynolds was one heck of a guard in his day, but he knew squat about teaching running backs and even less about Tight ends. Sorry, buster but Mark will be as good if not better. He is very aware of the criticisms laid at his predecessors feet as ate grad-assistants Andrew George and LaVell Edward's grandson. The staff is a good one, maybe the best assembled since Roger French and Doug Scovill roamed the sidelines.



The O-Line last year was 90% Riley Nelson's inability to make a play, shorting the pocket, running too soon, failing on his progression reads, and taking 5-8 seconds to make a throwing decision most of the time. FAQNS typically blame the O-Line for failures that can easily be spotted up as either coverage sacks or QB error in about 85% of the cases. FANS don't know the game! They watch the ball and they assume everything that goes wrong on a sack must be the line's fault. Well it isn't. Learn the game. Learn to watch it technically or shut the heck up.



I read where one poster on another site said BYU got pushed around by Weber State so the line must have sucked. WSU was the second game of the year. That same O-Line held UTAH STATE, GT and NOTRE DAME to 3 sacks. Wanna explain that one? Those were three of the best D-Lines in the country last year. BYU alone pushed GT around like that. No other ACC program including Florida State which barely beat the Jackets and USC which was pummeled by Tech in the Sun Bowl pushed them around like that. Hill was QB in one of these games. All toll RN accounted for 22 of 30 sacks in 26 quarters. Hill and Lark accounted for 8 sacks in 26 quarters. Now do you do the math. Do you really want to blame the O-Line?



LED

Sports Forum West

A few things:



1. Welcome to the board.

2. Assuming you are the same LEDSFW from CougarBoard you are off to an inauspicious start here.

3. We don't always agree here, often many of us disagree, but we usually try to be civil. I'm not sure "shut the heck up" is the best way to go about that.

4. There is no question that Riley struggled last year. That dead horse has been beat to death here over and over and over...

5. The O-Line struggled last year. Not every problem last year was their fault, but they struggled. Watch the first three plays last year against BSU. Every play a BSU player came through the line untouched. It wasn't like they were rushing 8. Our O-Line struggled.

6. I've been watching football for 35 years and I learn new stuff all the time. I'm no expert and can't often tell you why things aren't good but I know it when I see it.

7. Okay, this is more than a few things.

frdbtr wrote:

frdbtr wrote:

Help me understand the optimism for this year. I see a bunch of new coaches without any D1 experience, an starting QB that will essentially be playing for the first time, a brand new O-line and a difficult schedule to start.



I see us starting the year 3-2 with losses to Texas and Utah. I can see us being quite good by the end of the season but I don't see it in September. When TX beats us by 14+ what will we say to get us excited about playing Utah? So many on here talk about how Utah will be terrible this year, but they weren't so good the past three and we see how that worked out for us. When we lose to Utah again this year what are the excuses going to be?



We will be very good on D but will struggle on O to start the season. I don't understand the optimism. I hope someone can help me see that because I don't.

Since when does Robert Anae not have D1 experience? Since he will be calling the plays, everyone else doesn't matter on offense. The offense will be better than last year, the defense will be nearly as good, BYU will be a better team. Since the schedule is harder than last year we may end up with a similar amount of wins as last year but that is another topic. Now, losing to utah, may happen but I have a feeling BYU is going to win this year. That game is always a crap shoot for BYU so we will have to see.

I get the point about Anae but if what you are saying is true, why have the other coaches? I'm being facetious but I think you can see the point here. I don't think we can ignore the lack of experience. I could be way wrong though. I am all the time.



I'm not ready to say this offense will be better than last year. I hope so, but I have heard multiple people say that Anae is worried about the O-Line. If they aren't better than last year the offense won't be either.

They are position coaches, they teach fundamentals and execution. It is up to the Ocoordinator to call plays. As far as inexperience, 2j was a very successful head coach at a lower level of college football, Beck was a very successful Ocoordinator at another college, Our receivers coach was a very successful receivers coach at other D1 schools so the only question mark is the RB coach. We have plenty of experience.

I hope so.