Udub @ BYU: Each Fanbase Expects Easy Win

You know what I've noticed about this game? For the most part (not entirely of course), each fan base seems to believe this game is close to a lock, an easy win. I actually think it will be a close game, like 31 to 28 for example and the winner may as well be determined with a coin toss.



Some of my fellow Udub fans discussing BYU:

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=147&f=1361&t=6143789





And a quote from right here on CougerCorner:

craigoscarson wrote:

gmj81 wrote:
In fairness, as most articles have said, Middleton had already lost the starting spot to Izbicki. But they will certainly be hurting for depth. And it's one more athlete they won't have on the field.



Lots of people have worried about the UW game, but when you really look at the individual matchups, I think most if not all clearly favor BYU, though I admit, I don't really know their team that well. Most people just expect them to dramatically improve from the over the past two years but it's usually pretty rare for a BCS team to make that kind of jump in such a short period. It generally takes four to five years to really turn around a program, especially one that went winless just two seasons ago.

True, but two years ago when they won like one game, we squeaked by them. They are better now and we are 'reloading'. I am worried.

That was at UW and the refs called phantom holds on BYU all game long. I think UW had a total of 30-40 penalty yards the entire game. It wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated, UW could not stop Harvey. The only thing that could was those phantom calls. For whatever reason the Pac-10 wants their refs at their non-con games at home and will allow MWC refs at our place.



Washington will be a little better, but they're still a .500 team with a lot of press and a very athletic quarterback that has problems with accuracy. This is no juggernaut coming to Provo.



If Kaveinga gets eligible for 2010; we have our answer for Polk. And we already know our secondary is light years better than the secondary we had against UW last time.



playing in provo - advantage BYU



MWC refs - advantage BYU (or at least no Pac 10 refs)

when BYU plays Pac 10 teams without Pac 10 refs, we have dominated at times. (ucla 59-0, Oregon 38-8, Oregon State 44-20 (and OSU scored most of their points after the game was out of reach) Arizona 20-7) etc. etc.



Kaveinga vs Polk - advantage BYU



our experienced secondary (they all can tackle) vs Locker - advantage BYU



Jaime Hill having all summer to prepare for UW - advantage BYU (just ask Oklahoma)



btw UW lurkers, we didnt' have Harvey Unga for that game either and it was played in OUs backyard... not in front of 65,000 BYU fans.



UW has the athletes to win this game, but nothing they've done in the last 3-4 years leads me to believe they'll be the favorites in Provo.

In regards to this quote, I must point out the fallacy that Kaveinga will somehow be a magic bullet for Chris Polk, he wont. Polk's biggest strength is his ability to break tackles, it almost always takes more than one guy to bring him down, especially after initial contact.

It's hard to remember Polk, remind me his stats from the last 2 years of bowl games... maybe that will jog my memory.



1st game of the year, played at our house. Anyone that thinks that UW will have an easy game is insane. When's the last time UW had an "easy win"?



With Locker alone, no game is safe, and none of us are saying that it will be an easy win, but we will win. UW has done nothing on the road in years to make me believe any different and this will be our best secondary in 10+ years at BYU. We will contain your Jake and we wont' have to deal with pac-10 refs this time.

The chest beating by UW fans is hilarious. We won more games last year than they've won in the last 3. We've won almost as many games the last 4 years than they have the entire decade.



They're coming to Provo to play and they want to talk about an easy win? From where I sit, nothing seems easy to UW but losing.



We heard the same chirping last year from Oklahoma fans.... except Oklahoma was returning the Heisman winner and had 3 of the 1st 4 draft picks (and 5 of the 1st round) on a team we beat in Dallas in front of 70,000 wearing red.



If BYU were going to roll over it might have been against Oklahoma last year... but at home, in provo, against UW? They've never been more motivated.



The last couple times a supposedly up and coming pac-10 team played us? 44-20 Oregon State 59-0 UCLA etc. etc.



The best chance UW had was with pac-10 refs.... too bad they won't be there in provo.

I don't believe this game will be an easy win for BYU.



Any BYU or Washington fan who thinks their team has this game in the bag is delusional, and possibly in for a huge disapointment...





EDIT - I did find this quote interesting from a UW fan:

"Huskies 28, BYwho 14"

BYwho... from a huskies fan? I guess he didn't get the memo that BYU has more championships, prestige, fan attendance, success, etc. Seriously - lots of irony in that post.

I remember a time back in 2007 when all those arrogant Arizona fans were talking all kinds of trash about how they were going to come in and pummel the cougars because we were supposodly "rebuilding" and they were "on the rise" blah, blah, blah. I will have to say that I like Washington, I root for them in the pac 10. I went on my mission there and have been a fan ever since. They are my second favorite College football team. The bottom line is just like it was in 2007. BYU is a 10 win team, they have won 10 games per year for the last 4 years in a row. UW is not at that level yet. Sark may get them there but it will not be this year. BYU is going to win this one, and it wouldn't surprise me to see another win similar to what they did to AZ in 2007.

UW has won a total of two road games since I started law school, a 3-year program, and only one non-conference, to Syracuse-one of the few BCS programs worse than UW and WSU. I take the bar exam starting tomorrow.



UW won only 5 games last year, meaning that they've only won 5 games over the last 2 years. BYU has won more than 4 times as many games in the same time period.

While I still think BYU wins this game, should be important to note that past performance does not equal future performance. And all it takes to start a new losing trend is one game.



Locker is going to be very difficult to defend and I'll bite that he's a legitimate Heismann contender, but BYU's defense is much faster than it was last time he saw it and we're going to be able to game plan for the QB run better than before when the defense had to tackle Locker by committee.



That being said, I seem to recall Locker playing hurt in BYU's game last year. I thought people were commenting how he was a step slower in that game, so maybe the two off-set.

byutx wrote:
I take the bar exam starting tomorrow.

Good luck on the bar exam--what state are you taking it in?

It will surprise me if BYU doesn't come totally prepared for a mobile QB. Our first 4 games are UW, Air Force, FSU, and Nevada. That means Jake Locker, the option, Christian Ponder, and the pistol. It would be an incredible oversight for BYU's defense not to be tuned to those types of offenses. Just like our defense was tuned perfectly to exploit OU's O-line issues last year, we will be ready for whatever Locker does (and does not) bring to the table.

Florwood wrote:

I take the bar exam starting tomorrow.

Good luck on the bar exam--what state are you taking it in?

Thanks. I'll be taking it in Texas.

PurpleReign wrote:
You know what I've noticed about this game? For the most part (not entirely of course), each fan base seems to believe this game is close to a lock, an easy win. I actually think it will be a close game, like 31 to 28 for example and the winner may as well be determined with a coin toss.

I am on the UW will be back on top of the PAC-1 soon. I think Sark is that good and his recruiting is solid. I just think that UW is still 2 years away. That UW offense is going to be solid this year and will score. But that defense could be a liability. UW lost a couple of great players on that D, and have some holes to fill from a sub-par D from last year. Of course, BYU has some HUGE holes to fill from O last year as well.



I see this game as being very, very tight. UW has the edge on O due to experience, BYU the edge on D due to experience. If Locker improves as much between this year and last as he did the previous year, then he lives up to the hype, because he is that good of an athlete. His passing was much improved last year, but still inconsistent at times.



Our record v. the PAC-10 under Bronco is 6-3, with all losses coming at their place (UCLA) or at neutral field (Cal, Arizona). Since bronco's first year when we were 6-6, he is 6-2 in those games, so he beats PAC-10 teams. We win at home v. PAC-10 teams, which is why many do not want to come here. I like our chances to get it done at home in a close game.

I don't think this will be a cake walk for us.



UW will come in fired up. They still have a bad taste in their mouths from when they were "robbed" of their win against us. Plus, Sark will have them energized for this game and after FSU's performance against us at home last season my faith in beating visiting teams, especially sea-level visiting teams, isn't as solid as it used to be.



UW will come out strong, and if we can hit them back than we ought to make it just fine. If we don't, then it could be a long game.

One thing that I think of is how even John Beck struggled his first game out in this Robert Anae offense. Yes we put up something like 400 yards against Boston College that day but we couldn't score touchdowns. I'm guessing that BYU's new QB, whoever he is struggles to get the ball into the endzone. The question for me is: Can BYU win this game without scoring an offensive touchdown in the first half? Or to be optomistic, Can BYU win this game without scoring a TD in the first Quarter? Our Defense will have to go crazy in the first half of this game to keep Locker shut off and stop the running attack of UW.

BYU also threw 63 times against Boston College. I don't think we'll be throwing that much. We'll be much more balanced offensively. I'm excited to see what Bronco and Hill have come up with to stop Locker. As was posted earlier, BYU will face four running QBs in their first four games, so they should coming up with great schemes to stop that.

kitic77 wrote:
BYU also threw 63 times against Boston College. I don't think we'll be throwing that much. We'll be much more balanced offensively. I'm excited to see what Bronco and Hill have come up with to stop Locker. As was posted earlier, BYU will face four running QBs in their first four games, so they should coming up with great schemes to stop that.

Don't ever use that BC game as a reference. It was coach Anae's first game ever calling plays, game planning an offense, etc. I think 50 of the 63 passes were thrown to the back in the flat as well. It was really silly. I remember sitting in the stands wondering what was going on with the offense. I also recall the BC coach saying that he thinks BYU will get it together and be a great team once he new staff has time to figure things out. And he was right. This staff has it figured out now.

craigoscarson wrote:
It's hard to remember Polk, remind me his stats from the last 2 years of bowl games... maybe that will jog my memory.

He got injured in the begging of 2008 and redshirted. 2009 was his first real year of action, he did pretty good for a redshirt freshmen:



2009 STATS

ATTEMPTS - - - YARDS - - - TOUCHDOWNS

226 - - - 1,113 - - - 5

craigoscarson wrote:
The chest beating by UW fans is hilarious. We won more games last year than they've won in the last 3. We've won almost as many games the last 4 years than they have the entire decade.

And you think your schedule has nothing to do with that? We would have won four or five games in 2008 if we played your schedule as the bottom half of the MWC is a far cry from even the worst PAC10 teams.

Italics wrote:
EDIT - I did find this quote interesting from a UW fan:

"Huskies 28, BYwho 14"

BYwho... from a huskies fan? I guess he didn't get the memo that BYU has more championships, prestige, fan attendance, success, etc. Seriously - lots of irony in that post.

I don't agree with you, in recent years? Yes, but certainly not beyond your current stretch of good seasons. I don't feel like writing it up myself so I will just copy/paste from Wikipedia as my argument against your comment:



College football has a long history at the University of Washington. The Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific-10 Conference Championships, 7 Rose Bowl Titles, and 4 National Championships (for the record, I consider only 1991 and 1960 - PR). Washington's all-time record of 653-398-50 (as of 2008) ranks 20th by all-time winning percentage and 21st by all-time victories. The team has two of the nation's longest winning streaks and holds the Division I-A unbeaten record at 63 consecutive games.[2] Washington is one of four charter members of what became the Pacific-10 Conference and one of only two schools with uninterrupted membership. Through the 2008 season, its 342 conferences victories rank second in league history.[3] The Huskies play on-campus in historic Husky Stadium.



Washington is often referred to as one of the top Quarterback U's due to the long history of quarterbacks to play in the NFL. 16 of the last 18 starting quarterbacks dating back to 1970 have gone onto the NFL, with the current starter Jake Locker almost certain to be the next one.

Lawboy wrote:
I see this game as being very, very tight. UW has the edge on O due to experience, BYU the edge on D due to experience. If Locker improves as much between this year and last as he did the previous year, then he lives up to the hype, because he is that good of an athlete. His passing was much improved last year, but still inconsistent at times.

Jake sure ended the season on a consistent note:



"...in the final two games of the 2009 season -- both UW wins -- Locker completed 35 of 51 passes (69 percent) for 444 yards with three touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 171 yards and three TDs."

Gunk wrote:
UW will come in fired up. They still have a bad taste in their mouths from when they were "robbed" of their win against us. Plus, Sark will have them energized for this game and after FSU's performance against us at home last season my faith in beating visiting teams, especially sea-level visiting teams, isn't as solid as it used to be.

Sark had our dawgs fired up for the first game last year against LSU, it actually surprised most of us because it was an immediate and obvious leap in improvement from Ty's last year. We played LSU tough for most of the game until their athleticism took over in the 4th quarter and they pulled away. Sark will have our dawgs ready, here is a snippet from an article about the LSU game last year:



http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2009814794_uwfbside06.html

One game into the Steve Sarkisian era, one goal has been attained by the Washington Huskies.



"We want teams to respect us when they walk off the field," Sarkisian had said Monday at his news conference. Saturday night, after a 31-23 loss to the No. 11 LSU Tigers, it was apparent that the visitors did just that. As the teams headed up the Husky Stadium tunnel afterward, LSU running back Charles Scott grabbed the hand of UW defensive tackle Alameda Ta'amu.



"You guys are definitely building," Scott told Ta'amu. "Don't worry about that [the loss]. Keep it up." The task now is to turn respect — and yards — into wins.



The Huskies outgained the Tigers 478-321...







I think your defense will have it's hands full with our offense, and the same for our defense. However, if your QB struggles, then I really do like our chances.

I just remember how ludicrous it sounded that last year a poor FSU team would walk into Provo and leave with an easy win.



I just don't think there is such a thing as an easy win, unless it's against UCLA 59-0.

PurpleReign wrote:
We would have won four or five games in 2008 if we played your schedule as the bottom half of the MWC is a far cry from even the worst PAC10 teams.

Would've won four or five? That's still pretty bad...the bottom feeders of the MWC usually win at least that many

PurpleReign wrote:
College football has a long history at the University of Washington. The Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific-10 Conference Championships, 7 Rose Bowl Titles, and 4 National Championships (for the record, I consider only 1991 and 1960 - PR).

Okay, so you proved your point that Washington has a rich tradition, but come on...4 National Championships? If you go to the NCAA's official website, you'll find Washington's name only once, 1991. You were nice enough to admit you only consider 2, but even in 1960 the NCAA recognizes Minnesota and Mississippi as the champions. Also, BYU has more conference championships, 23.

PurpleReign wrote:
Washington is often referred to as one of the top Quarterback U's due to the long history of quarterbacks to play in the NFL. 16 of the last 18 starting quarterbacks dating back to 1970 have gone onto the NFL, with the current starter Jake Locker almost certain to be the next one.

I think an earlier thread from today handles this argument