BYU can beat Florida State

I seriously doubt anybody is looking past AFA, including me; it will be a tough game, but BYU will prevail.



However, I like the events leading up to our game with FSU. Yes, they killed us last year, and yes, they're very good this year; but if anybody is looking past somebody, my bet is it's FSU looking past BYU. They play Oklahoma at Norman this week, and they know how easy they beat us last year, and BYU lost a lot of players, and has new QBs, new LBs, and new DL guys, so why worry about BYU?



BYU will have one more game under their belt, one more game for our QBs to get comfortable, one more game for our defense to solidify--and nobody expect BYU to beat FSU in Tallahassee. So if BYU really wants to make a statement, this is the game. Washington was ok, a good win, but nobody expected UW to roll over BYU. However, I doubt you'd find any takes on a bet for BYU to win against FSU. If the defense can play a UCLA type of game, and the offense can get and score some points, BYU could win this game.



Not many expected Boise STate to beat Virginia Tech, and many had doubts about TCU beating Oregon State. Most pundits expected Pitt to beat Utah. They were all wrong. Our young defense will grow up against AFA, and our young offense will grow up against FSU.

FSU has no defense (and had no defense last year). Last year, the BYU defense was beat up and missing a lot of players.



BYU almost equaled FSU last in yards, even though FSU had the ball for 40min or so.



Keys to the game:



1. Stopping FSU and making the Noles punt -- something that just did not happen last year as the wheels came off the bus. Ponder & Co. killed us.



2. Not turning over the ball.



Ponder is the real deal and FSU has tons of talent. The weather will probably be hot and sticky. And FSU will likely be very overconfident, no matter how much the coaches try to overcome this issue.

Now I know what it takes to have thread stamina--state the most blue-goggled statement, which then stirs up the realists, which then brings out the optimists which then brings out airwolf because somebody else brought up the topic and he didnt (oh wait, Airwolf is on the other side of that fence).

And since I'm the only one posting on this, Not sure where that leaves me. :-)



bball, its a good set of thoughts. Add one more. If FSU wins in Norman, better chance for arrogance to set in and more vulnerable to a very unsuspected BYU that lost all of its stars ot the NFL.



How in the world we/the team ever got so full of ourselves last year that we thought FSU would be a pushover--even if they had lost to a pathetic FBS team the week before. We should have thinking the very opposite.



oops, looks like one optimist already showed up (FSU has no defense? :skeptic: . :-) jk

BYU will have to play REALLY REALLY well to beat FSU but it is possible. Last year the defense fell apart. I don't think that will happen this year. My guess is that FSU is going to win but it will be close.

Agree---- I prefer a FSU win on Saturday.



As to defense, last year FSU was ranked 108 in total defense, 110 in pass efficiency defense, 108 in rushing defense, and 94 in scoring defense.



BYU's 475 total yards were even above FSU's average poor defense. The problem was turnovers: Max's 3 INTs, plus the fumble.



Of course, Max's INTs in big games were just a weeeeeeeeee bit of a problem.........

I'll reiterate: my pet peeve is when fans accuse other fans of looking past an opponent. Remember we don't play so its okay. Thanks for bringing up this FSU game. This game is a huge game for BYU. The biggest surprsise for me playing against FSU last year was the fact that they ran the ball down our throats! They mopped that messy LES field with our Defensive Line and our highly experienced LBs. Consider that this year we have brand new LBs every where you look and things could get sketchy very quickly. FSU returns almost every OL from last year. Another interesting idea when it comes to this game is the humidity and temperature playing at Florida State. I think the humidity may affect our DL in this one and they could get worn down in the 4th quarter, we are not super deep at DL either. One more thing that is scary is that Ponder is not a big dumb animal like Jake the snake Locker is. He is smart. He will have his masters degree by the time this season is over...I think.



BYU is going to have to play the game of its life to win this one and we can't have any turnovers like last year. We are going to have to take some risks with our blitzes and hope to force Ponder & Co. to turn the ball over. I honestly don't know how to spin this game into a positive situation for BYU.



One thing that many of you may not know is that FSU has brought in one of those Gaylord Stoops coaches to coach the defense. They have changed switched from man/man press defense (Which BYU has struggled with at times) to a zone defensive scheme. This is a strength for us.



Go Cougars! :angry:

100 posts!

If FSU beats OK then looses to us, that would be ironic considereing we were pretty full of ourselves last year after our win over the Sooners.

In order to beat FSU we will have to force 2 or more turnovers. And have 1 or fewer, then win field position like the UW game. And lastly, when we hit the scoring zone, get 7, not 3. Simple, right?

I'm not predicting a win but I am predicting that if we do lose, we lose in a close one. No way we get destroyed like last year.

For the record, all three of Max's INTs came in the 2nd half and two came in the 4th quarter. His INTs were not the reason we lost to FSU. They were part of the reason we lost by 26 as FSU turned one (the first one) into a pick-6 and the second into a 13-yard TD scoring drive. BYU was already down 30-14 when Max threw his first INT and 47-21 before he threw his second.



We lost because we fumbled twice in the first half that led to 10-FSU points, including a FG right before the half. We lost because FSU was 12-15 on third downs and had the ball for nearly 20 minutes of the first half. FSU did not punt in the first half. This game was lost in the first half - well before Max started throwing INTs.

I've been saying since the loss last year, and I will continue to say: BYU will play a different game this year.

They may not win, but I am sure that they will be competitive. I think we have a decent chance to win, with the tables reversed.

As I've said before: Defense, defense, defense,



The first time we played FSU, both defenses SUCKED... but the difference was that our OFFENSE didn't protect the ball - their's did.



If our defense - which seems improved - can actually stop FSU enough times to give our offense some opportunities to score, I think we have a good shot at this game. If it turns into another offensive shootout, I think we lose big.

kitic77 wrote:
For the record, all three of Max's INTs came in the 2nd half and two came in the 4th quarter. His INTs were not the reason we lost to FSU. They were part of the reason we lost by 26 as FSU turned one (the first one) into a pick-6 and the second into a 13-yard TD scoring drive. BYU was already down 30-14 when Max threw his first INT and 47-21 before he threw his second.



We lost because we fumbled twice in the first half that led to 10-FSU points, including a FG right before the half. We lost because FSU was 12-15 on third downs and had the ball for nearly 20 minutes of the first half. FSU did not punt in the first half. This game was lost in the first half - well before Max started throwing INTs.

But it sounds much better to blame this loss on Max's INTs!! Saying the loss was not about turnovers is admitting that we basically got destroyed straight up, which is what happened but keep it on the down low because we don't want them to know that.



The worst was when that Florida safety held onto Andrew George and when the ball was released, catipulted himself in front of George for the pick six. Refs killed me on that one. I hope we go in there and silence those tomahawk chops.

That catapult was the most blatantly missed call by the officials all year. NOt sure it wold have made a difference, but that was jacked up. Insult to injury.

bball wrote:
They play Oklahoma at Norman this week, and they know how easy they beat us last year, and BYU lost a lot of players, and has new QBs, new LBs, and new DL guys, so why worry about BYU?



.

No, they don't have a new qb. They have Ponder returning who trounced us last year with his accuracy and running ability. He is another Heisman candidate.



I think the game will be closer this year. I will wait to see how Air Force goes before I start declaring victory. If fsu loses to ou they are in the same spot they were last year against us. we are ranked and it is a chance for them become relevant on the national scene again.



hope they win, hope we win, and hope we spank them like they spanked us last year.

jonnylingo wrote:

They play Oklahoma at Norman this week, and they know how easy they beat us last year, and BYU lost a lot of players, and has new QBs, new LBs, and new DL guys, so why worry about BYU?



.

No, they don't have a new qb. They have Ponder returning who trounced us last year with his accuracy and running ability. He is another Heisman candidate.

I believe he was referring to BYU, we have new QBs, new LBs, and new DL guys...

Italics wrote:
As I've said before: Defense, defense, defense,



The first time we played FSU, both defenses SUCKED... but the difference was that our OFFENSE didn't protect the ball - their's did.



If our defense - which seems improved - can actually stop FSU enough times to give our offense some opportunities to score, I think we have a good shot at this game. If it turns into another offensive shootout, I think we lose big.

Agreed.