We are now better than our record

Football is tough. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I think we all can see what we WISH Bronco would have done a few months ago that would have drastically altered the way our first few games went but what's done is done.



I think that had the team that showed up wearing BYU uni's yesterday were to play Nevada, FSU, Utah State, or Air Force now, our record would be very different. I also venture to say that had the coaches named starters at the quarterback and tight end positions at the start of fall camp that we would even be undefeated right now.



Now, like I said, hindsight is 20/20 and this is the circumstance we find ourselves in right now, but I think most of you would agree that the team that showed up yesterday is much better than their record indicates. I still don't think we stand much of a chance against TCU, but you never know when we play Utah what will happen, and aside from them I wouldn't be surprised if we breezed through the rest of our schedule. One week ago I couldn't say that.

I subscribe to the Bill Parcells school of you are what your record says you are. Now if you want to argue that we have better talent than an avergae 2-4 team, sure, I might agree. But we are 2-4 and deserve to be based upon how we played each game. We have played 2 solid games, and four awful games. Hence, 2-4.

Meh. I think you know we're playing better now than we were the last four games prior. We obviously can't escape our record, but we can feel better about the way the rest of this season will probably go than we could have a week ago.

If we played the way we did yesterday, we beat USU. I think we still would have lost to AFA, FSU, and Nevada.



Yesterday was an improvement, but a so-so SDSU team was still in the game and had chances to win all the way until the last possession. We are still far from a great team.

a 3 point victory over SDSU doesn't convince me that we are world beaters. We're seeing improvement, and that's enough to make me happy.

uote="snoscythe"]If we played the way we did yesterday, we beat USU. I think we still would have lost to AFA, FSU, and Nevada.



Yesterday was an improvement, but a so-so SDSU team was still in the game and had chances to win all the way until the last possession. We are still far from a great team.[/quote]



Yeah, but it wouldn't have taken a great team to beat those guys. We did barely beat SDSU on the scoreboard, yes, but I think we can chalk that up to stupid turnovers. Is was very obvious who the vastly better team was on the field yesterday. We beat them up from start to finish. I just don't see Air Force hanging 400+ rushing yards on yesterday's Bronco-directed defense. I might be willing to concede FSU, as even last year, when we were supposedly good, they owned us, but I really think if we had rematches between us and any of our other opponents thus far, we win easily.

Gotta call BS on this one for several reasons. We beat a decent, but unranked opponent on our home field. And suddenly u r sure we would beat ranked teams at home and on the road after you swiftly erase the turnovers. Well those turnovers, borne out of inexperience, were the reasons we lost the other games.



By season end, with errors even further reduced, due to increasing experience, and barring injury of course, someone will probably jump to the conclusion that if the coaches had just done X, Y, and Z we would have played like veterans from day 1 and even beaten TCU.



This team will need to improve every week or it will lose to a crappy team on the road like it almost did last year at New Mexico.



But the kids are improving - hope TCU doesn't totally unravel the momentum.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Cougarbib2 wrote:
Gotta call BS on this one for several reasons. We beat a decent, but unranked opponent on our home field. And suddenly u r sure we would beat ranked teams at home and on the road after you swiftly erase the turnovers. Well those turnovers, borne out of inexperience, were the reasons we lost the other games.



By season end, with errors even further reduced, due to increasing experience, and barring injury of course, someone will probably jump to the conclusion that if the coaches had just done X, Y, and Z we would have played like veterans from day 1 and even beaten TCU.



This team will need to improve every week or it will lose to a crappy team on the road like it almost did last year at New Mexico.



But the kids are improving - hope TCU doesn't totally unravel the momentum.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

You have to ask yourself if you REALLY think that the team that showed up on Saturday looked at all like the team that lost four straight. I think it's obvious it didn't.



#1 - Utah State. SDSU KILLED them and we beat SDSU despite a flurry of turnovers; one of which was an endzone pick that resulted in a 14 point swing in the opposite direction. Rather than going up 21-0 we go into half time up 14-7. Huge difference. Had we re-played Utah State yesterday with Bronco at the helm like he was and they don't stand a chance against us.



#2 - Air Force. Racked up over 400 yards on the ground against us. We were absolutely listless that game. I had zero faith in any aspect of our defense. If Air Force wanted to throw, they threw a forty yard touchdown to a wide open receiver. If they wanted to run they got at least eight yards per carry. Despite the talent we had on our D, they looked completely unprepared, confused, and hopeless. We were also still running a two quarterback system. Give Bronco the D like yesterday and give our offense some time to gel with ONE starting quarterback and I genuinely expect a different outcome.



#3 - FSU. This is the one I'm willing to concede since there are two many unknowns for me here. I mean, by all accounts we should have MURDERED them last year and they wiped the field with us. But I wonder if that loss, coupled with the last four, didn't have something to do with Bronco's frustration for Hill. I have to wonder what Bronco would have put together against them defensively had he the reigns. But I still think our freshman phenom can't quite cope with their speedy defenders and we lose anyway.



#4 - Nevada. I honestly don't think they're very good. Again, the team we were that lost to them I expected to. The team that played yesterday I wouldn't expect to.



No way to prove any of this though. Just keep winning. Too bad we play TCU this week. But maybe we'll have a strong showing and despite a loss my point gets driven home a little more. We shall see.

Also let me just say in response to the world beaters comment above. I don't think this game proves we're world beaters. I don't think beating Nevada, Utah State, SDSU, Washington, and Air Force makes you a world beater. I just think it makes us....not the worst BYU team in the last fifty years like I was starting to think. Now we DIDN'T win those games but that was prior to the Hill firing. It's just like had we suddenly a new quarterback that threw six touchdowns and no picks and we win when the last guy threw six INT's with no touchdowns when we lost and then saying we're still just as bad as we were with the previous guy because our record still sucks. It's just not quite accurate. You're definitely a different team with the new guy and had he been playing already your record may be much better. That's all I'm saying. Had Bronco taken over sooner and had we straightened out the QB and tight end issues sooner, we'd be at LEAST 4-2 right now, probably 5-1. That wouldn't make us world beaters, it would just mean we could actually win if we were to play four quarters against Timp View High School. ;)

snoscythe wrote:
If we played the way we did yesterday, we beat USU. I think we still would have lost to AFA, FSU, and Nevada.



Yesterday was an improvement, but a so-so SDSU team was still in the game and had chances to win all the way until the last possession. We are still far from a great team.

We would have lost to AFA and FSU, but not Nevada.

snoscythe wrote:
If we played the way we did yesterday, we beat USU. I think we still would have lost to AFA, FSU, and Nevada.



Yesterday was an improvement, but a so-so SDSU team was still in the game and had chances to win all the way until the last possession. We are still far from a great team.

I think we beat nevada.

Playing as we did this past Sat. - we could have beaten Nevada, made the game close w/ Air Force. But, Florida St.???? They are too talented & fast. FSU murdered Miami this past week. FSU is a very good team & way underrated when we played them. No way could this team - this year - beat Florida St. Two years from now - yes. Jake & his receiver corps have a lot of developing to do.

I was just glad to see our defense be agressive and try to make things happen instead of sitting back and trying to react to what the opponent did. Our team looked far more disruptive, faster, and more aggressive and physical. It was what I expected from us all year.



Having said that, we should have won easier. Like 34-21 easier. This team [;ayed much better, but still needs to learn to put teams away when the chance is there. By years end, we will be the team we all expected for 2010.

Lawboy wrote:
I was just glad to see our defense be agressive and try to make things happen instead of sitting back and trying to react to what the opponent did. Our team looked far more disruptive, faster, and more aggressive and physical. It was what I expected from us all year.



Having said that, we should have won easier. Like 34-21 easier. This team [;ayed much better, but still needs to learn to put teams away when the chance is there. By years end, we will be the team we all expected for 2010.

If we don't throw that INT in the endzone I bet we win this game 42-7. We were rolling and that stopped all of our momentum. And in all honesty, I thought we played much more like the previous four weeks than we did the first quarter. We had much more mistakes the rest of the way - including "three" turnovers.



SDSU is a team last year's team puts away. This young team is still learning how to do that. One thing that was very encouraging was that we still found a way to hang on. Winning is a process and I'll take learning how to hang on and make plays at the end of a close game over learning how to blow teams out.

It was exactly what I expected. Instead of giving up 4 scores out of 5 possesions in the first half, BYU's defense stopped SDSU and gave the offense the chance to score. The offense went to a smash mouth style of football, trusting the defense, and took the ball out of the hands of a Freshman QB and left it in the hands of the Oline and running game. If BYU's offensive line plays like that for the rest of the year, BYU is going to win a lot of its last games. I don't expect a win this weekend but If BYU plays like it did on Saturday (hopefully with less turnovers) it could end up being a much closer game then what we have seen against TCU the last couple of years. Heaps is going to improve but if the running game and defense keep the pressure off of him, his progression will be much faster then if he has to throw 50 times a game trying to get us back into games.

It will be interesting to measure how this young team performs on the road against #4 TCU who has completed back-to-back shutouts. I wish we had played them before UNR and USU and gotten that one out of the way.



We will not be able to run at will on TCU unless our passing game is also working better.



If we go 3 and out every series and go back to TOP imbalance favoring our opponent, the d will have several more drives to defend and will yield yards and points.



Here is hopin that the offense grows even more and doesn't throw it all on the D.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

kitic77 wrote:

I was just glad to see our defense be agressive and try to make things happen instead of sitting back and trying to react to what the opponent did. Our team looked far more disruptive, faster, and more aggressive and physical. It was what I expected from us all year.



Having said that, we should have won easier. Like 34-21 easier. This team [;ayed much better, but still needs to learn to put teams away when the chance is there. By years end, we will be the team we all expected for 2010.

If we don't throw that INT in the endzone I bet we win this game 42-7. We were rolling and that stopped all of our momentum. And in all honesty, I thought we played much more like the previous four weeks than we did the first quarter. We had much more mistakes the rest of the way - including "three" turnovers.



SDSU is a team last year's team puts away. This young team is still learning how to do that. One thing that was very encouraging was that we still found a way to hang on. Winning is a process

and I'll take learning how to hang on and make plays at the end of a close game over learning how

to blow teams out.

I really liked the way our D closed out this game. That three-and-out was a dagger to the Aztec's heart, and was described a by a San Diego sports writer as a "sickening" thing to see, and was called a simple failure to execute when an opportunity to win came with three and a half minutes to play. Local Utah sources (DIck Harmon IIRC) described that series as a set of three consecutive blitzes that did not give Ryan Lindley time to connect with receivers. At any rate, we were treated to some aggressive defensive play calling by Bronco, and some impressive effort by our players at a moment that was critical for preserving the win. Very nice.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">