Hitting vs Health

"We didn't tackle nearly as much (this year), and we didn't do as much live, full-speed work in terms of scrimmages. My hope is the health of the team can override what we sacrificed in that capacity." Coach Mendenhall



Guess Saturday will tell if this approach is wise or not. I understand the desire to have your best players on the field instead of banged up and on the sideline, but I also wonder if the limited full speed, hard hitting practice will place BYU at a disadvantage in the game. Will BYU's timing be off, will the players be back on their heels as they try to get up to game speed?



Other discussions I've read about freshman and JC transfers having difficulty adjusting to D1 game speed make me not so confident about this approach...

Interesting. Hypothetically, those that would have been injured probably will be injured in the first week or two when full contact, full speed are a must. It will be interesting to see. Something tells me though that Bronco's defense wont be failing to wrap up or lack intensity.

4 10+ winning seasons in a row followed by one of the most dramatic turn arounds in college football history after a 1-4 start and we still doubt this guys decisions about this team? :whistle:

frdbtr wrote:
4 10+ winning seasons in a row followed by one of the most dramatic turn arounds in college football history after a 1-4 start and we still doubt this guys decisions about this team? :whistle:

Absolutely.



I'm not saying he's on the hot seat, but no one is unquestionable. And the worst start on this side of 20 years of BYU football, not to mention 2 failed coaching hires/promotions should show you that.



Bronco is the man, but he isn't untouchable.

And as for the OP, I think we won't lack for fire and intensity.



Maybe a couple dropped balls (because of contact) or missed wrap ups, but that shouldn't be too detrimental.



As deep as we are right now, I think it is a great decision.



We are not deep enough to beat Ole Miss, Texas, TCU, or maybe even Utah with the majority of our 2nd teamers in, at WR, or any position on the defense.

Bronco himself has said that it is a tough call on how much full speed hitting to do. However, I think he knows his defense well. I get the impression that he is confident in their ability to execute. Besides that, it looks like Ole Miss may not be completely balanced in their offence. 3 yards in a cloud of dust (sorry, astroturf) may be easier to defend with healthy players, as opposed to fall camp battle hard players.

This lack of hitting does have me somewhat concerned. I remember during the 2008 season, how little we heard of the team hitting. I even seem to remember that before the 2009 bowl game the seniors (Jorgensen, Hall, Pitta, etc) went the coaches and asked to hit more in bowl prep.



It is a fine line, and hopefully we'll be okay.

Florwood wrote:
"We didn't tackle nearly as much (this year), and we didn't do as much live, full-speed work in terms of scrimmages. My hope is the health of the team can override what we sacrificed in that capacity." Coach Mendenhall



Guess Saturday will tell if this approach is wise or not. I understand the desire to have your best players on the field instead of banged up and on the sideline, but I also wonder if the limited full speed, hard hitting practice will place BYU at a disadvantage in the game. Will BYU's timing be off, will the players be back on their heels as they try to get up to game speed?



Other discussions I've read about freshman and JC transfers having difficulty adjusting to D1 game speed make me not so confident about this approach...

This also has me a tad bit worried, which is why I wish we would start out with Idaho St. or one of the other WAC teams... I think that would help enough with getting us up to par with hitting and game experience.