Houston Nutt practicing the excuses already

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From his press conference on Monday:

I wish I had a few more 25 or 26 year old guys. There is a difference when a guy is able to grow up and learn from life experiences with a commitment like they make. That's a great feeling as a coach to have that kind of maturity. We don't have that luxury. Some of these freshmen probably should be in a redshirt, but they have to play now. They are going to have to grow. The good thing is that they are athletic and I am glad they are here with us. It is what it is. BYU has a good thing going where they are able to do that.

The only players who could be 25 or 26 are seniors. Here are the seniors on this year's roster:

Terrence Brown - served mission, did RS, might be 24-25

JJ DiLuigi - non-LDS, did RS, 23 most

Ian Dulan - enrolled as a 17-year-old, no RS, likely turning 23 this year.

Corby Eason - non-LDS, may have RS, at most 23

Matthew Edwards - won't be a contributor, who cares

Hebron Fangupo - transfer from USC, may have RS, 23-24 at most

Jameson Frazier - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Spencer Hafoka - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

McKay Jacobson - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Bryan Kariya - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Aveni Leung-Wai - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Matt Marshall - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Jordan Pendleton - no mission, did RS, might be 23

Matt Reynolds, served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Marco Thorson - served a mission, did RS, might be 24-25

Travi Uale - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Simote Vea - served a mission, no RS, might be 24

Jadon Wagner - served a mission, no RS, might be 24



By my count that's two guys who might be 25 and none who are 26. And Coach Nutt is wrong, he does have that luxury. He's free to send his players to the Peace Corps for two years.



Just like some people are saying Ole Miss is an SEC team or the humidity will be awful they're trying to build in excuses as to why they lose, Ole Miss is already playing missionary card.



If BYU wins or loses, it won't be because of the missionary program or the humidity. It will be because Ole Miss was the better or worse team on that day. That one team made more plays when it mattered most.

Saturday please come quickly! :roll:

I can hardly wait. There are no excuses. It's about athletic talent & execution. I fully expect this game to be very good.

8)

Things the Anti-Nutt (THink Anti-Nephi-lehis) would say.

Ya, I wish I could have players with any amount of character and honor.

Ya, I wish I could be in this profession and still maintain my ethics.

Ya I wish I had 4 white guys on defense and the rest colored boyz.

Ya, I wish I had boys on my team with such high GPA's.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Missions are not advantages to a player physically. Anyone who thinks so needs to examine the body of LDS missionary service. I was in decent athletic shape when I left for the Philippines. I was about 6'0" and I weighed 185 lbs.



Over the course of my mission, I mostly walked, and ate lots of filipino food. The only heavy lifting I did was lifting a backpack full of Book of Mormons and service projects. My body lost much of its muscle mass, and I slimmed down greatly. When I came home I weighed in 40 lbs lighter at 145. In no way was I in any condition to compete for anything athletically.



It takes tons of post mission conditioning for these young men to regain a semblance of their former athletic selves. Some never get back to pre-mission form.



This is a myth perpetuated through the ages by coaches and teams looking for an excuse for losing to a "supposedly" inferior team. The reason no other school sends athletes into the Peace Corps for two years is that they know this player will suffer for it physically, and that will offset any mental or emotional advantage gained.

I don't think he was making an excuse. It is nice to have 23-24 year olds instead of a bunch of 18 year olds. Your team is probably more focused at times, plus you really don't have to worry about them messing up too much. He respects the commitment that they make in their service.



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But that's the thing, Ole Miss isn't a bunch of 18 year olds. How many true-freshman are in the two-deep at Ole Miss?

I would argue that BYU teams tend to lose focus pretty easily actually. Football is never the #1 priority for the majority of our players. They are focused on missions, dating, and academics more so that the vast majority of our opponents. We've had plenty of undisciplined teams over the years that take stupid penalties, get overconfident week to week, and play with little passion.



There is no advantage.

Man, it's tough having your 23-year-old seniors play against 24-year-old seniors, what a disadvantage! (oh brother!)

OleMissInPeace wrote:
I don't think he was making an excuse. It is nice to have 23-24 year olds instead of a bunch of 18 year olds. Your team is probably more focused at times, plus you really don't have to worry about them messing up too much. He respects the commitment that they make in their service.



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It would be a huge advantage if those players spent their missions working out or having anything to do with football. But they don't. From a purely football standpoint, missions are a headache with juggling scholarships and never knowing what you're going to get when they come back. Not to mention that while on missions, players can transfer without having to sit out another year (BYU has gained and lost players this way).



Like SpiffCoug already said, if it was such an advantage, coaches could encourage their athletes to spend two years in the Peace Corps. Have they? No. They must feel that any advantage gained by maturity would be negated by the disadvantages I mentioned. To then claim (or imply in Nutt's case) that BYU has some kind of unfair advantage is disingenuous or ignorant.

OleMissInPeace wrote:
Your team is probably more focused at times, plus you really don't have to worry about them messing up too much.



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Di you really just say that?? That is funny. Did you forget our ridiculously strict honor code? Messing up at buy means you went to class without shaving first. Yes see what you are saying though



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Once we escape the right / wrong and black / white (poor choice of words given recent player quote, I suppose), let me suggest that there are advantages and disadvantages to the missionary service. I believe omip in a previous post indicated that a dozen or so freshmen will play Saturday. If I got that correct and have not mixed that up with Texas now that I think about it, either way, the difference in maturity is usually less than 2 years on the average because not every player serves a mission. It could be zero to 4 years difference depending on whether BYU has a senior laden team or a young team and likewise for the opponent. BYU is a relatively young BYU team this year. I would think at most the average age difference this game will be less than 2 years. So the 26 year-old vs 18 year-old comment by Nutt exaggerates the difference. But there is a difference and it is not insignificant.



Having said that, other teams have LDS players and many discourage missions or reluctantly hold scholarships while the player is gone. I have not heard od such programs, for example trying to talk a kid into going that needs a nudge. BYU environment does give a nudge. It even converts the occasional non- member to join the Church. This is not done fir athletic advantage. It is done due to a belief that every worthy male should serve a mission.



The athletic advantage comes in he form of maturity, and sometimes, after a year tovget back in shape, added height or weight. But it creates logistical nightmares re continuity and chemistry and succession planning. Some come back a little too filled with love and kindness for football. It used to be a running truth that none of the great BYU QBs were returned missionaries. Doman, Beck, and Hall changed that, but many highly touted recruits before them never panned out post mission. The BYU fans that hoped Heaps would go on a mission, hoped he would go straight out of high school so the guys we had could play out and then Heaps could play his four years without that dreaded interruption in the middle. Heaps is now married and thus will definitely not go and fans are relieved.



In the net of the distinct advantages and disadvantages - I see it as neutral at best. For the reasons stated, many fans wish BYU would call the football service a mission and let them play straight out. This is also a double-edged sword relative to recruiting. Some players want to serve and want the environment that most encourages and supports that. Some NFL minded and capable players do not want to defer that career for 2 years, thus shortening it in most cases, and may choose a school where their will be no pressure to go.



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I have no problem with what Coach Nutt said.



The age/maturity discrepancy is always an issue when teams play BYU, whether it creates a competitive advantage or disadvantage. It's easy to focus on the advantages of physical maturity for certain position players and mental maturity for all players when you're viewing the program from the outside looking in. I'm sure if Coach Nutt were asked specific questions about what particular procedures he'd implement if he were dealing with the revolving door of missionaries on his team he'd address more of the disadvantages.



I chalk this one up to the "grass is greener" side of human nature.

Unfortunately, we are also getting it from their offensive coordinator. While he is very complimentary about several of our players, he leads off with this wonderful little tidbit regarding our defensive players:



"They're all two or three years older than our guys," Lee said. "They all have beards and some of our guys don't need to shave yet. They're experienced."



At least he didn't compare their 18 year olds to our 26 year olds like Nutt did. He limited it to two or three years.



Source: http://cougarfan.com/article.asp?ArtID=71671&URL=http://olemiss.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1258313" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just like the mention of BYU and beards in the same sentence. :)

mraven wrote:
Unfortunately, we are also getting it from their offensive coordinator. While he is very complimentary about several of our players, he leads off with this wonderful little tidbit regarding our defensive players:



"They're all two or three years older than our guys," Lee said. "They all have beards and some of our guys don't need to shave yet. They're experienced."



At least he didn't compare their 18 year olds to our 26 year olds like Nutt did. He limited it to two or three years.



Source: http://cougarfan.com/article.asp?ArtID=71671&URL=http://olemiss.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1258313" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh great. Now the Honor Code office is going to do a beard card raid on the defense... :bug: Someone get a wheelbarrow full of razors over to the locker room, NOW!

Perhaps the age discrepancy has more to do with Ole Miss relying on too many Freshman this year instead of building up their program from year to year. This is a coaching failure on Ole Miss' part trying to be passed off as a Missionary program advantage.

I think coaches all play "the game" in the media, trying to cover for the bad coaching, or justify their loss. That said, I like Nutt, he's a good coach and a decent guy. But this will be a good measuring stick for BYU, if we lose to the worst team in the SEC, we will not get much respect this year. However, I expect BYU to win the game, to throw and run for a bunch of yards and for us to put points on the board. I also will be very surprised if our defense does not pretty much stifle their offense.



BYU 38 Ole Miss 13

mraven wrote:
"They all have beards..."

#ignorance

I saw a Rivals article today that all 4 experts pick Ole Miss to win. We shall see.