Resurrected

The question facing the team this week will be if they can change the same answered question last year: Can BYU bounce back?



One way to look at this past week's defeat is to assume that the team was "supercoached" to defeat OU, but it could not maintain momentum. And it wasn't the fact that we lost to FSU; we lost BAD. Personally, I can't recollect a worse performance. Not TCU last year. Not Detmer's debacle against TAMU. This, my friends, was the worst.



Last season we saw a gradual decline as the season wore on. This season, I expect much of the same because I think a lot of the team's temperament is identical to last year, primarily because we have the same leaders. I hope I'm wrong.



Perhaps, however, it was beneficial to lose so early in the season. We've been more than humbled--hopefully not TOO humbled. But we have a few weeks to get ready for TCU. If we defeat CSU--a surprisingly formidable challenge--then I think we are on track. If not, it's going to be a long and embarrassing year.



If you were to ask me personally, however, I have concerns about this team's leadership. So I don't expect too different of results from last year.

I haven't given much thought to the leadership issue.



Driving home from watching the FSU game, I was just thinking, "Well, at least the offense wasn't terrible." Then I rewatched the game, and I wasn't terribly impressed with how the offense handled the pressure of playing from behind in the second half. It's one thing to take additional risks, it's another thing to make stupid decisions. After the pick-6, the offense as a whole collapsed like cheap patio furniture. What was surprising was how much more precise they became when Riley Nelson came in. Now, I do not in anyway mean that as a critique of Max Hall, rather, I think it indicates the negative impact the pressure of trying to mount a comeback put on the team and how poorly they handled it as a unit. When Nelson went in, the message was clear--game over. At that point they began to play within themselves and had success again.



The defense....just abysmal. The funniest thing I've read in a long time was Bronco's "optimistic" comment--it came down to 27 assignment errors, that's all. Wow. Once you hit the double digits in assignment errors, it begins to look less like the individuals that failed, and more like an institutional failure. That is an indication to me that the team simply was not ready for the game.



As to the leadership, one thing I observed was this: last year, the defensive wheels came off when Nix got injured, and when he got back, Johnson was out and the defense never recovered. RT was taken out early Saturday, and Johnson was not playing, replaced by a sophomore and freshman. Comparing the emotion and fire the defense played with in last year's UCLA game and this year's Oklahoma game with the TCU and FSU games, the difference is almost palpable. I don't think the defense has a true leader this year, and I don't think they had one last year either. No one has stepped into the role that Cam Jensen and Kehl held down--a visible leader who drove the entire unit. The last two years, it has seemed like there is leadership by corps. Jorgensen leads the line, Bauman the middle, and Johnson the secondary. Until we have a strong personality on the field that leads the unit, I don't know how this defense can manage emotion and frustration as a unit.



It is just inexplicable that the same defense that held the highest scoring offense in history to 13 points on the road can come home and let FSU light up the board with 54. This is the most embarrassing loss since the UTEP game in 84 (85?), but since we played at home, we can't even salve our egos by speculating that FSU wiretapped the booths.

Leadership is a very interesting angle, like Sno, I haven't thought about it much this year...



Who would you say are the biggest leaders? On the Offense? On the Defense?

hawkwing wrote:
Leadership is a very interesting angle, like Sno, I haven't thought about it much this year...



Who would you say are the biggest leaders? On the Offense? On the Defense?

This is the million dollar question. I'm guessing that one problem is that there are probably people that THINK they are the leaders, but perhaps are not viewed as such by those they "lead." It's kind of like that zone leader you had that you really didn't like, even though he always seemed nice to you personally.



There are also people on the team that the players WANT to follow, but that aren't just as vocal as some former leaders have been.

First off, I'm really glad I found or rediscovered this site. I agree on the leadership problem. I think for the offense, Max thinks he's the leader, wants to be the leader, but doesn't act like a leader. That can cause some serious problems. I think some on the offense doesn't look up to Max and when he makes a mistake things can get out of control in a hurry. We all know he's very competitive but takes things too far sometimes.



On defense I think it's Jan and I think he's very similar to Max. If Scott Johnson were more vocal I think he could be the true leader. He works so hard, is assignment-sound as they come, is confident, but isn't the most vocal. (i know because i've played football and baseball with him)

Mars wrote:

If Scott Johnson were more vocal I think he could be the true leader. He works so hard, is assignment-sound as they come, is confident, but isn't the most vocal. (i know because i've played football and baseball with him)

IMO, Scott Johnson is the most important player on our team. That may seem crazy to you, but I would rather lose Max Hall to injury than Scott Johnson. I think that CSU-08, UNLV-08, Utah-08, Arizona-08, and FSU-09 back me up.

Bronco himself named Scotty Johnson as the MVP of the defense. I don't think that's even strong enough. He's a huge part of the defense. It's like having Jaime Hill out there on the field when we have Scotty in the backfield calling the defense.

Johnson, Pendleton, and Clawson seem to be the leaders in terms of making big plays when it really counts.



Sure, players like Jan bring leadership in terms of seniority... but when it comes to leading by example ON THE FIELD, I just don't see him doing it much at all this year.

Mars wrote:

If Scott Johnson were more vocal I think he could be the true leader. He works so hard, is assignment-sound as they come, is confident, but isn't the most vocal. (i know because i've played football and baseball with him)

IMO, Scott Johnson is the most important player on our team. That may seem crazy to you, but I would rather lose Max Hall to injury than Scott Johnson. I think that CSU-08, UNLV-08, Utah-08, Arizona-08, and FSU-09 back me up.

I don't think you sound crazy. I agree. Scotty J is the glue to our defense and is arguably the team MVP.

mcgregor wrote:

Leadership is a very interesting angle, like Sno, I haven't thought about it much this year...



Who would you say are the biggest leaders? On the Offense? On the Defense?

This is the million dollar question. I'm guessing that one problem is that there are probably people that THINK they are the leaders, but perhaps are not viewed as such by those they "lead." It's kind of like that zone leader you had that you really didn't like, even though he always seemed nice to you personally.



There are also people on the team that the players WANT to follow, but that aren't just as vocal as some former leaders have been.

I think this is where Max Hall falls short and where John Beck succeeded. Max seems to have changed some since last year, but I think how he leads the offense today will be the biggest indicator of his leadership abilities (or possible lack of them).



I'm assuming Max is one that you had in mind, McGregor...

Definitely Johnson on defense, you just have to look back to the FSU game to see that. I'd say that Jan is an anchor of our defense, but maybe not a leader (does that even make sense?).



Offense is a little harder to see, but I gotta say Max, he does take games over and get the whole machine working (not as consistently as I'd like). The final drive of the Oklahoma game, the entire SDSU and UNLV games, etc.