Part 1 of 7 BYU special in-depth football preview: Offensive Backfield

BYU should be very solid next year in the backfield. Returning is senior QB Max Hall. Yes Hall did struggle at the end of the year, but he is still the best returning QB in the conference. BYU has had tremendous success with senior QBs in previous years. Expect a big year for Hall, especially if Collie returns. Lets not hype up the Heisman talk though, unless we somehow beat Oklahoma at the beginning of the year.
Backing up Hall will either be Brenden Gaskins again, or Utah St. transfer Riley Nelson (pictured above). Riley will be getting back from his mission in Spain in the next couple months. He was a freshman sensation with the Aggies two years ago and is the QB after Hall graduates. Just from watching James Lark and Jason Munns in practice, I was much more impressed with Nelson his freshman year. If I was the coach, I would have Nelson be the backup QB and let him play some serious minutes when the game is out of hand, just to get him some experience. Another option is just to redshirt him. Kurt McCuen is also an option.

We will be deep again at RB. Returning is workhorse junior Harvey Unga. His only weakness is his speed. If he can lose about 10 pounds for next year and gain some speed, he could be special. He has great hands and runs hard. Coming back for his senior year will be FB Manase Tonga (pictured below) if he can get back into school after being suspended for academics. He will be very important as he will take Fui's spot. He also has great hands and is an underrated runner.
Also looking to get carries will be sophmore J.J. Diluigi, returning missionary Mike Hague, and true freshman Adam Timo. Diluigi has not lived up to his hype, but in fairness to him, he hasn't really gotten the playing time necessary to succeed. The coaches quickly lost trust in him after fumbling twice in crucial situations. He looked good in spring ball and I believe he still can be productive. He is very quick, has good vision, and soft hands. Timo has some serious upside. Scout.com has him rated as a 4-star recruit with good speed. His highlights in high school are very impressive. I was impressed with Brian Kariya this year. The coaches trust him so he should get some carries as well. Expect a battle between these players to get playing time behind Unga and Tonga.

Next up is the WRs and TEs preview.

Worst year ever?

Ya this year has been hard on us Seattle sports fans. There is a great article on ESPN.com written by Jim Caple and Outside the Lines that covers just how bad it has been for us. Here's the link. Its a great read. Even for fans not from Seattle. You have to admire that fan, Lorin Sandresky, for his loyalty. And here I thought I was the loyalist Seattle sports fan. This guy actually would wait for the teams to get home from their flights! Trust me read the article.

I've been avoiding writing about the terrible weekend for BYU sports. I feel bad for the basketball team for absolutely getting robbed. I have never seen such a poorly officiated game in my 25 years of existence. No joke. I'm not exaggerating. How bout that star treatment for James Hardin? Ridiculous. Not to mention that the last play was inconclusive. It just goes to show that Pac-10 people take care of themselves and the national media and ESPN just look the other way. BYU should never play another Pac-10 school in anything unless it is on a completely neutral court with non-partial refs or replay officials. Hopefully the team can recover from this and beat Wake Forest on Jan. 3. That is going to be a huge can for us. It will be our only chance to get national attention and rebound from a tough loss.

On that note. I don't feel bad for BYU football, except for Austin Collie. Our coaching staff is too stubborn, ignorant, or just plain clueless in our offensive and defensive schemes. I heard it said once that a team reflects from a coach's personality. BYU now plays exactly as Bronco is, emotionless, passive, makes excuses, and unwilling to adjust. This team has talent coming back next year but the way we play in our formations and play calling, there is no hope to do anything special next year. Which is why I feel bad for Austin Collie, the guy is a stallion, a gamer, one of the best players to ever play at BYU. I don't blame him for wanting to get out of this mess and coaching staff. I will go into greater depth on our offensive and devensive schemes and why they are so bad in the off-season. Let me state that I like Bronco as a person. He would be a great Elder's Quorem President. But lacks in football IQ.

Blockbuster trade for the Mariners!!!! J.J. will be missed

Wow I didn't know I could be so exited about baseball in December. But this is a huge trade for the future of the M's. We give up J.J. Putz, Sean Green, Jeremy Reed, and Luis Valbuena. We get Franklin Gutierrez, Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Mike Carp, and some "minor leaguers".

Lets first discuss who we had to give up: J.J. Putz will be missed. He was been one of my favorite players the last few years and he was the leader of the team. But I understand why the team would want to trade him. He was hurt for most of last year, and when he did pitch, he stunk. Good luck in Queens J.J.! Sean Green will also be missed. He has been our best right-handed set-up man the last two years. Jeremy Reed will not be missed. He has basically no potenial upside and is basically a career .250 and 15 home run hitter with average defense. Luis Valbuena definitely has some upside. I was impressed by his bat and glove but he is the same player as Jose Lopez right now, just with a slightly better glove and less power, so one of them had to go.

Now lets get to the exiting part. I'm stoked about Franklin Gutierrez. He is going to be our center fielder for a long time! Great defense, decent offense, and great upside. Aaron Heilman isn't really that exiting, he's a downgrade from Sean Green. He wants to start but we already have too many starters so he'll probably be in the bullpen again. Endy Chavez will probably split time with Wlad in left. He's a great defensive player that can hit for average and has good speed. Mike Carp is a good minor leaguer that has potential.

Bottom line is that we drastically improved our outfield defense (and possibly outfield offense) but at the same time lost some key bullpen pieces. Another big question is do we move Brandon Morrow back to the bullpen? I really think this kid could be a great starter but now without Putz and Green, we need him as a closer.

Spring Training is less than 3 months away!

I think I owe JT an appology...for now

Yesterday's win over Utah St was huge. Not only did we beat a good team in Utah St....we actually won a game without Lee Cummard having to be like the government and bail us out. Jonathan Tavernari, who I've been very critical of, actually was one of the main reasons we won. Yes he did take his normal 5-6 terrible shots per game, but his hustle plays were the difference in the game. His steals were huge momentum swingers and sources of offense that were desperately needed without Lee in the game with foul trouble. Props to Jimmer Fredette for stepping up and drilling some huge 3's and the and-one at the end. Click here for video recap

Also of note is that I won a bet with a huge Aggie fan and now she has to wear a BYU shirt around for a day...so hopefully that will be as humilliating as possible.

Speaking of Aggie fans, I think its funny the way Utah St. thinks that they are big rivals with BYU. What makes it even more hilarious is that they REALLY HATE BYU. I would even guess they hate BYU way more than Utah. I think they might even hate us more that Utah does. Why all the hate? We don't hate you :) I guess it is probably the same reason that Utah hates us. Because they couldn't get into BYU so they're jealous? Because you think we think we are better members of the church than you just because we go to BYU? Thats just retarted. Get a life and stop wasting your time hating on BYU.

Around the world of sports, even though its hard for me to say, but congratulations to Cashmere for winning the Washington 1A State playoffs, and representing the old CWAC. Behind Ephrata, I think Cashmere is the next team I disliked the most in high school out of the old CWAC. On a crazy and suprising note, 2A powerhouse Prosser lost a heartbreaker in the finals. Click here for a video recap. I couldn't believe it when they lost...one of the best high school games ever in the state of Washington! I thought they'd win by 3 TDs after I saw them play last week for only a quarter.

Also of note is BYU will be playing Arizona in the Vegas Bowl. Alot of Coug fans are complaining about going to this bowl but I think we should be grateful. It could be worse. We could be playing in the New Mexico bowl! Yuck. If we can't go to a BCS game, then Vegas is the next best bowl. I just hope TCU plays Boise State in the Poinsettia bowl in San Diego so they can show just how much better the MWC is than the WAC!

BYU's Defensive Philosophy

The "bend but don't break defense" will never get BYU to the BCS, or even win another MWC championship. In my mind, it is a weak defense. It relies on your opponent making mistakes, not being aggressive, thus taking the game out your own hands. If I were a coach, I would prefer trying to win the game instead of trying to not lose the game. This is the main reason we are something like 1-9 against ranked teams the last 4 years. We have no problem against weak offensive teams, but whenever we play somebody good, we get smoked. I'm not sure if its Bronco or Jaime Hill who likes this defensive philosophy but it needs to go. Take a page out of Utah's defensive playbook and mix it up a bit. Disguise your blitzes. Don't be vanilla. Be creative. Make it hard for an opposing offense!

One of the reasons that I hear everybody say the reason they believe we can't blitz is because we don't have the cover guys in the secondary. This really gets me fired up because we do have the talent. His name was G Pittman but we managed to screw that one up somehow. Not to mention Brandon Bradley. That kid is a stud if the coaches would let him get physical and not play 10 yards off the football. Have you ever tried to guard someone when you give them 10 yards of cushion? Its nearly impossible because they can run any route they want. Are you telling me that Brandon Howard isn't fast enough? He's probably the fastest one on the team.

Another thing that bothers me is that if the coaches make the excuse that they don't have the athletes to be successful, why aren't they recruiting the necessary people? Bronco himself said that it doesn't matter what "star" a person is on scout.com or rivals.com. But then he makes the excuse that it DOES matter? Something is contradictory here. Bronco told us as fans that we should not worry about recruiting, but this is exactly why we as fans get upset about not recruiting the talent necessary.

Which gets me to another point about Bronco. He is not good with the media. He doesn't like the media. He seems annoyed with the fans. Anytime he gets a chance to go to Cougar Club meetings or talk about the team on the Bronco Mendenhall show, he seems like he is too good to be there and shouldn't have to worry about such pointless things. News flast to Bronco! Those people are the ones who pay your salary. The boosters are the ones who allow BYU football to exist. Unlike other programs who get money from their universities, BYU athletics raises its own money through donations and funds raised through advertising, etc. Not a penny comes from tithing.

If you look at other top coaches from around the country, you will notice they are very good with the media. Coaches like Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, Mack Brown, Jim Tressel, Nick Saban, and of course Pete Carroll build up their programs by positive publicity. They know how to attrack kids to their schools. I'm not saying that Bronco can't recruit. Because I think he is a good recruiter. But getting the top LDS kids in the nation, (like Manti Te'o) , requires you to be able to convince kids that we have a good system and defensive philosophy. And if kids like Manit see how our defense plays, i.e soft and passive, then why would he choose us over USC? We should be getting the top LDS kids in the nation. And probably a few good non-LDS kids like G Pittman to stay and enjoy BYU. We are a top 20 program that should be able to recruit the athletes necessary.

Well I just rambled along and vented some frustrations but hopefully in the next couple days I'll think of some positives that the program is doing. I promise I'm not a pessimist so I'll look at the positives also.

Thoughs on about everything

So this will probably end up being one of my longest post of all time because there seems to be so much going on in the BYU/Seattle sports scene. I wish I had the time/motivation to post everyday but school is kicking my butt right now. Two midterms this past week plus two this week have me going crazy. So I figure Saturday is a good day to catch up on everything thats going on.

First off I'm stoked about this years BYU basketball team. Last nights game was amazing to see. Yes we played terrible against a team we should have beat by over 20, but how can you not love Lee Cummard? The man is simply amazing. Check out this stat line: 36 points, 11 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 7-7 on free throws, and off the top of my head, somewhere around 14-17 from the field. He will go down as one of the greatest players in BYU history. I'm just glad I've had the opportunity to watch him play for 4 straight years.

On a negative note, Jonathan Tavernari was terrible. The rest of the team was below average but JT had probably the worst night I've seen him have. Somewhere around 8-24 from the field. That just can't happen for this team to be successful. I know I've been harping on this forever but he has to be more selective on his 3-point shots. He forces too many shots with a man in his face. Do a pump fake or something to mix it up. You said before the season you were going to focus on other things besides scoring, so DO IT! Make your teammates better please, like Lee Cummard does.

Moving on to Seattle Seahawk football. This weeks game against Arizona is a must win. I know that sounds cliche and I hate using words like "must win" but this game really is. If we lose this game, no playoffs for the Seahawks. Actually we can only afford to lose probably one more game the rest of the season, which would put us at 8-8. I'm assuming the Cardinals finish at 8-8 and we win the tiebreaker against them. The only reason I have hope is because Matt Hasselbeck is coming back this week. Go Seahawks!

Now to some important offseason news for the Mariners. They will probably name a Manager sometime this week. Ex-Mariner and current Chicago White Sox coach Joey Cora is in the mix. I would love to see Joey as the manager, mostly because I loved him as a player back in the 90s. Plus he's Latino, which would help some of our younger Latin players like Yuni Bentancour, Jose, Lopez, Felix Hernandez, and Carlos Triunfel. He probably won't get the job but you never know.

Oh yeah, there's also a BYU football game today! Its going to be a tough game. Air Force is a really underrated team, especially at home. I'm not worried about our offense, but our D might be in trouble against their triple option attack.

As I was thinking about Lee Cummard being one of the greatest players to ever play at BYU, I thought of how fun it is to watch another player who is the greatest Wide Receiver to play at BYU, Austin Collie. Not only does he lead the nation in yards, and is a Belitnikof award finalist, but only needs 165 yards to become BYU's all-time leading receiver. Oh yeah, and he's only a junior. He has said that he won't leave early for the NFL but we'll see. Go Cougars! Beat Air Force!

Utah's win keeps BYU's slim BCS hopes alive

It was a strange day for me on thursday. I was torn. Do I root for Utah to beat TCU so BYU still has a slight chance for the conference title and the BCS? Or do I concede that BYU is just not good enough to beat Utah anyways this year and root against Utah because I don't want them to go to a BCS game? Tough decisions. But I decided to root against TCU, instead of rooting for the dang Yewts. Just to justify it.

Anyways it was a strange seen as I watched the game at Legents Grill in Provo. There were a ton of people there, mostly BYU fans, and they were all cheering for Utah. Of course I understand why they would, but it was just bizarre seeing all these BYU fans rooting for our arch enemy. I chose to watch the game and never cheer outloud for Utah. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was happy inside but I would never cheer openly for them.

I was honestly disapointed as I saw a few BYU football players sitting there watching the game and cheering for Utah. I couldn't believe my eyes. Come on guys!

So just a few thoughts on what has to happen for BYU to get a BCS game. First we need to win the rest of our games. Which will not be easy as we still have games @Air Force and Utah. Then we need either Boise St or Ohio St to lose. If you really want me to explain it to you then I will but I don't want to write a couple more paragraphs just explaining the BCS system. So bottom line, root against Boise St and Ohio St, and just win baby!

Quincy vs Ephrata...one of the great rivalries

On the eve of the biggest sporting event of the year in the Columbia Basin, I thought I'd reflect and give a shout out to one of the great rivalries in high school sports. As some of you know, Quincy plays host to Ephrata tomorrow for the "Battle of the Basin trophy". Let me tell you, there is no love lost between these two schools, much like Ohio St. and Michigan or BYU and Utah.

One of my greatest memories in this rivalry is beating them my sophmore year in football. We played them @Ephrata my sophmore year and it was my first year as starting QB. It was a great game. I can still remember some of their players so mad after the game that they refused to walk through the line and shake our hands. Then that same year we beat them in basketball (the same year we took 4th in state). It was awesome seeing Weddle crying after he got schooled by Scott Bierlink. I just wish we could have beat them more my junior and senior years.

I believe Ephrata has beat us the last two years so in honor of the presidential election, it's time for change! Go Jacks! Beat Ephrata!

Where are you Matt Hasselbeck? / G Pittman transferring to WSU!

I feel I need to say a bit about my beloved Seahawks. I seemed to get caught up in BYU sports and the Mariners, but believe me, I still love the Seahawks. Just ask Adam or Brett if they remember the 2006 Super Bowl where I almost started breaking things in Russ's parents house in Orem. I'm not sure if I've been as pissed after a sporting event in my life. For sure I've never been so upset at officials in my life. I was probably more disappointed/despressed after the Quincy state championship basketball game in 2005, but not pissed like the Super Bowl.

Anyways I was getting exited last week after the Hawks played well and beat down the 49ers, (led by drawer dropping Mike Singletary). There was hope. Even if our records was only 2-5. Luckily we play in the worst division in football where the best team right now is the Arizona Cardinals, who just happen to be notorius for choking is big situations.

Unfortunately we pulled another dud today as we got owned by the Eagles. Dropping our record to 2-6. This is already our third loss at home this season! I can't even remember three losses since 2004 at Qwest field. We always seem to dominate at homeBut don't lose hope yet Hawk fans! I was checking out our schedule and it is favorable. We still play Arizona twice, which could get us back into the divisional race.

But it all hinges on if we can get Matt Hasselbeck back in the next two weeks. If we can't get him back within 3 weeks, the season is over. I can see us going 6-2 over the next 8 games if we can get him back next week or the week after. That would put us at 8-8, and assuming we beat Arizona twice, we could win the division. Getting Deion Branch back wouldn't hurt too.

This has been a miserable year in Seattle sports. First the Sonics leave, then the Mariners finish in last place in the AL, then UW football can't win a game. Not to mention how terrible things are in the Palouse with the Washington State Cougars. If you read my blog entry about the Seahawks in August, they were supposed to be Seattle's last hope for what has been a horrible year. There's still time. Get well soon Matt!

While I'm talking about WSU football, I noticed on ex-BYU football player Quinn Gooch's blog that G Pittman is transferring to WSU next year. That would mean he would sit out a year and be able to play in 2010 as a junior. I was stoked to hear this news for a few reasons. First he is a very good player and I want the Crimson Cougs to turn things around. And it puts him in a similar situation as myself, as I am in the process of applying to WSU pharmacy school for next year so hopefully I'll run into G next year in good ol' Washington State.

BYU Basketball Tip-Off

So I anxiously headed over to the Marriot Center last night to check out this year's version of the BYU basketball team. I'll be honest, I haven't been this exited about a team in a while. And after seeing this team last night, I think they can be special. The great thing is they only have one senior, who happens to be the best player, Lee Cummard. I think this team has the most potential out of any of the other teams.

The only problem is that we only have one senior. Whereas in past years we've had multiple seniors. The experience factor will be huge in road games. Don't expect this year to be the year we beat UNLV on the road. That said, we can still win conference, get into the tourney, and actually win a game!

Here's a breakdown of what I observed at the scrimmage:

1. I've never been a fan of Jonathan Tavernari, mostly because I felt he took too many bad shots, but he played very well last night. I'm starting to come around on him. He knocked down a bunch of shots. Hopefully he can still be selective in his shots but still carry that confidence that makes him such a dangerous shooter.

2. It's going to be a tough decision on who could redshirt. Noah Hartsock could be a good canidade. He didn't look like he was in the best shape yesterday. But he is still a good player and could get some minutes backing up JT at the 4. Charles Abouo looked very good last night. He is huge (ripped). Look for him to get some good minutes behind Cummard if he doesn't redshirt. I actually think Michael Loyd would benefit from a redshirt, even though he probably won't. He'll probably be the second guard off the bench. He's super fast and athletic but not the best shooter.

3. I thought Matt Pinegar looked just as good or better than Lamont Morgan last night. Morgan is a decent player, but he can't shoot from the outside. He can penetrate very well and dish to the outside but thats about it. Pinegar was knocking down shoots all night long and looked very impressive on both sides of the court.

4. Jackson Emery is ripped. That boy looks like he spent some time in the gym on his mission. He struggled at times getting use to the speed again but I think he's going to have a great season. He'll probably be the first one off the bench to replace Jimmer and Lee.

5. Chris Miles and Gavon McGregor looked solid. Nothin spectacular but both can bang on the inside and get some boards. Both showed touch around the basket, something that was not present with Plaisted. This is another reason why Hartsock will be able to redshirt.

6. Jimmer Fredette and Lee Cummard are going to be great players for us this year. Look for great things, especially from Cummard.

G Pittman Transfering / BYU Basketball

I'll admit I was pretty bummed yesterday when I found out that G will be transfering. I've been exited for this kid ever since he came to BYU two years ago. I actually had the chance to talk to him last year when I ran into him when we were both waiting in line in the bookstore. He was a really nice kid and it seemed he really liked being here at BYU and was exited to get him chance to play.

I trust Bronco and his assessments, but I think this is one kid where they missed up big time. He should have been starting in front of Brandon Howard. I think anyone who has seen a game or practice would agree. I'm not convinced that academics was the only reason he left. I feel he was frustrated by his role on the team. Anyways he's gone and we're going to need Gary Nagy, Cameron Comer, and Garrett Nicholson to step up and be our "shut down corners" of the future. By the way, I hate the term "shut down corner". It is way over used.

I'll be headed to the BYU Basketball tip-off tonight at 7:00. I'm exited to see what some of the new guys look like. Mostly Jackson Emery (post mission), Lamont Morgan (post redshirt), Charles Abouo (post prep school), and Noah Hardtscok (post mission). I'll probably give an update on how it went tomarrow.

Mariners hire Jack Zduriencik as GM!

The M's have their new GM. Jack Zduriencik comes from the Milwaukee Brewers as their scouting director. He is known for his ability to find talent throught the draft. Just what the M's have been needing! Check out ussmariner.com or seattletimes.com for more on him. He has an impressive resume. Now lets go build a great team and not finish in last place in the AL again!

I know I'm beating a dead horse but... / Mendenhall: "We could adjust our philosophy"

I know I'm "beating a dead horse" but its so important that I think it needs some discussion. As I mentioned in the last post, BYU has the philosophy of playing their corners 10-15 yards off the ball to try and prevent "big plays". I have a few problems with this.

1. I heard Nate Meikle say that he has talked with a number of players on the team about this and they've said that this is a typical NFL approach. What? Have they even seen an NFL game? I've never seen the corners play 10 yards off the ball in the NFL. Every game that I've watched I've seen them play either "bump" coverage with the safties over the top in "cover 2 defense" or between 4-7 yards off the ball.

Brandon Bradley

#2. One of the reasons I've heard the coaches say we can't play up on the WRs is because our corners aren't "physical" or "athletic" enough to match up. I say this is ridiculous. Brandon Howard's main strenght is his speed and athletic ability. Scott Johnson's strenght is his physicalness and toughness. He's a great tackler. Are you telling me that Brandon Brandley isn't an athlete? That kid is amazing. He's a physical specimen. He needs to be on the field more. Then there is G Pittman, probably the most talented corner we've had in the program in a while.

#3. I've heard a few times (on the Greg Wrubell post-game show and coaches show) where Bronco and Nate Meikle say that the team has run statistical analysis on managing the total points in a game and that when you play "off" the WRs, it gives up yards but not points. Also known as a bend but don't break defense. This may work against terrible QBs but not against good QBs that will pick you apart. I understand where they are getting at but we need to realize that every situation calls for something different. Which leads me to some great news....

Bronco said in a interview that he may change some of the philosphy for different situations. I took this as meaning that he will move the corners closer on 3rd down situations. We got killed by TCU on 3rd down conversions when they just threw to their WR for 5-9 yard gains on third down. Its good to see that Bronco is willing to swallow some pride and adjust to what needs to be done. It will be interesting this week as we play UNLV because they have probably 3 of the best WRs in the conference. I know what I'll be looking for on 3rd down this week. They will either run a QB draw like TCU or attempt a 5-9 yards out pattern. Hopefully we can adjust this time!

Phillip Payne's Game Winning Catch vs Arizona State

Don't Stop Believin'!

Yes it has been a while since I've posted anything and for this I apologize. I promise to do more. It seems I have so much going on with school, work, and life in general that I just don't find the time to blog anymore. But I promise to find more time. Its an exciting time to be a BYU fan (even if we lost to TCU). Basketball season is also right around the corner and this could be a very good BYU basketball team this year. Seattle sports aren't doing so hot but there is always something to talk about with the M's or the Seahawks. Anyways, on to the good stuff, or the bad stuff for BYU fans.

So yes, BYU did get smoked by TCU. Yes, our coaches got totally out coached. Yes, some of our defensive philosophies are ridiculous (I'll mention them later). And yes, our offense is predicable. After all this negative stuff, we still have a chance at the BCS. But we need a few things to happen. I'll explain.

1. We have to win the rest of our games. This will be tough the way the team is playing right now. But honestly, we probably won't have a really tough game until we travel to Utah. Although the road trips to Colorado State and Air Force won't be easy. UNLV is also not a pushover anymore. But if we can somehow find a way to improve enough before Nov.22, we CAN win the rest of our games.

2. Utah must beat TCU in 3 weeks. Yes I know it is hard to root for the Utes but if TCU runs the table then they'll get the BCS bid. TCU doesn't have another hard game on the schedule except for Utah.

3. Boise State must lose a game. They actually have a couple tough games left. The tougest one is next week against a good San Jose St. team on the road. They also have a couple other tests @Nevada, @ New Mexico St., and vs. Fresno St.

4. As of now we are barely ranked behind Tulsa and Ball State in the BCS rankings. We must pass them somehow. We might be able to pass them just by winning out because our strenght of schedule is better. Or they could just lose a game. Tulsa has to play @Arkansas which won't be easy. Ball State has a couple in-conference games that should give them a challenge.

If these four things happen, we will be ranked in the top 12 (which is where we need to be to guarantee a BCS spot).

Now I'm going to go off a bit on what BYU needs to do to go undefeated the rest of the way.

1. Bronco/Jaime Hill need to re-think their defensive philosophy on playing the corners 10-15 yards off the ball. I can understand when it is 3rd and long. But when the other team needs 3-10 yards for the first down, we can't just make it easy for them and give them the 1st down. It might work against terrible QBs, but if we actually want to beat a good team we have to tighten up.

2. Learn how to adjust during the game! When a Wide Reciever is taking snaps at QB, he is probably going to run. Utah does this same thing with their Running Back so we're going to have to learn how to defend it. Along these same lines, our front 7 has to be more physical and stop the run, bottom line.

3. Our offense needs to get its confidence back. Teams have learned that if they shut down Collie, Pitta, and Unga, its game over. Somehow Anae needs to find a way to mix it up a bit to get the defense on its heels. Be a little creative without sacrificing consistency. TCU was able to pressure Hall. Mostly because our receivers couldn't get open.

Bottom Line: Don't Stop Believin'! signed-Journey

BYU Moves up in Polls. Now has realistic shot at National Championship

As painful it is for me to say that BYU has a good chance at a National Championship, it is a real possibility. It's painful because we still have tons of work to do. Three road trips against TCU, Air Force, and Utah are going to be real tests. TCU scares me because they are hungry. Yes they did get worked at Oklahoma but remember that OU is the #1 team in the country. Plus TCU held their own physically. It was their execution that spoiled their fun. They came out pumped up, ready to start a fight with OU, then got out coached and out executed. They held OU, one of the best rushing teams, to less than 40 yards rushing! We're probably going to have to throw the ball a ton to beat them. Don't even get me started about how we can't contain a dual-threat QB like Andy Dalton.

Then there's Utah. That game is going to be tough. Real tough.

Its a long season and I hate looking ahead and assuming we'll go undefeated. I catch myself looking at the other title contenders in the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, and USC and wondering what would happen if all but one of them ended up with 2 losses. Would we be in the title game?

I found Jan Jorgensen's comments today very interesting at the weekly press conference. He said that it "scared" him when he saw that BYU was ranked so high. I felt the exact same way yesterday when I saw the polls. We will now have a target on our backs the rest of the way.

For an example of this, check out Foxsports.com on the college football section. BYU has a main page about them. Mostly negative stuff but what else can be expected by a BSC/East Coast bias media?

Mark on The Bronco Mendenhall Show / Brandon Morrow near No-No

So ya I'm been kinda lazy about my whole blog thing the past couple weeks since school just started and its been kicking me in the butt. So I promise to blog a bit more now that I have everything under control.

First off...I gotta throw a shout out to myself for getting mentioned yesterday on the Bronco Mendenhall show. For those of you who don't know, the head coach of BYU has his weekly radio show with the amazing Greg Wrubell (voice of the Cougs) every Wednesday. Anyways I normally email in a question each week and yesterday they actually read it on the air. Here's the link to the show...just click on the audio link on the right side (9/10)...my question comes around the 14:30 if you wanna hear it.

I asked about the possibility of using G Pittman or Brandon Bradley in nickle or dime packages when teams try to spread us out. Bronco said that is a possibility now with the depth at linebacker. I also asked about if there were plans on moving to a 4-3, which he said there weren't any plans.

Gotta give some love for Adam Olsen (fellow Cougar blogger) who also had a message answered. He actually asked a question that I was thinking about asking, whether Terrance Hooks would be back this year. Coach said 5-8 weeks I believe. Wouldn't it be great to get both Vic and Terrance back for the TCU game? Thats going to be a tough one. Don't underestimate TCU. Especially on the road. Bronco mentioned that Vic might actually redshirt this year, which would be great since all of our good linebackers are going to be seniors next year, so we need to spread them out a bit.

Also gotta give a shout out to Mariner's pitcher Brandon Morrow for almost no-hitting the Yankees last friday night. I was on the edge of my seat after the fifth inning. It was a great weekend with the M's winning a series from the Yanks and basically putting them out of the playoffs, and beating the Huskies in dramatic fashion.

Brandon Morrow making first ML start against The Yankees!

Well the highly anticipated debut of hard-throwing Brandon Morrow is tonight. Against the hated Yankees of course. The Mariners made the right move by sending him to AAA Tacoma to work on his off-speed stuff. While its true he may be better as a bullpen guy, its worth taking the risk to see if he has the stuff to be a starter. If it doesn't work out we can always move him back to the pen.

While its unfair to Brandon, he will always be compared to Seattle native Tim Lincecum, who the Mariners passed on with the #5 pick in the 2006 draft. We now know that Lincecum is a horse for the Giants and was probably the better pick. But here's to Mr. Morrow to try and prove all his doubters wrong!

Christmas Morning!!

I feel like I'm an 8 year old kid again as he wakes up for Christmas morning. I've been waiting for this day to come for over 8 months now, and it has finally arrived!...College Football.

For the first week, there are actually a ton a good games to see today. Obviously I'll be going to the BYU game at 4:00, which they should win. But I'm exited to see a couple of games in particular. First at 1:30, Utah vs Michigan (yes I'm rooting for the yewts, its good for the conference) on ABC. I'll be flipping between this game and Wazzu vs Oklahoma St on FSN (I'm just hoping WSU can win a few games this year cause it looks like it might be a long season on the Palouse. Then after the BYU game, UW takes on Oregon which I'm hoping UW wins so BYU can get some respect by beating them next week.
All in all its going to be an amazing day....time to open the presents!!

I have a problem

I just can't stop thinking about this dilemma I'm faced with. Every time I watch the Mariners play I can't decide if I want them to win or lose. I'll explain why. Obviously I want them to win because they're my team. It's embarrassing seeing your favorite team have the worst record in the American League and I would love for them to be able to at least catch the Royals or the A's, but thats not going to happen. I also want them to win because winning baseball is just plain fun to watch. Plus if this team could somehow put together a winning month of September, maybe their confidence will increase and they'll play better next year. They need to finish the season just under the .500 mark to avoid being the first team to spend more than $100 million and lose 100 games. That would be just embarrassing.


The only reason I almost want this team to lose is because of one guy, Steven Strasburg. If you haven't heard of this kid you will. Right now he's playing for San Diego St. and is eligible for next year's draft. He was the only college kid to play for team USA during the Olympics this year and is good enough right now to start for the Mariners. I saw him pitch last year against BYU and it was total domination. It was like he was facing little leaguers. He throws in the mid to high 90s with a nasty curveball and changeup.

There is only one problem. The Nationals are even worse than the Mariners and currently have the worst record in baseball which would give them the first pick in the draft next year, leaving Seattle with the 2nd pick. So here lies my problem, do I root for the M's to lose so they can become better in the future (2010 and beyond) or do I root for them now to win just cause it's fun and maybe it will boost their morale if they can win some games with the young kids that are playing right now. If they start winning, maybe that will carry them into next season with a winning attitude.

Tough decisions.

8th Wonder

Michael Phelps has done it! A perfect 8 for 8.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any more exiting after the dramatic finish against the French in the 4 x 100 free, he goes out and wins by a hundredth of a second in the 100 butterfly! Call it luck, call it fate, or just call it all those long hours of hard work in the pool in Baltimore.

Tonight he put the icing on the cake by winning in the 4 x 100 medley. All I gotta say is that Phelps better be buying Jason Lezak dinner for a long time for anchoring both of those amazing races. I mean he should be able to afford it after the 1$ million dollar bonus he'll be getting from Speedo. Hopefully you got to see all eight of his races. If you didn't, go to nbc.com and check them out.

Michael Phelps is a God and we are not worthy.

Yes I've been enjoying my time in the greatest place in the world (The Basin/Q-Town). Mostly spending time with the family so haven't had the time to write as much about the Olympics as much as I've wanted to but I thought I'd throw a shout out to the man, the myth, the legend himself, Michael Phelps.

As you've noticed, (and if you haven't where have you been?) Michael Phelps has already won 3 gold medals and is set to break Mark Spitz's record 8 gold medals this year if he can fulfill his expectations in Beijing. I'm sure he can stay motivated because if he wins 8 gold medals, Speedo will give him a 1$ million dollar bonus for being his sponsor. He has already matched the record held by 5 other Olympians with 9 gold medals in a career. We are truly witnessing something special. No matter what happens the next couple of weeks, Phelps will go down as the greatest Olympian of all time. Lets just bask in the greatest.

If you didn't get to see the 4 x 100 relay, you missed something special. The French team had been talking trash the whole week about how they were going to "smash the Americans." Here's
the link. Here's the link to the video. It makes you realize what the Olympics are all about, whooping other countries. Seriously though, doesn't this video just make you proud to be an American?

BYU Practice Open to the Public

So today's practice was the only open practice that BYU will have open to the public for this Fall camp. Luckily I'm not heading home to Washington till tomorrow so I decided to head on down to the practice facility during my lunch break because I work really close to where they practice.

When I arrived I noticed I had made a cardinal mistake, I had a red shirt on from work! Of course everyone else was wearing blue and white BYU colors and I'm there with my hated Utah colors. Here I am, one of the most die hard BYU fans, and people are looking at me thinking I'm a traitor. I guess thats why we shouldn't judge people by what they wear. Actually I don't think anyone gave me any weird looks so it was fun, even though I could only stay for about a half hour because I had to get back to work. Anyways, just a few observations:

Just as you walk into the facility, there are signs everywhere that say "No videotaping or internet posting." So I'll try not to be specific about things. I know Bronco doesn't like having open practices because of people who have taken advantage of having open practices by posting videos or giving away very specific details about plays, etc. So I'll try not to be one of those people so we can continue to have open practices in future years.

I figure that Greg Wrubell post the same things that I'm about to post but only in greater detail so I figure I'm OK. First, Fui Vakapuna looks like a monster (#1 pictured above). That boy is ripped. He didn't looked too slowed by his hamstring and I think he'll be ready to go by the season opener. Our receivers looked really good. O'neill Chambers (#11 pictured below) is going to be a stud. He looked confident, making all the catches. He is a physical specimen with all the tools to be great. He is a very confident/borderline cocky player. If you didn't see his interview on ESPN.com check it out here and you'll see why his fellow WRs won't be making him brownies any time soon. I would be very surprised if he didn't see some time this year either at kick return or WR.
He will have some serious competition though. Austin Collie is a stud. Michael Reed has been very impressive during camp. He's a proven receiver. Luke Ashworth and Spencer Hafoka are both back from missions and in great shape. So Chambers will have to fight for his playing time.

Overall it got me pumped for this season! I had goosebumps all over. Only 23 more days till the best time of year...College Football!!

BYU's odds of going undefeated

I just had a random thought today about what BYU's chances are of going through their schedule undefeated. With my mathematical mind I decided to go through each of BYU's games and figure out my own odds of them finishing undefeated. Let me know what you think of the odds for each game and what you would put as the percentages for each game. (The percentages listed are for BYU winning that game)

1. Northern Iowa: 99%. Bronco won't let us overlook anyone.

2. @ Washington: 74%. Locker has to have a big day running to beat us.

3. UCLA: 87%. UCLA is worse than last year, and its at home.

4. Wyoming: 97%. Wyoming is improved, but not enough to beat us at home.

5. @ Utah State: 99%. The Aggies are struggling.

6. New Mexico: 94%. This would be a difficult game on the road.

7. @ TCU: 79%. This will be a tough road game on a short week.

8. UNLV: 98%. Rebels are terrible

9. @ Colorado St.: 96%. I'll give them a small shot since its on the road.

10. SDSU: 98%. About as bad as UNLV

11. @ Air Force. 92%. The Fly Boys lose a lot of seniors.

12. @ Utah. 71%. Utes always tough. Probably toughest game of year.

Total odds of finishing undefeated....drum roll please.... 27%

Let me hear what you think!!

Just FYI...Vegas puts the odds of BYU winning the national championship at 60/1. I think if BYU was somehow able to reach the National title game, it would have less than a 50/50 chance of winning against the team they would play. Which would put BYUs odds of winning the title at around 10%. Obviously I'm a BYU fan so these odds are probably lower than I would like but I feel they are pretty accurate.

I'll also throw in a plug for my buddy Adam Olsen who has a great blog at http://www.go-cougs.blogspot.com/. He had some great comments on my post from Monday. You can check out what I thought about it in the comments section, but I just wanted to elaborate a bit on the receiver situation.

He's probably right about the Austin Collie situation, in that Austin will be fine and ready to go by Aug. 31. I just hope it doesn't become a situation where it affects him throughout the rest of the season like his ankle injury from last year. It seems like everytime a player has a minor injury, they say it is no big deal, then it lingers the whole season and it affects their play, then they admit after the year is done that it was worse than they led everyone to believe (Vakapuna last year, Hall's shoulder last year, Collie's ankle last year) I could go on and on.

I'm sorry but Michael Reed is not a deep threat. He's physical, has good hands, and is good across the middle, but doesn't have break away speed. Ashworth, Hafoka, and especially Chambers have the potential to become deep threats but Ashworth and Hafoka are just off missions and Chambers is raw. Mckay Jacobsen will become the next deep threat after Collie but he won't be back until next year.

Mariners Actually Make Some Smart Moves!!! Turbo released!!!!

Well the M's released Jose "Turbo" Vidro yesterday. All I can say is its about time. This could have been done last year but instead we waited around for him to be the worst DH in the AL and hit somewhere around .220 with no power. We also called up Wladimir Balentien to see if he actually is the real deal as we all hope he is. He struggled earlier in the season and was sent down so it will be interesting to see if he can maintain some consistency and earn a starting spot.

The Mariners have actually made a few other good moves. They just announced that Brandon Morrow was sent down to AAA Tacoma to be groomed as a starter! Now I'm not sure that Morrow is suited to become a starter because he mainly is a fastball pitcher with an average curveball and splitter. He needs to develop some off-spead stuff and control his fastball (which he has been doing fairly well) to become a good starter. The Mariners are desperate for some good starting pitching so this worth the risk. Even if it doesn't work out, they can still put him back into the bullpen and we know he is a stud coming out as the setup man or closer.

The Aussie, Ryan Rowland-Smith, was also sent down to Tacoma and is pitching well. Hopefully he'll get called up in the next few days so he can take Miguel "I'm hurt and thats why I suck" Batista's spot in the rotation.

Austin Collie injured

I'll be honest, Austin Collie's stress fracture has got me worried. This guy is our only deep threat who has the ability to stretch the field and open things up for Dennis Pitta and Harvey Unga. It'll be interesting to see how fast he can heal because we really need him, especially against UW. Northern Iowa shouldn't be too hard so I'm not worried about them. But UW scares me, mostly because of Jake Locker. For those of you who haven't heard of Locker, he's pretty much a better version of Tim Tebow, last year's Heisman trophy winner. Here's a highlight video from last year of him.

If you want to see some great updates on the first few days of practice, go to cougaroutpost.com which has links to pretty much everything important that is going on. Or check out Greg Wrubell's blog on ksl.com under the BYU page. Wrubell does a fantastic job during Fall camp. He normally posts audio interviews with the players each day which should satisfy my football fix until Aug.31 comes.

Who should the Mariners trade? Washburn?..AKA Keifer Sutherland / The Beaver

Wow! Doesn't Washburn look like Jack. Maybe he can use those beaver teeth to intimidate his opponents! Anyways about the trades. This has been on my mind now for the last week ever since the rumors started about everyone on the team being on the trading block except Felix and Ichiro (who I think is overrated and should be traded if it wasn't for his popularity and amount of fans he brings to the games). I guess I'll start off by discussing Ichiro. First, there is no way the Mariners will trade him, at least this year. They've said this in the media and want to build around him. I have no clue why a team would want to build around a guy who is a singles hitter who doesn't steal enough bases or have enough range in the outfield to be the type of player that is earning so much money. I'll give him his credit, he has a cannon for an arm and is a good hitter for average, but his OBP is average for a leadoff hitter and he is not a clubhouse leader. Bottom line is that we could get some good players in a trade for him and I'd do it if I was the GM but they obvious care more about pleasing the majority of the fan base who like Ichiro. Plus the owner is from Japan and they want to build a fanbase there.

Now on to some guys who actually could get traded this year. I'll start off with Jarrod Washburn who almost got traded to the Yankees this week and may still get traded before thursday's deadline. I've been going back and forth all week on this one. At first I was exited to get rid of Washburn's contract in which he is owed $14 million over this year and next. Especially when I heard they might trade us Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner. But it looks now that the Yankees only want to pay for Washburns contract and give us nothing in return. I say screw them. Washburn is a better pitcher now than a couple months ago. He's a quality left-handed starter where pitching is in high demand. The Yankees think they're the only big market club and they can buy any player just by picking up their contract. The Mariners are not a small market club. We have money to spend and aren't looking to just dump a contract if a player is performing well and could help us next year (Washburn is under contract through next year). I know its a risk by keeping him because we could invest that money elsewhere but what if Washburn continues to pitch well? We could have a formittable rotation next year with Felix, Bedard, Washburn, and Morrow/Rowland-Smith/Silva/Dickey.

Pitching has not been the problem. Its our offense. Wasn't it fun to watch yesterday's game? Actually some offensive firepower that has been missing lately. I would be sad if we traded Ibanez. He is such a good guy. Great in the clubhouse. And our most consistent bat (not saying much) the last couple years. His contract is up after this season so I hope we try to resign him and try to win next year instead of rebuilding. He has been rumored to be going to the Mets which would make sense since they need a LF. He could give us some good prospects but I don't think it would be worth it because he would give us a 1st round pick if he signs with another team because of his value.

I've been dreaming for the Mariners to sign Manny Ramirez to DH (he actually said this week he doesn't care where he plays as long as they pay him) and Mark Texeiera for 1B but that would cost some serious cash and the chances of that happening are small. This would fix alot of our problems. Could you imagine Manny and Texeiera in the middle of the lineup? It gives me goosebumps.

Arthur Rhodes is the next guy that will probably get traded. He's a lefty with good stuff and he's getting old so it would be good for the M's to trade him for a good prospect. He's probably the only one on the team that I'd approve to get traded. (Except our terrible players like Silva, Batista, and Vidro....and the case of Washburn that I mentioned above)

Here's my dream starting lineup and rotation for next year: Now this is an Offense!

1. Ichiro RF

2. Lopez 2B

3. Texeira 1B, but probably LaHair batting lower in the lineup.

4. Manuelito Ramirez DH, but probably Ibanez at DH w/ Wladimir playing LF

5. Ibanez LF

6. Beltre 3B

7. Clement C, but probably splitting time with Johjima (who actually is starting to hit! YAY!)

8. Wladimir Balentine, Jeremy Reed, or Brett Gardner/Melky Cabrera (if we trade Washburn)

9. Bentancourt SS

Rotation

1. Felix

2. Bedard...if he can stay healthy and not complain

3. Washburn

4. Morrow

5. Silva/Rowland-Smith/Dickey/Batista