Home Add to Favorite Contact Submit  
             29 March, 2024
 

    
Category:  Articles » Recreation & Sports » Football

 

BYU Football Projections - Rise and Shout or Down and Out?

Popularity:
         Views: 1512
2007-08-20 17:29:27     
Article by Nishan Wilde

Let's start by giving credit where credit is due. The cougars had an amazing 2006 season. They finished the season with a 11-2 record, including a 38-8 massacre of the Pac-10's Oregon Ducks. Furthermore, they went on a 9-0 winning streak to end the season, the third longest in college football last year. In retrospect, they could have and maybe should have gone undefeated. Their only two losses were both late-game nail biters. In one, the cougars lost in OT to a tough Boston College team and in the other, they lost because of a few botched field goal attempts. So, all in all we can fairly say that the BYU football program did a nice job last year.

The question now, though, is whether or not the Cougars can keep that momentum going into the 2007. Here's the skinny on the Cougars:

Much of their success during 2006 was due to a handful of players who had amazing seasons; namely John Beck, Curtis Brown, Johnny Harline and pretty much of every one of the linebackers. John Beck played so well that it was not uncommon to hear his name in the same sentence as Troy Smith, Brady Quinn and Jamarcus Russell. The linebacking core had such a superb season that the Cougar defense was the best it has been in years, even though their secondary was very questionable. Now though, each of those players is gone and BYU now must scramble to find adequate replacements.

So, the synopsis is this:

Offense - The Cougars are going to be pretty weak at quarterback, which has always been a big part of their success in the past. None of the players vying for the position have any noteworthy game experience as Beck has been a constant over the past few years. Also, even though their receivers are usually pretty solid, with so many young players having to replace their elder statesmen, the upcoming season will be hit or miss for the receivers. The Cougars will be able to turn to the back field with some amount of confidence, though, as Fui Vakapuna, who proved his mettle last season, and Manase Tonga will provide some excellent running and blocking.

Defense: Let's face it Cougar fans. The defense this year may be a bit shaky. Up front, most of the defensive line are either freshmen or sophomores. That kind of youth does not bode well. Behind them, however, the story is a lot better. Kehl, Nixon and Poppinga are all returning following a great 2006 season. But losing your captain Cameron Jensen will hurt them. His leadership and never-say-die attitude personified BYU last year. Still, though, I am not worried about the linebackers. What I am worried about is the secondary. It seems as though year in and year out, BYU starts a bunch of small, mediocre defensive backs. And this year is no different. Even though most of the starting secondary is returning (Gooch, Gabriel, Criddle, Buchannan), I don't know how well they will do when lining up across from players with great athleticism. They may be able to hold their own against some MWC opponents, but not all of them. So, hopefully the linebackers will be able to rise to the challenge next year as they may not have that much help around them.

The critique of the players and positions above may paint a grim picture for the upcoming season. However, there is some hope. Ever since Gary Crowton got the boot, Bronco Mendenhall has been determined to restore the tradition and pride to Cougar football. And if last season's success was any indication of his progress, I'd say he is doing a great job. Also, Robert Anae showed that his instincts and skill are that of an offensive genius. Beck was able to spray the ball around to so many different receivers and running backs that opposing defenses were simply unable to cover everyone. With Anae at the helm, many of BYU's offensive inadequacies due to youth and lack of experience will be less of a factor.

To sum up, BYU is going to be young and inexperienced. But it has the coaching staff and tradition needed to propel the Cougars into yet another winning season. However, the coaches are not the ones on the field. So, if BYU is to continue its winning ways this year, some new faces are going to have adapt quickly to the higher level of competition that comes with NCAA football and come up big in the MWC this year.

Nishan Wilde is VP of Sales at RobbinsSports.com, an online resource for Gym Bags, Portable Scoreboards and Basketball Uniforms

Specialized in: Baseball And Softball - Basketball - Boxing - Fitness And Exercise Football - Hockey - Running
URL: http://www.robbinssports.com
Print article      Bookmark this page
Related Articles 
Eagles Training Camp - Time to Get Excited (Popularity: ): If you were having any trouble getting excited for the 2010 season, your troubles should be gone now with Eagles Training Camp starting this week.This has to be one of the more exciting Training Camps in years for the Eagles. They will transition from the franchise quarterback they had for a decade to a guy who's started a total of two games in his career. Although this sounds alarming on ...
ESPN Broadcasting World Cup 2010 (Popularity: ): The ESPN is providing useful coverage of a confederation cup. The ESPN has announced many other details related to its coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2010. The 2010 FIFA World Cup was started on eleventh June and ends on eleventh July.ESPN is presenting the entire 2010 World Cup coverage from the sites of South Africa. There are more than sixty five hours of coverage that will be presented by ...
The Major Problem Remains (Popularity: ): The six BCS conferences have voted to expand the pool of BCS at-large candidates from 14 to 18, according to ESPN.com. This new rule only comes into effect if, and when, there are not enough teams to fill the 10 BCS Championship slots among the top 14 teams.SEC Commissioner and BCS coordinator Mike Slive said conference leaders realized half-way through the season that there was a possibility that there would ...
What is the Deal With These Athletes? (Popularity: ): Things that athletes are doing with their free time are asinine. A bevy of these occurrences have transpired to a wide variety of athletes. The first event that comes to mind is about the Cincinnati Bengals. If I were to list all of the NFL players who have been arrested on that team, I would have to spend an eternity in front of a computer (just like those nerds who ...
Where's The Talent (Popularity: ): Did you ever think the Eagles would miss Tom Modrak this much?There are many reasons why the Birds are 5-6, having lost four out of their last five games and are 11-16 over the last two seasons, a ship struggling to stay afloat in rocky waters.Bad play-calling. Lack of effort. Stupid penalties. Dumb gameplans. Injuries. Poor execution.And while those are all viable, and obvious, reasons for the Eagles’ fall from ...


Related Business 
Fantasy Football Realm (Popularity: ): Exclusive projections with sortable statistics, strategy tips, rankings, schedules, team pages and detailed fantasy football outlooks.
Shout Brother Shout (Popularity: ): Delta blues, folk, and old-time with Brian Fostervold Friday 9pm-12am on WXCI-FM 91.7 Danbury, Connecticut. Features playlists and links.
StatLeader (Popularity: ): Offers football and NASCAR statistics, projections, rankings, and analysis.
Shout! (Popularity: ): Shout! is an independent publication on current international politics that provides in-depth analysis of global issues in a lively format. Analysis, opinion, reviews, political humour and links.
EIFSweb.com (Popularity: ): Resource site for exterior insulation and finish systems used on virtually all types of low rise, mid rise and high rise construction.
Fantasy Football Insider (Popularity: ): Providers of draft projections, strategies, daily insight, statistics, software, and weekly matchup analysis.
CougarBlue.com insider BYU sports news (Popularity: ): Latest insider BYU sports news, commentary, and discussion provided by the Provo Daily Herald.
International Cinema (Popularity: ): BYU Television, Classical 89 KBYU-FM, KBYU Television, BYU Radio
Football Prediction Game (Popularity: ): Your football fundraising website. Football Buster is the free website for football clubs & sports organisations that wish to setup their own Football Games to raise money for their teams. Often referred to as "buster" or "football lottery" the football game can be setup in under 10 minutes.
Octavian: Rise to Power (Popularity: ): Caesar Augustus wasn't always powerful. First he was Octavian. Author and historian Patrick Parrelli offers an engaging history lesson in the Historical Novel, Octavian: Rise to Power, a work of creative nonfiction that’s the most in-depth and entertaining account of Caesar Augustus’ rise to power.