Of course BYU pretty much laid the smack down on Air Force last weekend. BYU’s pretty much in the driver’s seat to win the Mountain West Conference. That’s great for me since it is very likely that BYU will get the Las Vegas Bowl for their bowl bid. Finally, I’ll be able to see BYU live in a bowl game. I’m definitely going this year. All I had to do was get my wife pregnant so that we couldn’t leave town and had to be in Las Vegas for the Las Vegas bowl. Sure, it’s not over yet, but I think that it’s nearly a lock for BYU in the Las Vegas bowl. Good news for me. Good news for BYU. Great news for the Las Vegas bowl. Should be another sold out crowd. I wonder who we’ll see in the Las Vegas bowl.

Well, I was taking a look at the receiving stats for the Air Force game.
REC YDS AVG TD LG
Jonny Harline 4 68 17.0 1 29
Michael Reed 4 47 11.8 1 19
Zac Collie 2 26 13.0 0 15
Curtis Brown 3 22 7.3 0 8
Manase Tonga 3 17 5.7 0 7
Nathan Meikle 1 16 16.0 0 16
Fui Vakapuna 2 14 7.0 1 10
Bryce Mahuika 1 14 14.0 0 14
Matt Allen 1 13 13.0 0 13
Daniel Coats 1 12 12.0 0 12
Joe Semanoff 1 9 9.0 0 9

Talk about spreading the ball around. Also, it seems like something is wrong with the stats. If you look at the average yards per receiver no one had less than 5.7 yards per catch. That’s huge considering BYU is all about the dink and dunk. It’s been great watching the football team this year. Wait, I can’t say I watched them. They haven’t really been on TV. Screw the MTN and not being able to see BYU games. Even my wife hasn’t heard me talking about BYU winning. Why? because I haven’t seen it. Oh well, maybe it will be better next year.

Anyone that has been to BYU and likes sports can tell you all about the BYU Men’s volleybally team. They are exciting to watch. The crowd in the fieldhouse is great and the team is even better. I should know. I’ve been to a lot of their games. Here’s just one story for you.

A number of years ago I was at BYU and there was a much hyped matchup between BYU and #1 UCLA. I was so excited to go. I’d taken someone’s all sports pass and was ready to go to the game. I’d been following the team all season. Now I got to see them go against the #1 team in the nation. When I arrived at Smith Fieldhouse, I was turned away because the arena (or whatever you call it) was full. I was so discouraged.

Despite my discouragement, I started finding every door into the fieldhouse to find a way in. Reminds me of the ESPN reality show Beg Bargon and Steal. I was going to find a way in. I found a place where you could kind of watch the game from a stairwell just outside the arena. Not looking very promising. After checking every door in the place and about ready to go home I started walking to the back doors going out to the tennis courts. They don’t even have handles on them to open. However, I couldn’t believe it when I saw a stream of people going in the door. I started running and right after I entered the door, a cop came to shut the door and stop people from coming in. Honestly, I’m surprised he let me stay and watch the game. On a side note, I think he was the uncle of the girl I dated freshman year, but he certainly didn’t know me.

Well, I was in, but just because I was in didn’t mean that I could actually see the game. There were no seats. The place was completely packed. I ended up standing in an exit to the court about 4 feet from the game. At one point an officer told me that I couldn’t stand there. I promptly squeezed next to the other people so I was just out of the way of the exit.

Yes, I stood the entire time. Yes, I was probably some sort of fire hazard during the game. Honestly, I barely remember any of that. What I do remember is watching BYU volleyball beat the #1 team in the nation in a close match. In fact, I had one of the best spots in the house. I was on the floor only a couple feet away from the action.

Now, my only complaint is that I live in Las Vegas. I don’t even think UNLV has a Men’s volleyball team. Maybe if they make the final four I’ll find a way to attend the final four like I did when BYU Volleyball won the national championship in Hawaii (my son Curti’s first BYU game).

Oh yeah, and here’s a little info on how BYU Men’s Volleyball’s looking this year:

It’s just the preseason, but the BYU men’s volleyball team is making a statement.

Last week, BYU played well enough to be named the top NCAA school at a tournament in Canada and on Thursday, the Cougars cut down perennial powerhouse Pepperdine 30-22, 27-30, 30-24, 30-21 in an exhibition match at the Smith Fieldhouse. Several hundred fans showed to get an early look at a team talented enough to contend for a fourth national title.

Returning outside hitters Ivan Perez and Yosleyder Cala led the way with 18 and 15 kills, respectively, as BYU overcame 31 service errors.

…

BYU’s opens the 2007 on Jan. 5 against Cal Baptist in Provo.

I thought this was an interesting summary of a number of the MWC football teams:

Colorado State (4-2, 1-1) at Wyoming (3-4, 2-1): The Lobos get to sit back and watch their next foe, Colorado State, take on the Cowboys in the annual Border War on CSTV. The teams, located about one hour apart, have a heated and long-running rivalry. They will likely be slugging it out in the snow this year.

Wyoming is on a two-game winning streak, while Colorado State is still smarting from giving up 21 unanswered points and losing to Air Force last week.

UNLV (1-5, 1-2) at BYU (4-2, 2-0): Rebels senior Shane Steichen won the starting quarterback job with his five-touchdown performance in UNLV’s overtime loss to the Lobos last week.

He will face a tall test, leading the struggling Rebels at conference championship front-runner BYU.

TCU (3-2, 0-2) at Army (3-4): The Horned Frogs are looking to recover from a nasty tumble, going from potential Bowl Championship Series busters to the middle of the Mountain West Conference pack.

Their game at Army won’t be as easy as it would have been in the past. Army is playing its best football since 1996 and only needs three more wins in its final five games to accept its invitation to the Poinsettia Bowl, where it will face a Mountain West Conference team.

Air Force (3-2, 3-0) at San Diego State (0-5, 0-2): The Aztecs picked up a dubious distinction this week, earning the No. 4 spot in ESPN.com’s weekly Bottom 10 poll, which ranks the worst Division I football teams in the country.

The Falcons will have be careful to avoid overlooking San Diego State and focusing on its big showdown with BYU next week, a game that could decide the conference title.

Anyone that watched (or probably more likely listened) to the BYU football game against San Diego State, you know that we had the game in our hands really early and there was no need to watch anymore. I actually stoppped listening because listening to a blowout isn’t nearly as interesting. If it was on TV then I would have continued watching.

Anyway, I think that the blowout to San Diego State is going to be the most important game of the season for BYU football. Not for fans by any means. However, a blowout gave a lot of different BYU players to get into the game. Having this game experience will be crucial to the future success of BYU. I’m not even talking about this season. I’m talking about next season when we’ll have a new set of starters who will have had some game experience.

UNLV’s up after the bye week and I see BYU getting a bunch more playing time for those players riding the bench.

In a short article by Sports Illustrated they talk about college football players whose draft status is rising. John Beck topped the list with this description:

John Beck, QB, BYU: Beck is a strong-armed passer who possesses terrific deep accuracy. He’s averaging 321 yards passing in five games this year while also completing 68 percent of his throws. Connecting on three second-half touchdowns, Beck led the Cougars over conference rival TCU last week, snapping the Horned Frogs’ 13-game win streak. He lacks pocket-passer height, standing a shade under 6-foot-2, but he’s still moving toward the draft’s first day. He will get several postseason all-star-game invitations and could elevate his grade even higher.

BYU announced the TV schedule for the BYU and San Diego State football game tomorrow.

Listed below are comprehensive broadcast plans for the BYU vs. SDSU football game on Saturday, Oct. 7. The game is schedule for noon (MT) with live distribution on THE MTN. — a regional sports network dedicated to comprehensive sports coverage of the Mountain West Conference.

In addition to normal MTN. television distribution, a pay-per-view option and live video streaming have been added for the BYU vs. SDSU game.

AVAILABILITY ON TELEVISION

THE MTN. is available in dozens of communities in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico and on numerous cable systems including Comcast and Bresnan. To find out how to get THE MTN. in your area, check your local listings, call your cable operator or visit http://themtn.cstv.com/how/.

PAY-PER-VIEW. The game will also be available as a special pay-per-view television offering in most major cable systems around the country through a partnership with iN DEMAND.

Unfortunately, the pay-per-view option will not be available in the following markets:
– The states of Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado
– The communities of San Diego; Las Vegas; Dallas; Ft. Worth, Texas; Cheyenne-Scotts Bluff, Nebraska; and the Rapid City market.

This really sucks for me. It looks like the mtn. is failing in its negotiations with the monopolistic Cox cable here in Las Vegas. If I were USD TV I would find a way to get the mtn on USD TV and use that as a way to make in roads into the Las Vegas market. I’m sure they could get 1000’s of customers by doing so. Not just because of BYU fans. In fact, probably even more important is UNLV fans would love to have the mtn to watch UNLV football on the mtn.

Until then I guess we’ll just keep enjoying the winning we’ve been enjoying.

BYU has announced that the BYU game vs. San Diego State is going to be broadcast online, but you have to pay to be able to stream it. Here’s some more details on the online broadcast.

ONLINE STREAMING

Live online pay-per-view video streaming is being offered for the BYU vs. SDSU game. The NATIONWIDE online broadcast will include live streaming game video from kick-off to post game. There are no blackout areas for the internet broadcast.

Online pricing is $19.95 on game day. Fans who pre-register before October 7 will receive a $5 discount, making the price $14.95.

This pay-per-view event is a one-time special online video presentation. It is not included as part of BYU Cougars All Access or CSTV XXL. The purchase price entitles the viewer to one game only.

I’m glad they’ve made this available, but would someone seriously want to watch the San Diego State game for $14.95? San Diego State is the cellar team and BYU should just smack them around. I just wish that TVU player would broadcast the MTN so I could watch the game free.

I guess I’ll have to talk to my friend in Utah to stream it from him tomorrow.

I thought I’d give a little shout out to the BYU women’s volleyball team. I must admit that after seeing BYU Men’s volleyball team play, the women’s volleyball is just not the same.

However, any national ranking for BYU is a great thing. So, congrats to the BYU women’s team for having a national ranking almost all year.

Here’s some other interesting statistics about the BYU Women’s volleyball team:

BYU has swept nine of the 14 matches it has played this season. Of the seven overall statistical categories tracked by the league, BYU players lead the conference in three of them (hitting percentage — Rachel Dyer; kills — Erica Lott; points — Erica Lott) and are second in two others (blocks — Lindsy Hartsock; aces — Chelsea Goodman). Cougar Jenna Judkins is ranked third in assists and Goodman and Janvier Beaumont are also ranked ninth and tenth, respectively, in digs. The Cougars also boast three of the league’s top five players in hitting percentage with Dyer (1st - .410), Hartsock (2nd - .404) and Lott (5th - .336).

After crushing TCU this week after having the short preparation time for the thursday game, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said the following after enjoying his first free Saturday of the season:

“It amazed me that there is life outside (coaching),” Mendenhall said. “Sometimes it’s hard to imagine all that is going on.”

Great to see the tunnel vision of the coach. Sucks for Bronco Mendenhall’s wife.