Welcome to CrashUtah - Where BYU fans Talk Sports

In this age of arbitrary decision making when it comes to deciding who is a quality program, it is essential that teams face as many quality teams as possible. While it is not impossible to get national attention with a really weak schedule as in the case of Hawaii last year(we all saw how that turned out), it is far more useful to have a tough schedule and prove how good you are. Not only does it prove how good you are, it gives you a chance to challenge yourself, improve your team, and it helps in recruiting to be getting quality national attention.

All of this leads to why the Mountain West needs to get Boise State to join the conference. In short, there is no other team in the non-bcs conferences, that has more consistently garnered national attention than Boise State. While I am amongst those who criticize Boise State for being in such a weak conference, you can’t argue with winning as much as they have, or that memorable Fiesta Bowl game.

That is why this would be a huge benefit to both parties. The Mountain West would add another quality team that is consistently in the rankings, and Boise State would add a tremendous amount of strength to their schedule with the likes of BYU, utah, and TCU. Having four nationally ranked teams, and a couple others that are not too far off, the Mountain West would be in an even better position to knock on the BCS door, both as a buster, and as a potential addition.

Few people that have paid attention to college football this year wouldn’t admit that the Mountain West has not been better than at least two conferences as a whole, and one conference, minus USC. At some point the BCS will have to pay some attention.

Beyond the football world, Boise State is also imrpoving in basketball, as BYU fans can probably agree. It all just makes sense. There is some talk that their academic standards don’t match up. If that is the case the conference could just require them to up their standards if they want to come and play. In reality, most fans couldn’t care less about the academic side, and even a lot of the administration is more concerned with making money than educating people, sadly.

In short, now is the time to act and make the Mountain West that much stronger.

In thinking about last weeks game I couldn’t help but notice how every article i read talked about how accurate their quarterback was, and how their receivers were making catches. On the flip side, BYU seems to be dropping a lot of balls this year.

There was a time where BYU was known for having sure handed receivers. I remember watching multiple national telecasts where the commentators repeatedly talked about how good the receivers were. One of the biggest keys to being so sure handed was catching the ball with their hands and not their bodies. It seems to me that if it is not being addressed already it would be a simple thing to focus on to help improve the offense.

No matter how good your quarterback is, and how accurate he is, it means absolutely nothing if your receivers can’t hang onto the ball. BYU does seem to throw across the middle a lot which can be risky and get in your receivers heads, but at the same time, BYU also runs a lot of quick reliable routes that should only help to build up their confidence.

It was great to see the offense spread the ball around last week and I look for them to do the same this week. I am all for sacrificing your personal eandeavors for the good of the team, because lets be honest, if your team sucks you won’t get any attention for the awards anyway.

Yes, BYU losing last week was a good thing, and no, it is not a good thing.

First, the obvious reasons it was not a good thing. They took themselves out of the driver’s seat in terms of a conference championship, and all but eliminated any chance of a BCS berth. I would say totally eliminated, but there are still quite a few games left, and you never know what can happen. And finally, losing sucks, and no matter what you say, or how you slice it, I hate losing, and I hate it when my teams lose.

The good things that could come of this loss may be less obvious but possibly more important.

Now that they are no longer undefeated a lot of the pressure is off which could help them play more relaxed and execute better as long as they don’t get too relaxed and just throw away the rest of the season.

I would say the target is off their chest with everyone wanting to beat them even more than usual, but the reality is that many schools, both in and outside the conference, couldn’t care less what BYU’s record is, they want to beat them no matter what. Teams carry a certain amount of hatred for BYU due to their success in the past, and let’s not even talk about that heathen school to the North.

Bronco has a knack for finding what went wrong in losses as he looks back. They say hindsight is 20/20 but I think for Bronco it is more like 20/10 or better. I would never say he prefers to lose, but from a coaching standpoint, it sure gives you a much better idea of what didn’t work and how to prepare for the next game. Any BYU fan of recent years remembers how poorly the last two seasons started with early losses, but then corrections were made and they won out.

Perhaps the biggest positive from this loss was the wake up call that it provided. I for one believe that BYU is every bit as good as everyone thought they were, they just chose to forget it themselves last week. Perhaps this loss will help them to find their work ethic and their emotion. Any athlete can tell you that stringing together a couple of good plays just leads to more and more success. Whether that be runs, passes, or even defensive stops. Lets hope the loss jarred some emotion back into them.

I’m so glad this terribly long week is over and I can stop being so sad about the loss. I have all the faith in the world that they will turn it around this week and make everyone happy. So maybe in the grand scheme of things it actually was good for them to lose, as long as they win out.

In reading all of the articles following the disheartening loss last week my positive outlook has been somewhat dampened. I understand the feeling of a coach that there is often more to learn from a loss than a win, but the comments Bronco has been making this week, as well as some of the players, make me feel like they almost wanted to lose.

Bronco has repeatedly referred to the early losses in the last two seasons and how they allowed the team to see their weaknesses and improve for the rest of the season. You can’t argue with the results the last two years, but is it really necessary to actually lose to learn these things? I would have thought close games with Northern Iowa and a weak Washington team would have provided ample opportunities to learn about your weaknesses. This says a lot to me about the coaches abilities.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Bronco Mendenhall fan, but it seems this team is content with being an average team instead of the great team they had the potential to be. I don’t believe for a second that this team is not as good as everyone thought, and to hear Max Hall say that really doesn’t make sense. You are only as good as you believe you are, so if you come out and say we really aren’t that good, what does that say to your teammates? Anyone who has watched this team play knows the talent level is there. What was lacking this week was the right attitude.

I will be a BYU fan until the day I die, no matter how good they are, or what their record is. It would just be nice to hear a little bit of fire from some of the players. The coach needs to stay even keel, and keep everything in perspective, but the players need to get fired up and emotional in order to do great things. Unfortunately, this team seems content to be average and make, at best, another trip to Las Vegas, but that isn’t even within their control anymore.

The short but bitter reason they lost this game comes down to one simple reason. They played with no heart. I was at the game, and right from the beginning I knew they were in trouble. When they came out and did the Haka there was no emotion after it. It should be something that fires you up, but they did it and then picked up their helmets and walked to the sideline like they just came out of church.

It was also apparent the offense was not clicking right from that first drive. If TCU’s d-backs could catch the ball Hall would have gotten picked five times instead of just two. The one good pass he had was when the game was no longer in doubt and he hit Collie near midfield.

This game was also poorly coached. It appeared that BYU was playing a prevent defense right from the beginning which allowed TCU to get some momentum and just keep on rolling. I know they have a bend and not break philosophy, but if you bend enough you will break, and once they broke last night, the floodgates opened. They almost never blitzed and if you give a quality team like TCU enough time they are going to make plays. It was also apparent that everytime their backup QB came in they were going to have a shotgun formation and run a quarterback draw, but not once did BYU stop it.

Give TCU all the credit in the world, they came out fired up and played a great game. They deserved to win that game. I would like to say that BYU just lost it, but I have to admit that TCU caused a lot of the troubles BYU was having. Their timing was off, they couldn’t run, and our defense got no pressure on the quarterback. The reason BYU lost can be seen from a picture I took right near the end of the game. Forgive the low quality I don’t have a professional camera.

No heart

Despite my sadness over the loss, especially at my daughter’s first college game ever, I have not completely given up hope. I know this team is better than that, and this can still be a memorable season. The BCS is almost totally out the window, but we have seen stranger things happen in college football. Bronco has always said conference championships come first, and there is still hope for that, but only if they find their hearts during this long week of preparation.

I’m too surprised and upset to write about tonight’s football game. My silence should say a lot.

In other amazing news, today the report came out that Chris Collinsworth had been jumped with his companion while on a mission in Australia. I’d always heard that Australia was a pretty rough mission for Americans that went there. However, I still can’t imagine what would bring someone to want to jump 2 missionaries. Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t imagine Chris Collinsworth doing anything to provoke someone to do something like this. On my mission in Italy a few missionaries got into a tussle with some drunk locals. It’s sad when things like this happen.

I send out my best wishes to Elder Collinsworth, Elder Ferguson and their families.

Here’s an excerpt from the story that describes the incident:

Elder Collinsworth and his companion (an Elder Ferguson from Montana) were jumped from behind by three men, believed to be in their 20s, about 8:30 p.m. as they were walking back to their apartment. When the first attacker jumped on Elder Collinsworth’s back, he flipped the assailant over his shoulder and onto the pavement.

As Elder Collinsworth was busy fighting off the first attacker, a second man then began assaulting him. When Elder Ferguson tried to pull the second attacker away, the third man stabbed and slashed both of the missionaries with a small knife. During the tussle, the attackers managed to pull Elder Collinsworth’s shirt up over his face and tackle him to the ground. While on the ground, and with his shirt over his face, Elder Collinsworth was kicked and slugged repeatedly.
“They beat him up pretty good,” said Jeff Collinsworth, father of Elder Collinsworth.

Fortunately, a man passing by in a car saw the scuffle, pulled his car up and shined his headlights toward the attack — which scared the assailants away.

“That man probably saved their lives,” Jeff Collinsworth said. “At the very least, Chris probably would have lost his teeth.”

Elder Collinsworth spent Tuesday night in a Sydney hospital with a substantial stab wound to his back, but was released to the mission home Wednesday morning.

“He said he’s ready to get back to work,” Jeff Collinsworth said.

Elder Ferguson sustained substantial cuts to his legs, arms and hands and underwent surgery on Tuesday and remained hospitalized Wednesday.

Being an alumnus of Highland High School in Salt Lake City, UT I would not consider myself worthy if I did not make at least a small plug for this great movie. I went and saw it and enjoyed every minute of it. It does not have the big budget glamour of Remember the Titans but it was every bit as good. The story was well done, and the rugby was excellent. I highly recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys a good sports movie, and even to anyone that just enjoys a good movie. If you would like to watch the trailer, or read more about it go to their webiste.

Plus, many BYU and Yewt Rugby fans know that Highland Rugby is one major reason why BYU and Utah do so well in collegiate rugby.

I just spent most of the day filling out application papers so I needed to write something that I really didn’t need to think about very much. In true BYU fan style i will simply write: Go CSU!

And just to answer Gene Menez of SI’s question on his heisman candidate article, yes Austin Collie is always open down the right sideline if you have any doubt, go to the film from the Utah game last year, I am sure most yewt fans remember it.

As I go reading through various people’s blogs and comments across the internet there is one common problem that I have discovered. Everything is totally black and white to most people. Your team has one bad game and the season is over even if they don’t lose. How the outcome of one game barely halfway through the season could result in the rest of the season being a failure is beyond me.

I am well aware of the state of college football in which one loss, or even not applying a beat down to a lesser opponent can result in your being benched by the powers that be in the selection process, but maybe all of the talk is just what the BCS people want.

Everyday there is a plethora of articles about how screwed up the BCS is and that change is needed. While I definately have to agree with that thought process, maybe the BCS is sticking with the “any publicity is good publicity” idea. If the BCS folded and went to a real national championship that was decided on the field regardless of what conference you are from, and how good voters THINK you are what would all of the sports radio announcers have to talk about all week. Heaven forbid they actually discuss the games that were played or will soon be played.

This season and last season, more than almost any others, show that supposed experts know very little. Watching the Texas-OU game and having to listen to my favorite announcer aimlessly run his mouth about whatever was apparent to the most juvenile fan simply reaffirmed my believe that sportscasters buy their jobs, they don’t earn them.

You may be asking what does any of this have to do with BYU? It is quite simple actually. BYU is undefeated this season. They beat two teams form a supposed “power conference” putting a major beatdown on one of the most storied programs in college football. Yet their fans talk about this one week being make or break, and the media refuses to give them any credit. If you want to criticize BYU for the teams they have beaten why not attack Texas Tech? Their schedule is about to get a whole lot tougher though, and we will see how they hold up.

This week is going to be the gut check week for this BYU team. TCU is no joke holding a top 25 ranking for the second time this season with an awesome defense. On the flip side, BYU has a pretty solid defense itself, and an offense that is due for a breakout game. I am so excited to see them in person for the first time this year. Fort Worth is going to be a fun place to be Thursday night. It’s almost fitting that it will be on a Thursday night so that the whole country will be able to see the outcome independent of the Saturday chaos. Go Cougars!

I am not at all surprised that BYU stayed right where they were at in the rankings. While I feel they could have moved up a spot or two because so many teams above them lost, I am not really surprised. They played a game with very little heart and emotion, which is unacceptable at home. There is just not enough humility on the offense. They walked all over the first few teams they played, but what everyone is overlooking is the defense.

The one close game they had was the worst game for the defense this year. All of the blowouts were a result of tremendous defensive play and multiple turnovers, not because the offense was playing so great. They had really short fields and tons of emotion because the defense was bringing it. Heaven help us if the defense has a totally off game.

The defense is the unit that deserves all of the credit at this point, but I am actually glad they are getting overlooked because maybe they will continue to stay humble and play with intensity. Their play is what is giving me hope that BYU could run the table. As everyone knows, defense wins championships, be they conference, or national.

The best example of this was Coleby Clawson’s play during the last two plays of the game. The outcome was no longer in doubt, but heart is what gets you sacks, and he exhibited how big his heart is by getting those two sacks. This was the second time in two weeks the defense held on at the end to keep the other team out of the endzone. They definately deserve a pat on the back. Maybe they could teach the offense about humility and heart during practice this week.