Welcome to CrashUtah – Where BYU fans Talk Sports

Seeing as how I have nothing else to write about for a few weeks until the bowl selections are made I thought it might be interesting to consider who may enter the NFL draft early this year.

Cases coud be made for much of the offense, but I would say really only Jorgensen on defense. However, I really don’t think many, if any of them will go.

If you take away the TCU and Utah games Max Hall had a tremendous season. One which would have at least drawn the consideration of numerous scouts. Fortunately for us, He screwed up any chance he may have had when he threw five picks and had a fumble to close out the season. Talk about leaving a bad taste in their mouths. Max, and BYU will be better off with him hanging around.

Harvey’s season didn’t quite blow anyone away, but the talent is definitely there to go to the next level eventually. He needs one more year to really prove his worth and there is no reason to think he won’t take it.

Perhaps the greatest threat to leave early is Austin Collie. He leads the NCAA in yards, and has had a phenomenal year. I am sure he is garnering at least passive interest from multiple NFL teams, and he would be stupid to not at least consider it. However, the deck is stacked for next year to be even better getting both Utah and TCU at home. Not to mention his timing with Max can only get better, and he could add to his new BYU receiving yards record. Let’s cross our fingers he stays.

Dennis Pitta should also draw some attention which he will definitely consider. The BYU tight end factory continues to roll on, and he is another good one. Just like Collie, I think he would benfit greatly from another year in the national spotlight where he can gain more press and respect. Only time will tell how it turns out.

On defense, the only real prospect to go pro is Jan Jorgensen, but I don’t think this year was good enough for him to move on. He was so stellar last year that teams really started working him this year and knowing his work ethic he will study film all summer and come back that much stronger next year and ready to face the double teams.

This is all merely speculation and we won’t know anything for months but I don’t really see anyone moving on because it would be in all of their best interests to hang around for one more year.

The discussion at this point in the season naturally revolves around what teams will go to what bowls. In that light it will be very interesting to see where BYU ends up. The most obvious choice is for BYU to go to The Las Vegas Bowl once again. This seems the most likely seeing as how they have sold it out in the past, and the bowl committee will be looking to make that same money again this year.

I must admit that I really don’t want this to happen. I am tired of Las Vegas. Even though it is considered a lesser bowl, I would rather see BYU go to the Poinsettia Bowl. In fact, I read an interesting idea where the Pac-10 could give up their half of the Poinsettia Bowl and let Boise State come down and play BYU. Now there is a grand idea.

It would be great to see BYU play a good team in a bowl for the first time in years. That would allow BYU to have something to get up for and challenge them to get some momentum going for next year. I am a little concerned that if BYU gets stuck playing another crappy Pac-10 team they will be lazy about it, and get beat which is definitely not what they need at this point.

It would be nice if the bowl environment would allow for BYU to go to some other bowl somewhere else, but with all of the conference guarantees that will never happen. I actually kind of miss the old days when you really didn’t know where your team would end up because there were very few guarantees. It gave you a chance to play teams you otherwise probably would not have, and it gave some suspense to the selection process.

I would really like to see them go back to a system where there are fewer guarantees. Maybe even a system where only the conference champion is guaranteed to go to a certain bowl, and the rest get to fight over what is left which would make for a much more interesting bowl season. They really need to do something though, because even some of the BCS games are losing their hype and the rest of the bowls totally are.

They need to go back to having bowl games on New Years Day with the National Championship that night. They complain that a playoff would lengthen the season too much yet the National Championship keeps getting pushed back later and later. There are even bowls after New Years that have no relevance in the national scene.

But, the NCAA is not going to change anything, and BYU will probably be stuck going to another Las Vegas Bowl and have to play another Pac-10 team. I guess it could be worse, they could be done for the season completely.

In the midst of my moping while at work about BYU’s terrible loss this evening, i noticed that the men’s basketball team was playing. Hoping that they could bring some happiness to my otherwise sullen day I decided to turn it on (thank you work for having DirecTV with all the channels).

It was an enjoyable game to watch, if not an exciting one. I needed a game where the outcome was not really in doubt for most of the second half. I will admit my outlook was very unsure coming into this year with the loss of some key players last year, namely Trent Plaisted. I was very impressed with the way they played though.

What a game Chris Miles had. He had some great moves to the basket, and continued to go for it, even when he missed a few. JT had a rough game, but every shooter goes through slumps, and he will work out of it. Cummard had another great game, and deserves all of the attention he is bound to get this year. When you are as good as he is, you find a way to score. It will be fun to see how teams try and stop him.

Perhaps the brightest spot I saw tonight was how well the cougars were with help defense. There were numerous drives where the defender got beat, but another cougar stepped in and filled the lane forcing the other team to kick it back out. I don’t think enough can be said about the importance of defense if BYU is to be successful this year especially once they start to play better teams with quicker players. We can’t expect them to go undefeated, but 5-0 is a great start. It should be another great year.

I don’t know if there is anything I hate more than losing. It just sucks no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the game is close, or a blowout. It doesn’t matter if you got beat or you lost(there is a difference). It doesn’t matter if it is any other team, or your rival losing just sucks.

So how was I rewarded on this day that could have been so beautiful? I was rewarded with a blowout loss, that we lost, to our biggest rival. I really wish I knew what was wrong today. I am a firm believer that no one person is to blame for any one loss, but it is hard to overlook the game that Max Hall had today.

Let me first say I am a huge Max Hall fan, and was thrilled when he was named the starter last year. I also believe he is absolutely on the same level as Graham Harrel, Sam Bradford, and Colt McCoy when he is on, but there is no doubt he was very off today. Throwing five picks, three of which led directly to touchdowns, is unacceptable. I am sure he would be the first person to admit that, and that he is beating himself up more than anyone else could, but it was just embarassing.

The saddest thing was that most of them weren’t even close. He was misreading plays like crazy all night long. I have just decided that even though he is a Junior, this is only his second year, so he was just getting the rest of his “sophomore slump” out that was left over from the TCU game. He will definately bounce back and come on strong next year. It’s just sad to already be looking to next year before Thanksgiving.

At times like these it is always fun to look back and think about the ups and downs we have experienced as fans. In thinking about The Holy War I can’t help but recall some of my personal experiences.

There have been plenty of memories I don’t want to remember to include getting beat in 2004, and lets just say I still hate the numbers 34-31. But lets focus on the good memories.

My first good memory was of the game in ’98. I remember watching the game and enjoying the clang of the goalpost. When I went back to school on Monday my teacher told us he had been sitting in the endzone right at eye level with where the ball hit the goalpost. It was a beautiful weekend.

Despite the short time that has elapsed I have very fond memories of the last two years. I don’t think a detailed description is necessary to any true BYU fan, though I believe video can be found on this website if you have forgotten Beck to Harline, or Austin Collie still being open down the sideline.

My fondest memory was Lavell Edwards last game as head coach, and my first ever BYU-Utah game. The season was less than stellar, but that final game was one for the ages. I was stuck sitting with opposing fans because my friends that bought the tickets attended school there, but luckily they were decent fans and we enjoyed teasing each other all day.

The game started quite sad with an early pick six that I am sure Mr. Doman would like to forget since it was his first start. Luckily the game got better. The fourth quarter neared an end with a touchdown catch by my neighbor at the time, Matt Nichols. I’ve never hated my neighbor so much. Luckily, Doman redeemed himself with an unbelievable fourth down pass near midfield, which was vaguely similar to a catch made last year. Then top it all off with a beautiful touchdown to end an historic career.

It is all of the memories that we as fans have that make a rivalry worth anything. Especially in college where the players come and go so much, it is the fans that are constant, and it is the fans that make it great. I look forward to hearing many other people’s stories making this rivalry even deeper for me.

So no matter what the teams’ records are, this is always one of my favorite weeks. There will be more analysis this week than there is information to analyze. “Experts” will start discussing facts, numbers, records, shoe sizes, and anything else that may possibly affect the outcome of this game.

Even the most passive fan that has never watched a game of college football in their life will have an opinion. Everyone with access to a computer will have a comment to make on someone’s blog, if not their own. Most of these comments will be completely stupid and have no basis in fact, or even theory, but why should that matter?

Both the coaches will avoid any direct questions about matchups, game plans, or even pre-game traditions. The players will be as quarantined as possible in this day of constant information bombardment. When a reporter does get a hold of them, anything they say will be on the other teams wall within minutes; as if they needed more inspiration.

Moreso than maybe ever before this game is huge. Should one team win they will definitely be in a BCS bowl for the second time. Should the other team win, they may be able to squeeze through the backdoor as the first one-loss, non-bcs school to make it to a BCS bowl game. Were it not for a huge BIG 12 South game being played between Texas Tech and Oklahoma, this might be the game of the week.

Oh man I love this week. The success of an entire season coming down to one single game. Even in the most lopsided of years, anything can happen in the “Holy War”, because we all know what religion can get people to do. Bring on the heathen university to the North!

GO BYU!

Pessimist- You barely beat a weak CSU team the week after barely beating a weak UNLV team. The voters cannot be accepting of that.
Optimist- A win is a win, and no matter who you are playing, you have to get that W.

Pessimist- You threw a stupid pick in crunch time, and had two fumbles, one when the game was on the line.
Optimist- Yeah but we racked up 551 yards of total offense including five passing td’s, two 100-yard receivers, and a 100 yard rusher.

Pessimist- Your defense gave up 401 yards of total offense, three passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and your first 100-yard rusher of the year.
Optimist- Yeah but they made the stops when they needed too, including a sack on CSU’s final drive.

Pessimist- BYU is not in a BCS conference, and there is no way they can make it to a BCS bowl after blowing it in Fort Worth a couple of weeks ago. Looks like another trip to Las Vegas, or maybe they would prefer a change of pace and go to San Diego instead.
Optimist- However unlikely it is that BYU makes it to a BCS bowl this year, crazier things have happened in college football. They have to win out, and the heathen university to the north has to win this week, but never say never. Either way, the MWC has shown they belong on the national stage, and at least made people across the country pause and think about including them.

Pessimist- BYU always has a prolific offense, it is the defense that is usually in question, and they aren’t playing well of late. Most teams get better as the year goes on, but your defense seems to be getting worse. If they can barely stop the likes of UNLV and CSU good luck when you make that trip to the north.
Optimist- Our offense is clicking again and making plays. You knew they couldn’t keep the big three down forever and they came out in the game. Our offense can compete with anyone in the nation when they are on. It seems they started to believe in themselves again and put up some nice numbers. Say what you want about our defense, but they have shown they can throw shutouts when they put it all together. They will find their heart again that they had at the beignning of the season.