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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.

BYU fans have often discussed the benefits and reasons behind BYU having a football program. The discussions always include the fact that BYU doesn’t spend tithe dollars on football and is followed up by a discussion of the missionary benefits and challenges that BYU football provides. I think those things are interesting, but they don’t nearly cover the depth of impact that BYU football has on BYU fans.

I just finished cleaning up my house. I wish I could say that my motivation for cleaning the house is that I love living in a spotless home. Sure, I enjoy the house being clean, but I did have the BYU game in the back of my head while cleaning. I knew that the BYU game was on this afternoon and I’m fully aware of what will happen if the house is a mess when I sit down to watch a 4 hour (or how long are the games these days…they feel like about half an hour when I’m watching them) football game.

Don’t get me wrong, my wife is very supportive of me watching BYU play football, but there are often unspoken costs if I do so when the house is dirty. I wonder how many other hundreds and thousands of BYU football fans have been motivated to clean the house in preparation for a BYU game.

I’m not saying that BYU football is the best reason or best motivating factor in why you should clean your house. I’m just saying that I think it’s probably a strong motivation for many to do things like clean the house before the game. Not to mention how many sons and daughters see and learn how to clean their house in preparation for a BYU game.

Of course, Elder Oaks has an oft quoted talk about the motivations to serve where he espouses that Love is the best reason (if I’m remembering right). So, I guess using that criteria, Love of BYU football is the reason many people are found cleaning their house today.

For me….House clean!! Bring on New Mexico!!

My friend sent this to me in an email, so I can’t link to it properly. However, it’s too good of a post to pass up.

Opening the mailbag: Ball State, BYU and Bush

October 7, 2008 8:01 PM

Posted by ESPN.com’s Ted Miller

Let’s just dive in…

Adam from Berkeley writes: Hey Ted, What exactly has BYU done to deserve a top ten spot? I’m looking at the teams that they’ve beaten and their opponents schedules thus far and there is nothing truly impressive other than that they have won games by a huge margin. It seems like the only reason that they’re in the top ten is because of their preseason ranking along with their victory over UCLA (right after they beat Tennessee). Seeing how that is no longer a noteworthy win, why don’t they drop in the polls?

Ted Miller: Know why BYU is ranked really high?

Because folks who do the rankings think the Cougars are really, really good.

Why do they think BYU is really, really good?

Because BYU has really, really good players. And a really, really good head coach.

If you’re looking for accomplishments, well, there are plenty of teams that haven’t done much — Texas Tech, Texas, Penn State, Florida, Oklahoma — that haven’t done a whole lot.

Why are those teams ranked highly?

Because folks think they are really, really good.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Now I just hope we can keep playing like we’re really, really good.

I realize that there is no preseason in college football, and that more than any other sport every single game counts, but i really enjoy the conference season more. Maybe it is the familiar opponents or the rivalries, but I really think it comes from the deep desire of every team to beat their conference foes and win a conference title.

It is much easier to shrug off a loss to a non-conference opponent because you probably won’t play them for a long time, and in a lot of cases it may have even been expected that you would lose. On the off chance that you do will it will be written off as a fluke.

On the other hand your conference members will see you again next year and be looking for revenge. There is also the inevitable relationships that get formed and broken as coaches move between schools or coach at their alma mater’s rival. There are no moral victories during the conference schedule.

If there was any doubt that New Mexico might consider a close game with such a high ranked team a moral victory consider the words of head coach Rocky Long:

“I read a quote from [a Utah newspaper] that I guess Utah State scored when they were down by 27 or 30 and they were hooting and hollering. Our team won’t do that. Our team is not going to hoot or holler unless it’s the score that wins the game. We’re not our there for moral victories, we’re not out there for statistics, we’re out there to win the game.”

That pretty much sums it up for me. The next few weeks will either be some of the most fun in my BYU fandom, or some of the most dissapointing. I love the conference season!

In all of my reading of CougarBoard, the best BYU/Yewt post I’ve ever read has to be the following rules posted by IndyCoug.

1. No BYU fan should ever root for Utah. Period. There are 7 other conference members BYU fans can root for if they are truly concerned about SOS or the national profile of the MWC. It’s mathematically impossible for all 9 teams to be great each year, so there’s no shame, nay, it is even commendable to root for Utah to reside in that mathematically necessitated cellar-dweller position.

2. If BYU needs Utah to win a game in order for BYU to secure a conference title, BYU fans should not root for Utah, but merely against the team they are playing. Keep Utah out of the equation as much as possible.

3. BYU fans should not discuss the upcoming Utah football game more than their own upcoming football game (like this week on Cougarboard). Utah shouldn’t be a main topic of conversation. It should primarily reside in a dark, unspoken realm of disdain.

4. The only time Utah should emerge from a BYU fan’s dark, unspoken realm of disdain is when Utah loses. Only then is it permissible to briefly discuss the Ute’s sucking and discuss the manifold benefits of schadenfreude. Afterwards, the conversation about the Utes should be backburnered until their next loss.

5. Any time a Utah football player is particularly good (Alexis Smith, Widdle Weddle), no BYU fan should feel compelled or obligated to admit such, give credit to or show unabashed admiration towards. If you can’t say something bad about them, then say nothing at all. Please refer to points #3 and #4 if you’re confused about this.

If you have a problem with the above points, then maybe you need to take up a different team as your favorite collegiate team and dispense with the charade of claiming you’re a BYU fan.

I’m sure that many will be feeling the twisted emotion tonight when the Yewts face Oregon State. I believe tonight’s game fits with IndyCoug’s rule #2 above. We can certainly root against Oregon State.

I don’t see any way that Utah State can handle the freight train that is BYU. Certainly in basketball they’ve had our number a couple times, but football is just a different story. Especially this year. Most years this means that it will probably be a blowout game that won’t be as exciting to watch, but I’m still really happy we are playing Utah State.

Sure, the in state rivalry is nice. I love the storylines of BYU players from the Logan area headed back to battle their friends. It’s also nice to give BYU’s backup players a chance for some playing time. However, that’s not why I love Utah State on our schedule. I love it most, because it’s not under the lame Mtn TV contract and so BYU TV can broadcast it online for those around the world. Online streaming video of BYU and Utah State is great so I can watch the game sitting at my computer with the game on one screen and Cougarboard scrolling on the other.

I just wish that all those BYU alums at Move Networks would go and do some charity work by offering their great technology to the MTN, CSTV and Versus so we can watch all the games online.

We’re only five weeks into the season, yet the maximum number of BCS unbeatens we can have is already down to four. That figure is going to dwindle with time, and the likelihood that there are no perfect teams in early December is very strong. The biggest beneficiary? How about BYU, the 410-pound Cougar in the room? Attrition is going to take a bite out of the big boys over the next two months. Oklahoma still must play Texas and Texas Tech. Alabama hosts LSU on Nov. 8. Penn State must go on the road to Wisconsin and Ohio State in October. All the while, BYU, now No. 8 in the AP poll, will climb closer to one of the top two spots, creating a ferocious national debate that’ll make the folks in Provo swear.

Source

The last part made me die laughing. Good stuff. Of course, I’m sure I’m not going to swear about it. The ironic part is that the reason I’m not going to swear is the same reason I think BYU is going to stay focused. Tons of pressures might make you want to swear at times, but I don’t even notice them since I’m so focused on other things. It’s just a habit I’m in. Bronco seems to have done a very nice job of maintaining the focus of the team so that playing with heart and being assignment sound is just a habit. It’s a habit that’s going to win us a lot of games.

That is really all BYU did this week, but I can’t complain. The rise to 8 in the AP poll and 7 in the coaches poll was to be expected after the rash of upsets that took place over the weekend. The great fear now is of overconfidence. I’m glad BYU gets Utah State on the flipside of their bye week so that even if they don’t play a perfect game they will still win most likely.

The biggest upside to being ranked this high so early is that all BYU has to do is maintain and they will be in a BCS bowl. It would be really hard to move them down in the rankings as long as they keep winning. Perhaps the brightest spot in these rankings is that BYU has garnered enough respect to move up even when they don’t play. This shows that people are noticing what is going on in Provo. Recognition will only aid in furthering the program.

While the added attention should help with recruiting, the rash of losses amongst big name schools this week goes to show that who you play isn’t nearly as important as how you play. Parity in college football is glaringly evident these days. The difference now and in the future will be the effectiveness of coaching, and I am glad we have Bronco to lead us into the future.

So I have to admit that I absolutley hate bye weeks. I realize it is necessary, and a good chance for the team to recover, blah blah blah, but I really hate it. You get all amped for the season, and it is cruising along, and your team is doing great, and then: nothing. What am I supposed to waste my time at work doing? In reality, Arkansas is coming to Austin today so I won’t have much freetime at work, but that is beside the point. I love everything about the college football season. The build up during the week, watching the game, or the anticipation of score updates when you get a chance, reading the post game interviews, and finally the releasing of the polls. It is all so much fun. No other sport provides me as much enjoyment while it is in season. So while I absolutley hate bye weeks, I guess I will just enjoy a little less stress today since I won’t be wondering what the score is.

Anytime you shutout another team and put 44 points up on the board you can’t really complain too much. I am sure the first stringers are a little frustrated by only plaing half games, but I think this will pay huge dividends later in the season when the games are closer, especially if there should be some injuries. The coach in me still sees some areas for improvement. The most glaring being the penalties. Nine penalties for 79 yards will be a lot more painful in a close game. I have to admit I did not see the game, so some of those may have come at the end in garbage time, but it caught my eye.

The move up in the rankings seems just about right. The only team I would suggest we could go ahead of right now is Texas Tech, but they are in a BCS conference so they automatically get some advantage. It will be interesting to see how willing the voters will be to move BYU up from here as teams ahead of them inevitably lose. The most likely losers being Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and even though I live in Austin, Texas. Obviously, there are a million different variables, but the real question is what teams will jump over BYU even if they go undefeated.

Congrats to TCU for cracking the rankings. It is definitely deserved. They are putting up some great numbers with the nations best overall defense, and number six in points allowed. It makes that showdown on Oct. 16 even more interesting should they keep playing well.