This was obviously not a game for the ages, but there was definitely a lot to be excited about. First of all how about Dennis Pitta? How do you stop someone like that? Gaining 200 yards all by yourself is a good couple of weeks in college.

Max Hall had a great start. A quarterback rating near 200 and almost 500 passing yards is not a bad way to start the season.

The scary thing about the offense is all of the fumbles again. It is starting to remind me of last year a little bit. What is reassuring to me is that fumbles can be fixed with a little bit of hard work. At least they weren’t interceptions.

All in all I think the defense did a good job, but just like the fumbles, it was a little bit like last year: play stellar defense, but give up a huge play or two that really ruin the stat line. I realize that stats are not everything, but when people start looking at your unit rankings it is important that they be solid.

This was the perfect start to the season from a long term perspective. First, and foremost, you get the win. Second, no major injuries. Finally, you did a lot of good things, but you still have some obvious and definite things you need to work on. It is really frustrating as a coach when your team is not playing to their potential, but you can’t figure out exactly what is wrong, or what to do about it.

I think every cougar fan is ready for BYU to finally win a tournament game. We could all certainly complain about the #8 seed, but that’s really no excuse for BYU to lose. Sure, a 5, 6 or 7 seed would probably be a little easier game. However, getting a #8 seed isn’t nearly as bad as when we should have gotten a #10 seed and got a #12 seed. At least we’re playing someone who is ranked below us. Now it’s time to show everyone that we should have been ranked higher. UNLV did a good job today representing the MWC. BYU needs to do the same.

It’s pretty easy to say that the second half is going to be important for BYU. We’ve been normally playing quite well in the first half and then just fall apart in the second half. I hope Lee gets a bunch of early second half touches. I think he’s going to be a hard match up for the Aggies.

A quick video analysis of the 2008 MWC conference finals matching BYU vs. UNLV.

Thanks to the nice blowout game I just experienced at the Thomas and Mack, I had to enjoy watching the game for other reasons. Everyone knows about Trent, Lee and JT or the big 3 as there sometimes called. Certainly it’s a promising trio for the future assuming Trent doesn’t leave for the NBA. However, a few other things have really been quite unexpected this season:

-Burgess attacking the basket is a thing of beauty. He has a quick first step and is a strong finisher. I love seeing him blow by someone and go hard to the basket.
-Jimmer is as promising a guard as BYU has had. I love his scorer mentality and he’s provided a number of big lifts as a freshman. Many more good things to come from him.
-Archie Rose phenomenon. Try asking a BYU fan why we love Archie Rose and I think you’ll find them speechless. I don’t know why he’s so loved, but I get as excited as anyone seeing him on the floor. Especially with his new mask.
-Chris Miles. Chis always had the length, but I think everyone was surprised that he played better in the first UNLV game than Trent did. Showed me some real signs of promise. Today at the game I was able to be down close and Chis is looking pretty beefy. He’s not the same stick that he was before that could easily be pushed around. I was scared Chris would be a shorter Shawn Bradley. After today I think Chris has a very bright future at BYU.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief that BYU was able to pull out the 45th home win in a row against the hated Yewts. Games against the Yewts are always way too close for comfort and painful to watch. Well, at least until BYU wins. Unfortunately, not many people saw it because our beloved TV partners decided to show it on the MTN instead of CSTV or Versus. Even BYU TV would have been 100 times better than the MTN. Dick Harmon described the shows that showed on CSTV and Versus as opposed to BYU vs. Utah:

Versus showed “Wildcats,” a 1986 movie staring Goldie Hawn and Nipsey Russell from 7 to 9 p.m. After that, Versus chose to show Stage 3 of the “Tour of California, which may have been a repeat.

CSTV — which chose to air a fine blowout of Utah’s over BYU women’s basketball on Tuesday night to a national audience — on Wednesday aired a One2One sports highlight show on the career of Doug Williams from 8 to 8:30 p.m.

From 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., right in the critical part of the Ute-Cougar battle, CSTV aired a repeat of a Memphis-Tulane basketball that aired earlier. By the way, Memphis won the game 97-71 the second time around also.

Ok, I could see Versus telling us to shove it if it was the Tour de France, but some old school movie and the Tour of California? It’s amazing the choices these stations have made. Too bad we’re stuck, because my guess is that almost nothing can be done about it now.

On a higher note, I think we saw the future of BYU in Jimmer Fredette. Finally a guard at BYU that can make shots for himself, drive the lane and hit a 3. Not to mention how well he’s matured over the year. Let’s just hope he steps up and plays just as well in the NCAA tournament. Yes, they’re going to the tournament. The only question now is whether we can keep the winning ways going and get a decent seed in the tournament. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

UPDATE: Looks like the AD at San Diego State says that there’s a deal between the MTN and DirectTV. Too bad the MWC office and BYU’s Assitant AD say they haven’t heard anything. I expect this means a deal is close to done. Will this deal push other cable networks and Dish Network to get on board too?

I’ve searched high and low to find any of the media outlets talking about what Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti said during a press conference yesterday. I heard the sound bites on ESPN 920 here in Las Vegas last night. I’m amazed that no other media outlets are writing about his comments. I did find a few people on cougar board talking about Bellotti’s comments on BYU being part of the Pac 10 here and here.

Here’s what I remember from the sound bites I heard on the radio (the second one I haven’t found anywhere else):

The media person asked Mike Bellotti if he thought that BYU could compete with the upper half of the Pac 10.

After a short pause, Mike Bellotti said, “No.”

He then went on to say that he thought that BYU had a number of players that could be stars if they were in the Pac 10, but that collectively as a team BYU wouldn’t be able to compete in the Pac 10. Mike Bellotti also referenced BYU’s loss to a bad Arizona team and their loss to California in last years Las Vegas Bowl.

I could not believe that he really said this. The only thing that makes sense is that if Mike Bellotti says that BYU could compete in the Pac 10 he’d be admitting that BYU was a better team than Oregon. However, Mike is stupid for making a comment like this. There are plenty of good ways to answer the question. Saying, “No” is not one of them.

The second sound bite from Mike Bellotti is even more amazing.

A reporter asked Mike Bellotti if he had gotten any film from other schools in the Mountain West Conference.

Mike kind of stuttered as he asked what teams were in the Mountain West Conference?

The reporter said, “New Mexico, …”

Mike responded that he’d talked to Andy Ludwig and got tapes from them.

That’s ridiculous. What kind of coach doesn’t know where he got tapes from? Even if Mike Bellotti doesn’t know which teams are in the MWC, he sure as heck should know what kind of film he has available from an opposing team and the background of those games.

The funny thing is that I don’t know if Mike meant to say these stupid things or if he just doesn’t know how to hold his tongue?

**All of the above quotes are from the best of my memory. They aren’t exact, but are my best memory of what was said. If someone has the exact quote I’d love to post them.

It’s now official that Cox Digital Cable is going to have the Mtn and CSTV in their lineup. This is great for cable owning BYU fans in Las Vegas and San Diego. It’s even better news for satellite subscribers.

“It provides a broader coverage of the league, plus the satellite companies now know the programming is valuable,” said MWC Associate Commissioner Javan Hedlund. “They will need to pick it at some time. It’s all about competition.”

Any pressure that can be exerted against the satellite providers is good news in my book. Although, people in Las Vegas and San Diego shouldn’t be too excited. Seeing these two channels is going to come at a price for those using Cox. Here’s the details from TheMWC.com announcement:

The networks will be available on Cox Digital Cable’s Sports and Information tier, a highly penetrated package of more than a dozen digital networks consisting primarily of a mixture of national, regional, and specialty sports-themed channels. CSTV, the leader in college sports, will be shown on channel 319 in San Diego and channel 333 in Las Vegas. The mtn., the first network dedicated solely to an intercollegiate athletic conference, will be shown on channel 320 in San Diego and channel 334 in Las Vegas.

That sounds like a digital sports package on top of the Cox digital cable package. I’m thinking USDTV needs to get the Mtn and then that will be the best option for people wanting cable in Las Vegas.

At least we can rejoice that tonight the Las Vegas Bowl is being shown on ESPN.

If you’re reading this blog then you probably already know that Boise State has crashed the BCS and will be in a big money bowl in January. When I talk about big money we’re talking about $14 to $17 million. That’s not too bad. Of course this doesn’t take into account the name recognition that will be achieved by going to a BCS game that is watched by millions.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the MWC should have gone after Boise State. The $14 million isn’t the only reason. Boise State is a natural fit for the Mountain West Conference. Boise State has the two most important sports covered.

Their football team is obviously first rate or they wouldn’t be going to a BCS game. I can’t tell you how great it was to watch Boise State stomp the Utes this year. It was a thing of beauty.

BYU’s loss to Boise State in basketball shows that their basketball team is going to be pretty good this year also. At least there going to be better than TCU. Sure, I know that Boise isn’t nearly as big of a TV market as TCU, but let’s be honest. I lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and I never saw TCU on TV and barely even knew that they existed. People in Texas cheer for Texas and Texas A & M. It doesn’t matter where you live. Those are the two choices. On the other hand, Boise’s only sports outlet is Boise State. I don’t care about Boise State really, but if I lived in Boise you’d find me at a lot of games.

Don’t worry. I forgive you MWC. Just go out and add Boise State to the fold.

It’s driving me nuts to look at BYU football’s record. 7 and 2. 2 losses. Granted, they were two losses to teams from BCS conferences. But who really cares? BYU had a chance to win those games and 2 field goals stick out in my head. It makes me sick how close BYU was to being undefeated at this point in the season.

I’ll admit that losing those 2 games and then killing everyone in the MWC is nicer than winning those 2 games and then choking in the MWC. However, BYU should have at least one of those 2 games and didn’t. That still keeps me saying what if.

We’ve clinched a winning season. We’ve pretty much clinched the Las Vegas Bowl. We’ve all but clinched the MWC title. Why don’t I feel satisfied?

We need to beat the Utes. Simple as that. Until it happens, I won’t be satisfied with this season.

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.