Welcome to CrashUtah – Where BYU fans Talk Sports

I got this in my email and it’s definitely worth sharing after yesterday’s game.

Our oldest son who lives in Hong Kong with his family, sent me this:

The young men in our branch have a “code” to share the score of BYU football games during church (because of the time zone difference, most of the games end while we are at church). BYU’s score is always the chapter and their opponent’s score is the verse.

In credit to BYU’s game today, the young men read Alma 14:13. Here it is:

“Be it according to the will of the Lord. But behold our work is not finished. Therefore they burn us not.”

GO BYU!

It’s fall again and BYU football is back. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this season. There’s just something beautiful about the feel of a football stadium. Everything from the look of the well kept grass to the cheering makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Well, this year it looks like I’m going to have to put Family First. Yes, that might shock some, but family is more important than football. Let me just give you an idea of how important family is to me by recounting my travel plans to be able to see my family.

9/5/09 – Trip to Arlington, TX to see my brother and tour a new building their in Arlington

9/19/09 – Trip to Provo, UT to celebrate my father’s 60th birthday (he’s a BYU grad too)

10/10/09 – Date night with my wife in Las Vegas and possibly a double date with my brother and sister-in-law if they happen to come for a visit

10/17/09 – Visit to my older sister who just moved back to San Diego, CA

11/14/09 – Trip to Albuquerque, NM to visit my new twin nieces

11/28/09 – Thanksgiving in Salt Lake City with the family

That’s a lot of traveling for “Family.” I hope they realize that in my life it’s all about Family First!! Now I just better check how that coincides with BYU’s football schedule.

After much waiting and anticipation there is finally a gametime and network for the BYU vs. Oklahoma game.

The September 5 game that is part of the kickoff week for college football will be televised on ESPN at 6 pm central time. That’s 5 pm mountain for those of you in Utah.

I tried to look at the OU website to see if they were saying anything about the game, but there was more there about the Cowboys new stadium than the game itself.

Tickets have been released for season ticket holders, but the rest of us will have to wait for a little while to get our chance. They are going for $50-$80 as of right now, but I expect they will get a lot higher as the game draws closer.

Most people will be better off paying the $30-40 for parking and just watching the game on the big screen. It is ridiculous how much it all costs, but that is Jerry Jones for you.

Either way, I am really looking forward to this game. In the past when we have played great teams we have had lots of questions on our team, but this time, the nucleus is still there. The biggest question is how good our o-line will be, but I am not really worried about it. We always have at least an average O-line.

I’m getting really excited, and seeing as how there are no major sporting events between now and the start of the season, we should start seeing more and more about college football.

Sorry, I forgot the NBA Finals will start in almost a week. They just last so freaking long that they feel like the regular season never ends. Plus all these long breaks between rounds make me lose interest.

Forgive my sidetrack. BYU is going to have a good season, and may very well have a great season if they get a few good calls, and some favorable bounces.

Today I was seriously jonesing for something BYU, and there just wasn’t much to be had. If the men’s volleyball team had played better then maybe they would be defending their homecourt right now, but no.

Jonathat Tavernari is still testing the NBA waters, but if he leaves he is stupid in my opinion.

Matt Ah You is now a former BYU linebacker, though I can’t imagine why you would leave before your senior year. I’m sure he had a reason, and I wish him my best.

CNNSI.com had BYU listed under the barely missed it section of the post-spring top 25. Obviously this ranking doesn’t mean a whole lot, but the fact that TCU and Utah were both in the top 25 it goes to show that the MWC really made an indelible mark on the country last year.

I can’t imagine how Utah could be so high after losing Brian Johnson, Paul Kruger, and others but whatever, it is what happens on the field that matters, not the polls.

Tickets for the Oklahoma game should be released shortly which is exciting. Part of me hopes people are expecting a blowout so tickets will be cheaper. On the other hand, I want as many people as possible to see BYU be competitive. I guess we will see.

BYU’s softball team is now waiting to see where they will end up to take their shot at the women’s college world series. They should make a good run of it, if they get a good draw.

So while I am anxious for the football season to come, there is still quite a bit of BYU stuff going on.

This modern era of information overload is no different in the sports world. However, when it comes to college football, it may have come too far.

Not only can you get daily reports on every practice of your favorite team including play by play and stats, you can now watch the spring games on ESPN. That is just going too far.

It used to be special to watch a game on national tv. You would anxiously read articles about what games would be televised. This was even a bigger deal if you were an out of town fan, and your team was going to be on a network station. Growing up in Texas and being a BYU fan I was lucky to see one or two games a year, but now you can get not only every single game, but spring games and practices.

While I do appreciate being able to watch more games than I used to, I almost miss the old days. The quality of broadcasts has totally fallen off of a cliff. From the broadcasters themselves to the game production, it just isn’t nearly as good. Now we are stuck with former players that never made it, and never should have been given a spot in the booth.

The days of classic sporting events analyzed by well known broadcasters is gone. Instead we would probably be better off hitting the mute button and just enjoying the game itself.

The one exception I have found to this is that most radio broadcasts still carry classic announcers. I realize they can’t live forever, but by and large most teams keep the same broadcasters on the radio. I have found myself muting the tv and listening to the radio because they do such a better job.

So while I will continue to watch and read everything I possibly can about BYU, I wish the quality of broadcasts would go back up to what it used to be.

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote, I can thank my baby and job for that, but after reading a ton of comments about this story I just had to say something.

I am sure most of you are aware of the story. As I understand it Kyle Van Noy, a linebacker that was recruited by BYU, was pulled over for a dui last week. When sending in his letter of intent to BYU he included a letter apologizing to the coaches and the school for his actions.

Bronco offered him the ability to take back his letter of intent and go to a different school, or to wait a year and take care of his legal issues and prepare himself to be admitted to BYU in good standing, which was not required by BYU itself, but by Bronco. Van Noy stuck to his original commitment, and so did Bronco.

I simply cannot believe all of the completely stupid comments that people are making about this story.

First of all, the religious aspect. I have read numerous comments stating that because he violated the honor code he should never be admitted to BYU. What these people are saying is that if you want to be accepted to BYU you have to be perfect. Nevermind the true teachings of the gospel which give all people an opportunity to make mistakes, and then learn from them.

It would be a totally different story if he had tried to hide it and pretend it never happened. Instead he decided to come forward, admit that he was wrong, and in essence ask for help. Bronco did the right thing by offering that help, as long as he really wanted it.

How many other BYU students got DUI’s before they enrolled, but were given the chance to make changes and come to BYU in good standing. So many people want to say that the only reason he is being allowed to come is because he is a football player. I say that the only reason we heard about his DUI and not the DUI’s of who knows how many other students at BYU is because he was a football player. He is not being held to a lower standard, but simply a more visible standard.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not approving of his actions. Drunk driving is one of the most idiotic things you can do. Not only are you risking your own life, you are actually more likely to kill someone else through your actions. But, to say that if you make a mistake, however large, you cannot change and come to BYU is denying the very essence of the gospel.

From a football standpoint, this in no way helps BYU. Anyone who thinks that knows nothing about sports. This is going to force him to take a year away from football, with a whole lot of free time to possibly get into more trouble. Besides all of his free time, it will be a hinderment to him physically, as well as to his football instincts. After any extended time off you start to lose your edge a little.

Now I am not under the delusion that he will not be working out and training on his own, but he will not have the structured workouts that come with being a part of a team, and more importantly, he will not be giving and taking hits. At the very least, it is going to slow him down when he first comes back and has to reacclimate himself to not just the football he was used to in high school, but a faster, bigger and stronger football at the college level.

I also don’t agree with all of the comparisons between Kyle Whittingham and Bronco. Kyle is a good man just like Bronco. He is building a quality program based on whatever standards he sees as right. To say that one or the other has stepped away from those values because of separate DUI incidents at each school is childish. They each had unique situations that they responded to under the given circumstances and not one of us is in a position to judge what they did because we do not know all of the details.

I hope this isn’t digressing, but I also feel inclined to address the comments stating they were at parties where they saw BYU athletes and/or recruits drinking and thus breaking the honor code. My response is very simple: I am sure the athletes were not the only students there so why is it that you choose to single out the people that it would do the most damage too? It also dawns on me that you are probably a BYU student too, so what are you doing at a party like that if you are so perfect that you are in a position to judge other people?

My hat is off to Bronco for his handling of this situation. It would have been easy to simply tell this young kid go away and deal with your problems yourself. Instead he stuck with a guy that was very forthcoming about his problems and made a very clear statement. That the principles of the gospel, including repentance, are right at the top of his list where he says they are. He stuck to his commitment and may very well change this young man’s life forever.

To Kyle Van Noy, you screwed up big time, but my hat is off to you as well for allowing millions of judgemental BYU fans and other members of the church to criticize you for your actions. It says a lot about your TRUE character that you were willing to expose yourself to that in order to make a change in your life. You made a commitment, and when given the opportunity to take the easy way out and run away from your problems, you chose to take the high road and run into the fire head on. I look forward to watching you running into opposing running backs head on in 2010.

I’ve already talked about the loss in basketball today which is still upsetting me, and will continue to upset me for a few days, so I won’t say anymore about that.

The football game was even worse to watch. Not only because I will be getting teased at work until football season next year, but because I simply hate to lose in anything, especially a game that was very winnable.

Give Arizona all the credit in the world, they screwed up less than BYU and had a couple more big plays than BYU. Congrats on ending your 10 year bowl drought with a very nice win against a good team that played like crap.

The easiest excuse to make is that they hadn’t played in a month so they were rusty, which absolutely showed for most of the first half, but they started to get it going right before halftime and at the beginning of the second half. Unfortunately that is right about where it ended.

Personally, I have to say the difference maker was the lack of Dennis Pitta. He adds another dimension to this team that makes them almost unguardable. Without him, they are just like anyone else. What I don’t understand is why they waited until late in the fourth quarter to involve him in the offense. I realize he was limping, but it isn’t like his knee got better all of a sudden in the fourth quarter. Had they shown more confidence in him early on, the outcome would have been different.

Arizona’s corners played some nice defense, though there should have been a pass interference call on that bomb to Collie down the middle. They were fast, and always in good position, or at least recovered fast enough to still make the play. Near the end, their line, and linebackers showed up to seal the deal.

If it weren’t for TCU, BYU may have gone undefeated. What I mean by that is that BYU’s three losses all came because of the same reason: the offense got flustered, and the defense couldn’t make a stop. Where TCU comes into it, is that they exposed the defense’s susceptibility to underneath routes. I can’t believe BYU never adjusted to cover those routes. They also had a couple of huge blown coverages resulting in touchdowns.

Seeing as how all we can do is look to the future at this point, I am hoping some of JC transfers will sure up the defensive secondary. I also hope the offensive line will recover with the loss of four good seniors. My greatest fear at this point is that Austin Collie will go pro. The reason that is a fear to me, is that we have no one else to take his place!

Michael Reed is a senior, so he is gone. I think Chambers will be an excellent receiver, but he is not yet a go to receiver. I really have no idea who we would have as a deep threat. We should still have Pitta underneath, and Unga out of the backfield, but it will take a lot to replace Collie if he decides to leave.

My hope is that these two losses leave a bitter taste in his mouth that he wants to get out. They will also have a better shot to run the table next year with utah, TCU, and Air Force at home. Not to mention non-conference games at Arizona St and Florida St. at home. It should be a much better chance to bust the BCS next year than this year.

Only time will tell what happens, and now we have to sit around and wait until next august to see how it all plays out. I really hate the offseason.

So a little bit of sloppiness is to be expected after almost a month off, but it was getting a little out of hand there for a little while. It’s like the ball is greased or something.

BYU does seem to be finding a little bit of rhythm, unfortunately it is half way through the game already. I think the biggest thing killing BYU right now is the absence of Dennis Pitta. I know he is on the field at times, but he is certainly not himself. BYU’s offense just isn’t the same without him.

On defense, BYU HAS to find some way to get some pressure on Tuitama. I would say give Arizona some credit, but BYU is only rushing three or four every down. There have been one or two downs where they rushed five or six, and what was the result, incomplete passes. He is not a good enough quarterback to handle a lot of pressure, but for whatever reason BYU can’t create any.

On offense, they simply need to keep doing what they did to finish the half, minus three penalties on third down. The announcers keep talking about how much bigger and stronger BYU is, so they need to use that to there advantage and keep smashing Harvey down there throats. They were starting to get worn down, and it will only get worse.

While in all reality this has no business being a very close game, this year, BYU has made the less challenging games far more challenging than they need to be.

I will give Arizona some credit, and a congratulations on their first bowl in ten years, but not too much credit. What they have going for them is an experienced quarterback, and a vastly improved running game, but that is about it.

Unfortunately, they have the next to impossible task of bottling up Harvey Unga, Austin Collie, and Dennis Pitta. The only team to successfully do that, when they were all healthy, was TCU, and we all know how that ended up. Even Utah didn’t do that, they were just the beneficiary of a lot of turnovers. Arizona should be scared of how bad Max Hall will want to make up for those mistakes this Saturday.

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but BYU needs to get pressure on the quarterback to be successful on defense. That was the key to their success last year, and what has been lacking this year. Give all the credit in the world to Jan Jorgensen for having a decent season being double and triple teamed. If there was even one other player that could command some attention, he would have been an all-american this year.

As I said before, Arizona should be scared about Max Hall’s desire for redemption on Saturday, but at the same time so should BYU. He will be the difference maker in this game. If he comes out fired up having learned from his many mistakes at Utah, he will shred Arizona apart like he was doing early in the season. On the other hand if he comes out with only the emotion, he will start forcing things again and this game could get out of hand the other way.

Knowing how Bronco has been in the past after a disheartening loss I would look for BYU to come out full of emotion just like the UCLA game, and if they get a few fortunate bounces and calls, this game could end up much the same way. More realistically I would say BYU will simply wear them out with a heavy dose of Harvey Unga (what they should have done at Utah) and then pull away with a couple of late scores to finish it off. Final score: BYU 42-Arizona 21.

When Bronco Mendenhall was hired as the head coach at BYU i wasn’t sure how it would work out. I had high hopes because of the success of his defenses while at BYU. The hussle and heart that they exhibited on a regular basis was truly commendable.

Looking back now I am so grateful he is the coach. I am sure Kyle Whittingham would have done a decent job too, but I would much rather have Bronco. I came across a quote in another article that gave another prime example of why I love Bronco.

The hope by Mendenhall is the Cougars meet Arizona with a heightened sense of awareness and resolve.

“If our team chooses to take that approach, and if they don’t, many times it could get worse before it gets better. That doesn’t happen by chance but by choice. And so if we don’t play cleaner and at a higher level — not chance but choice — where they haven’t been quite humbled to the depths where it needed to be to really make changes necessary where it needed to be.”

Then Arizona will be another humbling loss.

“I can point it out. I can impose demand,” said Mendenhall. “But until it comes from personal recognition, choice will determine the outcome. We’ll know at the end of the game if they’ve taken that challenge or not, not to absolve myself, I’m responsible for all of it.

“But when we truly choose to learn the lessons, the program will get better.”

I love this personal accountability that he demands of his players. He takes the ultimate responsibility as the head coach, which is right, but he also puts the players on the spot because it is their effort and execution that lead to the final result.

I know he refuses to say how long he will stay, except that it won’t be as long as Lavell, but let us hope it will be a long long time.