PArt 2 of the series. Thanks again to AZCATFAN for his report:

Defense:

I won’t go into as much detail on the defensive side as I have read where most knowledgeable cougar fans are aware of AZ’s defense. We lost depending on how you look at it 1 or 2 starters from last year’s team. Gone are Michael Johnson at Strong Safety and Marcus Smith who started at times at DE and DT. Our defense goes into this season with a ton of confidence. Our D held teams to a 19.6 scoring average. In a league like the Pac 10 where offenses seem to rule the day it speaks volumes when you hold your opponent to under 21 points a game. The average scoring this past year was 24.4 in the Pac 10 with all but 2 teams averaging more than 20 points a game. (AZ avg. 16.6 and Stanford avg. 10.6.) Cal and USC led the conference in scoring with averages of 32.8 and 30.5 respectively. USC scored 13 offensive points against AZ and Cal scored 13 as well. (SC had an int for a td and Cal had a punt return for a TD.) Defense was the key last year and it will be this year but, I don’t think it will have to carry the day like it did last year if AZ expected to win.

Defensive line:

The D line is anchored by SR Louis Holmes at 6’6 and 280 anchoring one end spot and JR Jonathan Turner 6’3 250 at the other end spot. The tackles are Seniors 6’1 285 Yaniv Barnett and Lionel Dotson 6’4 278. AZ loves the depth that it has along the line and RS freshman Ricky Elmore 6’5 255 DE (he had 2 sacks and a blocked FG in the 2 spring scrimmages) leads the reserves along with RS Freshman Lolomana Mikaele at DT. Louis Holmes who as most do – took some time adjusting to the speed at the d1 level and should be ready to have the dominating year that most have predicted. This unit as is true with the rest of the defense has quality depth at every position. No BS. Arizona has never had the quality depth that is has now and nowhere is that more true than on defense. AZ will rotate fresh bodies along the DL throughout the whole game so we won’t have the altitude or being tired as an excuse if we happen to lose.

Linebackers:

They all come back and are lead by SR Spencer Larsen and JR Ronnie Palmer. SR Dane Krogstad rounds out the starting 3 but, I would assume as we did last year that Krogstad will be replaced by a 5th DB to cover a wide out. They cover sideline to sideline and are both very sure tacklers. Xavier Kelly and Adrian McCovy will be backups and it would not surprise me if they see plenty of action. I say that because if the altitude is a problem then these are 2 of the guys who will see action. X led the team in tackles this Spring and is biting at the bit to see action. X is a Sophmore and McCovy is a Junior. This group has speed, is experienced, and has quality depth. Arizona is also expecting Apaiata Tuihalamaka an incoming frosh and his cousin Vuna Tuihalamaka a JC transfer to also see action this season.

Secondary:

As many Cougar fans know – the secondary is anchored by Senior Antoine Cason who is up for numerous post season awards and is recognized as one of the best cover corners in the country. On the other side is Senior Wilrey Fontenot. They are backed up by Soph. Devin Ross and JC transfer Marquis Hundley. The safeties are in a battle and heading into Fall – the Strong Safety is a battle between Soph’s Cam Nelson, Brandon Tatum, and Jr Michael Klyce. At Free Safety you have big hitter and a senior Dominic Patrick and his backup JR Nate Ness. One of these safeties will replace Krogstad and be responsible for run support and covering a wr or tight end. As good as it gets and byu with a young qb will have its hands full with this defense.

5 Reasons why I think Arizona beats BYU on September 2nd.

1. Defense, Defense, Defense. We held your running game to a mere 28 yards on 24 carries. I would expect that our defense will be locked in once again to stop your running game and make an inexperienced qb beat us.

2. An inexperienced QB against a very experienced defense. BYU as you know lost its QB, RB, TE, a WR and 1 or 2 (?) OL to graduation [My 3 Cents: Technically only 1 since Keele was injured so early in the season, but 2 great OL did graduate.] You don’t replace that overnight and you certainly don’t replace all of that in the first game. Please do not tell me that the replacements are better than what you had. By the 5th or 6th game maybe – by the first game – highly unlikely. Playing well on the scout team and never getting tackled does not count as experienced. Experience on Arizona’s D will beat inexperience on BYU’s O.

3. Our offense will average closer to the Pac 10 average of 24 points a game and we will hit that average in this game. Last year – Bronco out-coached our OC as he did not blitz and dropped his LB’s into coverage and with the exception of a couple of big plays ruled the day. This year – if he plays 4 LB’s he will be crushed because one or 2 of your LB’s will have to cover a wr and we will exploit the mismatch. Does BYU have 4 guys who can cover our 4 wr’s? I don’t think so – so you will blitz and as you know – that is a high risk high reward against this offense. You also know first hand how difficult it is to get to the qb in this offense. It puts a ton of pressure on your D to step up in the first game and the first time in a long time when your heart and soul – Jensen is not out there to calm everybody down. Can someone else step up – yes? Will he do it in the first game? We will see.

4. New offense. Yes, you know this offense but, you don’t have any film on it and you have no idea what wrinkles Dykes will add. Would not be surprised if Arizona catches BYU in a bad alignment and hits it for a TD. In a game like this – all it takes is one big play to be the difference in the game.

5. I have pretty much covered all the reasons why I think we will win – the last is weak at best but, it is a trend. BYU has lost its last 2 season opening games. BC in 2005 and AZ in 2006 with BC being a home opener. I think the trend continues. To early to make a prediction but, I do like AZ’s offense scoring at least 24 points.

My 3 Cents:
While I don’t agree with a lot of what AZCATFAN says, I do like his logic and that he backs up his arguments with outside sources and facts. His final point, that he considers the weakest, I actually think may be one of the stronger points. BYU has not done very well in the first game under Bronco. It seems that Anae is holding back the reins a little too tight and not letting the offense be as explosive as it should be. However, the Oregon game was perhaps a glimpse as to how far the coaching staff has come now in getting ready for games with a longer lay-off in between.

I will be posting my “rebuttal” in a couple days, leave a comment if you want a specific point or question of AZCATFAN to be addressed. Next weeks: UCLA.

My 3 Cent’s will likely not be updated until May 5th as a future Cougar will be born tomorrow. I’m guessing a linebacker or QB based on genetics. I will be sending out tapes to BYU by this weekend, never too early to give them a lead.

September 1st still lies in the distant future, but what better way to get through the summer months than to find out more about BYU’s foes for the 2007 season? I have asked fans of each of the opponents to give an insight into what to expect for each team. I will do my best to get one team each week, and if my calculations are correct, by the time I have posted Utah’s breakdown, Fall practice will be only 2 short weeks away.

A thank you to AZCATFAN for this week’s 2 part installment. We start off with:

Offense:

I think by now, almost everybody knows that Arizona is changing its offense from last year. Gone is the entire Offensive Coaching staff with the exception of Dana Dimel who continues to coach the tight ends. The offense returns 9 starters with Syndric Steptoe and Chris Henry departing from last year’s team.
Sonny Dykes was brought in to change an offense that was at or near the bottom in just about every offensive category for the 2006 season.
Most fans have assumed that it will be a spin-off of TT but, media reports and comments from coaches say that it will be a cross between what TT and BYU’s offense runs. If Dykes had free reign then you can bet that we would throw the ball 70 times a game. Stoops being a defensive minded coach – does not want his defense out on the field all day so you can expect Arizona to run the ball and chew clock when necessary.

In the 2 Spring scrimmages

Arizona threw the ball 125 times completing 84 for a total of 737 yards passing. So that you have something to compare this to – in 12 games last year, UA threw for 2,024 total yards. That averages out to 168.7 passing yards per game. Granted, it was 2 scrimmages but, UA averaged 368 yards throwing in the 2 scrimmages.
Rushing the ball, as you can imagine was not much better. In 12 games last year UA rushed the ball for 1458 yards (excluding sack yardage) on 379 attempts for a 2.7 average rush and 84.2 rushing yards per game.. In the 2 scrimmages – UA rushed the ball 45 times for 314 yards. That comes out to almost 7 yards a carry and an average of 157 total rushing yards. Granted – these are scrimmages but, as of right now it is the only thing we have to compare it to.

QB’s

The strength, the heart and soul of the team lies in JR Quarterback Willie Tuitama. I’m certainly not an expert on QB’s so I will refer to people who are. Lamont Lovett, a former AZ running back and current analyst for UA radio broadcasts had this to say in an article that he wrote for Scout.com:
“First of all Willie Tuitama is absolutely the QB for this team and he is tailor made for this system. Unlike most of the general public, I have had the opportunity to watch Tuitama practice extensively. The first reason that Tuitama is perfect for this new system is that he is a well-schooled QB. Tuitama is fundamentally sound, from years of working with a great QB coach, Mike Canales. Tuitama has a very efficient and quick release with very little wasted motion. Tuitama understands footwork and is rarely in a bad position when he throws the ball. Also, Tuitama has great arm strength and effortlessly make all of the throws. Finally, he is game tested and is tough. That’s right, I said tough. This guy will not back down from a challenge and has already proven that he will play when he is hurt.” The entire article can be found here.

Please note that when he refers to Mike Canales he praises him as a QB Coach not as an OC.

Weaknesses: One comes to mind right away and that is that we are breaking in a new offense. Obviously, that couldn’t be helped and I don’t know of anybody who is complaining. I will once again refer to what Lamont Lovett wrote: “The area Tuitama continues to work on is passing the ball with more touch in certain situations. Those situations are when there is a defender between the QB and the WR. Tuitama must be able to use touch to drop the ball over the top of defenders, to the receiver. He has done a really nice job of this in practice situations and continues to get plenty of work in this area.”
Some say that Tui is injury prone where I say that he had 1 severe concussion that led to him miss time in several games last year. As BYU fans know all to well – this offense is designed to protect the QB with quick reads and quick throws. It is not like the guy has numerous nagging injuries that keep him out – he got hit on an illegal helmet to helmet it vs. LSU. The DE was flagged but, it pretty much ruined Tui’s and UA year. In the NFL the LSU player would’ve been fined and suspended. In college it’s a 15 yard penalty. Tui has been cleared to play by the experts at the Univ. of Pittsburgh who specialize in concussions and the affect that they have on athletes both in the short term and long term.
Key player(s) besides Tui is, Tyler Lyon a redshirt freshman who was ranked as a top 25 QB out of Hart High School in CA. Last year UA had a walk on as its back up so the upgrade is huge in comparison to last year. Backing up Lyon is Senior Kris Heavner who was a former starter under John Wackovic.

Running Backs:

Strengths have to be in the variety of running backs that we have. Chris Jennings is an elusive runner with the best hands of the guys returning from LY. In the 2 scrimmages, Jennings rushed the ball 14 times for 103 yards and over 7 yards per carry. Xavier Smith is a local kid who is the most explosive of the group and maybe the toughest. X had a tough Spring as his mother was murdered a few days before the final scrimmage of Spring. After X you have Terry Longbons and 2 incoming freshman.
Of the incoming frosh it has been said that Nicholas Grigsby has the best shot at seeing playing time. Grigsby is a self described Reggie Bush type of player. We will see whether that is fact or fiction.

Weaknesses are going to be the same for every group as the entire offense has to learn a new system. The RB’s have been quoted as loving the offense but, it is too early to tell how this group will do. Of the entire offense – I would put the RB group as the biggest possible weakness. Chris Henry who was a freak of an athlete was just coming into his own before he decided to turn pro. Jennings had a career day vs, Stephen F. Austin and not much after that. X played sparingly and Longbons not at all. The running back in this system does not have to be great but, they do have to be productive. We will see.

Tight End:

It seems like every preseason for as long as I can remember, the Arizona coaching staff has talked about how the tight end will be an important part of the offense and every year he catches 8 to 12 balls total. I think this year may be the exception to the rule. It’s too early to tell if this will be a strength or a weakness. In years past it has been a weakness. This year, the UA has one of the top rated TE’S (top 5 in everybody’s rankings) out of HS coming in. Rob Gronkowski is 6’6” and 250 pounds. He will battle with AJ Simmons (6’3” 255) a redshirt freshman from last year. Travis Bell and Brandyn McCall are the upper classmen but, by all accounts the job is between Simmons and Gronkowski. This is an unknown that could be a difference maker in the game. It will be very interesting to see how Dykes uses the tight end in this game. This is definitely a wild card and we will see how it plays.

Offensive line:

I may be alone on this but; most fans view this as the weak spot for the offense where I see it as a strength. When Stoops came on board, his first task was to shore up the O-line and bring in depth. He brought in Daniel Borg, Eben Britton, Blake Kerley, and Adam Grant, in 2005 and Jovon Hayes, James Tretheway, Colin Baxter, Cody Anderson, Cory Elmore and Conan Amituanai for 2006. Borg, Britten, and Kerley played extensively last year as RS freshman. In my opinion they will only get better. Peter Graniello a Senior and Joe Longacre a junior will most likely round out the starting 5. Borg was the 17th best at his position of HS and Britton was 38th. Blake Kerley is the center and is the key to the o-line and one of the reasons why I think it will be a strength and not a weakness. The center position is key for any line especially a young line and, a line that is learning a new offense. The new offense is the same offense that Kerley ran in HS and he has been a huge plus to the offense as he is very familiar with the wide splits and calling out blocking assignments. I have also heard that many people think that the line is undersized when in fact it averages over 300 pounds. The other strength to this unit is the quality depth. They are young but, I think they will be very good and a key to this game and the 2007 season.

Wide Receivers:

I think this will be a big key to the game. Can BYU cover AZ’s receivers when they go 4 wide? When AZ scrimmaged this spring they lined up Mike Thomas 5’8 speedster, Anthony Johnson 6’2 possession receiver, BJ Dennard 5’11 and maybe the best athlete on the team, and Terrell Reese 6’4 a do everything type receiver. Backing them up is a group of talented` yet young receivers. I will also add this quote about AZ’s new receivers coach and what he brings to the table. This is again from the article written by Lamont Lovett: “ Coach Darryl Wyatt, the new WR coach is doing an amazing job of developing the Arizona Wide Receiver corp. He is that great coach that seems to have that “Midas Touch” when it comes to developing Wide Receivers. “
“When Wyatt coached at Oklahoma, almost all of the players under his tutelage ended up in an NFL camp. Leading the way were players like Mark Clayton (1st Round Baltimore), Mark Bradley (2nd Round Chicago), Travis Wilson (3rd Round Cleveland), and Brandon Jones (3rd Round Tennessee). This was more than just good recruiting. Coach Wyatt demands results from his players. He pays close attention to the minutest details when coaching his players. I observed him taking his players through an exhausting practice that involved lots of advanced footwork drills, cutting, and route running. He is an expert at teaching technique, and he emphasizes it on every single play. He is always hounding his receivers about attacking every ball. He is always showing each receiver what he could have done better on each play. He works his receivers like crazy on blocking down field. The results are obvious. Fewer balls are being dropped, and players like B.J. Dennard, and Bobby McCoy are starting to emerge all of a sudden.“ Again, this article can be found here. Our WR’s versus your secondary could very well decide the game.

My 3 Cents: BYU and AU fans, feel free to post comments/questions. I will moderate them to make sure they are constructive. Tomorrow I will be posting the second part: Defense and 5 reasons AU will beat BYU.

Day two of the NFL draft came and went and no more BYU players came off the board. I will admit I was very surprised that neither Jonny Harline or Daniel Coats were picked, or big Jake Kuresa or even Eddie Keele. That knee injury hurt more than I expected.

The MWC conference overall had 9 picks:

Utah-Eric Weddle(S)-2nd round, 37 overall to San Diego
BYU-John Beck(QB)-2nd round, 40 overall to Miami
UNLV-Eric Wright(CB)-2nd round, 53 overall to Cleveland
New Mexico-Quincy Black(OLB)-3rd round, 68 overall to Tampa Bay
Utah-Paul Soliai(DT)-4th round, 108 overall to Miami
TCU-Marvin White(S)-4th round, 114 overall to Cincinnati
CSU-Clint Oldenburg(OT)-5th round, 171 overall to New England
Wyoming-John Wendling(S)-6th round, 184 overall to Buffalo
TCU-Herbert Taylor(OT)-6th round, 196 overall to Kansas City

BYU had 7 more players sign Free Agent contracts:

Curtis Brown (RB) - Cleveland- Will have Joe Thomas opening holes and Brady Quinn tossing him the rock.
Dan Coats (TE) - Cincinnati- Could someday catch the ball from Jeff Rowe.
Zac Collie (WR) - Philadelphia - Kevin Kolb, a suprising pick in the 2nd round, will someday sling the ball Collie’s direction.
Jonny Harline (TE) - Indianapolis - Good situation. Who wouldn’t want to go to Super Bowl victors and catch passes from Peyton Manning?
Cameron Jensen (LB) - Seattle- Seattle’s first 5 picks were defensive players. Jensen will be a good addition to this young group.
Eddie Keele (OL) - Oakland- Blocking for JaMarcuss Russell. No OL was selected during the draft so he has a chance to shine.
Jake Kuresa (OL) - New Orleans- Blocking for Drew Bee’s, Reggie Bush, and newly acquired Antonio Pittman. Not a bad place to be.

My 3 Cents: Everyone I thought would get a chance to play professional football was drafted (including Wagner.) Justin Robinson, predictably, will probably never play another snap of professional football. Only surprise is that Zac Collie signed a contract, I had no idea he was even being considered. Perhaps during the individual work-outs that teams were holding with John Beck they noticed Collie. Good for him.

John Beck was just drafted to Miami Dolphins as the 8th pick of the 2nd round (#40 overall.) The draftniks of ESPN were saying he has a great chance of coming into Miami and contending for a starting position. Miami also selected Ted Ginn Jr. out of Ohio State in the first round, adding to future weapons for Beck. He is considered a potential franchise QB and has a great chance to shine under Coach Cameron.

Beck came off the board as the #4 QB behind Russell (Oakland), Quinn (Cleveland), and Kevin Kolb (Philadelphia.) Kolb suprised many and probalby won’t see the field for several years as there are QB’s infront of him.

Note: Eric Weddle was selected by the Chargers as the 5th pick in the second round (#37 overall.)

I will update later with other picks from the MWC, other BYU players and players going to Miami.

Fjords, the last template I was using, just wasn’t working for a sports site. The text column was too narrow to insert pictures, plus I just got sick of the light green on the site. Keep your eyes open in July or August for the brand new site with a completely custom template!

As for the NFL draft, I just don’t have the umph to do the research and write a detailed column that is distinct from what’s already out there. I’ve got a new baby at home, after all. I’ll just say this: anybody who thinks Drew Stanton, Trent Edwards, or Kevin Kolb is a better pro prospect than John Beck has estranged themselves from reality. I can’t believe some of the stuff that I’ve read the past few days about the QB draft situation! John Beck has a low release? He’s had a lot of passes batted down?! He’s a system quarterback?!?! Who the heck dreams this stuff up?!?!

I’m most interested to see if Eddie Keele gets drafted or if teams pass him up because of his injury. He’ll probably go on the second day, and the team that takes him will get a steal of a deal.