My 3 Cents preface: Someone asked if Cruiser is a person or a group of people. Cruiser is just one individual, not a conglomerate of insiders. Now, on to the good stuff:
I believe the single greatest factor in our improved performance last year was our hitting. On both sides of the ball, BYU began hitting people like top-10 teams usually do, with intimidating intensity and ferocity. And I believe the improved hitting was a direct result of the weight and conditioning programs Coaches Mendenhall and Omer instituted last year. By the second quarters of most games, other teams were already beginning to shy away from our hits. By the fourth quarter, most were defeated and we were still going strong. This year, the intensity will be turned up notch. Bronco is raising the bar. If teams thought we were intense last year, if they thought we hit like battering rams last year, they’ll get their eyes opened this year.
The team has been working harder in conditioning and in the weight room than ever before. Almost every player is stronger than they were this time last year. Most of them are heavier, and with Coach Omer’s new speed training and conditioning, they are getting faster and in better shape too. The team is running stairs at the stadium until they throw up. They are running up mountains and holding motivational meetings at the Y. They are running sprints until they collapse. And in the weight room, Coach Omer says this is perhaps the strongest team he has ever had.
The pre-season prognosticators have no idea how good BYU will be next year—just like they were way off last year. They have no idea how sound we’ll be, how strong we’ll be, how much faster we’ll be, or how much harder we’ll hit. We are going to open a lot of eyes around the country next year—especially in the PAC-10. If Arizona thinks their close call against us last year was a fluke, they’ll be sorely surprised this year. If UCLA dismisses what we did to Oregon in the LV bowl, they’ll get their bells rung like there’s no tomorrow. We’re going to hit them in the mouth on the opening series and leave their heads spinning. They may have superior talent, but we have greater heart, training, conditioning, and desire. We’ll be on the field hunting for bear (Bruins), while they’ll be trying to figure out what happened to the mild-mannered returned missionaries we used to throw at them. Our guys are getting strong, fast, and angry. They are becoming very dangerous people. And every team we play next year had better take us extremely seriously, or they too will be wondering what hit them.
Championships are won in the off-season, in the weight room and in conditioning programs, and that’s where we excel. Nobody in the country has worked harder than we have since January, and nobody will deny us the rewards we are earning now.
I take my hat off to every player who is suffering and sacrificing every day under Coach Omer. I acknowledge that they are paying a price most of us would cringe at. It’s taking them to their limits, making many of them too tired to do homework at night, too much in pain to fall asleep, too sore to walk up the steps to class the next day. Some of our players are wondering what hit them right now. Next fall, as I said, every team we play will be asking that same question.
Strength, speed, and desire. Those are three areas where we are improving. If the prognosticators were wrong last year, just wait till this year. If teams were surprised by us last year, just wait till this year. If we were the 15th best team in the country last year, just wait till this year. Every player on the team is paying the price necessary to become a champion at some time in their career. If not next year, then soon. Very soon.
