BYU and UCLA meet for the 3rd time in 53 weeks, perhaps a moment in NCAA history.  I’ll get our research department going on that once they get hired.  Three different locations, a team ranked each time and the third coaching staff for the Bruins.  With one win a piece, including a nail-biter blocked field goal as time expired to win the Las Vegas Bowl, what can BYU do to win this in convincing fashion? Continue Reading »

Balanced offense.  Balanced diet.  Balanced predictions.  Once again I follow up Josh’s predictions with my own tempered thoughts.  I’ll follow his lead and first own up to my predictions, perhaps gaining (or losing) some credibility in the process.

1. No BYU running back gets over 1,000 yards. Okay, maybe owning up wasn’t a good idea.  However, to my defense, at the time Fui Vakapuna was the slated starting HB and Harvey Unga was a practice phenom, but little more.  Unga ended up blowing up my expectations by rushing for 1,227 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.  I stand (happily) corrected.

2. Hall throws for more than 3,000 yards, but barely. I was just tempted to leave off that last part, but I’ll own up to it.  Hall exceeded all expectations by throwing for 3,848 yards yards and 26 touchdowns.  So I was right.  Technically.

3. BYU will continue its winning streak at home. Cha-ching.

4. BYU will finish regular season with a 9-3 record. Glad I could get this wrong.  I predicted a UCLA loss and Wyoming or New Mexico.  Ouch.  Never saw Tulsa coming.  Off by one game, not bad.

5. Breakout players of the year: Kelly Poppinga on defense and Dennis Pitta on offense.  I could argue that I was right, Poppinga led the team in tackles and Pitta led the team in receptions.  If you wanted to argue Unga/Collie or Hall on offense, I’d probably let you win though. Continue Reading »

A lot of readers seem to disagree with me that Hawaii losing big-time to Georgia was a good thing for college football. I realize that it’s because I didn’t explain myself well enough, so I’ll take the opportunity to do so. I feel that it’s an important enough issue that strongly relates to the future of BYU football that we ought to make sure that no stone is unturned in this discussion.

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Surprise! Just when you thought we wouldn’t be talking football today, behold a double dip here at Legion HQ. Just to warn you, some of my thoughts don’t flow together seamlessly, so don’t hold me to a high literary standard here. It’s just the flow of my thoughts.

Much has been said today and this week about the implications of Hawaii, currently 11-0 and #12 in the BCS standings, qualifying for an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game. I wanted to chime in and give a quasi-official stance that we at Cougar Legion ought to espouse concerning that issue. In short, if Hawaii receives an invitation to a BCS bowl game, we may have to bid farewell to good football during the first month of the season.

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OK, Legionnaires. We’ve all had it up to here with the TV deal. I think I’m hooked on torturing myself with the stories of how BYU would have been in the Big 12 if not for the governor of Texas (Baylor alum) making UT, A&M, Tech and Baylor an all-or-nothing package deal. Or how about the clandestine deal a few years ago that would have brought Colorado and BYU into the PAC-10, but got stonewalled by the west coast politicos. We were thisclose to never having to deal with Craig Thompson or a crappy TV deal or exclusion from big-money bowls (pardon me while I light my hair on fire).
For those of you who need an outlet, I’m here for you. I want to know what YOU would do to get BYU out of this undeserved nightmare. I’m not going to nitpick the feasibility of anyone’s plan - I just want you to get it out there, get it off your chest, embrace the catharsis, share your dream. BYU deserves better, and may someday get it, so let’s hear it! Where would you try to take BYU athletics if you had the chance?