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 »

A lot of fans are a little tweaked by BYU’s performance yesterday, which is understandable considering the turnovers and missed assignments that led to big plays for Northern Iowa. My knee-jerk reaction to those plays was frustration, too. Once the game was over, though, I found it easy to swallow a dose of perspective, confirmed by what Bronco Mendenhall said in a post-game interview. Here are the facts:

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Fall camp has finally arrived and real football is only a few weeks away.  With three days of practice under their belts, BYU moves to their first session of contact practice tomorrow, but likely will be more “thud” than “crack.”  Most die-hard fans are hanging on every word, every detail, every morsel that comes out of camp but lets take a look at what they mean and how it will affect the “Quest for Perfection.”

If you haven’t been following camp, I recommend: 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 »

This is by far my favorite article of the season to write. We’re about a week away from the start of fall camp and rivalry banter is already coming out at the office. I’m geeked, you’re geeked, August can’t go fast enough.

Before I get to my predictions for this year, it’s time to own up to my predictions for last year.
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