What do we know about BYU’s defense?
About a year ago I got a call from a client that needed me to fly out to California on September 13th. As a die-hard fan, I wanted to (a) say no and (b) drop them as a client for the gall to ask me to miss the UCLA game. Unfortunately, bills do not pay themselves so I jumped on a plane with a fellow BYU fan the night before with the plan that we wouldn’t look at the score, wouldn’t check our phones, drive straight to my house when we got back that afternoon and watch it on old-school DVR (also known as VHS.)
We walked out of the meeting and he broke Rule 1, don’t look at your phone. His brother had texted him: BYU 35 – UCLA 0. And BYU was driving. In the first half.
Shock. Triumph. We found ESPN Radio in the car, found a restaurant at the Ontario airport with a lone BYU fan to watch the game come to a beautiful 59-0 finish. BYU was going to the BCS, I was sure of it.
We saw the UCLA team at the Cinnabon at the SLC airport and almost pretended to not know how the game went and ask them, but decided that we didn’t want to die. They actually seemed fairly happy, even Mr. Olsen, but that’s a story for another day.
Fun story Peter, but who cares? Remember the next week? BYU rolls Wyoming 44-0. BYU’s defense was an iron wall, curtain and drapes in one.
Fast forward past a relatively sad end of the season, where BYU’s defense looked more like sieve than anything else, to 2009. BYU holds the most prolific offense in the country from the previous season to 13 points and one touchdown, and follows it up with 3 points to Tulane. Cornerbacks actually broke up passes. Safeties actually tackle people under 10 yards. Linebackers – gasp – fill gaps. The defensive line gets good pressure.
Is it all a farce? Are we being hoodwinked this year and are about to have TCU v2 where the world feels like it is imploding?
Here is why I think this defense might actually be for real:
1. Corner play is tighter: During the offseason, coaches got three junior college corners to commit to BYU to bolster the defense. Talk about immediate payoff. Brian Logan, all 5′6″ of him, is playing lights out. He looks like the senior version of Justin Robinson, in the good way. He tackles well and breaks up passes. Scott Johnson has moved to his more natural position, free safety, and Brandon Bradley has taken over at boundary with great success (leading tackler against Oklahoma). This tighter play is forcing the QBs to make better throws, which they haven’t done consistently yet.
2. Safeties making plays at the line and in the backfield: Shiloah Te’o and Andrew Rich both already have tackles for loss this year. Nearly unheard of last year. Rich is a rocket and needs to be very careful to avoid getting concussions. He goes for a big hit every time and has already forced two fumbles. Johnson is in his zone at FS and has learned some hitting from Rich (hopefully he can keep his head up and not get knocked out again). Props to Craig Bills for staying in his zone against Tulane for his first career pick. Te’o will probably see quite a bit of time this season and I think that is a good thing. He’s not quite the quarterback of the defense that Johnson is, but is a playmaker.
3. Defense playing faster: Did we find a way to turn our slow white guys into track stars? Not really. However, Coach Hill’s schemes are finally clicking and he is putting them in the right spot to make plays. Some guys trimmed up (particularly Russell Tialavea) and while they can still bring the power, they are flying around and not over-thinking the plays. You look a lot faster if you are in the right gap.
4. Pressure: Was there any more annoying play last year than 3rd-and-long on defense? BYU sends two guys for pressure, a spy on the QB, and drops 14 into coverage. This year, BYU is 18th in the country on 3rd down defense (26.9%), without playing all patsies like most top programs, so I think that counts for something. BYU is showing blitzes, throwing them from different places, mostly with four (six max.) I have yet to see a safety or a corner blitz, but we can only dream. The other nice defensive stat is seven points per game, good for12th in the country. Remember, we beat Oklahoma who averaged a billion points a game last year (and scored 64 last week…against Idaho, but hey, makes my argument look better.)
Pressure + Speed + Being in the right place= Turnovers. BYU is #10 in the country (10 way tie, 1 away from 2nd place) in forced turnovers. In 2 games the defense has gotten the offense back on the field five times (six turnovers, but Pendleton took one back for a defensive-6.)
We’ll see if I’m right this week. Is it all a mirage and FSU is going to throw for 300 yards and put 30 points on us? I doubt it. I think the game is closer than most expect, maybe a one touchdown win (BYU 21-FSU 14).
I heard that Jaime Hill was calling the defense, rather than Mendenhall. That true? If so, how does that impact how the defensed has played in the first two games vs. last year?
I like your take on the defense, Peter. We’re definitely hitting harder and covering tighter this year, which leads me to expect good things. We’ll get tested this week with speed that even Oklahoma didn’t have, but I think our discipline and execution will prevail.
I also think the elevation will play a part in this game. Years ago I arrived at BYU as a freshman on a track scholarship. Coming from sea-level, I thought I was in pretty good shape. My first day I couldn’t run a mile–check that, I couldn’t even JOG a mile. I thought I was sick. The coaches laughed. For the next two weeks, I was forced to train on my own because I was too slow to train with the team. Absolutely humiliating. Before I left BYU years later, my name was on the record board in the fieldhouse, but for the first two months of my freshman year, I couldn’t compete with the Utah and Idaho boys (some of whom were pretty good). Likewise, I predict that we will see humiliation on at least one FSU player’s face this Saturday. They will try to “suck it up,” to “dig down deep,” and it simply won’t be there. They might as well be dragging a cement truck behind them. They might as well be trying to run a marathon in pads. It just won’t work.
Between our bone-crushing defense and machine-like offense, and with a little help from LES’s 4,553-foot elevation, I expect to win by two or three scores. Maybe more.
Adam, that is correct. Coach Hill actually calls the defense as opposed to last year when he could give suggestions and Coach Mendenhall would decide if he agreed. According to players, Hill had/has an uncanny ability to predict what the offense is going to do and I think that has shown this year. Not only does Hill prepare them all week, he actually gets to make the calls.
We’ve already seen it pay off when Coach Mendenhall called for the double play against Oklahoma that enabled the 4th down conversion on the last drive. If he was busy getting ready for the next series, he wouldn’t have had time to do that. This is allowing him to enjoy the games more, coaching more, and I think that fun is rubbing off on the players.
Cruiser, good call. The FSU coaches are refusing to acknowledge that the elevation might play a role, but in BYU’s ground-churning offense the defense is going to get gassed, and quick. I still stand by my guess, but I like yours better.
Open mouth, insert foot.