..when it comes to Utah and TCU.
I posted this over on CB and wanted to know what you're thoughts are. (The format had it buried in about 30 minutes and thought it would be a worthwhile conversation over here)
For those smarter than I...what is your opinion on why this would, or would not work regarding BYU's approach to Utah and TCU.
Back in the day, BYU revolutionized the passing game. It became the trademark and identity of BYU football. It seems to me that because this is what built the BYU house of football, BYU is stubbornly bent on maintaining that "identity", namely, the passing game. But, is it in the best interest for BYU to do so?
TCU and Utah defenses have been built specifically to take down and take apart BYU. Their very personnel have been constructed to counter and take away our strongest assets and their efforts are proving fruitful. They have constructed defenses to beat BYU at their own game. Stop the pass, and you stop BYU. They have reduced their defensive 'bulk' and have gone to smaller, faster and quicker defensive lineman....converting running back to blazing fast linebackers or defensive ends, offsetting BYU's girth and size.
Their defensive philosophy is that they will stack the line, bring up their LBers, key the tight end, and play close, man to man on our WR's and dare us to try and pass and beat their suffocating man-on-man coverage. Banking that more often than not, we will not have time to pass, throw it away, bad read, thrown off timing (odds are definitely in their favor for this approach) or for any significant WR routes. And,if we do get a pass off for a completion, it will be for a short gain..and they effectively nullify and stop our offensive philosophy. If we wait for a pass route to develop, then their speedy lineman can get to the QB, pressure and hurry the throw, or have a sack.
Makes total sense to me. The WR's are covered like a blanket for 2-3 seconds. The speedy lineman will give the QB about 2-3 seconds to throw, or sack! The LBers key the tight end for 2-3 seconds, and the LBers are stacked near the line to hopefully stop the run should they do so.
Now, BYU has a tough time recruiting the 5 star, creating seperation type WR's, and we don't get the speedy, make-you-miss, take it to the house type RB's. But, BYU does consistently get, huge lineman, precision route running possession Wr's, good, smart QB's, and big, powerful, fullback type RB's.
The results have been painfully clear though, with BYU's traditional personnel, and unchanging offensive philosophy: TCU and Utah's counter strategy is working very well. When BYU wins one of these matchups, they win a hard fought tussle, eeking out a win due to outstanding key, singularplays and players. If TCU or Utah wins...they blow us out.
To swing the pendulum back in BYU's favor...I wonder if BYU should adopt another identity, and become a BIG 10 type team and just SMASH these smaller, quicker players/teams with shear power, strength and aggression? Just blow things up at the line... power run it right up the middle North and South, off tackle with a 3-4 yard gain every time and a cloud of dust? Use it as a way of creating a time of possession game, power football.
By the 4th quarter, their defense will be so overwhelmed and tired of being on the field, getting blasted by huge lineman, and 240 lb running backs beating on them full speed...that at that point, we can then effectively run at will on them, or pass, or do whatever we want.
Maybe we can once again, use our size advantage for our benefit.
The reason I post this is because looking back over the course of this decade, even in our "dominant" years (2006 & 2007) it took Herculean efforts from some individuals to pull off those victories (Beck, Harline, Brown). Even when Hall beat Utah his first time...it took an amazing 4th and 18 to do it. These numbers are scary....and I don't like the trend.
BYU (win margin marked in a "+" and loss margin marked in "-")
2009 - TCU (-31)
2008 - TCU (-25)
2008 - Utah (-24)
2007 - TCU (+5)
2007 - Utah (+7)
2006 - TCU (+14)
2006 - Utah (+2)
2005 - TCU (-1) OT
2005 - Utah (-7) OT
2004 - Utah (-31)
2003 - Utah (-3)
2002 - Utah (-7)
2001 - Utah (+3)
2000 - Utah (+7)
BYU's average margin of victory over Utah = 5.2
BYU's greatest margin of victory over Utah = 7
BYU's average margin of defeat from Utah = 16.25
BYU's greatest margin of defeat to Utah = 31
BYU's average margin of victory over TCU = 9.5
BYU's greatest margin of victory over TCU = 14
BYU's average margin of defeat from TCU = 19
BYU's greatest margin of defeat to TCU = 31
I posted this over on CB and wanted to know what you're thoughts are. (The format had it buried in about 30 minutes and thought it would be a worthwhile conversation over here)
For those smarter than I...what is your opinion on why this would, or would not work regarding BYU's approach to Utah and TCU.
Back in the day, BYU revolutionized the passing game. It became the trademark and identity of BYU football. It seems to me that because this is what built the BYU house of football, BYU is stubbornly bent on maintaining that "identity", namely, the passing game. But, is it in the best interest for BYU to do so?
TCU and Utah defenses have been built specifically to take down and take apart BYU. Their very personnel have been constructed to counter and take away our strongest assets and their efforts are proving fruitful. They have constructed defenses to beat BYU at their own game. Stop the pass, and you stop BYU. They have reduced their defensive 'bulk' and have gone to smaller, faster and quicker defensive lineman....converting running back to blazing fast linebackers or defensive ends, offsetting BYU's girth and size.
Their defensive philosophy is that they will stack the line, bring up their LBers, key the tight end, and play close, man to man on our WR's and dare us to try and pass and beat their suffocating man-on-man coverage. Banking that more often than not, we will not have time to pass, throw it away, bad read, thrown off timing (odds are definitely in their favor for this approach) or for any significant WR routes. And,if we do get a pass off for a completion, it will be for a short gain..and they effectively nullify and stop our offensive philosophy. If we wait for a pass route to develop, then their speedy lineman can get to the QB, pressure and hurry the throw, or have a sack.
Makes total sense to me. The WR's are covered like a blanket for 2-3 seconds. The speedy lineman will give the QB about 2-3 seconds to throw, or sack! The LBers key the tight end for 2-3 seconds, and the LBers are stacked near the line to hopefully stop the run should they do so.
Now, BYU has a tough time recruiting the 5 star, creating seperation type WR's, and we don't get the speedy, make-you-miss, take it to the house type RB's. But, BYU does consistently get, huge lineman, precision route running possession Wr's, good, smart QB's, and big, powerful, fullback type RB's.
The results have been painfully clear though, with BYU's traditional personnel, and unchanging offensive philosophy: TCU and Utah's counter strategy is working very well. When BYU wins one of these matchups, they win a hard fought tussle, eeking out a win due to outstanding key, singularplays and players. If TCU or Utah wins...they blow us out.
To swing the pendulum back in BYU's favor...I wonder if BYU should adopt another identity, and become a BIG 10 type team and just SMASH these smaller, quicker players/teams with shear power, strength and aggression? Just blow things up at the line... power run it right up the middle North and South, off tackle with a 3-4 yard gain every time and a cloud of dust? Use it as a way of creating a time of possession game, power football.
By the 4th quarter, their defense will be so overwhelmed and tired of being on the field, getting blasted by huge lineman, and 240 lb running backs beating on them full speed...that at that point, we can then effectively run at will on them, or pass, or do whatever we want.
Maybe we can once again, use our size advantage for our benefit.
The reason I post this is because looking back over the course of this decade, even in our "dominant" years (2006 & 2007) it took Herculean efforts from some individuals to pull off those victories (Beck, Harline, Brown). Even when Hall beat Utah his first time...it took an amazing 4th and 18 to do it. These numbers are scary....and I don't like the trend.
BYU (win margin marked in a "+" and loss margin marked in "-")
2009 - TCU (-31)
2008 - TCU (-25)
2008 - Utah (-24)
2007 - TCU (+5)
2007 - Utah (+7)
2006 - TCU (+14)
2006 - Utah (+2)
2005 - TCU (-1) OT
2005 - Utah (-7) OT
2004 - Utah (-31)
2003 - Utah (-3)
2002 - Utah (-7)
2001 - Utah (+3)
2000 - Utah (+7)
BYU's average margin of victory over Utah = 5.2
BYU's greatest margin of victory over Utah = 7
BYU's average margin of defeat from Utah = 16.25
BYU's greatest margin of defeat to Utah = 31
BYU's average margin of victory over TCU = 9.5
BYU's greatest margin of victory over TCU = 14
BYU's average margin of defeat from TCU = 19
BYU's greatest margin of defeat to TCU = 31
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