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The Buck-Muirbrook-Francisco Memorial Defensive PoY: An easy call, Andrew Rich.
If you were watching BYU football this year with impaired vision and couldn't see numbers you'd just need to know that if you saw someone launching himself like a pigskin-seeking missile at RBs legs behind the LOS - that was Andrew Rich. If you saw a dude separating would-be pass-catchers from the football in the middle of the field - that was Andrew Rich. If you saw a defensive player emitting a palpable (but carbon neutral) aura of maturity, leadership and football intelligence - that was Andrew Rich. If you saw a guy keepin' it real classy while talking to reporters after the game - well that could have been several BYU players, but there are good odds it was Rich. Bronco placed Rich with Aaron Francisco and Brian Urlacher among the great defensive performers he's coached. That's probably saying enough.
The McMahon Memorial Offensive PoY: Not an obvious call, but JJ Diluigi has to be it.
Dude led BYU in both receiving and rushing scored TDs in 10 of BYU's 13 games this year. He's the only guy who delivered from the start of the year to the finish. It's actually remarkable that he totaled only about 150 yards less rushing than Harvey Unga did last year - while sharing reps three ways w/ Kariya and Quezada in ways that Unga never did. His YPC was identical to Harvey's. Additionally he did much of his best work in the first half of the season when defenses were keying on the run and daring Jake to pass.
The Austin Collie Memorial ROY (awarded to the oustanding freshman performer): Jake Heaps.
Who else is going to touch this? However much he might have struggled in a few games early, in the big picture the kid was simply a freak. There's no telling how much he could have done if BYU hadn't been suiting up volleyball players as WRs for the first half of the season. Through six weeks he had about 40 catchable balls spiked and set, more than a few would have been TDs. But his confidence (big side tip of the cap to the O line) stayed in tact. And when he hit his stride his maturation and improvement week to week was as impressive as any improvement I can remember in an individual inside of a season. Reminder: He's the first true freshman ever to become BYU's full time starter. Never been done.
(Deserving mention here: Cody Hoffman, Kyle Van Noy and Josh Quezada).
The Luettgerodt Memorial "Be Glad They Have Football For People Like This" Award: Brandon Ogletree.
Yeah he's a bit undersized for an ILB and he's not blazingly fast either. But a defense feeds off the energy that a guy like Ogletree plays with. His interception setting up our second TD vs SDSU is, for me, the signature moment of the turnaround. The scene was capped with a near dogpile on the sideline and Old Bronco becoming the New Bronco before our very eyes, in t-shirt-wearing fist-pumping euphoria - it's fitting that it was a guy who plays the game with zeal bordering on insanity who set it off. Glad to have Brandon for another two years.
The Pitta Memorial "Where'd That Guy Come From?" Award (awarded to outstanding players that didn't come to the program with outstanding recruiting accolades as a HS player): Cody Hoffman.
Kid has HUGE upside, and he's really only two years into getting top level coaching.
The Curtis Brown Memorial Dependability Award: Brian Kariya.
I've never been a huge fan of Kariya the player but have always appreciated Kariya the person and the locker-room presence. This year, more and more, I gained an appreciation for his no-frills, no-nonsense, north-south, block, run and catch approach to the game. Of course that's the approach the game that his abilities require - but we're lucky to have him. Even if he should never EVER touch the ball on 4th and 4.
The Glenn Kozlowski Memorial "Not Sure How This Guy Still Has Eligibility But I Wish We Could Find Him Another Year" Award: Vic So'oto
So'oto's BYU life seems to go back to my youth, although that's not really possible. If I'm not mistaken, he's the last Crowton recruit standing. And I've become quite attached to him. He was a stalwart on the D line all year even though he never really became the pass-rushing demon I'd hoped he could become, he's going to be missed.
The Buck-Muirbrook-Francisco Memorial Defensive PoY: An easy call, Andrew Rich.
If you were watching BYU football this year with impaired vision and couldn't see numbers you'd just need to know that if you saw someone launching himself like a pigskin-seeking missile at RBs legs behind the LOS - that was Andrew Rich. If you saw a dude separating would-be pass-catchers from the football in the middle of the field - that was Andrew Rich. If you saw a defensive player emitting a palpable (but carbon neutral) aura of maturity, leadership and football intelligence - that was Andrew Rich. If you saw a guy keepin' it real classy while talking to reporters after the game - well that could have been several BYU players, but there are good odds it was Rich. Bronco placed Rich with Aaron Francisco and Brian Urlacher among the great defensive performers he's coached. That's probably saying enough.
The McMahon Memorial Offensive PoY: Not an obvious call, but JJ Diluigi has to be it.
Dude led BYU in both receiving and rushing scored TDs in 10 of BYU's 13 games this year. He's the only guy who delivered from the start of the year to the finish. It's actually remarkable that he totaled only about 150 yards less rushing than Harvey Unga did last year - while sharing reps three ways w/ Kariya and Quezada in ways that Unga never did. His YPC was identical to Harvey's. Additionally he did much of his best work in the first half of the season when defenses were keying on the run and daring Jake to pass.
The Austin Collie Memorial ROY (awarded to the oustanding freshman performer): Jake Heaps.
Who else is going to touch this? However much he might have struggled in a few games early, in the big picture the kid was simply a freak. There's no telling how much he could have done if BYU hadn't been suiting up volleyball players as WRs for the first half of the season. Through six weeks he had about 40 catchable balls spiked and set, more than a few would have been TDs. But his confidence (big side tip of the cap to the O line) stayed in tact. And when he hit his stride his maturation and improvement week to week was as impressive as any improvement I can remember in an individual inside of a season. Reminder: He's the first true freshman ever to become BYU's full time starter. Never been done.
(Deserving mention here: Cody Hoffman, Kyle Van Noy and Josh Quezada).
The Luettgerodt Memorial "Be Glad They Have Football For People Like This" Award: Brandon Ogletree.
Yeah he's a bit undersized for an ILB and he's not blazingly fast either. But a defense feeds off the energy that a guy like Ogletree plays with. His interception setting up our second TD vs SDSU is, for me, the signature moment of the turnaround. The scene was capped with a near dogpile on the sideline and Old Bronco becoming the New Bronco before our very eyes, in t-shirt-wearing fist-pumping euphoria - it's fitting that it was a guy who plays the game with zeal bordering on insanity who set it off. Glad to have Brandon for another two years.
The Pitta Memorial "Where'd That Guy Come From?" Award (awarded to outstanding players that didn't come to the program with outstanding recruiting accolades as a HS player): Cody Hoffman.
Kid has HUGE upside, and he's really only two years into getting top level coaching.
The Curtis Brown Memorial Dependability Award: Brian Kariya.
I've never been a huge fan of Kariya the player but have always appreciated Kariya the person and the locker-room presence. This year, more and more, I gained an appreciation for his no-frills, no-nonsense, north-south, block, run and catch approach to the game. Of course that's the approach the game that his abilities require - but we're lucky to have him. Even if he should never EVER touch the ball on 4th and 4.
The Glenn Kozlowski Memorial "Not Sure How This Guy Still Has Eligibility But I Wish We Could Find Him Another Year" Award: Vic So'oto
So'oto's BYU life seems to go back to my youth, although that's not really possible. If I'm not mistaken, he's the last Crowton recruit standing. And I've become quite attached to him. He was a stalwart on the D line all year even though he never really became the pass-rushing demon I'd hoped he could become, he's going to be missed.
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