2011 BYU Football Thread

[Blueintheface]

Does Fangupo's current position on the depth chart have to do more with abililty, learning curve, or attitude at this point? I thought Bronco's quote was a bit cryptic on the subject. Maybe I'm reading too much into it? Should we expect him to jump the incumbents at some point?

Hebron [Fangupo] is a special player. As he continues to learn more about how we do things and gets the effort level right, he is very talented."

[SipiTau]

I wonder if Fangupo will be the transfer whose performance will have the bigger impact. It sounds like he is really a capable player. If the OLBs cand safeties an do their job on the outside, BYU is going to be really good against the run. Mendenhall coached teams are always good against the run and this year he has a great mixture of brute strength and mass in the middle, and speedy and experienced playmaking OLBs on the edge. I have my concerns about the middle being exposed to the pass as the DL don't appear to have enough speed to get pressure on the qb and my prediction is Kaveinga is not real quick, so I hope that the OLBs can get the pressure the defense needs.

Loni is a stud. I was sad to see him go. I hope he stays healthy. There times @ SC where he flat out dominated guys. Hopefully, he'll contribute in Provo.

[San Juan Sun]

Does Fangupo's current position on the depth chart have to do more with abililty, learning curve, or attitude at this point? I thought Bronco's quote was a bit cryptic on the subject. Maybe I'm reading too much into it? Should we expect him to jump the incumbents at some point?

That's as typical a Bronco quote as there ever was. Praising a player's ability but adding the modifier of effort and position mastery. I think it means that Hebron will see major time so long as he keeps progressing.

[Blueintheface]

That's as typical a Bronco quote as there ever was. Praising a player's ability but adding the modifier of effort and position mastery. I think it means that Hebron will see major time so long as he keeps progressing.

I figured as much. I just haven't seen him play and knowing that Fuga flat out got it done when he was healthy I wondered how much of him we'd see. My guess is quite a bit since these guys rotate so much.

[Goatnapper'96]

I figured as much. I just haven't seen him play and knowing that Fuga flat out got it done when he was healthy I wondered how much of him we'd see. My guess is quite a bit since these guys rotate so much.

My guess is the current plan is to primarily play Hebron and Tuiloma. Fuga will get more and more reps as the year progresses depending on the injury situation. - both his own and the other two. Fuga will be a key player next year, 2012, as Fangupo is a SR and Tuiloma is mission bound, so he will need the reps to get back into the swing of things. But with Tuiloma and Fangupo healthy, in the fold and ready to play, not to mention Ethyn M if one of those two gets hurt, BYU has the privilege of bringing Fuga back slowly. Basically he got hurt one month later than Tialeeva did in 2007. Do we recall that Russell T's worst year at BYU was 2008? I don't think Fuga will get real meaningful reps this year, barring injury to Fangupo and Tuiloma, until he is ready to play like he can.

[HBCoug]

You are right, you are remembering wrong. The older Poppinga played DE until being moved to OLB as a senior. Brady Kelly played OLB as a junior and then moved to ILB as a senior.

There, now we've got it.

[Goatnapper'96]

Loni is a stud. I was sad to see him go. I hope he stays healthy. There times @ SC where he flat out dominated guys. Hopefully, he'll contribute in Provo.

Is he an angry Son of Hagoth who runs out of cheeks in a hurry? I like when BYU has angry large Polys on its defense. I don't feel the need to get as angry or yell at refs when I know anyone who steps on the hallowed ground of the natural turf at LES knows that the spirit of Junior Filiaga might be living in a 300 lb Poly manchild.

[Goatnapper'96]

There, now we've got it.

Uh ya, I was wondering if someone would catch it. HB Coug wins!

[MarkGrace]

Someone who attended practice yesterday says Unga is playing inside backer now.

In response to a post below regarding Uani 'Unga, I figured BazJordache would know this considering your "related" he had a position change, he moved to the inside and is now playing the "Mike" position. Gman tweeted yesterday that he very well could start next year. He ran with the 2's and 3's yesterday during the scrimmage and played opposite Uona Kaveinga and they looked good together, that potentially could be a familiar site come next year. He has gained almost 20 lbs so he is playing at almost 230 lbs. FYI Bronco is a big fan, that is where I believe Gman is getting his info regarding 'Unga.

http://www.cougarboard.com/board/mes...tml?id=6718145

In a second post he said he misspoke and he's actually playing Buck.

[MarkGrace]

Drew makes a similar observation to G-Man.

Looking a bit slimmer and a lot faster, Josh Quezada had 10 carries for 49 yards and a TD, also had an 8-yard reception

Very excited about that.

[MarkGrace]

Ryker Mathews, Manaaki Vaitai, Houston Reynolds, Marco Thorson and Braden Brown were the stars of today's practice..

TE's looking to get more involved: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars...hina.html.csp#

Hague: http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/co...medium=twitter

[oxcoug]

Drew makes a similar observation to G-Man.



Very excited about that.

This actually sounds more like the Quezada we saw tape of. I'm excited about that as well. I'm excited to :texas: and and then in September.

[oxcoug]

Wow. My nipples are carved of ice thanks to this bit of TBS crack.

A player Poppinga mentioned that will definitely have a role within the defense this year is Alani Fua.

... “He can make plays better than any of them out there though and has amazing athleticism to make those plays, so he’s a real exciting player for us with a ton of potential....”

That said - I still feel angst about this kid. A reliable poster on CB says that Fua weighed in at 204 this week. How the frack is a dude going to man the OLB spot at 204 - (btw, it would be one thing if he was 6'1 204, then he'd have some mass, but he's 6'5 204). Almost makes me think he's a receiver. Or maybe even a safety. But it looks like they're sticking with him at OLB. If he doesn't manage to add weight though, I don't care how fast and athletic he is, any decent fullback is going to block him into the turf at will.

[oxcoug]

Interesting comment on the DSOB post on Loni. When the O's running game was romping roughshod (btw, that's called alliteration) on the D, Bronco paired Fangupo and Manu as the ends and (according to the poster) it stopped the bleeding immediately.

Between Fangroupon, Manu, Tuiloma, Rowley and Fuga we're going to have a lot of NT types and I like that Bronco is experimenting with using even the bigger horses at the ends. Here's the comment:

"I actually really liked what bronco did with “loni” towards the end of practice to slow down our offenses run game. He put him at defensive end with manumaleuna at the other DE spot and we totally shut them down and ended up getting a safety. Imagine fuga loni and manumaleuna all starting on the D line with our athletic linebackers rushing the open lanes for sacks. I know that’s not prototypical to have a 305 pound DE but if it works then run with it. I for one would love to see it used as bronco could really use his stable of nose tackle talent along the defensive line. Either way we are going to be tough to run against. Go cougars!"

[San Juan Sun]

Interesting comment on the DSOB post on Loni. When the O's running game was romping roughshod (btw, that's called alliteration) on the D, Bronco paired Fangupo and Manu as the ends and (according to the poster) it stopped the bleeding immediately.

Between Fangroupon, Manu, Tuiloma, Rowley and Fuga we're going to have a lot of NT types and I like that Bronco is experimenting with using even the bigger horses at the ends. Here's the comment:

"I actually really liked what bronco did with “loni” towards the end of practice to slow down our offenses run game. He put him at defensive end with manumaleuna at the other DE spot and we totally shut them down and ended up getting a safety. Imagine fuga loni and manumaleuna all starting on the D line with our athletic linebackers rushing the open lanes for sacks. I know that’s not prototypical to have a 305 pound DE but if it works then run with it. I for one would love to see it used as bronco could really use his stable of nose tackle talent along the defensive line. Either way we are going to be tough to run against. Go cougars!"

The NE Patriots (as much as I hate them) and the Steelers (as much as I hate them too) both run 3-4 defenses with big DEs. If you've got the athletes, it seems to work well.