2011 BYU Football Thread

[Goatnapper'96]

ESPN article now up on BYU

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/po...ptimism-at-byu

It's a good writeup, though with the predictable missed nuances of an article written at 40,000 feet. When it talks about the strength of the D Line, for example, it says that Fuga and Richardson should make it back to anchor the line but it doesn't mention Fangupo or Tuiloma - who, in fact, make it unnecessary for Fuga and Richardson to rush back to anchor the line.

I think Fuga will be good as a senior. But I doubt he will be as good as a senior than Fangupo will be next year. I believe that Fangupo is just a more talented player.

[byu71]

I think Fuga will be good as a senior. But I doubt he will be as good as a senior than Fangupo will be next year. I believe that Fangupo is just a more talented player.

I love this thread. I look for it to see if there is anyting added. I would like to think I participate too. So, instead of saying this everytime, please know that everything napper says, my response is "ditto".

[frank ryan]

So are Atkinson, Wager and Agguire done for sure?
If Joe Sampson shows up, maybe start him over Uale and Hague

[Katy Lied]

I'm with Goat and '71. I think Ole Miss could be a win. They're in disarray right now, and just lost their stud.

[LiveCoug]

I'm with Goat and '71. I think Ole Miss could be a win. They're in disarray right now, and just lost their stud.

If we are as good as we think we are, (or even 75% as good as we think we are) Ole Miss SHOULD be a win. Ole Miss ain't much to look at.

[All-American]

He's a solid 6'9", IIRC.

But he also gained quite a bit of bulk toward the latter half of his career, so he played a lot bigger. Sloan even played him at center on occasions.

[BlueHair]

My questions/comments after spring ball ...

1. For those who have seen them play this spring, why have Lark and Munns struggled? I mean, these were two highly recruited guys. I've heard little things about Lark not caring about football anymore, but what about Munns? And why doesn't Lark care about football? Did they both see the writing on the wall with Heaps starting and realize they were done? Or are there other issues?

2. Riley Nelson might be an arrogant punk geek who wears dumb stuff and does dumb stuff and says dumb stuff, but his shoulder injury made him look worse than he was last year and he's actually a pretty good QB. Not great, but good enough to not freak us out if Heaps goes down.

3. Bronco screwed up the QB situation last year. However, as several have pointed out it probably didn't matter too much b/c we weren't going to do much better than around .500 anyway. I don't really care what Anae and Doman wanted; Bronco makes the final call and he screwed up by not picking a starter much earlier and sticking with him. But I forgive him.

4. Announcing team captains and leadership council members is dorky. And not just when BYU does it. Media outlets reporting on it is even dorkier. I don't care who the captains are; I care about who produces on the field.

5. I get as excited about young coaches with "tons of enthusiasm" as I do about young QB's with "tons of enthusiasm." Experience is better than enthusiasm. Doman has said conflicting things multiple times about the kind of offense he is going to run. Not a good sign. I think he'll figure it out over the next couple of years, but we might have some identity crises schematically in 2011. Fortunately we have the talent to mask some of these problems. Then again, I'm a huge fan of rigid systems (a la Air Force, Mike Leach, etc.) in high school and college, where practice time is so limited.

6. Our receivers may be great in 2012, but it seems like they still have too many drops to be great in 2011. Apo will be good and show flashes of brilliance this year, but he'll be inconsistent. Hoffman will be excellent. TE's will be a lot better.

7. We are going to be good in 2011, but not great. I see us going 8-4 like this:

L - Ole Miss (road game vs. SEC team)
L - Texas (road game vs. one of the best programs in the nation after big travel week before)
W - Utah (Chow's offense sucks now)
W - UCF (home game -- slight edge)
W - Utah State
W - San Jose State
W - Oregon State (road game, but we can win it)
W - Idaho State
L - TCU (road game vs. team with great athletes)
W - Idaho
W - New Mexico State
L - Hawaii (not this road trip game again! against a really good QB)

8. If Heaps stays healthy and progresses normally, we are going to make BCS runs in 2012 and 2013. Since LaVell started this thing, we have elite teams when we have two things: (1) experienced QB, (2) above average defense. We will have those two things in 2012 and 2013.

We're not losing to Texas. They've never beaten us.

[wuapinmon]

Fonnesbeck transferred to ASU to run track. I ran into him a few times down there. Dude was tiny.

Cody Fonnesbeck didn't transfer to ASU. He blew out his knee, but still ran track for BYU (8 MWC championships in 4 years), and graduated on time. He could've come back to play football, but he didn't feel like Crowton even knew who he was.

He's tiny, but he's fast as hell. He ran a 4.2/40 in high school at the Reebok combine.

Nowadays, he and Nate Soelberg have created the Utah Speed Academy.

[Coach McGuirk]

They missed practice.

[MarkGrace]

Gman saying sampson is on track to be here in may. Probably too late for him to make a dent in the safety rotation this year. Does he have a rs available?

[CJF]

Cody Fonnesbeck didn't transfer to ASU. He blew out his knee, but still ran track for BYU (8 MWC championships in 4 years), and graduated on time. He could've come back to play football, but he didn't feel like Crowton even knew who he was.

He's tiny, but he's fast as hell. He ran a 4.2/40 in high school at the Reebok combine.

Nowadays, he and Nate Soelberg have created the Utah Speed Academy.

Interesting. I knew a lot of the ASU track guys. I ran into Fonnesbeck a few times while I was hanging out with them. I just assumed he transferred to ASU. I saw him working out with them a few times. He was usually wearing Sun Devil gear. I just assumed he was at ASU. I never spoke to him, so I didn't confirm it with him.

[Goatnapper'96]

Gman saying sampson is on track to be here in may. Probably too late for him to make a dent in the safety rotation this year. Does he have a rs available?

No RS available. He used that with the extra year he spent at JC to get elgible.

[oxcoug]

No RS available. He used that with the extra year he spent at JC to get elgible.

One of BYU's other DBs says that he expects Sampson to get a shot both at safety and CB in the fall, that Sampson's enough a talent that he could work his way into the rotation in spite of the late start.

[Goatnapper'96]

One of BYU's other DBs says that he expects Sampson to get a shot both at safety and CB in the fall, that Sampson's enough a talent that he could work his way into the rotation in spite of the late start.

I think Sampson will get a shot but I don't think it is likely he will play much. Where is he going to play? From all the spring reports we have been told that Dan Sorenson is looking real good at SS and on the verge of locking the position down. Jray Galai is a talented kid who will be in his 3rd year in the program. At FS we have the experienced Travis Uale and the incredible shrinking Mike Hague, both of whom are adequate with Hague's only impediment to greatness is his lacking in his grasp on the defense. At CB we have Robbie Buckner who might have started ahead of Brian Logan as a RS FR and shortly returned RM but for some nagging injuries, additionally Preston Hadley is coming into form now that he has been home from his mission and we all know the impression he made. Throw in Dequan Everitt and the future in Jordan Johnson. Not to mention that the other unnamed DB who was the best returning CB who sat out spring ball. I like Sampson and many years of my BYU fanhood life he would likely be pencilled in as a starter already, but unless the reports from spring ball have been grossly exagerated, which is possible and perhaps likely, and unless Mendenhall suddenly stops devaluing experience and paying one's dues, about as likely as God returning to earth and repealing "Thou Shalt not committ adultery," I just don't see where the reps are going to come from.

Saying that, I am always skeptical of the kids who return from missions in great shape. From David Nixon to Fui Vakapuna, frequently their bodies are unable to handle the rigors of a D1 football season that soon so I expect Dan Sorenson to spend significant amounts of time injured. For that concern of mine alone I am grateful Joe Sampson is around. If he is indeed all that and a bag of chips it would not surprise me if he finishes the year as the starting SS and keeps the position through his senior year. But IMO it will take injuries for him to get a legitimate shot at anything other than special teams. Time will tell but I perceive his situation to be one where a disgruntled player leaves the program next January.

[MarkGrace]

Doman giving some love to Ryker Matthews.

"He was in here for winter conditioning for January, February and March and prepared himself with strength and conditioning," Doman said. "With spring ball, that will catapult him with experience and the foundation physically in fall camp. The second thing that impressed me was he was unfazed. He had the perfect mentality. The better the defensive line he went up against, the better he played. Most young guys, the more nervous they got the worse they played. For this guy, it was the complete opposite. He showed glimpses of greatness, and hopefully he is one of our next great O-linemen here."

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/po...-ryker-mathews