Playing with ourselves: Cougars v Cougars...Season opener!

[smokymountainrain]

The running backs are not the problem per se, but the run blocking is. The poly lineman who was beating the lineman like a tin drum made BYU look silly. And WSU far from the most talented team it will face.

BYU looks a bit better than last year but the Oline is the key to its failure and success. Splitting the away games may be a big chore for this team.

No question the O-line has to run block better.

[smokymountainrain]

No update. But I would rather he rest too this week and be 100% for Utah.

Yep. No reason for him to play against Weber.

[Topper]

All the QB and RBs did was move the ball at will all night. So I guess I can see why you would say that. Oh and the QB did it without his best player and favorite target all while overcoming too many stupid penalties.

Perhaps you're thinking Hoffman will be out all year and they won't be able to fix the penalty or red zone issues. If so, I can see where you're coming from.

The push from the Oline is cause for concern, don't you think?

[TripletDaddy]

He went out early in the first quarter. Why do you think it took clear to the second half for his going out to change the look of the offense?

Because we weren't stuck in the red zone much during the first half.

[TripletDaddy]

Toward the end of the game, the announcer reminded everyone that next week we play "in state rival" Weber State.

[byu71]

Toward the end of the game, the announcer reminded everyone that next week we play "in state rival" Weber State.

I can see that. He is a tough cover in or near the End Zone.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Toward the end of the game, the announcer reminded everyone that next week we play "in state rival" Weber State.

I got a good LOL out of that one, too. Rival. Ha.

[MarkGrace]

All the QB and RBs did was move the ball at will all night. So I guess I can see why you would say that. Oh and the QB did it without his best player and favorite target all while overcoming too many stupid penalties.

They did the same last year against similar talent (like OSU). Still doesn't give me hope that they can do anything other than repeat TCU/Tulsa type performances against the Big Four (and I realize we actually beat Tulsa, but the odds of winning a game with a performance like that aren't good).

Ground game did not move the ball at will -- we had 123 yards on 41 carries (against Wazzu!). Alisa was not all that impressive given the "best player in camp" hype and still hasn't shown much outside of the ability to beat down dummies. He's still a question makr for me.

QB was missing his favorite target (and that was big, of course), but he was still throwing up some terrible balls that good teams are going to punish (though he constantly gets away with that garbage so maybe he's just mastered the art), and several of them were key plays that would have otherwise shut down drives (like the touchdown to Friel). I also agree with those on the "not good accuracy" side. He was accurate in the sense that he completed a large % of passes, and I'm happy about that, but he wasn't terribly accurate in putting the ball cleanly on receivers -- I swear receivers had to flail for at least half of the balls that were actually caught. And he still didn't look terribly capable of consisntely making passes into anything other than wide open windows.

If this team had a Sr. Beck -- the kind of guy capable of beating defenses with his arm, making a receivers job easier by consistently putting the ball them, and possessing the ability to squeeze the ball into tight spaces -- I'd be pretty excited right now. But as it is, I still don't think Riley is up to much, and am not convinced he can elevate the offense to do anything other than pound on the defenses they should. The X factor, however, is what I've been saying: there's a pretty decent shot a couple of those teams aren't as good as I think. Maybe we get two of the four.

[MarkGrace]

The push from the Oline is cause for concern, don't you think?

Yes.

Before the season I said QB, RB, o-line and TE's were all a question mark for me. TE's no longer a question mark -- still not sold on the others yet.

[kccougar]

Ziggy was on the field a ton last night and it's amazing how much he's improved. Weren't Foote and Ziggy supposed to be internet legends that would never make a meaningful contribution at BYU?

Don't talk down the Foote. He averaged over 6 yards/carry, blocked a punt, and set a wicked downfield block that allowed Friel to get into the endzone.

[Eddie]

...I expected our secondary to have some trouble with Wilson (they did, but thankfully shitty officiating negated his biggest plays).....

Wilson is a punk. After he baited Johnson into retaliating, having his two biggest plays of the night called back just seemed like karma. And Jordan's interception coming on a pass to him - followed by not being able to keep up with Jordan to make a tackle - was just icing in the cake.

So whether they were bad calls or not, I don't care. I liked seeing Wilson's obvious frustration by the end of the game.


As for the game itself - I thought BYU played fairly well for a first game. While WSU isn't a great team, they still have some pretty good/athletic players and a good offensive coach. Only bringing 3 on the rush, you don't expect a lot of pressure quickly. Mixing in an occasional blitz was great - but they got to do more than push him out of the pocket. Apparently the coverage down field was pretty good.

I think BYU got fairly conservative in the 2nd half. I'm not sure that they even wanted to score on those last two red zone possessions - it seemed like they were OK if they did or OK if they didn't, but wanted to try a couple of things.

Overall, a very satisfying win. Hopefully they can continue to get better and have a great season.

[Surfah]

Don't talk down the Foote. He averaged over 6 yards/carry, blocked a punt, and set a wicked downfield block that allowed Friel to get into the endzone.

I am still wondering if Foote wasn't Riley's intended receiver on that play.

[Clark Addison]

I got a good LOL out of that one, too. Rival. Ha.

It will be a grudge match. We haven't beaten them since 1979.

[Clark Addison]

I am still wondering if Foote wasn't Riley's intended receiver on that play.

That is assuming that he had a single target in mind.

[byu71]

That is assuming that he had a single target in mind.

LOL, the announcers didn't think so.