Wah-hoo-wah! BYU @ Virginia

[Bo Diddley]

I just might be bad luck for BYU. They've lost six of the last seven away games I've attended.

Just thought I'd add my two cents on the correlation/causation thing. Oh and I'm going to the USU and Wisconsin games this year as well.

[cougjunkie]

I juat rewatched the game. One positive is that BYU had receivers wide open the entire game. They had a lot of drops and a lot of bad throws from Taysom but they were open.

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[Vic Vega]

I juat rewatched the game. One positive is that BYU had receivers wide open the entire game. They had a lot of drops and a lot of bad throws from Taysom but they were open.

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Great news! I am going to go wash up some cuts with a refreshing lemon juice bath.

[byu71]

lol.

You are a genius. How many other plays from last weekend can you properly predict now that the game is over?

I am a genius. Why the need to mock me? Do you hate old people?

[UVACoug]

I don't know Shaka.. I do, however think I know UVAcoug from ESPN and other sites...

Feel free to poke away. Validate why your average ranking dropped so far, so fast.

I find that quite amazing, as I have never posted on ESPN.

[jay santos]

Finally, a post that isn't idiotic and merely rhetoric. Thanks for investing some thought into your response.

As for your 4 theories, let's explore them:

-- BYU's move to independence --
This one has been beaten to death. I don't think we need to argue the merits of how independence might hurt recruiting.

-- BYU's poor recent history --
BYU was coming off the worst 4 year stretch in recent history when Bronco took over in 2005. 5 years if you include 05's 6-6 finish. Yet they still finished with a 53 ranking in Bronco's first recruiting class (and 55 in 04, in case you want to argue recruits being optimistic about a new coach).

-- Utah's move to the P12 --

This one is obviously going to impact BYU's recruiting over time. However, I don't buy that it had an immediate impact that dropped BYU 10+ spots in the national polls, especially when you consider Utah's struggles in the PAC.

--other --
The only other credible one I can come up with is that the low morale of the team is apparent to recruits. This one is totally plausible, and could account for a significant portion of the drop in recruiting. However, I then have to question how much of the dropping morale is related to independence and it's flaws (2 for 1's, lack of ongoing secondary rivalries among conference members, 5 games against utter nobodies, etc)


Oh, I just thought of one more credible one... Independence robs the school of a regular recruiting boundary. Outside of Utah and Boise, there's NOWHERE that BYU can mine recruits from and guarantee games for those recruits to have family members visit. No longer do they visit San Diego, New Mexico, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, etc every other year. There's a reason why most teams recruit primarily from within their own conference's boundaries, and BYU has eliminated those benefits. BYU willfully slashed their meaningful recruiting footprint by going independent.


As for your last post, WHY would most people say Independence is slightly more attractive than the MWC? BYU now has less chance at a BCS appearance (inboth the current and future system), one single bowl that they're locked into from the moment they take their first loss, very few consistent opponents, numerous garbage opponents (try and tell me anyone in the MWC equals playing Idaho State repeatedly), etc. Sure, via Independence you've had 1-2 great opponents and 3-4 good opponents each season, but how is that significantly different from what you had in the MWC?





I'd love to hear more from you. I'm certainly not making the claim that independence is the sole factor in BYU's recent slip in recruiting, but I do think it's a notable contributor, even if it's in indirect ways, like the two mentioned under "other"

I threw out several alternative narratives as to why recruiting dropped. Another one: the crappy schedule at the beginning of independence deterred some recruits, but now that the scheduling is kicking in, that should be resolved. Any of those are make more sense intuitively than the chance to win a MWC championship. Honestly, as a fan I never cared about winning the MWC championship. Going 11-1 and losing one game in the MWC to finish second would be far better season than going 9-4 and winning the MWC. The only one that cared about winning a conference championship was Lavell. And the only reason he cared was because he knew it was an easier goal than a top 10 finish in the polls which is what the fans wanted.

No one's going for this, and I think you're trolling, and this is all I have to say about it.

[Joe Public]

I watched the second half of the Virginia game again on byutv last night. It was better than I remembered; I'm sure the letdown of the team laying an egg after eight months of anticipation clouded my initial reaction.

• That touchdown drive was pretty effective. They moved the ball well. The receivers didn't have as much separation as usual, but that's to be expected with a wet field.
• The defense played very, very well. Van Noy was all over. I lost count of how many times multiple BYU jerseys met the ball at or behind the line of scrimmage. I was impressed by Robertson Daniel (sp?). He made a couple of newbie mistakes, but he seems to have the potential to develop into a solid corner once he gets enough reps.
• That said, I'm not sure what happened with the Virginia TD run in the 4th quarter. That was uncharacteristic of this defense.
• Taysom's inaccuracy stood out again. Yikes. I'll tell myself it was the wet ball.
• The o-line play was as bad as others have already described. Also, BYU ran a lot of running plays into the middle of the field with the box stacked against them, blockers who hadn't been getting a good push all night, and sloppy field conditions that reduced the ability to cut. The runs to the outside (Alisa, Hill, e.g.) were much more effective, so I'm not sure why we didn't stick with that until/unless Virginia adjusted.
• JSor got it through the uprights. Here's hoping.
• DSor continues to get about one penalty per game that really costs the team in momentum, position, etc. This time it was the one on the kickoff return that negated Hine's return to midfield. It would be great if he stopped doing that.

If the OLine gets its act together and Taysom develops the ability to consistently hit the broad side of a barn, then I think this team can put up a decent game against almost anyone. Those, of course, are big ifs at this point.

[Indy Coug]

Hill's incompletion to a wide open Falslev in the 4th quarter reminded me of the Nelson throw to Hoffman in the Notre Dame game. It was a WTF? kind of bad throw.

[Surfah]

Hill's incompletion to a wide open Falslev in the 4th quarter reminded me of the Nelson throw to Hoffman in the Notre Dame game. It was a WTF? kind of bad throw.

WTF indeed. I was already standing but when I saw him wide open I was screaming "there he is". And then it just goes over his head by 10 yards. I think I fell to my knees like Falslev did.

[woot]

I threw out several alternative narratives as to why recruiting dropped. Another one: the crappy schedule at the beginning of independence deterred some recruits, but now that the scheduling is kicking in, that should be resolved. Any of those are make more sense intuitively than the chance to win a MWC championship. Honestly, as a fan I never cared about winning the MWC championship. Going 11-1 and losing one game in the MWC to finish second would be far better season than going 9-4 and winning the MWC. The only one that cared about winning a conference championship was Lavell. And the only reason he cared was because he knew it was an easier goal than a top 10 finish in the polls which is what the fans wanted.

No one's going for this, and I think you're trolling, and this is all I have to say about it.

I don't know about its effect on recruiting, but I can say that BYU not being in a conference makes them a lot less interesting to me. They aren't going to make noise on the national scene, so the only "drama" is whether they'll get to play in a crappy bowl game that nobody cares about vs. staying home. Competing for a conference championship is the main goal of most college teams, so losing that removes a lot of the interest. Even on a crappy team you can root for certain players to get conference honors. I suppose KVN has an outside shot at honorable mention AA, so there's that. Which is nice.

[jay santos]

I don't know about its effect on recruiting, but I can say that BYU not being in a conference makes them a lot less interesting to me. They aren't going to make noise on the national scene, so the only "drama" is whether they'll get to play in a crappy bowl game that nobody cares about vs. staying home. Competing for a conference championship is the main goal of most college teams, so losing that removes a lot of the interest. Even on a crappy team you can root for certain players to get conference honors. I suppose KVN has an outside shot at honorable mention AA, so there's that. Which is nice.

Not being in a conference or not being in a BCS conference? Is Wyoming a more interesting team because they're in a conference?

[Blueintheface]

I just love it when Ute fans show up following a BYU loss. It lets me know everything is right in the universe. Utah wins: good. BYU loses: GREAT!

[Jarid in Cedar]

I just love it when Ute fans show up following a BYU loss. It lets me know everything is right in the universe. Utah wins: good. BYU loses: GREAT!

He sounds more like a Boise State fan to me. Badwillhunting maybe? Or moose

[Blueintheface]

He sounds more like a Boise State fan to me. Badwillhunting maybe?

Not after that drubbing by Washington, no. He's one of yours.

[byu71]

Not being in a conference or not being in a BCS conference? Is Wyoming a more interesting team because they're in a conference?

I am a guy who wanted independence for an upgrade in schedule. It worked this year. However, the longer the Independence thing goes on the more I am thinking I want back in the MWC. I hope for, but doubt with great schedules we will get the national recognition. People follow winners not nice people.

No Wyoming isn't more interesting, but Utah State and Utah sure are. Utah not so much because they don't have a prayer in chase, but USU is real interesting to me to see how they do.