Wah-hoo-wah! BYU @ Virginia

[Shaka]

I admit, the though occurred to me that Olsen might well be better, and we'd have no way of knowing it.

It doesn't really matter who's back there. Hopefully something can be done but I'm not hopeful for a quick fix.

On the plus side I thought Anae's implementing the diamond formation was a brilliant one. It completely threw the defense off and provided an extra RB to help out in pass pass blocking. We aren't going to be able to do that forever but it was a great adjustment.

[All-American]

It doesn't really matter who's back there. Hopefully something can be done but I'm not hopeful for a quick fix.

On the plus side I thought Anae's implementing the diamond formation was a brilliant one. It completely threw the defense off and provided an extra RB to help out in pass pass blocking. We aren't going to be able to do that forever but it was a great adjustment.

I think there is reason to believe that we will be better in weeks to come. Hopefully sooner rather than later; I'd rather be 2-1 than 0-3.

[Shaka]

I think there is reason to believe that we will be better in weeks to come. Hopefully sooner rather than later; I'd rather be 2-1 than 0-3.

Well the offensive really couldn't have been worse so we have to go in an upward direction!

[Coach McGuirk]

I actually think we have 5 capable lineman. Thr problem is finding them. The most successful unit I believe consisted of Aletto, Stringham, Wesley, Mathews (I was wrong in a previous post he was with this unit) and I am not sure who the other guard was. This unit was very solid and did a nice job. All that substituting killed the flow.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

vaitai

[PaloAltoCougar]

What a difference one play and a couple of inches can make. Imagine if Jamaal had been able to hang onto the ball or if it had fallen harmlessly to the ground. Chances are excellent the game ends with BYU's lead remaining intact, or perhaps increased, as it was highly unlikely UVA was going to march the length of the field. Instead of all the gloom and doom about the rest of the season, we'd be noting how the offense seemed to be getting better as the game went on, how the greatest improvement comes between games 1 and 2,that with Hoffman back the passing game will return, and how we can build on a nice win over a BCS team. But the razor-thin difference on that one play makes a huge (and I think unjustified) difference in one's outlook.

P.S. Play Texas tough and beat Utah and all is forgiven.

[MarkGrace]

OK I'll give my own summation.

Who wants to play for a school who:

Isn't in a conference and therefore has nothing to play for.
Has very restrictive behavioral standards which go above and beyond what's expected of a regular member.
Has a very intelligent student body with some of the negatives that come with it.
Has a very limited recruiting pool and is experienced increased competition for that pool from other universities.


The combination of the above is starting to become less and less appealing to recruits.

Oh, I got all of that out of your post and it was perfectly a well reasoned explanation of why recruiting has become more difficult in general. But the line of discussion, at least as far I understood it, was about the o-line specifically, and why it seems so depleted from a talent level. You seemed to indicate that the o-line specifically has suffered in recruiting, even relative to recruiting in general, and that there was a particular reason for that. I think what USUC was asking for was the reason why you think o-line recruiting has been down, not recruiting in general.

Looking around the team the last few years, the o-line talent as a group has definitely seemed weak even when compared to the rest of the team. Every position has had a solid amount of talent. So if recruiting is suffering in general (I'm not convinced it is, but let's not worry about going there for now), why does the o-line seem to even still be lagging behind the other groups? As USUC said, given the general demographic, you would think this wouldn't be the case. There are positions where you'd expect BYU might not do as well in recruiting (I'm playing the stereotypes here ), but the o-line just doesn't seem like one of them. Beefy white and polynesian kids are BYU's wheelhouse, and while I realize d-line isn't o-line, our play on the other side has been fine, even good, for the last few years. What gives?

So if the recruiting talent level is down, why is that? Have they missed on evaluations? I'm assuming each position coach has a hand in evaluating the talent pool at the position he coaches. Are those coaches just whiffing on guys? If guys come out of HS as prospects on both line positions is Bronco stealing them because he's a D first guy? Are they just not getting coached up well enough relative to the other positions? Does the position lack an identity and recruits pick up on that? On the flip side, our defensive recruiting has really picked up the last couple years in light of the team's defensive performance. It's amazing how many recruits have mentioned KVN/Ansah/others in recent years as a reason why they were interested in coming to BYU. Would the same happen if we started establishing a reputation for o-line play? I would have to think so.

Anyway, just wondering what people's thoughts are.

[SCcoug]

What a difference one play and a couple of inches can make. Imagine if Jamaal had been able to hang onto the ball or if it had fallen harmlessly to the ground. Chances are excellent the game ends with BYU's lead remaining intact, or perhaps increased, as it was highly unlikely UVA was going to march the length of the field. Instead of all the gloom and doom about the rest of the season, we'd be noting how the offense seemed to be getting better as the game went on, how the greatest improvement comes between games 1 and 2,that with Hoffman back the passing game will return, and how we can build on a nice win over a BCS team. But the razor-thin difference on that one play makes a huge (and I think unjustified) difference in one's outlook.

P.S. Play Texas tough and beat Utah and all is forgiven.

Or what if there were no penalty on that punt that ended up blocked on the retry. Ifs and buts...

[MarkGrace]

I actually think we have 5 capable lineman. Thr problem is finding them. The most successful unit I believe consisted of Aletto, Stringham, Wesley, Mathews (I was wrong in a previous post he was with this unit) and I am not sure who the other guard was. This unit was very solid and did a nice job. All that substituting killed the flow.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

When I heard the bit about playing 10-11 guys, it sounded like a horrible idea. Are there teams that really do this? It just seems like out of all the position groups on the field, the one that most needs consistency and unity to succeed is the o-line.

[cougjunkie]

If I thought UVA was even a mediocre team I wouldn't feel bad about this loss. But that was a bad football team that will maybe win 4 games this year. They had limited team speed, bad qb play, no playmaking receivers and a suspect secondary. The only good player was Eli Harold.

[lambdacoug]

Well the offensive really couldn't have been worse so we have to go in an upward direction!

Failure is always an option.
-Mythbusters

[Shaka]

There are always going to be skill players BYU can recruit. There are a lot more of them than there are legit offensive linemen. Size is an unteachable and kids over 6'3 who are capable of putting 300+lbs on their frame are much more rare than 6'1 180lbs.

[Flystripper]

If I thought UVA was even a mediocre team I wouldn't feel bad about this loss. But that was a bad football team that will maybe win 4 games this year. They had limited team speed, bad qb play, no playmaking receivers and a suspect secondary. The only good player was Eli Harold.

This. A thousand times this.

[Shaka]

Failure is always an option.
-Mythbusters

Touche'!

[USUC]

If I thought UVA was even a mediocre team I wouldn't feel bad about this loss. But that was a bad football team that will maybe win 4 games this year. They had limited team speed, bad qb play, no playmaking receivers and a suspect secondary. The only good player was Eli Harold.

Anthony Harris was a pain in the ass too.

[CJF]

Any idea when this game will be loaded to BYUtv? For some strange reason I still want to see the game.