2019 BYU Cougars Football Thread

[New Mexican Disaster]

Kenny McChesney is going to get the rock.

[USUC]

Sione Finau out for the year with a torn ACL. That's fun.

This makes me incredibly sad. Does this mean he probably loses next season as well? How long do these things take to get back to 100%

[LiveCoug]

I upgraded my DTV to the sports pack because it had NESN and the game was on the guide. NESN worked all week and then at game time the channel blacked out. Uggh.

Fubotv trial with zip code 02111 works for those that want to watch for free

[LiveCoug]

LOL. UMass is deliciously terrible. We all knew this, but man it's a spectacle to watch

[wapiti]

I'm looking forward to playing SDSU again, especially with them having a good season and a quality coach. I wouldn't mind having them on the annual schedule similar to Boise State. This is the ideal indy schedule in my mind:

5 P5's
Utah
Utah State
Boise State
SDSU
1 rotating MWC team
1 AAC or MAC team
1 FCS team

If you get a quality G5 like UCF or Houston on the schedule that could count as a P5. But I wouldn't like going under 4 P5's + Utah.

[Bo Diddley]

I'm looking forward to playing SDSU again, especially with them having a good season and a quality coach. I wouldn't mind having them on the annual schedule similar to Boise State. This is the ideal indy schedule in my mind:

5 P5's
Utah
Utah State
Boise State
SDSU
1 rotating MWC team
1 AAC or MAC team
1 FCS team

If you get a quality G5 like UCF or Houston on the schedule that could count as a P5. But I wouldn't like going under 4 P5's + Utah.

We're not too far from that. I wouldn't mind playing the service academies.

[LiveCoug]

ESPN and BYU agree to 7 year contract including guaranteed ESPN bowl game. No other details known yet

[Flystripper]

ESPN and BYU agree to 7 year contract including guaranteed ESPN bowl game. No other details known yet

I wonder how much we got on an annual basis. The bowl game thing means next to nothing. The following bowls are the only bowls not on an ESPN property:

Cure Bowl
Holiday Bowl
Redbox Bowl
Sun Bowl
Arizona Bowl

[BigFatMeanie]

All those who fretted about BYU needing to join a non-P5 conference will have to keep crying in their BYU Creamery Chocolate Milk for another 7 years minimum (unless BYU gets invited to a P5 conference, which is unlikely).

The contract means BYU stakeholders consider independence to be financially viable under ESPN and I believe it confirms my hypothesis that BYU stakeholders value exposure more than they value any benefits joining a non-P5 conference would bring.

[wapiti]

All those who fretted about BYU needing to join a non-P5 conference will have to keep crying in their BYU Creamery Chocolate Milk for another 7 years minimum (unless BYU gets invited to a P5 conference, which is unlikely).

The contract means BYU stakeholders consider independence to be financially viable under ESPN and I believe it confirms my hypothesis that BYU stakeholders value exposure more than they value any benefits joining a non-P5 conference would bring.

I've never understood Bronco's infamous comment about independence being unsustainable. Even if you believe it, why would you ever say that publicly? As long as we have a great TV partner, independence is sustainable. P5 teams can schedule BYU and know their game is going to have a great TV deal. Have we had any P5 home games since independence that weren't ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2?

[Goatnapper'96]

I've never understood Bronco's infamous comment about independence being unsustainable. Even if you believe it, why would you ever say that publicly? As long as we have a great TV partner, independence is sustainable. P5 teams can schedule BYU and know their game is going to have a great TV deal. Have we had any P5 home games since independence that weren't ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2?

I don't think Bronco was commenting on financial or scheduling sustainability. I think Bronco was sharing his perspective that independence is not a situation that is sustainable to being competitive, or at least as nationally competitive as he felt BYU had been or could be. I don't think rejoining a G5 conference would be a panacea, as I think the inability to compete is being driven by not being in a P5 conference and the only fix for that is being in a P5 conference, but I do believe it would result in a more manageable schedule for BYU which should result in a higher winning percentage. It would also result in less "exposure" from a national TV perspective and less money. But the exposure that would come should BYU find a way to start being the teams it should more consistently would be the type of exposure that serious fans prefer.

Then again if BYU would have beaten the teams it should have this year BYU would have been ranked at some points in this season.

[Omaha 680]

I don't think Bronco was commenting on financial or scheduling sustainability. I think Bronco was sharing his perspective that independence is not a situation that is sustainable to being competitive, or at least as nationally competitive as he felt BYU had been or could be. I don't think rejoining a G5 conference would be a panacea, as I think the inability to compete is being driven by not being in a P5 conference and the only fix for that is being in a P5 conference, but I do believe it would result in a more manageable schedule for BYU which should result in a higher winning percentage. It would also result in less "exposure" from a national TV perspective and less money. But the exposure that would come should BYU find a way to start being the teams it should more consistently would be the type of exposure that serious fans prefer.

Then again if BYU would have beaten the teams it should have this year BYU would have been ranked at some points in this season.

BYU should be 10-2 this year (at absolute worst 8-4 if both OT games didnt go our way). The Toledo, USF, and SDSU losses are inexcusable. The problem isnt independence, it is the wild inconsistency of our coaching which began with Bronco's Doman/Jaime Hill experiment and the mishandling of our QBs back then. Under Kalani the inconsistency appears to be getting worse, particularly on offense.

I want to be excited about byu football, but my head says we will put up a dominating offensive performance against Hawaii and the hype train will be full steam ahead all offseasons until we lose to Utah again and then drop games agains Utah state and northern Illinois stumbling to another 7 win season. I would be resigned to this if I believed the talent gap argument but I do not. Teams at an massive talent disadvantage dont step up and beat power5 teams every year.

So can anyone in the know or smarter than me give me hope? Is Kalani up for this challenge or have we seen his ceiling?

[Jeff Lebowski]

BYU should be 10-2 this year (at absolute worst 8-4 if both OT games didnt go our way). The Toledo, USF, and SDSU losses are inexcusable. The problem isnt independence, it is the wild inconsistency of our coaching which began with Bronco's Doman/Jaime Hill experiment and the mishandling of our QBs back then. Under Kalani the inconsistency appears to be getting worse, particularly on offense.

I want to be excited about byu football, but my head says we will put up a dominating offensive performance against Hawaii and the hype train will be full steam ahead all offseasons until we lose to Utah again and then drop games agains Utah state and northern Illinois stumbling to another 7 win season. I would be resigned to this if I believed the talent gap argument but I do not. Teams at an massive talent disadvantage dont step up and beat power5 teams every year.

So can anyone in the know or smarter than me give me hope? Is Kalani up for this challenge or have we seen his ceiling?

I don't think you can lump SDSU in with the other two. SDSU is a good team and it was a road game. We had 50-50 odds on that one.

The Toledo and USF losses hurt, but you can't ignore a blowout against the Aggies in Logan, and wins against USC, Boise State (their only loss!), and Tennessee on the road. Fans sometimes expect too much.

[mtnbiker]

I don't think you can lump SDSU in with the other two. SDSU is a good team and it was a road game. We had 50-50 odds on that one.

The Toledo and USF losses hurt, but you can't ignore a blowout against the Aggies in Logan, and wins against USC, Boise State (their only loss!), and Tennessee on the road. Fans sometimes expect too much.

I think that was the argument, that Kalani and the coaching is inconsistent. Is it too much to ask to be more consistent?

[Jeff Lebowski]

I think that was the argument, that Kalani and the coaching is inconsistent. Is it too much to ask to be more consistent?

What exactly does that mean? Would you be happier had we beaten Toledo and USF and lose to BSU, USU, Tennessee, and USC? That would have been more consistent in terms of expectations.