Time to bounce back

BYU is in unfamiliar territory. They are 1-3 for the first time since 2005. I think that BYU fans have forgotten what its like to struggle. This was evidenced by the lack of fans at LES. It was disappointing to break our streak of sold-out home games. I was also frustrated by some fans telling me to sit down. Was there not any other seats for them sit in? (there were and I kindly pointed them out to him). But I digress back to what I really want to talk about.

BYU faces Utah State this Friday. After a promising start hanging with Oklahoma and then beating Idaho, USU thought that this could be a break out season. They then rattle off two disappointing losses getting beat by a combined 82-31 and find themselves similar to BYU this year. In every statistical category, they are ahead of BYU except for points against. This just goes to show how unfamiliar the territory is that BYU is going through.


Could this be the year the USU beats BYU? Lets hope not, otherwise we all may need to start repenting (if you know what I mean). BYU again faces a mobile QB in Diondre Borel. Can they contain them? BYU generally sits all over USU. I don't think that USU has as many weapons as Nevada and BYU did a good job in the second half of the game. The defense looks suspect at best and I think that this will be a confidence boosting opportunity for a young offense and Jake Heaps. The defense will have some adjustments to make after loosing Romney Fuga on that blown clipping call (he is out for the season). Heres to stringing two good halves together.



One last thing to remember is that USU hates BYU. Since Riley isn't playing, that may take a little bit of emotion out, but not much. They will be fired up for this game. This is a one-sided rivalry and I think that this picture sums it up: Utah State just holds on to BYU shirt tails:


BYU has had a challenging schedule so far. BYU has to bounce back now that our schedule softens up a bit. We have this week and and San Diego State next week to get the season back on track and hopefully get more consistent before facing off with TCU.

This Week In Schadenfreude

I recently discovered a delightful piece of sports writing called "This Week In Schadenfreude." First, let me define some terms. Schadenfreude (pronounced /ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/) is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This blog highlights the major upsets and major disappointments in college football of the past week. For an example you might want to check out this weeks issue. (Be forewarned, he often quotes some public forums where people are expressing their dismay over their teams losses, and the language can get pretty sketchy)

I really can't describe this blog except to say that it is hilarious and delightfully tongue-in-cheek. Additionally, reading it is somewhat cathartic in nature. I've been mourning BYU's dismal start to the season, and reading about other team's belly-flops makes me feel a little better about my own teams lackluster performance.

If you really love this guys style, you might want to check out the Michigan football blog that started his sports writing career.

I have no great love or hate for Michigan football, but if you are in the mood for some quality reading material, it might be worth a quick glance.

So BYU may have started the season 1-3, but at least we didn't get shut out by the team that lost to James Madison. Here's to other's misfortunes.

Utah Update

It is about time I write about the Utes since they are four games into the season. This will be a pretty general overview, not much of a detailed analysis.

Utah started out against then ranked #15 Pitt. Although they won, they looked bad. They turned the ball over, had stupid penalties, and missed opportunities. When they looked good, they looked good, and they were lucky to win. This looked like a good win until Pitt has sucked it up recently. It is almost how Boise St. looks now with Virginia Tech losing to James Madison. The win looks a little tainted, which is unfortunate because we try to play teams like Pitt to demonstrate our strength of schedule.

The next game against UNLV should have been a bigger blowout than it was. It was almost like another first game because Cain was in at QB instead of Wynn. Things were clicking a little better, but still penalties and stupid mistakes hurt the Utes.

The next two games have been a cake walk, as they should have been. New Mexico and San Jose St. are terrible. They might fair well in 5A football (highschool) but not in NCAA Division 1. I just feel bad for those teams. So it is good to see the Utes putting up big points on them, because they should. Wynn was back in action for tonight's game, and it was good to see him perform well. They seem to be executing a lot better, the run looks solid, passing is solid, and the defense is doing well. We just need to see them play a contender. Their last undefeated season started out a little scrappy but by the time they beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl they were well polished. I see that in this season as well. I hope they can go undefeated this season, but it is hard to win every game, so we will see.

The Utes just need to keep blowing each team out of the water for now. Challenges will come from Air Force and the real test of TCU. Iowa State should not be bad, nor Notre Dame, but those are both away games. BYU at the end should be an easy win this year, especially with home field advantage. On the other hand crazy things can happen in those games.

What is up with Utah not getting their games televised? It is ridiculous! They are a fun top 25 team to watch. I had to go to the BYU game tonight because I could not watch the Utah game at home. I just feel bad for BYU right now. They cannot stop the run. Heaps did well passing on quick slant routes, but overthrew a lot on the longer passes.

Utah has a bye this week which is perfect with conference weekend. Lets hope they can prepare well for Iowa state.

And Dante, which hurt worse, BYU losing 3 straight, or Texas losing at home to UCLA? Sad day, I'm scared for their game against Oklahoma.

Fellas,

I am in need of some advice. We have tickets to Ohio State vs. Eastern Michigan tomorrow. However, Carrol is a day overdue. We had this discussion and ultimately decided to sell the tickets so we posted them on Craigslist. However, come 3:30 pm tomorrow, if there is no baby and we have not sold the tickets, do I go scalp them or do we go to the game and risk labor?

Candid feedback welcome!

Cheers

BYU Vs Nevada

Does anyone will read this thing???

After a couple of disappointing losses, now is the time for BYU to right the ship. I'm not going to talk about Nelson getting hurt...someone else can post about that. Here are a couple of observations about our game with Nevada.

So, I looked up Nevada's schedule. I don't think that they are quite as scary as I first thought. Cal did out gain them in total yardage (500+ yds) and turned the ball over 3 times. You give Cal 3 more possessions it could have been a 52-51 ball game. The other two opponents that Nevada played was Eastern Washington who put 24 points on them and Colorado State who has yet to show any signs of life this season. My point is that Nevada is yet to really play anybody. Cal was their biggest challenge and it looks like CAL self-destructed.

I'm not predicting a win, but with a solid decision at QB and reading between the lines on Nevada's schedule so far, I would say that a W isn't out of reach. Our defense has to tackle and our offense has to start clicking. It looks like Nevada's D isn't very good. But BYU
offense hasn't looked too good either. Nows the perfect time for BYU to turn it around.

By the way, Colin Kaepernick looks scary good so far. He is completing something 70% of this passes and is their leading rusher. BYU better be ready and stop eating popcorn before the games. No more missed tackles and dropped balls.

Maybe I'll being too optimistic, but if BYU prepares well I think that they could win this. An overconfident Nevada would help too.

A Familiar Feeling

Gentlemen, it is finally here. Fall has arrived. It seems like there has been a lot of anticipation for what is upon us and like a thunderbolt it has arrived.

For the last 18 years of my life - with the exception of a two year vacation - this time of the year has been equivalent with a feeling of despair, anxiety and remorse. The inevitable return to school. In middle school, I was tormented with feelings of inadequacy. Somehow I was the only Mexican that hit puberty after everyone else in my grade and that did not help my cause in the social life. The start of high school years always meant long days of school, homework, practice and early morning seminary. *GULP*. College meant tuition payments, text book purchases and cheesy meet and great activities with a new singles ward.

I was really looking forward to a stress free fall this year. Last Sunday night, I couldn't help but chuckle as I saw friends frantically trying to finalize their class schedules, work hours and get settled back into their house. Being a college graduate working for the man, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing I had nothing to worry about outside the hours of 9am and 5pm. That is, until this morning.

I got to work and was SLAMMED with questions about last night's action. Utah squeezed out an overtime win. USC came out firing after a tumultuous off-season. Dallas Cowboys had a good showing on offense finally. Max Hall played cool and comfortable as he demonstrated his ability to be the number two quarterback on the Cardinals roster. And of course, more BYU commotion as they scheduled a home and home versus top tier University of Central Florida (I'm laying the sarcasm on pretty thick for that one).

I know it sounds exciting and based on my feelings toward the dog days of summer, you would think that I would welcome this all with open arms. But alas, that familiar anxiety from the last 18 years sunk into my chest again when I realized: Football season is here, and I have got a lot of work to do. There has been a lot of talk and speculation about the three teams I follow the most (BYU, UT and Dallas Cowboys) during this off-season. But the time is finally here. I will have at least three MUST WATCH games every weekend to watch. Aside from that, there is the College Gameday Game of the Week, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football and the glorious week night games. Thank you Boise State and NFL Network. On top of that, there is a lot of analysis and news that I know I have to keep brushed up on during the week so that I know I am not missing a beat.

Bottom line is, I spent the last 18 years of my life thinking life working full time would be marvelous, but it is stressful. And for the next five months, I have my work cut out for me.