Rise and shout!

Hey. It's me. Derek.

My idea for the title of this blog got shot down. I wanted to call it "Are you gonna eat that?" Even though I still think that's a better idea for the title, I'll write an occasional post anyway.

So I'm sure you are wondering why I've gathered you here today. Usually Kaylie writes about cute stuff like gardens and flowers and poems. While I like cute stuff like that in its own way, it's about time we had a manly blog post.

So, I'm going to give a midseason analysis for BYU football! Now that we are six games in to the season, the team is starting to develop an identity and we are getting a better idea of how the rest of the season will go. So I'm going to push the rewind button and look at each game so far!

For those of you that don't know me well, I really really really love BYU football. I grew up going to all of the home games sitting with my family in these seats:

Any closer and you can't see over the heads of the players on the sidelines. P.S. For those non-football aficionados out there, this is a picture of the marching band, not the football team. I used to get those confused too.

I know, I know, I am spoiled. Watching a game from the 8th row on the 45 yard line is an awesome experience! So anyways, these are my thoughts on the season so far.

The Virginia game...this one hurts. The further we get into the season, the more we realize that Virginia is a really, really bad football team. The only team they have beaten other than BYU is Virginia Military Institute. Extra credit to anyone who knows who their mascot is. While a bunch of bizarre events affected the outcome of this game (a two-hour lightning delay, ankle-deep water on the field, and a late interception that never should have been thrown) BYU lost to a team it should have beaten. It's one of those games where you look back and say that even with all of those crazy side stories, BYU would still win 9 times out of 10.

The Texas game. After a lackluster performance in Game 1, this one blew the roof off the stadium. Although there was another lightning delay (I thought they said lightning never strikes the same place twice??), BYU's offense came out firing on all cylinders. Taysom Hill had an amazing game carrying the ball, and the Cougar offense set a school record for rushing yards in a game. We knew from last season that Taysom could run the ball, but he ran for 259 yards and three touchdowns! Incredible! The Longhorns are my second favorite team, but I'm glad the Cougars won that day. Because of this game, Texas fired their defensive coordinator (which now looks like a great move because they were dominant against Oklahoma yesterday...Hook 'em!!!).

And now the game I don't like to talk about. The Utah game. 16 of the last 20 games in this rivalry have been decided by a touchdown or less, and this one was no different. The Utah defense did a great job shutting down the rushing attack, especially in the first half, but the defense made enough plays to keep it close. However, Jamaal Williams was carted off the field with a concussion and severe stinger, and the BYU offense was never the same after that. The Cougars rallied to have time for a final drive, but when the ball fell to the turf as time expired, the stadium went silent. After four years of losing to the team up north, it was a long walk home. (Especially because Kaylie and I still had to prepare our talks before going to church at 8 AM the next morning...)

Middle Tennessee State was a fun game. After poor passing performances in the first three games, there was a segment of the BYU fan base that had been calling to change out starting quarterbacks (funny how a guy can be a hero after the Texas game and then the scapegoat after losing to Utah). However, in my opinion the offense just needed to do a few things differently for Taysom to be successful. They slowed down the pace, which allowed Taysom to make better reads and allowed him to have time to throw since the linemen were better at recognizing the blitz packages. They also started calling shorter, quicker pass plays to develop a rhythm and limit the pressure defenses could send. Taysom (and the offense as a whole) played much better and despite several turnovers, there was never any doubt as to the outcome of the game.

Me and my cute wife at the game! It was a whiteout.

BYU went up to Logan with a 2-2 record and with a lot of questions. Sure, Taysom Hill had thrown the ball better the previous game, but that was against a pretty weak pass defense. The game against the Aggies would be the best measuring stick so far this season, and would be key to building momentum for the rest of the season. The Aggies are a great team, and they had one of the best quarterbacks in the country leading the way. However, the Cougars came to play. On the very first play of the game (right after Kaylie and I found our seats...thanks Moons for the tickets!!!) Kyle Van Noy picked off a pass and took it into the endzone for a pick six. The Aggie students, known to be very supportive of their team, got pretty quiet pretty fast. After that play, I knew we had a shot. Later in the game on a third down attempt, Chuckie Keeton went down with an injury. While Chuckie's backup played well considering the circumstances, the Cougar defense dominated the rest of the game. Taysom Hill and Mitch Matthews had a breakout game, connecting on three touchdown passes, which answered a lot of the critics. It was a big win for BYU.

Finally, last night was the game against Georgia Tech. As a fan, I was excited about this one because the offense was finally starting to click, and there were rumors that Spencer Hadley would be back from his suspension. Hadley did return and made some big plays including a sack and a fumble recovery. Van Noy (who is an absolute beast) had two sacks and a key tackle for loss. The offense was basically unstoppable in the first half, and Taysom Hill was right on the money on all of his passes, especially this one (the catch by Hoffman was UNREAL!). Here's the video (which was #3 on ESPN's top 10 plays of the day).

In case the video doesn't work, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQEDIooczjg

While the offense slowed down in the second half, it was still a very impressive game and all of the people that wanted a new starting quarterback are pretty quiet these days.

The outlook for the rest of the season is pretty good. The most challenging game left on the schedule will be against Wisconsin in Camp Randall Stadium (always a tough place to play). My prediction is that BYU only loses one more the rest of the way. Yes--you heard it here first--that means I am predicting a Cougar win in South Bend against the Fighting Irish (going to a game in that stadium is on my bucket list for sure). After finishing the regular season 9-3, BYU will win its bowl game and end up in the top 25.

For those of you that clicked on the blog post expecting to see something a little less footballish, sorry to drag on for so long. But I really like football and I'm glad Kaylie is willing to come along to all of the games with me :) We've had some fun times together! Kaylie is learning lots about football and she now knows that "false starts kill drives." It's fun that she at least pretends to enjoy something that is really important to me. I have the best wife ever!!!