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Originally Posted by Cali Coug
I have the opposite impression. I think now, more than ever, this team will make it through unscathed. Certainly not with 3 losses (assuming no major injuries).
I thought last year that BYU would be exploited often on the long ball and trick plays after Tulsa lit us up. It didn't happen. Hill is doing an outstanding job with what he has to work with. I was frustrated that we didn't have a spy on the 4th down play late in the game where Locker scrambled for the 1st, but overall Hill's defense did a serviceable job. They weren't great, but they got the job done, just like last year. We are much softer at LB than we were last year, and losing So'oto doesn't help at all, but the offense can cover much better this year too.
BYU tends to improve dramatically after the first few weeks in September. I think we will see BYU beat UCLA this Saturday, and the conversation will move back to BCS.
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I like your optimism. And your arguments are fairly convincing. Don't get me wrong: I'm thrilled we beat Washington on the road. I don't care how bad they are; to beat a Pac-10 team on the road always makes me really happy. Right before kickoff, my buddies were talking about a big win and I said to them, "I'll be thrilled with a victory -- any victory." We are almost never going to have the overall athleticism of even a lower-tier Pac-10 team, so I am really happy with the win.
I'm not nearly as concerned about the secondary as I am about the linebackers. I don't think we'll get beat deep too many times because we're going to play off receivers so much. Washington had more speed at receiver than we'll probably face all year. But I keep having bad dreams of Kevin Craft, Brian Johnson, and Andy Dalton systematically dismantling our defense in the short zones and flats, where our linebackers continually fail to come off blocks against the run and take forever to cover the pass.
Back in the McMahon/Young/Detmer days I wouldn't have been so concerned because back then our average scoring drive was a 4-play, 75-yard throttling, but now, with a more ball-control approach, we're going to have a little harder time coming back from deficits. Then again, with our offensive studs, maybe not ...