In recent years, September has been BYU's worst month. 2008 was the exception.
2010:
Sep: 1-3
Remainder: 6-3
2009:
Sep: 3-1
Remainder: 8-1
2008:
Sep: 4-0
Remainder: 6-3
2007:
Sep: 3-2
Remainder: 8-0
2006:
Sep: 3-2
Remainder: 8-0
2005:
Sep: 1-3
Remainder: 5-3
2004:
Sep: 1-3
Remainder: 4-3
Record-wise, they appear to be a "band of brothers" who don't exactly band together until the season is one-third over. When it was announced that the rivalry would be moved to September, my initial thought was that Utah will start winning 80-90% of the games, rather than 50%.
On the other hand though, will the early rivalry force the players to get their asses in gear that much sooner?
Also, it's not as though BYU's poor performances in September are due to playing tougher opponents. For every loss against a 9-4 Boston College, there was one against a 6-7 UCLA. Win over 6-6 Arizona; loss to 10-4 Florida State. And that one point win in Washington turned out to be against an 0-12 team.
So who will show up tomorrow: the typical September BYU, or the rivalry week BYU?
|