My thoughts on the game today

[T Blue]

There were a couple times where BYU was faced with a 4th and 2 and they punted. This was quite discouraging to me as a fan, it was almost like they were trying not to lose, not trying to show they were able to punch UNM in the mouth and take what they wanted.

I was pretty discouraged that for two weeks in a row BYU has played less than stellar on O, and with TCU upcoming I wondered if Anae and Bronco were just no opening up the play book because if the type of foes they were against?

BYU was very lethargic throughout the game, they really never had a sense of urgency behind them, it was almost like it was on cruise control the whole game and there was no need for hustle?

With that said it was good to see them win even with all those negatives, the two TO's were great, even though there were no points from them.

BYU cannot play against TCU the way they played against UNM and expect to pull out the W. There were numerous times that BYU was lucky that Max didn't turn the ball over because he threw into 2 and 3 Defenders, or a UNM D player was in the right place but couldn't make the int.

I'll take the W, but I hope The players aren't patting themselves on the ass and passing out the atta boys after that lackluster performance.

[Spaz]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

My thoughts are pretty simple: If we play like that on Thurs night the winning streak and BCS hopes come to a screeching halt.

When I heard Bronco say on the radio afterwards that the conservative play calling through the 1st one and a half quarters was by design because they didn't want to turn the ball over I wanted punch my car stereo.

Conceding that position to UNM's defense before the ball is even kicked off infuriates me. They are playing the #1 ranked defense in the nation in TCU on Thursday and if we come out with another conservative plan to start the game as opposed to what we'd been doing, we're going too be in big trouble.

All season long we've jumped on opponents early and been aggressive and making a conscicous decision to not be aggressive and just kind of hoping we don't turn the ball over by throwing 3 yard underneath dink and dunks was disconcerting to say the least.

On Thurs the #1 thing I want to see is a return to aggressive play calling and aggression by a pissed off offense and a TD score on the 1st drive. Send an early message.

I absolutely disagree.


* BYU had only nine possessions this game. They scored on 3 of those, and missed a FGA. That's not that bad in terms of putting your team in position to score.

* BYU ran NINE plays in Q1. NINE!!!! Of those:

1. 1st & 10: +16 pass to Reed
2. 1st & 10: -2 pass to Collie
3. 2nd & 12: +6 pass to Pitta
4. 3rd & 6: Incomplete to Collie.
-Punt.
5. 1st & 10: +9 pass to Unga (from BYU 9).
6. 2nd & 1: +5 rush Collie.
7. 1st & 15: Pass Incomplete to Reed.
8. 2nd & 15: +11 pass to Collie.
9. 3rd & 4: Pass incomplete to Reed.

I have NO problem passing on 1st & 10 to open the drives, and you can't argue with the results - both opening plays were successes. Beyond that, the ONLY play we could have run the ball but didn't was the 2nd 1st & 10 in drive 1.

* BYU held a VERY good UNM Rushing O to 60% of their normal output, DESPITE UNM "surprising" us with the QB option play that wasn't apparent in film.

The MLB's were over-pursuing. Once the coaches reigned them in, and they were covering their assignments better, the cut-back option the QB was using closed up significantly.

* Given the fact UNM ran the ball 50 times, are you really that surprised the zone was softer than normal? The LB's were cheating to cover the run, which made what is normally a soft spot in the zone (underneath along the sidelines) even softer.



If BYU has no turnovers, scores a TD on 33% of their drives & adds a FGA on another 11% of their drives, holds TCU to 60% of their normal rushing O, I think BYU wins & wins easily.

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by Spaz

I absolutely disagree.


* BYU had only nine possessions this game. They scored on 3 of those, and missed a FGA. That's not that bad in terms of putting your team in position to score.

* BYU ran NINE plays in Q1. NINE!!!! Of those:

1. 1st & 10: +16 pass to Reed
2. 1st & 10: -2 pass to Collie
3. 2nd & 12: +6 pass to Pitta
4. 3rd & 6: Incomplete to Collie.
-Punt.
5. 1st & 10: +9 pass to Unga (from BYU 9).
6. 2nd & 1: +5 rush Collie.
7. 1st & 15: Pass Incomplete to Reed.
8. 2nd & 15: +11 pass to Collie.
9. 3rd & 4: Pass incomplete to Reed.

I have NO problem passing on 1st & 10 to open the drives, and you can't argue with the results - both opening plays were successes. Beyond that, the ONLY play we could have run the ball but didn't was the 2nd 1st & 10 in drive 1.

* BYU held a VERY good UNM Rushing O to 60% of their normal output, DESPITE UNM "surprising" us with the QB option play that wasn't apparent in film.

The MLB's were over-pursuing. Once the coaches reigned them in, and they were covering their assignments better, the cut-back option the QB was using closed up significantly.

* Given the fact UNM ran the ball 50 times, are you really that surprised the zone was softer than normal? The LB's were cheating to cover the run, which made what is normally a soft spot in the zone (underneath along the sidelines) even softer.



If BYU has no turnovers, scores a TD on 33% of their drives & adds a FGA on another 11% of their drives, holds TCU to 60% of their normal rushing O, I think BYU wins & wins easily.

You disagree with Bronco's specfic quote after the game that they (BYU) deliberately planned to be conservatively offensively?

Also, there was much discontent among the coaches througout the game directed towards Anae and his conservative approach.

We gave UNM's defense more respect than they deserve. We allowed them to set and dictate tempo for much of the 1st half and that is NOT BYU Football.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by Hot Lunch

2. We beat a decent team

Strongly disagree. UNM is only a decent team if you play in the MWC and you're used to having one of the worst schedules in the nation. This is part of the problem a weak SOS does to you. You start being satisfied with playing like crap because you're winning. The top 40 teams in the country would be favored over UNM at home by 35 points for #1 down to about 13 for #40.

[Spaz]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

You disagree with Bronco's specfic quote after the game that they (BYU) deliberately planned to be conservatively offensively?

Also, there was much discontent among the coaches througout the game directed towards Anae and his conservative approach.

We gave UNM's defense more respect than they deserve. We allowed them to set and dictate tempo for much of the 1st half and that is NOT BYU Football.

I disagree with:

My thoughts are pretty simple: If we play like that on Thurs night the winning streak and BCS hopes come to a screeching halt.

I didn't hear Bronco say the O was "deliberately conservative" to start the game. I didn't hear all the postgame, so I easily could have missed it, but what I heard him say is that (paraphrased from memory) "given the nature of UNM's defense, it's easier to learn & understand what they're doing when you are passing the ball than when you are running the ball, so we went into the game intending on starting off passing the ball."

If that's truly the case (and I don't know if it is - it's beyond my understanding of the game), exactly what play BYU ran in the 1st Q would you have had them call differently?

Is the only thing in my post that you disagree with your intimations about the conservative nature of the playcalling?

Do you disagree that the following accomplishments will yield a win over TCU?
1. No turnovers
2. Scoring a TD on 33% of possessions & a FGA on 11%.
3. Holding their O to 60% of their average rushing total

[Spaz]

Originally Posted by jay santos

Strongly disagree. UNM is only a decent team if you play in the MWC and you're used to having one of the worst schedules in the nation. This is part of the problem a weak SOS does to you. You start being satisfied with playing like crap because you're winning. The top 40 teams in the country would be favored over UNM at home by 35 points for #1 down to about 13 for #40.

IMO, UNM would beat that point spread for the vast majority of those teams.

UNM runs the ball very well. They run the ball well despite the fact that everyone knows they're going to run the ball 2/3 of their snaps.


Yes, UNM is a decent team, and their strengths on O plays very well for limiting their opponent's scoring chances.

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by Spaz

I disagree with:



I didn't hear Bronco say the O was "deliberately conservative" to start the game. I didn't hear all the postgame, so I easily could have missed it, but what I heard him say is that (paraphrased from memory) "given the nature of UNM's defense, it's easier to learn & understand what they're doing when you are passing the ball than when you are running the ball, so we went into the game intending on starting off passing the ball."

If that's truly the case (and I don't know if it is - it's beyond my understanding of the game), exactly what play BYU ran in the 1st Q would you have had them call differently?

Is the only thing in my post that you disagree with your intimations about the conservative nature of the playcalling?

Do you disagree that the following accomplishments will yield a win over TCU?
1. No turnovers
2. Scoring a TD on 33% of possessions & a FGA on 11%.
3. Holding their O to 60% of their average rushing total

I mostly agree with you here.

Keep in mind that the TCU defense is much better than New Mexico's, so I think the offense will have to execute at a higher level than they did last Saturday.

Of course I agree on the turnover aspect.

Given how BYU has played for their 2 road games, they are going to have to come out and get an early lead. They will have to play better than they did last Saturday to win. That is a statement that I will not back off of.

[Spaz]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

I mostly agree with you here.

Keep in mind that the TCU defense is much better than New Mexico's, so I think the offense will have to execute at a higher level than they did last Saturday.

Of course I agree on the turnover aspect.

Given how BYU has played for their 2 road games, they are going to have to come out and get an early lead. They will have to play better than they did last Saturday to win. That is a statement that I will not back off of.

Fair enough - and it's a good point that TCU's defense is better than UNM's, and will require a higher level of execution from BYU's O to equal the 33% scoring ratio. I'm agreed that BYU will have to show that their road game issues were unrelated to simply being on the road.

And I won't back off my statement that BYU played well Saturday, and will beat both TCU & Utah with similar showings.

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by Spaz

Fair enough - and it's a good point that TCU's defense is better than UNM's, and will require a higher level of execution from BYU's O to equal the 33% scoring ratio. I'm agreed that BYU will have to show that their road game issues were unrelated to simply being on the road.

And I won't back off my statement that BYU played well Saturday, and will beat both TCU & Utah with similar showings.

I don't think BYU played poorly, they just didn't come out with the same aggressive offensive approach that they have to open their other games this season.

They gave UNM's defense too much respect. We can't do that against TCU or Utah.

[smokymountainrain]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

When I heard Bronco say on the radio afterwards that the conservative play calling through the 1st one and a half quarters was by design because they didn't want to turn the ball over I wanted punch my car stereo.

Conceding that position to UNM's defense before the ball is even kicked off infuriates me. They are playing the #1 ranked defense in the nation in TCU on Thursday and if we come out with another conservative plan to start the game as opposed to what we'd been doing, we're going too be in big trouble.

All season long we've jumped on opponents early and been aggressive and making a conscicous decision to not be aggressive and just kind of hoping we don't turn the ball over by throwing 3 yard underneath dink and dunks was disconcerting to say the least.

On Thurs the #1 thing I want to see is a return to aggressive play calling and aggression by a pissed off offense and a TD score on the 1st drive. Send an early message.

I wasn't aware Bronco said that. Going with a conservative game plan specifically to avoid TOs is the same chicken shit attitude that causes him to want to punt on 4th and 3 from the opponent's 35 yard line, but much worse.

He's basically admitting that he's playing not to lose and that pisses me off.

The other thing is that if he feels like they have to play conservative in order to avoid turnovers, for all intents and purposes, he doesn't trust Hall, Collie, Pitta, Unga and co.