What a game.....

What a game! BYU almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, but in the end...the Cougs prevailed. What else could any BYU/Utah fan hope for? Overtime in the Holy War? Even though Utah lost, their fans can't complain about this game. It was an epic battle throughout the entire 60 minutes of football. Although, it did come down to this:

Nothing else can be said except - Go Nebraska! Beat Texas in the Big 12 Championship so that TCU will get into the National Title game and make our conference look amazing!!! I am now a HUGE Horned Frog fan...at least until the bowls are over.

Utah vs TCU

While this was the scene in last year's game against TCU, I believe the roles will be reversed on Saturday in Fort Worth. Utah has absolutely no chance of beating this Horned Frog squad. They are too fast, too strong, and too talented. With the Utes struggling agains Air Force and Wyoming, it will be enjoyable for me to watch them lose on Saturday.

Now I didn't always feel like this. I was once cheering for Utah to go undefeated so that when, that's right I said WHEN, we beat them in 3 weeks it would look even better. Now, with only a Vegas Bowl as a possibility, I just hope they lose...I know it's kinda mean, but I don't like Utah.

Jazz Season Begins...

With the Cougars and the Utes both having a tough season (even though Utah has only lost 1 game, just wait until the TCU game), it's now time to take a peek into the Utah Jazz season so far. With another loss to add to the record, the Jazz have started the 2009-2010 Season with an amazing 1-3 record. With the San Antonio Spurs coming into town tomorrow night, that record could turn into 1-4. What is going on? Sure, last season didn't start off well with Deron not being able to play for a couple weeks. Then after he returned, Boozer was "injured" for a few months and that was basically what stopped our playoff run. Too many games missed was our problem last year. What is going on this year?
1. Deron isn't as aggressive as he needs to be if we really want to contend in the West. Put the ball on the hardwood and take 'em to the hole!!! Nobody can stop him if he gets on a roll. Deron is one of the top 8 or 10 scorers in the NBA. He can score whenever he wants to...he just needs to do it!

2. Boozer needs to "bang" more down low. DUNK THE BALL!!!!! If I was 6'9" I would dunk over everyone in the NBA.

3. CJ and Korver are still out. When they return, that will be a big boost. First of all, AK will be able to come off the bench where he is much more productive. When "Pretty Boy" Korver is back it will give us even more outside threat along with Memo, D-Will, and AK.

I have a hard time watching the Jazz this year. We almost choked away the Clippers game and that would have made us 0-4. What a start. If we don't start competing with the playoff teams out West, there is no hope for the season. Come on Jazz, don't break my heart again.........

ESPN Here We Come...

So last night I scored 4 tickets (won them on the radio) to the big game on Saturday against TCU. If you haven't heard yet, ESPN College Gameday will be in Provo for the game of the week. Watch for us - we'll be making a sign...Oh ya, GO COUGS!!!!!

(18)BYU vs SDSU

Since it has been a few weeks since I have posted, let me just pick up and run with this. This (picture on the left) is what I expect a lot of tomorrow. The Aztecs shouldn't be able to move the ball at all if the Cougar defense plays half as well as they should.

Let me just cover a few issues since my last post (No excuses for not posting...just laziness):

1. The performance against Utah State was one of the most pathetic college football performances that I can remember watching........ever! I know we won, but that was boring-like I wanted to poke my eyes out rather than watching that game. Ya, it was that bad.

2. The game last Saturday against UNLV was also boring, but not as pathetic. We man-handled the Rebels as we should have. Go Cougs!

3. Why can't Riley Nelson be our new starting QB? I am liking how he moves and throws the ball more and more with his increasing playing time. He should be our "secret weapon" that we use to beat TCU.

Overall, this season has been great (except for the slip up against FSU). I expect the Cougs to run the table in their remaining 6 games. The D needs to keep being "tuff" and their offense needs to give Nelson a chance to play more. Especially since he won't get to play much once Jake Heaps steps onto the field in Provo.

(7) BYU vs Florida State - Another Test

This truly was a game that was BYU vs itself. Don't get me wrong, Florida State is a good football team. BYU just made them look a ton better than they actually are. There was nothing we could do to stop their offense. That was surprising because of how our defense played the first two games of the season. Just doesn't make sense. That defense looked like the defense of the past. After we completely pounded OU and Tulane, it seemed as BYU was now a powerhouse on defense. Why couldn't we keep that up?

Now the offense.........we actually looked like the same team we have this season with our offense clicking with everyone -- at least for the first half. The second half is a different story. This is an actual picture that was taken from Saturday's game vs Florida State:

Like that "deer in the headlights" look on Hall's face? Their first drive out of halftime he threw a pick that was returned for a TD. That's when I knew the game was over. I just don't know how much longer I can stand watching Max Hall choke in big games. Yes, he did play well against OU, but that was the first time I have ever seen him play well in a big game. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting sick of it....

Not gonna happen Utah...

Just in case you didn't know, Autzen Stadium is the #9 toughest place to play a college football game in the country. If you don't believe me, just check this out: http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/pgStory?contentId=8418914#sport=CFB%20Season%20Previews&photo=8416162. Good luck Utah!

Up to #9?!?!

Before I get into the new AP Poll, I wanted to mention two surprises for the Cougars so far this year. First of all is Jordan Pendleton (left) and second is Brian Kariya (right). Pendleton put some monster hits on OU and Brian Kariya outdid himself replacing Unga on Saturday night. Keep it up guys...

With the unprecedented upset from Saturday, BYU leapfrogged quite a few teams in the new AP Poll to #9. Top ten already? Didn't everyone say that even if we won this game, we wouldn't get the respect that we deserve? That isn't quite what happened. Leaping into the top 10 this early in the year means that if we run the table, we should be in the National Championship game. We'll see if that actually happens

(20)BYU vs (3)Oklahoma - The Real Test

Wow! Our beloved Cougars from Brigham Young University beat the third best team in the country! How was it done? It was the defense. That's right...I said the defense won this game. Of course the offense had to do their part and score points, but it was our stifling D that turned on the heat for the mighty Sooners.

Watching this game, I couldn't help but wonder if it was a fluke and if BYU was just "playing up" to the talent that they were facing for this game. This is known to happen. Hopefully for all of us Cougar faithful, that is not the truth. If we are able to keep up this defensive intensity for every game this entire season, there isn't a team in the country that can beat us. Facing one of the most potent offenses from last season, the defense stepped up to bat with fire in their eyes. Without their intensity and hard hitting (just ask Sam Bradford) this game would have turned into another Sooner BLOWOUT! Come on, we stopped them 6 straight plays when they had the ball inside our 5 yard line and eventually made them kick a field goal instead of get a TD which actually proved to be the difference in the game.



Of course, as mentioned before, without our offense playing great we didn't stand a chance no matter how well our D played. Unfortunately we didn't play the best on offense (4 turnovers--2 picks and 2 fumbles lost). We did, however, have enough offensive power in this game to pull out a "W". Without a couple critical mistakes by our offense - the fumble by Chambers at the 1 yard line and the muffed punt return by Jacobson - this could have turned into a rout by the Cougars.
With about 10 or 11 minutes left in the game, Max Hall and the offense put together an amazing drive capped off by a touchdown pass to McKay Jacobson in the back of the endzone. On this specific play they had four, yes four, guys all over Dennis Pitta. And why shouldn't they do that? On that drive Pitta had 4 or 5 catches from Hall who was 9-10 for 78 yards and 1 TD. The drive concluded with the TD with 3:03 left on the clock and I knew that the game was far from over.

Oklahoma had one more chance to redeem themselves and almost did just that. Beginning their final drive of the game from the 40 yard line (from a kick that went out of bounds) they drove about 30 yards and were almost to their own 30 yard line and in a great field goal spot for the win. They had one more penalty left in them when they got a false start call and moved them back for a 53 yard field goal. The kick came up just short and landed in the end zone, which without that false start, just might have squeaked in. Overall the game was amazing.

WE BEAT THE #3 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY!!!

I just can't wait to watch the game again a couple times this week since I recorded it on my DVR.

BYU Soccer vs William & Mary

In case any of you didn't know this, my sister-in-law plays for the BYU Women's Soccer Team. We are very proud that she chose the correct school to come to rather than one of the other ten or so teams that tried recruiting her. She is (for now) the backup goalkeeper, but watch out Mac. She is coming to take over your spot. She is amazing and really fun to watch.

Last night was BYU's home regular season opener vs William & Mary. BYU scored about 5 minutes into the game from a corner kick that was knocked down by the keeper and followed up by us. Unfortunately they called it no good because of goalie interference. People sitting around us kept saying that it was offsides, but since it was a corner kick, that wouldn't be possible....

After 2 hard fought defensive halfs the game went into overtime. Then double OT. With about 8 minutes left in the second overtime, William & Mary forward was offsides by a couple feet (wasn't really a close call at all), but unfortunately the officials didn't see how far ahead she was and she had a 1-on-1 with our keeper. She shot from about 6 or 8 feet away and "Mac" barely missed the ball. Definitely wasn't her fault. I hate saying this, but I totally blame the refs.

GOOD GAME GIRLS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

In Case You Missed It...

On a night that was supposed to be all about Jeremiah Masoli and the Oregon Ducks, the Broncos of Boise State ruled. The "Smurf Turf" was definitely the key. Kellen Moore played excellent and Masoli played about like Max Hall did against Utah last year. What a game.

Chris Peterson has done an amazing job with this football program. With only 2 losses in the last 10 seasons on the blue turf, Boise has the best home winning percentage in the FBS. Watching the Broncos dominate the Ducks last night was a pleasure. I don't (or didn't) have anything against Oregon until last night......

If you didn't watch this game last night, you need to check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtPoC8jJzRA. All I can say is WOW!! You can't let your emotions get the best of you. Just because you lose a game, you can't let this happen.

Who knows? Maybe Oregon was trying to get revenge for this hit last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MDvH6F29Wo. With Boise letting their playing do the talking instead of their post-game antics, I can't believe that this happened.

As far as for Utah teams, there was an in-state "rivalry" game last night. Utah handed Utah State it's first, but not last, loss of the season. Up until half time, USU was still in this game. The only reason they had a chance was because of blown assignments by the Utah secondary. USU had the longest play in school history last night with a 96-yard run in the first quarter. Other than this play and a 65 yard pass play, the Aggies didn't have much going for them the whole night.

...........ONE MORE DAY UNTIL THE BIG GAME!...........

BYU Schedule

As per request, here is a link for a complete schedule for BYU Football for the 2009-2010 season: http://www.byucougars.com/Schedule.jsp?SP=130&YR=2009. Feel free to check it out and by all means, please leave more comments and let me know what else you want to see on here..........

BYU Season Preview

"Dennis Pitta is the nation's top returning tight end," says ESPN's Graham Watson who is a little partial to the MWC. She has covered the conference for a couple years now and loves pointing out how superior the MWC is to other non-BCS conferences, which it completely true.

With the season opener only 9 days away, BYU is almost getting to game-week preparation. I'm sure they have been watching OU film since the minute they found out the Sooners were on their schedule, but now the day has almost come.

With most of the key offensive and defensive postitions set on the depth chart, there are still a couple of roster spots that are undecided at the moment.
1- Shaun Doman and Terrence Hooks are battling it out for the starting "Buck" linebacker spot. Hooks has recently returned from an injury and with the way he has been playing, has caused some confusion as to who should be the starter.
2- The Field cornerback position is still wide open as Bronco Mendenhall has said. There is nobody that stands out right now as the #1 guy (is BYU ever going to have a good standout d-back again?)

If those are the only 2 question marks that they have for now, that makes me a happy guy. At least we aren't in the position that Utah is where they don't even know who their starting QB is going to be. That's scary.

I was reading Sports Illustrated at my doctor's office yesterday and peeked at the Heisman Race section. The first thing that was mentioned was that if BYU Senior QB Max Hall plays well against Oklahoma and BYU pulls off an upset, he will go from a dark horse in the Heisman race to favorite to win it overnight! Maybe a little bit extreme, but hey there's a shot right?

With Max as a possible Heisman candidate and Pitta, Unga, Tonga, Jacobsen, Chambers (still a ? in my mind), and George playing as though they actually want a BCS game this year, I think we have a shot at it. The biggest question to me is our defense. Come on D, prove me wrong!

Corbin Louks to transfer...

After being named the third string quarterback last week, Corbin Louks has decided to transfer from the University of Utah and join the Nevada Wolfpack. Louks had considered going to Nevada before opting to come to Utah, but has now re-considered. After losing the job to a true freshman, he decided that he doesn't have any chance of starting for the Utes and decided to go somewhere that he has a chance of playing.

Jordan Wynn has been named the #1 guy on the depth chart for now. This is still definitely a job that is up for grabs, but for now he's at the top. Being a true freshman and starting for a team that could have arguably been the national champions last season, he needs to step it up and take charge of the offense. If he just sits back and lets others take the lead, this team is going to win half of their games this year and that won't look good in the eyes of the BCS voters.

Pre-Season All-American, All-non-AQ

Well no surprise to anyone, but the only player from the MWC that was voted to be a preseason All-American was............DE Jerry Hughes (TCU). Hughes is an offensive lineman's nightmare. At 6'3" 257 lbs he led the nation, not the conference, in sacks last season with 15. This picture gives me bad memories of last year's game, but it shows what kind of athlete this guy is. Tall, very strong, and just a mean dude. That's what you've gotta be when you play D-Line. Congrats Jerry! Just hope he isn't standing over us again this year...

With Hughes being the only All-American in the conference, we get to the All-

Non-AQ team. Some of the notable players that I wanted to mention here were:

Dennis Pitta TE, BYUPitta was one of the keys of BYU's explosive offense last season. He was the second leading receiver for the Cougars with 83 receptions, 1083 yards, 6 TD's. Hey Dennis, how bout you try and break Austin Collie's record and make it 12 consecutive games with 100+ receiving yards per game?

Stevenson Sylvester LB, UtahThe 6-2 230lb Senior linebacker should be the anchor for a Ute defense that should be decent after losing some key players to the NFL. With a total of 73 tackles last year and 8 of those for a loss, he should be increasing those stats this upcoming season since Paul Kruger won't be there to steal his TFL.

Max Hall QB, BYUAfter the second half of last season, I lost my hope in Max Hall. Since it has been over 9 months since I have watched him play, those feelings of hopelessness have gone, and I have a renewed sense of hope. Max Hall is one of the best QB's in the country. When he is composed and has time to throw, there is nothing that can be done to stop him. Now don't tell this to any team that BYU will play this year, but the secret to stopping him is getting pressure on him and knocking him down. If this happens, he loses his composure and he turns the ball over 6 times in one game (November 22, 2008 in SLC). Good luck Max. Let's end the year better than we ended last year!

PGA Championship

Although Tiger Woods has no known Utah ties (other than having his knee surgically repaired in Park City) I wanted to mention how much I enjoy watching the four major golf events every year........as long as Tiger is contending. The one Utah note in this tournament is that Mike Weir is 7 shots out of the lead at +2. He is, however, in good company with other big names in golf: Phil Mickelson, Zack Johnson, Stewart Appleby, etc.

Watching Tiger Woods, or other local golfers like Mike Weir, play in a tournament is incredibly enjoyable. Tiger is the most dominant athlete in this decade. Some might say that Kobe, Tom Brady, Barry Bonds should also be considered for this label, but there are none that compare to Tiger. This year he has played in 12 events on the Tour and has won 5 of those. That is him winning 42% of the events that he enters. After this week it could turn into 46% with 6 wins in 13 starts if he holds onto the lead. WOW! What else can be said about this incredible athlete? Nobody in my book even comes close to touching his greatness in this decade. On average he is winning one major tournament every year. If he keeps this pace, by the end of his reign on the PGA Tour, he will have 30+ major victories. That demolishes the current record held by the great Jack Nicklaus.

With all this said, if Tiger doesn't end up winning, I am hoping for my next favorite, who just happens to be a local hero, Mike Weir to step it up and win. So much for me only writing about local sports huh?........

BYU Football

Well here we are only 23 days away from the kickoff of the 2009 BYU football season. Let me tell you that I just can't wait! I know all you BYU haters out there are just itching to watch the BYU vs Oklahoma game because you fully believe that we are gonna get romped on by a bigger, faster OU team. My oh my how the tables have turned. I was completely convinced that on January 3rd Alabama was going to demolish an undersized underdog Utah team. Happy to admit that I was wrong. Being from Alabama originally and being a huge Auburn fan (and also being a MWC supporter) I was cheering for Utah although I didn't actually believe that they had any chance of even competing in the Sugar Bowl. Joyfully I watched as Utah trumped Alabama and didn't ever give them a chance at getting in the game. Now I am calling for all you Utah fans.......

Here we are again (the MWC) in another game against a BCS national title contender. Granted this game isn't as big as the Sugar Bowl, this can be another mighty step forward for the MWC in the eyes of the BCS voters. If BYU keeps this a close game for 3 or more quarters, or better yet actually wins the game, and the MWC again sends a team to another BCS game, I believe that the Mountain West Conference is going to get an automatic bid to BCS games. This game, along with Utah's game vs Oregon on September 19th, and then BYU's game against Florida State on that same night are all HUGE games for the conference. Other notable games for the conference include TCU at Virginia and then two weeks later against Clemson.

All these things add up to make this one of the biggest seasons EVER in the MWC. I get giddy thinking about it. Not to mention that the BYU vs Oklahoma game is going to be played in possibly one of the most amazing stadiums that a college football game has ever been played in.

The First Post

Alright sports fans...here is your first post on my new site. I am happy to be starting this blog and hope that you enjoy it as well. I am going to be talking about the latest sports news and giving my take on all of it. First of all, I have to tell you that I am a BYU fan, and I dislike the Utes. Before you stop reading, I want you Ute fans out there to know that I don't hate your teams as much as you may hate mine. If Utah is playing any team other than my beloved Cougars, I cheer for them (most of the time-unless it is a conference game that we need Utah to lose to gain a better spot in the conference race). I also want all you sports fans out there to know that I am not a huge college basketball fan although I do watch some of it. As well as being a big BYU fan, like most of you I am a Jazz-Freak! Love that team and can't wait for them to get rid of Boozer. Can't stand people like that.
Like I said, I hope you enjoy my posts and leave me comments on what you think about my posts. Peace out and look for my first post coming soon...