In Summation

I think the Vegas Bowl was a good representation of BYU's team this year.

The offense moved the ball well, but had a tough time getting from the 30 to the 10 (when they got inside the 10, it was almost a guaranteed TD). Max Hall made bad throws after making bad reads and he carried the ball loosely when he scrambled. Austin Collie and one other receiver had a good game (this time Michael Reid). In addition to the turnovers, what cost BYU this game offensively, was the fact that 4 times they got in field goal range and failed to put points on the board. It is tough to win a game when you come away empty-handed on 4 possessions that you SHOULD have scored on, factoring in punts and turnovers, it's tough to get more than 21 with what's left! Max Hall has to get MUCH better before next season, especially if he loses Collie to the NFL, if BYU is to get to 10 wins again.

Defensively, BYU's biggest problem was: there weren't any Poppingas on the team. There was nobody with the leadership ability, the mentality, AND the athletic ability of the Poppingas. After a 13-10 loss several years back, someone asked Brady about the game. He said: we scored 10 points, we should NOT lose a game when our offense can put up 10 points. This year, the D's response would have been something like: our offense didn't score 42, how were we supposed to win? The mentality wasn't there, so neither were the defensive stops. David Nixon is a quiet guy, David Tafuna was injured off and on, and Kellen Fowler wasn't all that good. The seniors weren't going to step up and carry the defense on their shoulders. Matt Bauman did a great job down the stretch (led the team in tackles and forced fumbles, certainly had to be up there in big hits), but he was no Brady/Kelly Poppinga or Cameron Jensen or Brian Kehl. The MLB/OLB and FS positions are where the leaders need to be in BYU's defensive scheme, and there weren't any. Next year I don't think the leadership problem will be there: Vic So'oto and Terrance Hooks will be back at LB, so those two, Coleby Clawson, Matt Ah You, AND Bauman will be playing linebacker; that will be a pretty intimidating group. Plus put Andrew Rich back at his normal position of SS, and I think leadership, mentality, and ability will take care of itself. Still aren't any Poppingas, but it ain't a bad group.

Special teams was fine, other than all of those darn missed field goals...with Sorenson going on a mission, Payne can settle in as THE kicker.

Anyway, the team needed to improve throughout the season and they didn't. Max Hall needed to take care of the ball and he didn't. The defense needed to bend but not break, and it broke early and often. The loss to Arizona didn't come as a surprise to me. We didn't play well enough to win, because we weren't good enough to win. Not this year.