The biggest conclusion one can draw from the game today: I am the reason for BYU's lack of success this season. If I pick them to win, they will lose. If I pick them to lose, they have a good shot! In all actuality, I had this game pegged as either a 31-13 blowout loss or a 24-21 win (see final paragraph of preview): after a coin flip I went with the 31-13 loss. Either way, I will be sure to pick them to lose a few more times this season, so they will have a chance...
There were a few plays early on that sparked the team. A fake field goal, perfectly executed that extended the opening drive and led to a touchdown. Then an INT on the next play from scrimmage by Brandon Ogletree (of course it would not be a defensive back) that also led to a touchdown. Then a promising drive that ended with a 2nd and goal interception thrown by Jake Heaps from the 1-yard line. Until that play, this game looked very much like old-style BYU football. After that play, however, most of the rest of the game looked like the new-style BYU football. Sloppy play, poor tackling, and open receivers running all over them.
BYU made a decision after that INT by Heaps: they were going to grind this game out on the ground. 62 rushing attempts, 23 passing attempts. It was very effective. San Diego State had the ball less than 15 minutes in the game. BYU had the ball for three full quarters. I do not believe I have ever seen it that lopsided before. I have seen 42 and 43 minutes on a couple of occasions. Crazy. But it was successful. DiLuigi averaged 6.1 yards/carry, Quezada 4.5, and Kariya ended the game with a 3.9 average, mostly because he was grinding out 2 and 3 yards at the end when SDSU knew BYU was running. He was up over 5/carry for most of the game and had two TDs.
There were some good things, but still some things that make me wonder how BYU will score at all against TCU next week.
The Bad
Punting: a 12-yard punt, a low line drive, and a pooch kick into the end zone. If TCU has a good chance to return a kick, or starts with better field position, those will lead to points. The backup punter must be bad to have not seen ANY action yet this season. One good punt in 4 tries is unacceptable. Riley Stephenson has one job: to punt. And he has been horrendous at it 4 out of 6 games. And, of course, he kicked off out of bounds once on a kickoff as well, just after BYU went up 14-0: way to go for the jugular...
Yards After Catch/Cutting Upfield: I should not criticize this since most weeks there have not been any C's to YA. However, it is obvious that DiLuigi tries to cut outside too much. The two times he stayed inside instead of bouncing outside were two of his three rushes over 20 yards. Good things happen when JJ follows his 300-pound OL. The receivers do the same thing: cut outside always. Some times, a lot of times, the middle of the field will yield more yards. And, while being grateful for only one dropped pass this week, it would be nice to see a little better tucking the ball after the catch. It caught up to BYU with one fumble, at the 20-yard line moving in to score.
Heaps' Internal Clock: for some of the non-freshman plays Heaps makes, he has a tendency to hold on to the ball too long. Both sacks of Heaps today were on him. They are coverage sacks, because nobody is open, but Heaps needs to get rid of the ball. It also seems that Heaps looks to make the throw he can rifle if given the choice between a touch pass and a need-to-gun-it. His interception in the end zone came with a shorter receiver who had 3 steps on his man. His man was baiting Heaps into throwing to the deep receiver and picked it off when he went there. Heaps could have hit the outside receiver or lobbed to the corner to the guy he threw to instead of firing the ball.
The Good
Running attack: with the exception of 4 or 5 double TE, I-formation runs into 9 guys, this was great. They pounded Kariya inside. Ran Quezada off-tackle. DiLuigi did a little bit of both. All-in-all, 271 yards is a dominating performance. Controlling the clock, grinding out the game, and eventually winning it with a 6.5 yard run on 3rd and 6 and 1:20 on the clock. This was awesome. Also, Bryan Kariya on the blitz pick-up is awesome. How many times does he come across formation to light up some unsuspecting LB who thinks he has a free shot at the QB?
Heaps over the middle: I would like to see Jake Heaps stats throwing the ball over the middle compared to everywhere else. It seems like he completes it 90% of the time. The receivers have a chance to gain a few extra yards after the catch. It is a thing of beauty. Why they do not do it more is a little baffling. I would like to see one of those long-developing play-action deep outs turn into a post route, just to see what happens.
Aggressive play-calling: the fake field goal call was beautiful, and the throw was perfect. The blitzing was amazing: safeties, corners, 6 guys came on multiple plays, and they brought 5 quite a few times as well. They ran the option which worked every time but one or two, even when Heaps ran it, and I liked the "wild Cougar" package with Matt Marshall. It was nice to see some gambling, aggressive play out there. I think 2004 was the last time we saw this many risks taken in a single game. BYU has been playing so poorly, I guess they felt they might as well. At least no one can fault them for their effort.
Kyle Van Noy (and other LBs): I am sad that he got his big chance because of injury but I am excited that he got his chance. The man was all over the field. He ran across the field, he was in the backfield, he even chased down Ronnie Hillman on his only big rushing play of the night. I have been waiting for a LB to make some plays like he did in the first half. He was a little quieter in the second half, but I think they made a conscious effort to avoid him. Ogletree got a huge pick. Wagner did well in coverage. The LBs did not have a great game collectively, but that was due to SDSU's pass-happy strategy. Their playcalling was 3-1, passing to rushing.
BYU fans have got to feel better about their chances to make a bowl game now. This was the best of the bottom five, and they got the win. They will certainly lose to TCU, and in all likelihood lose big to Utah, but UNLV, Wyoming, CSU, and New Mexico could all be wins. And who knows, after running off 4 wins in a row, while Utah is playing at Air Force, TCU, at Notre Dame, and SDSU, they might go into that Utah game with a chance at winning...don't hold your breath though. After a slow start on the road against Iowa State, the Utes racked up 506 yards and 58 points in the final 3 quarters. Plus they had a 78-yard punt return to the 2-yard line and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD. Dang, Gina!
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