Tradition, Spirit, Honor: Lost in the Shuffle

6 years ago, Bronco Mendenhall came in and changed the culture of BYU.  He wanted players and fans to remember BYU in its greatest days.  He restored winning tradition, raised the level of play, demanded more of his players off the field, and has been, in a lot of ways, just as successful as LaVell Edwards was.

However, at this point this season, it is almost comical how BYU is performing on the field.  Perhaps no better summation can be given than BYU's last 3 special teams' plays last night.  BYU marches down and scores a meaningless TD with 30 seconds left, only to have the extra point blocked.  Then, they kick an onside kick.  They fake the kick one way and come back and kick it the other.  The BYU bullet guy runs down and recovers the ball.  However, he was offsides.  They had to rekick the ball.  They run the EXACT SAME FAKE, and kick the ball again.  It weaves its way through Utah State players just as effectively as the previous kick.  The bullet guy puts himself between the ball and the sideline, but neglects to slow down and runs right past the ball as it goes out of bounds.

This is not traditional BYU football, there is no spirit (or fight) until the game is already out of hand, though I suppose it is honorable to let some of these teams you have beat continually for years beat you in dominating fashion.

When looking at the game last night, I don't even know where to start.  Jake Heaps made some freshman mistakes.  Put touch on the ball when he should have rifled the ball.  Rifled when he should have thrown with some touch.  Missed a few open receivers.  All of this is true.  But he needs SOME help.  Guys are not getting open.  They are not making any tough catches.  They are even dropping some of the easy ones.  I counted 9 or 10 drops, easily, not counting balls they should have got to.

Luke Ashworth should never see the field again.  The man has more drops than catches this season.  Bronco likes to reward the players who have put in the time over freshmen who just got there.  But Ashworth is an example of a guy who has put in the time, but there was obviously a reason he was not seeing much time his previous 3 years: he is no good.  In commiserating the loss with my neighbor Shane, I was holding a plastic sack with a glass bottle in one hand and my son's shoes in the other.  He threw a tennis ball at me.  I caught it without much difficulty.  I wondered why he would do such a thing.  He said: if you were Luke Ashworth, the contents of the glass bottle would be all over my floor, you would have knocked a picture off my wall, plus you would have dropped the ball.

The best BYU play of the night last night was JD Falslev's first kickoff return.  He broke a big return out to about the 40-yard line and got chased towards the sideline.  Rather than running out of bounds, he turns into the Utah State player and runs him over and gets 3 extra yards.  He's 5'8" and 175 pounds and he's the only guy out there looking to hit somebody.  I want that guy on the field more than an occasional kickoff return.  He can have Ashworth's spot!

Heaps could use help from the OC with running more hurry-up offense.  Against Washington, when Heaps was not moving the ball effectively, they came out with a no-huddle, quick snap, run the play now mentality.  He marched them into the red zone with ease.  The last two games, when BYU has been trailing they have gone "quick" in the second half, with success, certainly it has yielded a lot more yardage than the "normal" offense.  I do not think they should run the hurry-up all of the time, but try it once or twice before the game is out of hand.  The running game works better.  Heaps hits receivers across the middle better.  Receivers seem to drop fewer balls.  If it elevates everybody's game, why do we not see it more?

The other thing that helps ease the transition of a freshman QB is a little more help from the defense.  I know they are banged up NOW.  But they weren't against Air Force, Florida State, and Nevada, or for the first half of the Utah State game.  Everybody seems so concerned with their assignment, which is fine, but when the time comes to make the tackle, make the tackle.  Don't hold your position when the ball is 2 yards away from you and the ball carrier is in reach.  And for goodness sakes: PLAY CORBY EASON!  Logan and Bradley are not exactly blanketing receivers in the pass game and they are just awful in the run game.

Lost in this year's circus that is BYU football are those principles Bronco tried so hard to bring back: tradition, spirit, and honor.  There is none of that.  There is no leader on the field.  And where is Bronco in all of this?  As the CEO of BYU football, when your executive board (the coaches) are not executing at a high level, nor are your employees (the players), YOU need to step up and take charge.  I don't think heads need to roll, but find a way to rouse the troops to put some effort in.  They are getting outhustled up and down the field.  BYU's tradition, spirit, and honor requires maximum effort for 4 quarters and all week at practice.  I see a demoralized team.  I see a need for Defensive Coordinator Bronco Mendenhall, the one BYU had in the Crowton days, not the cerebral, even-keel, we just need to execute better Head Coach Mendenhall.  This team is not executing, so at least get them to play with passion, the passion that JD Falslev showed last night.

I could go on forever, and I will, but later.