Tuesday Tidbits, 2010 Week Seven

Win By 41 On The Road, Drop One Spot
Utah fans are up in arms about winning by 41 points at a BCS opponent and dropping a spot in the polls.  Perhaps that is a valid complaint, but look at who jumped the Utes: 6-0 LSU, who is the first team to win at the Swamp in over two years, and 4-1 South Carolina, who just beat the #1 team in the country, and defending National Champion, by 14 points and whose only loss is an 8-point setback on the road at #7 Auburn.  In reality, the Utes dropped for one reason: Strength of Schedule.  Utah 136th, LSU 20th, and South Carolina 24th, according to Jeff Sagarin.  Consequently, South Carolina's win over Alabama this year jumped them in the polls over the last team to beat Alabama two years ago: Utah.

(No Longer) Top 10 Strength of Schedule
With the win over San Diego State, BYU's strength of schedule has officially left the top 10, coming in at number 11.  Perhaps if they had lost, they would have stayed in the top 10.  With a game on the road against a top 5 team, however, they will likely get right back there next week.  Currently, 5 of the teams from BYU's 12-game schedule are in the top 25.  That is a lot of good opponents in a rebuilding year.  They have only played 3 of them so far!

We're Not The Worst, Part I
The battle for the best team in New Mexico might have been the battle to not be the worst team in the country.  New Mexico State beat New Mexico and is officially not the worst team in the country.  Although, the home team is typically "awarded" 3 points by oddsmakers, and NMSU only won by 2...

We're Not The Worst, Part II
After holding San Diego State to 53 rushing yards (38 on one carry), BYU is no longer the worst rushing defense in I-A.  They are now listed as 113th (of 120 teams).  They will probably need to hold TCU to under 300 to feel safe of not returning to 120th: anyone taking bets on that one?  TCU is currently averaging 279 yards/game.

Big Dogs
BYU is currently listed as a 30-point underdog for this weekend's matchup against TCU.  When was the last time BYU was a 30-point underdog?  My guess would be one of two games in Crowton's final season: USC and Utah, but I do not know for sure that they were in either of those games.  As a side note, they did lose those games by 32 and 31, respectively.  Does anyone know the last time this happened with any definitive certainty?  30 points is a LOT.

Weekly Charting of BYU Drives
Against SDSU, BYU had 7 meaningful drives across the 50 and managed 24 points.  That is, by far, the best showing of the season.  Bronco has turned this program around in one week from a lifeless robotic team to one with fight, swagger,and punch.  Unfortunately, he'll need to help them improve as much from SDSU to TCU as they did from Utah State to SDSU in order to have any chance this weekend...even then, it's a dicey proposition in Fort Worth this Saturday.

MLB/BYU Trivia
I learned yesterday that Jack Morris was a pitcher at BYU before trying his hand in the Major Leagues for 18 seasons with the Tigers, Twins, Blue Jays, and Indians.  He won 4 World Series.  He had the best World Series Game 7 pitching performance ever, which, in my mind, automatically puts it up in the top 3 best postseason pitching performances of all time.  He threw 10 shutout innings in a 1-0 10-inning win for the Twins over the Braves in 1991.  It was his third start of the series and he was named World Series MVP.  Not bad for a former BYU pitcher.  Nobody like that in the pipeline right now though...