New Mexico-BYU Football Recap 2010

Well, again, I was slow on the blogging this weekend and you have probably all read what you have wanted to read about BYU's 40-7 win over New Mexico.  So I will hit up a couple of the things that impressed me (both positively and negatively) about the game.

Joshua Quezada
He will be as good as Harvey Unga was.  He runs a lot like Unga.  Not fast, but very quick, with a bruising style and an ability to cut and accelerate through a hole and make defenders look foolish.  He finished with 15 carries for 107 yards and a TD.  He is going to be really good.

Cody Hoffman
Speaking of going to be good, the TD catch that Hoffman made on the goalline in the third quarter was the best catch I have seen by a BYU WR in a long time, perhaps going back to Kaipo McGuire in the 1996 season when he had a couple of humdingers (note: I didn't say by a BYU player, Harline and Pitta had some highlight reel catches the past few years and JJ DiLuigi makes one a week, it seems, though he is usually out of bounds on those grabs...).  He literally stole the ball in mid-air, mid-jump from the DB who was in better position and had his hands on the ball.  Plus his return skills make O'Neill Chambers jealous.  He just needs to tighten up on his ball security a bit.

Fast Start
BYU got off to another two score lead in the first quarter, for the 5th time in 6 games.  I realize it has been against mostly bad competition, but they did it to SDSU as well, which is turning out to be a better and better win with each passing week.  After the bye week (when the competition really diminished), they even learned how to step on the gas and take the opponent out of the game in the second quarter instead of clinging to a lead for the final 3 quarters.

Heaps as a Runner
The QB draw and the option were actually quite successful this past weekend.  On the goalline, Heaps had a beautiful fake pitch before cutting up the middle for his first ever rushing TD.  He has shown that he is not just a statue back there and will give some teams something to think about in the future.

Turnovers
BYU's defense forced 4 turnovers, including several in the red zone.  3 interceptions is a lot.  Having one by the nose tackle is impressive.  For BYU, having two picks by defensive backs in the same game is also a rarity.  Who knew Andrew Rich was such a ball-hawking safety?

Penalties
This is by far the biggest complaint for any BYU fan: 14 penalties for 141 yards.  That is a lot of penalties.  It is even more yards.  When a team averages 10 yards/penalty, they are doing a lot of really bad things.  Perhaps New Mexico just brings out the worst in the Cougars.  Perhaps even worse than Utah?  We shall see soon!