Obviously the big talk in Cougar Nation, if people are still tuned in after yet another season "ends" in September, is around the QB situation. That's all well and good. If Riley's healthy he'll play, unless he's ineffective, and then they'll say he's unhealthy and yank him...k, enough about that (and go Hill, in case you wanted to know which side of it I'm on).
I want to talk about the defense today. I watched one of the more inspired efforts I've ever seen from a BYU defense last Thursday night (and the Saturday night before too). BYU's D was put in bad situations time after time and came through on each occasion. Though, let's be honest, it helped that Boise State refused to kick FGs. I saw one of the great defenses in the country competing their butts off. The offense produced nothing, however, and BYU lost the game 7-6.
Fast forward to Saturday. I saw a team with my own eyes that has a championship caliber defense (well, really it's the front 7, I suspect OU will show how poor the secondary is here in about a month) and an atrocious/abysmal offense. Yet, in a game with essentially similar offensive numbers, the championship defense won. How did they win? When the offense wasn't producing, the defense produced! Turnovers were the key that fueled Notre Dame's victory over Michigan, in spite of an offense that produced less than 200 yards in 58 minutes.
People point out that BYU lost its last two games because they were -7 in turnovers those two games. In spite of defensive dominance, the one problem no one is talking about was that BYU was only -7 b/c the defense failed to produce a single turnover. That's not good enough if BYU wants to get to that next level: if BYU's D had forced 1 turnover in each of those games, BYU still would have been -5 in turnovers, but they would have been 2-0. I'm firmly convinced of that.
BYU's D is limiting yards and points, forcing punts, and getting off the field quickly. But when an offense struggles, a championship-level defense flips the field. They pick up a fumble and return it 47 yards for a TD. They pick off a pass and rumble 30+ yards to the end zone. Or just pick off ANY pass or recover ANY fumble. For as good as BYU's D has been, they haven't been a championship D. That's why BYU fans are clinging to the hope that BYU can still go 8-4 against what now looks like a much more difficult schedule with Utah State playing really well, Oregon State being ranked, Notre Dame sitting in (or just outside) the top ten, and SJSU receiving more votes in the polls than BYU (it only takes one to do that these days).
On a side note, I got to sit in on a (very candid) meeting with ND Hoops Coach Mike Brey today. I love being in South Bend. He got me so excited about something I've never given a rat's pooh-shooter about: Notre Dame basketball. The guy is a stud. He's sharp. He's honest. He's real. He did scare the crap out of me about how good St. Joe's is (whom BYU plays in Brooklyn in November). I am now an Irish b-ball (and Mike Brey) fan.
I'm still working on the football fan thing, it's tough overcoming a decade of being a hater, but I have to say, the atmosphere for Michigan-ND at night was pretty amazing. I spent the second half sitting right next to the recruits. They looked really impressed with the environment as well. Torii Hunter's son committed to ND right after the game. David Robinson (who was 2 feet away from me at one point on Saturday afternoon) also had a son commit recently. It's definitely a great venue to take in a game. I recommend it. I even have a couch for those interested in attending (though this year's BYU game the couch is already spoken for, but Stanford, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh...)!
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