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| Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson checks in on all things BYU sports. |
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| I'm interested to see what Bronco Mendenhall does about the kicking game. From what he said on Saturday, freshman Justin Sorensen has the most powerful leg on the team but a healthy Mitch Payne has been very accurate. He also said it would be a difficult decision to choose the guy for the job. Sure, he could use both - Sorensen for kickoffs and Payne for field goals - but if Payne has fully healed and can do the job, Bronco could redshirt Sorensen, who then goes on a mission and returns after Payne has graduated. Now you have a great kicker for another four years. Then there's this: You're restricted with how many guys you can take on a road trip. Do you really want to bring three kickers (that includes punter C.J. Santiago)? That means you have to take a spot that would go to a backup linebacker, wide receiver, whatever. | ||
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| Thanks to the cloud cover, it was a pleasant day for BYU's first fall camp football practice. Most of the buzz on the sideline was about Austin Collie's stress fracture, which he called a "minor setback." The annual "freshman haircut day" went off well as there were some crazy 'doos apparent. Glad I never had that tradition. Brenden Gaskins led the No. 2 offense on a 13-play touchdown drive, hitting J.J. DiLuigi in the flat for a score. I must say, I thought J.J. looked quicker and more confident than last year. Freshman O'Neill Chambers is an impressive looking receiver and he might get some reps since Collie's out for a couple of weeks. I thought Matt Ah You, who's starting at inside linebacker since Matt Bauman is out for a week or so, looked very strong. BYU wants to develop its linebacker depth anyway, so Ah You getting reps is a good thing. G Pittman may be the most muscular cornerback BYU has ever had. Dude is built and has a great tattoo that reads "The Lord is my Sword," or something like that. Fui Vakapuna pulled up on a pass reception. Guess he's had a tender hammy since working out for NFL scouts this spring. They'll watch him and try to get him healthy for the start of the season. Didn't get a real good look at freshman kicker Justin Sorensen today so that's on the agenda for next week. | ||
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| It all begins on Saturday. I know Bronco's practices are all about the same and he doesn't plan on scrimmaging much during fall camp. This will be my fourth year as the BYU football beat writer. But doggone if I'm not jazzed to start covering the team on a daily basis again. On Wednesday we brought in some "blue haired" BYU fans (they were wigs, not old Cougar fans) for a photo shoot with Max Hall. It will be the cover of our football special section that comes out August 21. Max was great and the fans had a great time at the stadium. Max even threw some passes to some of the guys. You can watch a video on it at cougarblue.com or heraldextra.com. What will I be watching on Saturday? When the new guys arrive (30 minutes before the vets), I want to see O'Neill Chambers, Justin Sorensen and Bernard Afutiti. When the vets get there, I want to see Russell Tialavea, Fui Vakapuna and Vic So'oto. We'll have a story from every day of fall camp with a player of the day, play of the day and quote of the day. I'll let you know as soon as I can when practice will be open to the public. | ||
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| Bronco Mendenhall told us at the MWC meetings that Atem Bol, a WR from Texas and Seta Pohahau, a RB from California, probably wouldn't qualify in 2008. That turns out to be the case, and both will likely end up at Snow College this year. Why is BYU recruiting non-qualifiers? Mendenhall said both cases were unique in that English is not their first language. Bol is originally from the Sudan and Pohahau is a Poly. Mendenhall said he was especially touched by Bol's personal story. How will this affect BYU in 2008? Neither player would have seen the field this year. By all accounts, Bol is a fine athlete with good size (6-2) who could help BYU after his mission. The video I've seen of Ponahau (he played Aragon in San Mateo, which also produced the Tonga brothers) was impressive. Ponahau is a very good runner and a punishing tackler. Both will get an opportunity to play at Snow. Another way BYU is affected is with two scholarships freeing up. They could be awarded to walk-ons later this year. How much will losing Nelson hurt? Grant Nelson, who won't play in 2008 due to an undisclosed illness, would have been a backup at outside linebacker. He had 22 tackles last year in a backup role. This opens up opportunities for someone like Dan Van Sweden to step up. But that does make two solid backups (Terrence Hooks the other) lost. Mendenhall likes to use a lot of linebackers in the rotation. | ||
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| A few comments about the 10th Anniversary All-MWC football team: 1) I can see how people would have voted for Luke Staley instead of Curtis Brown at running back. Luke may very well have been the best athlete BYU has ever put on the football field and was spectacular in 2001. I voted for Curtis because he's the all-time BYU rushing leader. 2) Couldn't bring myself to vote for Utah OL Doug Kaufusi, because I kept thinking about the 2001 game. Video replays showed him punching Paul Walkenhorst in the groin and "giving the business" to another BYU d-lineman clearly away from the play and after the whistle. Same principal applied when I didn't vote Utah DB Bryce McCain for pre-season All-MWC. Dude gave up the 4th-and-19 to Austin Collie last year. How does an all-MWC DB do that? Call it the "Last Impression" syndrome. 3) That Aaron Francisco didn't make the All-Anniversary team is a crime. I've never seen a safety that hit like Aaron and he was a four-year starter. | ||
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| Good morning! Getting ready to go in and listen to Craig Thompson's "State of the Conference" address. It's actually one of my favorite parts of the media days, and I'm not sure why. I probably write too much about it, but I just find it interesting. A couple of things from yesterday: Funny moment before the podium session with BYU. Jan Jorgensen and Bronco were in the room waiting for Max, who was finishing up with a TV interview. When Max arrived he said something like, "We can start now." And Bronco, in his dry sense of humor, said, "This is a sad commentary on the hierarchy of the football program," or something like that. Also, we got Bronco laughing pretty hard talking about recruiting. I won't tell the whole story yet, but he laughed because he realized how ridiculous it sounds to say that he wants national LDS recruits (like Manti Te'o) to tell him why they should be at BYU, not the other way around. I'll tell the full story another time. Bronco also said since he's been at BYU they've awarded scholarships to 20 walk-ons. That's an interesting number, don't you think? Update from the State of the Conference Two things that came out of Thompson's address: The possibility of teaming up with the Humanitarian Bowl in 2009 and the chance to have games on CBS in the future ... but set your alarm because they would have to start at 10 a.m. Check out the Herald on Wednesday for more info on these and other issues. | ||
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| While lounging at the Green Valley Ranch Resort on Sunday, I got offered a beer by a Marine wearing a "Miss Hawaiian Tropic" sash. Only in Vegas ..., er, I mean, Henderson. Drove to the MWC meetings on Sunday, bringing my wife and 12-year old daughter. It's been a rite of passage to bring my kids down here and it was Shelby's turn. She's really in wonder about the differences between Utah and Las Vegas, as you can imagine. As expected, BYU dominated the pre-season All-MWC offensive team on Monday with six players - Collie, Feinga, Reynolds, Pitta, Hall and Unga. Max was pre-season Offensive Player of the Year. Only Jan Jorgensen was picked to the defensive team, which is typical: BYU won't have a lot of stars, just the best defensive team in the conference. David Nixon will be All-MWC by the end of the season, in my opinion. Cougars also picked to finish first with 29 first-place votes. Utes were second with five first-place votes. BYU had 299 overall votes to Utah's 274. I'm already looking forward to Nov. 22. | ||
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| * One of BYU's 2009 commits, Timpview lineman Tui Chrichton, will reportedly miss the upcoming prep season because of a shoulder injury (SL Trib). He's still going to sign with BYU in February of '09. * Another BYU commit, Palm Desert HS athlete Trevor Bateman (Class of 2010) has a pulled back muscle and is sitting out summer passing leagues. Should be good to go in the fall, according to the Palm Desert News. * John Beck's quest to win the starting quarterback job with the Dolphins might have just gotten a little easier: Josh McNown just cut the index finger on his throwing hand with a chainsaw. What, was he entered into a lumberjack contest or something? Actually, he said he was clearing some brush with his brother Luke in Texas when it happened. Josh says he'll be ready for training camp. * Quickie Batman review: Very dark (as expected), great performances, had more fun watching Iron Man, though. | ||
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| BYU quarterback prospect Jake Heaps led his Skyline (Wash.) High School team to a national 7-on-7 tournament title in Metairie, La. this weekend. Heaps was named the tournament MVP in leading his team to an 11-0 record. The tournament was sponsored in part by the NFL's High School Player Development Program. Heaps is only going to be a junior at Skyline this fall. BYU has targeted this guy as their No. 1 recruit for 2010. I think he's a more important recruit than Hawaii stud linebacker Manti Te'o in 2009. BYU can survive losing Te'o to USC but it would be more devastating to lose someone like Heaps. By the way - when BYU plays Washington on Sept. 6 Te'o and his Punahau team will be playing a game in Seattle the same night. I intend to check him out. | ||
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| This is my BYU Sports blog, for now. The reason this blog has been starting and stopping so much is because the Herald design boys have been promising me for more than a year that I would get a better blog system and one BYU fans could actually find on our website. Every time I wait, I get nothing. So I decided I would just lead people here until the geniuses in design figure out what they're doing. It's been interesting to see what the other papers have been writing about BYU this summer. My own personal opinion on BYU football is that summer is a time to rest up for the long fall and winter ahead. I mean, nothing is going on, really, other than weight lifting, running and coach-less passing drills. I guess I could write fluffy feature stories on what a player thinks will happen in 2008, but I'm looking forward to writing those kinds of stories when fall camp starts in August, when the players are officially on the practice field. BYU is getting all kinds of love from pre-season publications and the MWC Football Meetings in Las Vegas next week will be no different. It would be a complete shock if BYU isn't picked to win the conference. I'll be sure to include the obligatory quote in my story from Bronco saying it doesn't mean anything. Actually, it does mean something. Pre-season rankings give you a jumping off point when it comes to moving up in the rankings during the season. With BYU ranked in almost everybody's top 15, that's an excellent place to start. A couple of comments before I go: I can't wait to see Justin Sorensen kick during practice. The Bingham phenom could make a huge difference this year with deep kickoffs and Mitch Payne better be paying attention or he'll lose his job. And the position battle I'm most looking forward to this fall is at cornerback. Brandon Howard and Scott Johnson won the starting roles during spring but G Pitman and Brandon Bradley are closing fast. (The title of this blog entry is a reference to the original "Star Wars," a line spoken by Han Solo to Chewbacca. The actual line is, "Laugh it up, fuzzball!") | ||
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| Here are some observation from San Diego State's 69-65 victory over BYU in men's basketball on Saturday. * This is a big loss because the Cougars run into a very hot New Mexico team in Albuquerque on Tuesday. BYU's best chance to snag a road win was at SDSU. With only one day of practice, I'm not sure they're up for the Lobos in the Pit. * It's almost to the point where I think Chris Miles is more effective in the post than Trent Plaisted. Miles works very hard and came up with some impressive hustle plays. Plaisted couldn't convert close in shots over smaller defenders and just disappeared from the offensive end. That really hurt BYU late in the game. Am I the only one who wonders why he throws up these off-balance, double-clutch half-hook shots? Someone needs to tell this guy he's nearly 7-feet tall and can jump out of the gym. * Lee Cummard has been dynamite for BYU this year but he made some huge mistakes at the end of the game, missing the front end of a 1-and-1, throwing the ball away and missing a layup. It happens. Nobody's perfect. What's more disturbing is losing a 7-point lead in the second half. * All I'll say about the officiating is that consistency would be nice. The referees were calling every bump and hand check all game long (including the barely-contact call that sent Cummard out of the game) so White's bump on Taverari's 3-point attempt late in the game should have been called, too. That BYU shot only six free throws and San Diego State 30? You have to expect a free throw disparity on the road against a team that drives to the basket a lot. | ||
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| Sitting here watching BYU-TCU (currently 71-54 BYU with 5:34 to play), I'm struck by a disturbing trend: BYU is lacking a killer instinct. Think about it. BYU has had Colorado State, New Mexico and TCU down big early, only to let them get back in the game. Not that BYU was in danger of losing any of those games but great teams - teams that win NCAA tournament games - put bad teams away and never let 'em back in. Just a thought. Maybe that's the next step for this team, which is playing well. | ||
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| Highly regarded Lawndale (Calif.) linebacker signed a letter of intent to attend USC on Wednesday night, going back on his oral commitment to BYU in January. Apparently Pete Carroll has told Kaveinga he will hold his scholarship so he can serve an LDS mission. I call "bull." If Kaveinga wants to attend USC so he can play for a national title contender and maybe get in the NFL, that's his choice. But to my knowledge, there has never been an LDS kid that has been a top recruit, gone to a BCS school and then served a mission. Sound a lot like the story Cottonwood running back Stanley Havili told before choosing USC a couple of years ago. I don't think he'll ever serve, either. From what I've been able to find out, Kaveinga's parents and family really wanted him to go to BYU but he wanted to go elsewhere. So they probably pressured him into making that oral commitment to Bronco back in January. It stands to reason that his family wants him to serve a mission and he's told them he would. But just like his commitment to BYU, he's just telling them that to please them. Just my opinion. Take it or leave it. | ||
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| Norm Chow was just hired as UCLA's offensive coordinator, giving the Bruins two former Cougar coaches on their staff. Certainly BYU has to be concerned with DeWayne Walker as DC, since he helped hold BYU to 17 points in each of the two meetings in 2007. Maybe Chow can actually turn Ben Olson into a respectable college quarterback. He can use the extra help. UCLA should be pretty good offensively in 2008 but Walker has to replace some key players on defense. BYU fans should be glad BYU-UCLA isn't the 2008 season opener. That would give Chow and Walker all winter, spring and summer to get ready. As it is, UCLA plays Tennessee the week before it comes to Provo.That'll keep them busy. Should be fun to watch - and write about - next fall. | ||
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| On one hand, you have head coach Bronco Mendenhall saying the way to the BCS is "scheduling down." On the other hand, you have AD Tom Holmoe saying BYU will play anybody, but wants to balance the schedule. Is BYU talking out of both sides of their mouth? Not really. Bronco has said all along that balance is the key to any schedule. His comments about scheduling down have offended some BYU fans, who apparently want to play USC and LSU in the preseason. And does it send a message to the players that they aren't good enough to play a more difficult schedule? Holmoe and Mendenhall think UCLA, Washington, Utah State and Northern Iowa is a "good" schedule. To be honest, UCLA, Washington, Utah State and Nevada wasn't much better. UCLA has a new head coach and lost most of its best defensive players. Washington wasn't good last year but has an exciting sophomore quarterback in Jake Locker. Still, they both look like middle-of-the-road Pac 10 teams. Utah State isn't very good and Northern Iowa, while a good FCS team, should be a win. Something to think about: BYU must play TCU, Air Force and Utah on the road in 2008. Going undefeated in the MWC again is far from a given. | ||
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| About halfway through Tuesday night's BYU-UNLV men's basketball game, the power went out in North Orem. Good thing, because no one wanted to see what the Rebels were doing to the Cougars. I actually went out in my truck and listened to some of the second half on the radio. I know, glutton for punishment. But with the power off, there wasn't much else to do. UNLV left the second half wide open for comeback by playing poorly, but BYU didn't respond. Heck, even dreadful Colorado State cut BYU's 25-point lead to 16 in the second half just by trying hard. This is the second straight road game where it looks like BYU has given up at halftime. Dave Rose has a huge job ahead of him, because his top three players (Plaisted, Cummard, Tavernari) are so weak mentally. It's shocking to see players as good as these guys simply melt down under pressure. 1 for 10 from the foul line? I could drop kick the ball from the free throw line and make better than 1 for 10. How does a player as good as Plaisted go 1 for 10 from the line? Cummard had about four turnovers early in the game to get UNLV rolling and Tavernari was launching up shot after shot that didn't find the rim. If these guys can't get tough on the road, how is the rest of the team supposed to get tough? It looks like the heart and determination left with Keena Young, Austin Ainge, Jimmy Balderson and Mike Rose. This BYU team has the talent; I don't think there's any question about that. But somebody needs to get tough or it's going to be a long season. | ||
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| It's pretty much what I expected. BYU had a hole to fill in its schedule, and after talking to Bronco Mendenhall between the end of the season and the bowl game, it became apparent the Cougars wanted to schedule down. Two Pac 10 teams (albeit two mediocre Pac 10 teams) on the slate already in Washington and UCLA and a road game at Utah State meant BYU needed a home game. No team of substance wants to open their season in Provo, so BYU's choices were limited unless it wanted to give up a home game in 2008. No way that was going to happen, so Northern Iowa was as logical a choice as any. BYU should be pretty good in 2008. In 2009, BYU has games with Arizona State and Florida State, and wins there would really put the Cougars on the national map. They should be good enough to do it in 2009. Mendenhall is right in adjusting BYU's schedule. Getting beat up by big BCS schools really serves no purpose unless you win. Right now, the Cougars are on schedule for a big 2008 and maybe an even bigger 2009, which leads right into the time when the BCS contract expires. Who knows what system will follow? | ||
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| It's Sunday and we're waiting to fly home. With such a late game, I had to hustle to meet deadline so I didn't get a chance to finish the game blog. BYU was good and lucky in winning the game. Forcing five turnovers from New Mexico was huge. It was a bitter defeat for the Lobos; half their team didn't even shake hands with the Cougars when the game was over. I haven't seen any replays of the George touchdown/no touchdown catch. We go down to the field at the four-minute mark. When he caught the ball and the refs signaled a touchdown, I got on the elevator to go to the field. At least five minutes later, I walked onto the sideline to see they were still reviewing the call. The concensus I get from reading the boards is that while there was some questions as to whether George had the ball, there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call on the field. I'll let you know my opinon when I get home and watch the game over. Cougars are 2-0 in MWC play heading into the bye week, and that's very good. I actually predicted a BYU loss here in the preseason but changed my mind when I made the predictions this week. Just had a feeling the Cougars would win. | ||
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| BYU has been self-destructing in the third quarter. After taking a 21-6 lead on the Collie TD reception, The Cougars had back-to-back holding penalties and fumbled to set up one UNM score. The second was the third time in the game BYU misplayed the screen pass, and this time they paid. Getting ready for a tight, down-to-the-wire fourth quarter. Running game for BYU again disappointing. Why can't those big hosses move anybody? | ||
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| Nice drive to start the quarter by BYU, ending in a Manase Tonga TD. On New Mexico's next possession, Porterie should have never thrown the ball on the flea flicker. But BYU didn't take advantage of the Gooch pick. BYU stuffed New Mexico's run game until the Lobos scoring drive late in the second quarter. Tired? BYU receivers (Collie, Pitta, Allen) dropped passes on the Cougars final drive of the half. Again, tired? New Mexico's run blitzes are causing some problems for BYU. The Cougars need to take the second half kickoff and score to put pressure on the Lobos offense, which has been inconsistent under Porterie (two first-half picks). | ||
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