Just how good is BYU anyway?

Alright – I mentioned that I had more to say on the BYU – OU game, so here it comes.

First of all, I have to give credit where credit is due. I was extremely surprised and actually impressed with how well BYU play Oklahoma in the first half. I expected Oklahoma to be sitting on a 3 touchdown lead at half time. I think you can attribute it to a few things:

• Oklahoma did an absolutely TERRIBLE job of rebuilding their offensive line. They were penalized over and over and over for holding, false starts, etc. Bradford had no protection whatsoever, and that really changed the whole dynamic of OU’s offense.
  
• Play calling. Can someone tell me why OU insisted on running the ball? I understand it’s important to establish the run in order to open things up for the passing game, but really? When you’ve got Sam Bradford slinging the ball, capable receivers, and BYU’s secondary, it should be a no-brainer!
  
• BYU’s defense has improved significantly. Their pass rush was great, and they had constant pressure on the QB (which eventually led to his injury).

So, in my opinion, those are the reasons the score was so close at halftime. Now let’s talk about the second half. The obvious difference is that Oklahoma is now playing without their best player. Even then, BYU couldn’t do much. The OU defense kept them in check, while the OU offense hardly did anything. Finally Oklahoma put together a pretty good drive. They got all the way down to the 2 yard line. They didn’t get in on 1st and goal. They didn’t get in on 2nd and goal. They didn’t get in on 3rd and goal. And so, of course, they line up on 4th and goal, as anyone would. Except they had a freshman QB playing in basically his first game since high school. He let the play clock expire. Would Sam Bradford have let that happen? I guarantee you, he would not. Thus, OU was backed up 5 yards and opted to kick a field goal rather than risk coming up empty. Again, I have to disagree with the coaching decision. Listen up, Bob Stoops. You’re on BYU’s 5 yard line, you have the lead, and the game is nearing it’s end. If you go for the TD on 4th down, you have the opportunity to basically put the game out of reach. If you come up empty on 4th, BYU gets the ball – on their own 5 yard line. And your defense has been able to stifle every drive BYU has put together so far in this game. They’ve picked off Max Hall twice, and gotten pressure on him numerous times. You would be in perfect position to score a safety, which also gives you the ball back. Why not trust your defense?

But even then, OU was still not down and out. BYU put together a very impressive drive that led to a touchdown with about 2 and a half minutes left in the game. On the ensuing kickoff, Mitch Payne boots the ball out of bounds, giving OU the ball on their own 40. They’re down by one point, so all they need is a field goal. That means they have 2 and a half minutes to move the ball about 30 yards. Did they accomplish that? Oh yes, they did. Except they tried to get just a little closer. And then, that magnificent OU offensive line had yet another penalty that moved them back. With time running out, they had to try the long long field goal. 54 yards is a tall order for any college kicker. They missed it. BYU wins.

So I ask again, just how good is BYU? If not for that one penalty at the end, that field goal is probably good. Have the Cougars really fixed the problems that plagued them against TCU, Utah, and Arizona last year? I submit that they have not. If you could pin-point BYU’s two biggest weaknesses last year, what would you say? I’d say this:

• Max Hall: Sure, he’s an extremely accurate QB… when he has all day. And in most of their games last year, he did have all day. But the truth is that any team who consistently put pressure on him, beat him. He was sacked, picked off, he fumbled, made bad reads, you name it. And what I saw on Saturday against Oklahoma was the same old Max Hall. Every time OU got pressure on him, he threw it up for grabs. He got picked twice, but it could have easily been 4 or 5. I also saw him try to squeeze it into triple coverage a couple times. I really don’t think he’s any better than last year. The difference? This year he doesn’t have a veteran O-Line to protect him. Thus, the key to beating BYU this year will once again be getting pressure on Maxie.
  
• Slow secondary: This was the other major criticism made against BYU last year. Because their DB’s were considerably slower than most teams’ WR’s, they were forced (or rather, coached) to play 10 yards off the receivers at scrimmage. This left the receivers wide open on short, underneath routes which a lot of times went for big yardage after the catch. Are they any better this year? I really don’t know. But I doubt it. Since OU barely threw the ball at all, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I’d just like to finish up by saying that I agree with coach Whittingham’s opinion of the polls. He thinks that any poll taken before 4 or 5 games have been played is completely meaningless. BYU beat #3, Oklahoma. So does that mean that BYU deserves to be in the Top 10, or does it mean that OU never did deserve such a lofty ranking. I’m inclined to think the latter. Time will tell.