Jimmer!

The BCS

Follow this logic:

Boise State beats a top 10 team in VA Tech in Maryland, basically a home game for VA Tech. VA Tech then loses to a lower division team in James Madison at home. James Madison finished the year at 6-5 by the way. Later Boise is handed its only loss to a top 25 team in Nevada. So the powers at be say that Boise lost to the only good team they played because VA Tech lost to little James Madison and therefore VA Tech can't be that good. 

So Boise DOES NOT play in a BCS game because VA Tech lost to James Madison. But VA Tech DOES play in a BCS game despite losing to James Madison.
Make sense?


By the way Boise blew out their opponent in the Vegas bowl by 23 points and VA Tech was blown out by 28 in theirs.
Shocking!!




Here is another one. 


The University of Connecticut plays in the Fiesta Bowl this year. With an 8-4 record, here are the teams they lost to: 
Michigan, finished the season unranked with a 7-5 record in the Big 10. 0-5 against ranked opponents.
Rutgers, finished the season unranked with a 4-8 record. The only Big East victory for Rutgers came against UConn.
Louisville, finished the season unranked with a 6-6 record. Beat UConn 26-0
Temple, finished the season unranked with an 8-4 record. Finished 5th in the MAC conference. 


But somehow, as an unranked team with terrible losses and no victories against ranked opponents, this UConn team earned the right to play in a prestigious BCS game with a 17 million dollar payout. If you couldn't guess UConn lost the game by 28 points.


I thought that the BCS system was designed to avoid these blowouts? I thought it was designed to match the best teams in the country against each other? I can think of at least 25 teams that would beat UConn any day of the week. 


This system is an absolute mess with no rhyme or reason to it. College football is the only competitive sport on the planet that does not decide it's national champion on the field. It's a disgrace in every sense of the word. 

A familiar tune

I stumbled upon this square dance recently. See if it sounds familiar to you. It's by Solomon Levi.

Sound familiar to you? It should.

The Bronco Effect

Here is an analysis of the Cougar defense in 2010 by game. The games will be divided up into the games before and the games after Coach Mendenhall took over the defense. They will be labeled as Pre-Bronco and Post-Bronco respectively.


Pre- Bronco


Rushing Yards Allowed
vs Washington-   128
@ Air Force-      409
@ Florida State- 278
vs Nevada-         239
@ Utah State-     242


Passing Yards Allowed
vs Washington-   266
@ Air Force-      65
@ Florida State- 149
vs Nevada-         196
@ Utah State-     192


Average rushing yards allowed per game: 259.2
Average passing yards allowed per game: 173.6
Average total yards allowed per game:      433.4 
Average first downs allowed per game:     20.6


Post-Bronco


Rushing Yards Allowed 
vs SDSU-      53
@ TCU-        108
vs  Wyoming- 63
vs UNLV-      22


Passing Yards Allowed
vs SDSU-      220
@ TCU-        273
vs Wyoming-  110
vs UNLV-      122


Average rushing yards allowed per game: 61.5
Average passing yards allowed per game: 181.25
Average total yards allowed per game:      242.75
Average first downs allowed per game:     14.75


The Cougar defense led by Coach Mendenhall is allowing 197.7 less rush yards per game then in the previous games. It is also allowing 190.65 fewer total yards per game then before and nearly 6 less first downs per game. The defense is only allowing 7.65 more pass yards per game then before.


Now it can be argued that the overall strength of schedule of the first 5 games was tougher then the following 4 games. But what is interesting is the Cougar defense under Mendenhall held TCU, the toughest opponent, to less total yards then the average of the first 5 games.
    
    Average yards allowed in first 5 games: 433.4
    Total yards allowed against TCU:           381


That is a difference of 52 yards.


Speaking of TCU, when you don't include the BYU game TCU's average home point total is 47. BYU held TCU to 31, their lowest total at home and 2nd lowest overall. 


BYU held TCU to 108 rushing yards, their lowest total on the season by 69 yards. 


Not including the BYU game TCU averaged 256 rushing yards per game, meaning BYU held TCU to 148 less rushing yards then their average.


What does all of this information mean? Well it means that Coach Mendenhall is one heck of a defensive coach. To make this sort of turn around using the exact same players is nothing short of incredible.


Cougar Nation is in good hands with Coach Mendenhall.

Utah vs TCU

A look at the recent conference game between a future BYU opponent and a former BYU opponent.

The next time Utah does a black out with special names on the back of their uniforms maybe they should put more realistic names on there. "Honor" and "Valor" are nice words but they don't really fit the Ute players very well. Next time they should do this:

Other words such as "Overrated" and "Pathetic" work nicely as well.

Oh and as far as the game goes, lets say that some mercy rules are given to Utah and the refs will treat the 50 yard line as the goal line for the entire game. So every time Utah crosses the 50 yard line they are awarded 6 points and a extra point attempt. 

If that rule was in effect for Utah and TCU had to deal with the typical 100 yard field the final score would be:

47-7

I AM BYU

I am BYU
I am the one who has a stretch Y on all of his vehicles.
I am the one who plans weddings and vacations during the bye week intentionally.
I am the one who doesn't own one piece of red clothing.
I am the one who has a 18 year old kid named Ty.
I am the one that remembers exactly where he was at the end of the Miracle Bowl.
I am a Bears fan turned 49er fan turned Eagles fan turned Colts fan.
I am the one who owns a wooden train whistle.
I am the one who comes early, screams loud and stays late.
I am the one who rakes his leaves into a Y.
I am the one who watches a guy named Jimmer and has flashbacks of a guy named Danny.
I am the one who heard what Max said and couldn't disagree.
I am the one who has 2 weeks worth of BYU shirts.
I am the one who flies the blue and white right below the red, white and blue.
I am the one who watched a Super Bowl MVP quarterback be on the receiving end of a game winning touchdown.
I am the one who has driven 20+ hours to see a 14-13 final score.
I am the one who has eaten watermelon with Lavell.
I am the one who hears "Caught for the touchdown! Caught for the touchdown! Caught for the touchdown!" every time his phone rings.
I am the one who witnessed a senior send BYU to the Elite 8.
I am the one who has "STLLOPN" on his license plate.
I am the one who watched a quarterback get carried off the field only to return and hobble his way to a National Championship.
I am the one who laughs when I hear the word "doink".
I am the one who enters the bookstore with the intentions of buying a 5 dollar shirt and leaves carrying 4 bags.
I am the one who stays till the final whistle in a blizzard.
I am the one who has embraced strangers after witnessing a blocked field goal.
I am the one who has "Enter to learn, go 4th and 18" on his shirt.
I am the one who watched a junior win the Heisman Trophy with one game.
I am Independent.
I am Tradition.
I am Spirit.
I am Honor.
I AM BYU