Ben W takes another look at the video

Here's Ben Wagner's second by second breakdown of this atrocity.

0:14 - Seriously, that guy?! What dirt does he have on Tom Holmoe? It has to be something really good, because he is the official MC of EVERY BYU athletic event; oh and by the way he's terrible. I still have regular nightmares of him screwing some poor guy out of a 3 year old iPod Nano during one of the BYU bookstore giveaways during timeouts of BYU basketball games.

0:20 - Dear Mr. Holmoe, consider this an official request to have the cute blonde who ran events at BYU basketball games be the new designated MC at BYU Athletic Events.

0:23 - I really wish the BYU Football T-shirts said "Check Down" as opposed to "Rise Up"

0:24 – “The coaches and players have committed to rising up, and by that I mean run draws on 3rd and 9!”

0:43 - What's up with the drummers? They have their gamefaces on like they're part of the line backing corp. I guess they forgot they're in the band.

1:00 - Our colors are blue and white, pretty sure no one is going to be booed for having a white shirt on. Red is another story.

1:11 - “Lets go down to the tailgate Brah, I heard its EPIC! I heard someone’s got some sick Rockstar energy drinks, it’ll get us totally pumped to skip the game and go scam chicks at The Loft.”. – every guy at Belmont on Saturday

1:12 - seriously though, a massive Mormon tailgate? Oxford Mississippi this is not.

1:20 - I would follow the band into the stadium, except BYU ticketing "rotated" me the WORST seats in the entire stadium for Saturday's game (Southeast corner), which are on the other side of the stadium from the band. So after following them in I would have to traverse the whole stadium to get to my seats, which is really just inconvenient for someone as lazy as me. Not that I’m bitter.

1:29 - "Don't stop believing..... Check down to that running ba aaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaackkkkk!"

1:30 seriously, if anyone around me mentions "Glee" during the game I will punch them – in their throat. I’m looking at you freshman girl from heritage halls who is a physiology major at the moment but will undoubtedly change to a Family Life major after you get married next month.

1:40 - He’s dancing. I will have nightmares about this.

2:00 -aw9cvnikwarararararararararararararsfa=0]]]]]]]]]]]]]gjaw]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]w]

2:42 – Sebastian Janikowski?

3:01 – “That’s another Cougar… CHECK DOWN!”

3:18 – Its probably more important that you explain what the band will play when we kick a Field Goal.

4:47 – see comments for 2:00

Conclusion – Who is in charge of putting these together? Every year I wonder this, because every year the football videos are really bad. As opposed to the basketball videos, which are normally pretty good. I propose that there be some kind of sports promo video oversight committee, and it should probably consist of the Cougaracity contributors.

BYU Athletics Video

One of the worst things I have ever seen... my thoughts:

Rule #1 "Wear Blue" - I'm superstitious, I actually never wear BYU shirts/jerseys to the games. I also have never seen anybody that wasn't wearing blue get handed a shirt to put on over whatever else it was they were wearing, pretty sure they made that up.

Rule #2 "Tailgate 2.5 Hours Before Kickoff" - How about you tailgate when you can fit it into your schedule? I know that student seats are all assigned anyway so why would I need to be there over an hour early after I finish tailgating? I'd rather spend my time watching the other days' games.

Rule #3 "Follow The Band Into The Stadium" - Never seen this done in my life. If they were doing it in the past, I probably just thought they were in the band and forgot their instrument.

Rule #4 "Don't Stop Believin'" - I sure hope to hell that Journey doesn't have to hear this... or anyone else for that matter.

Rule #5 - "Kickoff" - I'm pretty sure we have all been to a football game before, thanks though for the run through Rise Up dude.

Rule #6 "Cougar 1st Downs" - Once again, pretty sure we all know how to say "That's another Cougar, 1st down", but maybe that's just me.

Rule #7 "Touchdowns" - Yes, we all sing the fight song when BYU scores a touchdown. Not positive, but I'm pretty sure every university in the nation does the same thing, I'll double check on that.

Rule #8 "As They Take The Field" - That was the most clever thing we could come up with?

Rule #9 "Third Down Make Noise" - I sure hope that cue random song isn't these guys in the video singing "Don't Stop Believin'"
-Preston
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RIVALRY WEEK!

It does feel weird this game is happening already, doesn't it? It's been less than 10 months since the play which shall not be named. We'll be back later on in the week with predictions and also special celebrity predictions from both sides of the rivalry.

But for now, I'm going to go ahead and risk being accused of "living in the past." Here's a quick recap of the BYU-Utah Rivalry games from the last five years. BYU 3, Utah 2. Saturday is the day to clinch the "7-game series."

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Reactions from the Texas game

Obviously, all of Cougar Nation was devastated by the loss against Texas on Saturday night. We all thought a 13-point lead was safe - especially with the way our defense was playing.

Anyway, here are a few of the things I took away from the game: 

Play-calling

I hesitate to do this, because it was only Brandon Doman's second game as an offensive coordinator. However, we were promised unpredictability in this offense, and in the second half of that game, we didn't see it. After halftime, we started to rely on a run game that didn't work in the first half and certainly didn't amount to anything in the second half either.

What I don't get is why we went away from what was working. Throws to Apo and the tight ends was working and working well against that Texas defense, but in the second half, it didn't look like we ever tried it again. We could have at least squeezed another field goal out of that offense, couldn't we?

Oh! I almost forgot how angry I was when we got the ball back before halftime with 1:40 left and we decided to run out the clock (until the penalty). 100 seconds! That's basically a two-minute drill scenario. Couldn't we have at least try to score some more points before the Texas coaching staff got a chance to make mid-game adjustments?

Defense

I'm not ready to jump off the defense's bandwagon. They straight-up dominated the entire first half (so did the offense  **sigh**). They were definitely prepared for Garrett Gilbert, but David Ash and Case McCoy? Not so much.

The second half saw Texas' running game walk all over us, but when it comes down to it, they only scored two touchdowns in that half. It looked a lot worse than it really was. BYU's defense still made some major stops in that second half.

Bottom line: The amount of points BYU has allowed its opponents still ranks as one of the 30 best in college football, and the rushing defense, while only in the top 50, has played the 11th hardest schedule so far (according Jeff Sagarin). Both Texas and Ole Miss were considered rushing teams. Top 50 ain't so bad.

Malcom Freaking Brown

Another reason to not get too worked up about the defense is Malcom Brown. BYU won't be the last team to have a hard time stopping him. One of the top RB recruits of 2011, Brown broke tackle after tackle on his way to 68 yards. While that doesn't sound that impressive, anyone watching that game knew the difference he made. When he becomes the starting RB for Texas, he'll be doing a lot more than that.

Jake Heaps

Jake Heaps has definitely been underwhelming in the first two games, but the good news is that Texas and Ole Miss might end up being the best two defenses he faces all year. I know a lot of people thought that Heaps would come out lighting secondaries up, but that's not realistic.

Brandon Doman has said that, right now, Jake is not as good as the picture fans have painted in their minds, and that's on us for creating these lofting expectation that he hasn't reached yet. However, it would be wrong to say he isn't progressing.

If you really think Jake Heaps was awful in that Texas game, I really, really, really want you to go back and watch that Utah State game from last year. Watch the TCU game. Watch his first 3-5 starts from last season. If you really don't think anything's changed, then we really can't have an intelligent debate.
------------------------------------------
Enough of that, let's start focusing our energy on Rivalry Week!

Podcast: PB&J Report

Cougaracity contributors Preston Johnson, Ben Wagner, and Jake Welch podcast-ed it up once this week. In this week's episode, the gang talk about BYU's last game against Ole Miss, Mack Brown, Cody Hoffman, and more! In non-BYU news, they also make their Super Bowl picks for NFL season. Listen to it here and check out their blog here.

Also, you can subscribe to the PB&J Report by clicking on the link below:

This link

Enjoy the game today!

Cougaracity Roundtable Predictions: BYU @ Texas

It's time again for Cougaracity Roundtable Predictions. Last week, most of us (except for Ben) had BYU beating Ole Miss. This week, we also welcome former BYU basketball star Jeff Chatman, as he makes his prediction for this weekend.

Enjoy!

Guest Predictor:

Jeff Chatman
Former BYU basketball player
7th all-time leading scorer
Twitter: jeffchat

BYU 28 - Texas 23

BYU's offense will get into gear and score 28 points on the road! The defense will give up a couple of big plays but hold the Longhorns to 2 touchdowns and 3 field goals.

Ben W

Texas 17, BYU 14

BYU limits their turnovers but again struggles in the redzone. BYU's offense looks much better scoring twice, and the defense limits Texas to 10 points, however they give up a big play on special teams and Texas wins in another slugfest.

Daniel

BYU 27, Texas 24

BYU finally shakes the rust off and continues the trend it started in the second half against Ole Miss. Only this time, they stop sputtering near the finish line. Texas is probably better than they were last year, but this is the week BYU proves it's for real. BYU's first trip to Austin will also be it's official coming out party as an independent. Read more from Daniel

Jake

Texas 24, BYU 21

BYU will continue to focus on keeping the offense balanced but will not get any big plays down field. Texas won't move the ball consistently but will get big plays that will put points on the board. Once again, special teams will be the difference maker in this game.

Preston

BYU 20, Texas 17

My inside sources are telling me that the game plan for BYU this Saturday against the Longhorns is to take advantage of the size they have upfront and use the massive offensive line to manhandle the Texas defensive line. BYU will be running the ball. A lot. Expect double digit carries from both Brian Kariya and Joshua Quezada and for the Cougars to use the run game to go play action and keep the Longhorns guessing. If BYU can manage to score 2 rushing touchdowns and control the ball like they did against Ole Miss, they will win this game.

Scott

BYU 24, Texas 13

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I don't think Heaps and Co. were THAT far from putting up major points on Ole Miss. The offense was much more comfortable in the 2nd half, and that continues in Week 2. Texas doesn't have the o-line Ole Miss does (by FAR), so look for BYU to pressure the QB and continue to stop the run.

Premature Box Score - Texas

BYU @ Texas, 7 pm ET/5 pm MT, ESPN2

Here is this week's peek into the future (prepare your mind for being blown). Daniel takes a look at what most certainly WILL happen Saturday, when the BYU Cougars meet the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas.

BYU 27, Texas 24

Passing:

Heaps 24-40; 3 TDs; 1 INT; 231 yards

Rushing: 

Quezada 8 carries for 39 yards, 1 TD

Di Luigi 10 carries for 42 yards

Kariya 3 carries 9 yards

Receiving:

Apo, 6 catches for 80 yards, 2 TD

Jacobson, 3 catches for 21 yards

Hoffman, 4 catches for 58 yards

Wilson, 2 catches for 18 yards

Falsley, 1 catch for 6 yards

Di Luigi, 8 catches for 48 yards, 1 TD

Defense: 

130 rush yards allowed

215 pass yards allowed

1 INT

1/1 Fumbles Forced/Recovered

We don’t exactly have a huge sample size from which to draw, but after week one, this is without doubt the most accurate predictive box score on the internet.

Let’s take you through how we derived these numbers. First we made some assumptions:

Assumption 1: Texas looked a little sharper than Ole Miss did on opening weekend, with more offensive weapons and a quarterback, junior Garrett Gilbert, with a full season under his belt. Don’t expect quite the same dominant defensive performance from the Cougars.

Assumption 2: The BYU offense will be facing more defensive speed in Texas, but surely won’t be playing under the weight of so much rust. Di Luigi’s high reception numbers reflect Heaps’ perhaps too frequent reliance on checking all the way down to J.J. in downfield situations. But look for the Cougs to start spreading the field vertically and hitting deep targets Apo and Hoffman with more frequency.

(Receiving corps side note: During BYU's fourth quarter touchdown drive against Mississippi, they kept the drive going by hitting McKay Jacobson over the middle. With his speed, he outran linebackers and turned it up field to move the chains. Traditionally, Jacobson has almost exclusively been a deep threat—running fly routes and getting overthrown by a shaky freshman Jake Heaps until BYU basically abandoned the play altogether. My question: Why don’t they utilize him more midfield like they did this past Saturday? Jacobson can burn linebackers over the middle and Heaps and can place the ball with enough spice to help him avoid getting get laid out. Get to work on this, BYU--this first one is free.)

BYU’s offense looked thoroughly West Coast. This isn’t necessarily good or bad. Heaps is going to have to settle in to make the scheme work—a lot depends on hitting his men in stride and being opportunistic with downfield opportunities. Here’s hoping those opportunities come more frequently. Heaps has too much talent to basically play four to six yards down the field for 70 percent of the game.

The defense still plays a solid game, forcing two turnovers by the Longhorn offense. However, the secondary was aided by the Ole Miss WRs' inability to make big plays. Might not be the case against the Longhorns. A trick play here, maybe some blown coverage there, and Texas is in this until clock gets to 0:00.