BYU might not be the killer it was last year, but it'll still be good enough to be a major player in the Mountain West led by center Sete Aulai and a fantastic offensive line.
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2007 BYU Offense Preview |
2007 BYU Defense Preview
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2007 BYU Depth Chart
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2006 CFN BYU Preview
When Bronco Mendenhall took over as head coach two years ago, he
made a big deal about bringing back all the old traditions. In
2006, he brought back the old BYU tradition of winning
conference titles.
With one of the nation’s most efficient offensive machines and a
swarming defense that never got enough recognition, BYU joined
Wisconsin as one of the best teams not to get into the BCS. In
case you missed it (and considering the Mountain West’s lousy
television package, you did), the Cougars won their final ten
games of the year and came within a bomb of a field goal by
Arizona’s Nick Folk and a two-overtime heartbreaker against
Boston College of getting all the love Boise State is now
receiving.
Head coach: Bronco Mendenhall
3rd year: 17-8
Returning Lettermen
Off. 17, Def. 27, ST 0
Lettermen Lost: 28
Ten
Best BYU Players 1.
C Sete Aulai, Sr.
2. FS Quinn Gooch, Sr.
3. LB Kelly Poppinga, Sr.
4. DE Jan Jorgensen, Soph.
5. OT Dallas Reynolds, Jr.
6. RB Fui Vakapuna, Jr.
7. QB Max Hall, Soph.
8. WR Austin Collie, Soph.
9. LB David Nixon, Jr.
10. LB Bryan Kehl, Sr.
The
system is in place for success and the coaching will still be
phenomenal, but the loss of quarterback John Beck, the one who made the
offensive machine go, along with star tight end Jonny Harline and top
back Curtis Brown means the offense will have to do a bit of rebuilding.
Fortunately for BYU, Mendenhall is a defensive guy and will make sure
the other side of the ball picks up the slack as long as needed.
The defense lost all-star linebacker Cameron Jensen, but gets seven
starters back from a group that finished tenth in the nation in scoring
defense. The coaching staff is fantastic at making adjustments on the
fly and isn’t afraid to make big changes to get the best players on the
field as much as possible, so there might be several big position moves
made during the season. With several good defensive prospects waiting in
the wings, the school once known for being an offensive juggernaut might
have the nastiest non-BCS team defense in America.
Now the key is for Mendenhall and the program to keep the momentum
going. The demanding fan base is used to winning all the time, and
fortunately for the Cougar faithful, Mendenhall is included in that
group. This isn’t a mirage like the beginning of the Gary Crowton era,
when the program sunk into the abyss after a tremendous 2001 season.
This time, the good old days really have returned.
What to watch for on offense: Can anyone come close to matching
Beck’s production? With a good stable of young running backs and a
veteran line, all the Cougars need is a little bit of consistency
from the quarterbacks.
Arizona State transfer Max Hall has all
the skills to be another big-time Cougar passer, but former National
JUCO Player of the Year Cade Cooper might be in the mix at some point.
What to watch for on defense: More from the defensive tackles.
The Cougars survived last year with Jensen cleaning everything up the
young tackles couldn’t handle, but after a year under fire, Russell
Tialavea, Jan Jorgensen and Ian Dulan are all experienced sophomores and
should form one of the team’s strengths. Stopping the run is a must, but
getting more of a push into the backfield will also be vital.
The team will be far better if … there’s more of an overall pass
rush. It’s hard to fault a defense that allowed just 14.7 points per
game and gave up 17 or less in ten of the 13 outings, but the Cougars
were able to get the job done without the benefit of steady pressure on
the quarterbacks. To make matters worse, two of the players who did
generate a rush, Hala Paongo and Jensen, are gone. The coaching staff
might be good at tweaking, but it doesn’t want to have to get cute with
its scheme. That means Jan Jorgensen on the inside, or Bryan Kehl on the
outside, has to produce.
The Schedule:
Merry
Christmas. It's not an easy slate, especially with road non-conference
games against UCLA and Tulsa and a home date with Arizona to start the
season, but the Mountain West schedule couldn't be more favorable, with
TCU and Utah each having to come to Provo. If you could pick any two
league games to play on the road, you’d take UNLV and San Diego State.
Three of the final four games are at home to offset a mid-season stretch
of three road games in four. Playing Eastern Washington in the middle of
the year will provide a nice break.
Best Offensive
Player: Senior C Sete Aulai. A bit of a question mark
being thrown into a new position last season, Aulai turned into an
all-star center and a rock of the line. He has a low center of gravity,
giving him tremendous leverage for the rushing game to go with the
technique and quickness to be a brick wall in pass protection. He’ll be
the anchor that the rest of the line works around.
Best
Defensive Player: Senior S
Quinn Gooch. A decent reserve as a sophomore, Gooch turned into an
All-Mountain West playmaker, finishing fourth on the team in tackles as
a steady hitter all over the field. With his experience, he needs to do
more when the ball is in the air and pick off more passes.
Key player
to a successful season: Quarterbacks Max Hall and Brenden Gaskins. Whoever it is has
monstrously huge shoes to fill, and it could be a battle that lasts
throughout the season. Gaskins, the surprise of spring ball, is bigger,
while Hall is a gamer who turned heads last fall while running the scout
offense. He consistently moved the ball against BYU’s first team defense
in daily practices. Hall took the lead in the race for the starting job
when Cade Cooper went down for the year with a foot injury during his
first series in the Cougars’ spring scrimmage, but Gaskins was
tremendous in the spring game completing 19 of 22 passes.
The season will be a
success if
... BYU wins at least ten games and repeats as the Mountain West
champion. That’s a tall order considering all the turnover on both sides
of the ball, but the league schedule works out well enough for the
Cougars to build momentum over the course of the season. BYU isn’t good
enough to beat UCLA at UCLA, and could likely have issues at home
against Arizona, but that won’t matter if it ends up winning the league
title for the second straight year.
Key game: Nov. 8 vs. TCU. The
Cougars shocked the Horned Frogs 31-17 in Fort Worth last season to set
the scene for winning the Mountain West championship. Now they’ll have
to avoid having the tables turned, in what should be the league’s game
of the year. With both TCU and Utah at home in November, there should be
a season-long buildup to those final showdowns.
2006 Fun Stats:
- First quarter scoring: BYU 138; Opponents 15
- Third down conversions: BYU 94-168 (56%); Opponents 58-177 (33%)
- Turnovers: BYU 13; Opponents 27
