Cougar blue and beyond a TCY/FOF Dynasty

[BYU 14]

2012 Week 4

BYE
Record Overall 2-0 Mountain West 0-0
Rank: 11th

Injuries
Wayne Harrison DE – Questionable – Hyper-extended Knee – 2 weeks
Jesse Gomez OLB – Probable – Pulled Groin – 1 week

Gomez will go against Air force as this is just too important to sit him, whether it risks further injury or not. Harrison will be back on the rotation as well.

Recruiting
Conrad Alston CB Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 277, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Clifton Green DT Kaysville, UT – Overall 323, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Vernon Cash DE Idaho Falls, ID – Overall 24, Position 9 – Visit week 3
Ronald Shelton ILB Magna, UT – Overall 299, Position 16 – Visit week 3
Ted Steber WR Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 348, Position 25 – Visit week 3
Russell Blackburn WR Delta, CO – Overall 23, Position 1 – Visit week 4
Tracy Murphy S Yuma, AZ – Overall 33, Position 2 – Visit week 4
Louie Winslett S Yelm, WA – Overall 217, Position 9 – Visit week 4

Three top flight visits this week including the #1 WR and #2 safety, as well as another member of the Winslett clan. Blackburn is promising as we are the first school he chooses to visit and he would continue our tradition of top flight Wide-outs and would likely see significant time as a true freshman. Either Murphy or Winslett would be a great addition, but getting both would be ideal as we have the spots in the secondary. Eight visits heading into commit week, hopefully means we will wrap 2 or 3 these guys up.

Mountain West Scoreboard
Utah 24 Minnesota 14
Penn St 20 Wyoming 14
Air Force 44 Hawaii 10
Yale 25 New Mexico 22
San Diego St 31 Columbia 16

A nice win for the hated men in red against Minnesota and an equally impressive performance by Wyoming, who may enter conference play as the most battle tested team in the conference, despite a 1-3 record. New Mexico could be in for a long season after being upset by Yale and Air Force looks in fine form heading into our big showdown next week. A quick check of their roster reveals they are healthy as well.

Mountain West Standings

School            W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  Streak  
Air Force         3  0  0  1.000 123 38  0  0  0  .000  0   0   Won 3       
Brigham Young     2  0  0  1.000 55  16  0  0  0  .000  0   0   Won 3       
Utah              2  0  0  1.000 41  28  0  0  0  .000  0   0   Won 2       
Colorado State    2  1  0  .666  78  46  0  0  0  .000  0   0   Won 1       
San Diego State   2  1  0  .666  75  84  0  0  0  .000  0   0   Won 2       
UNLV              1  1  0  .500  35  38  0  0  0  .000  0   0   Lost 1      
Wyoming           1  3  0  .250  61  107 0  0  0  .000  0   0   Lost 1      
New Mexico        0  3  0  .000  46  104 0  0  0  .000  0   0   Lost 4      

Next weeks Schedule
Air Force at BYU (TV1)
Colorado St at San Diego St
Wyoming at UNLV
New Mexico at Utah

The only game you need to talk about this week is us and the Falcons, which could be for the MWC title, despite the fact that it occurs in week 5. Air Force is led by some familiar faces starting with sophomore QB Orlando Borrego who has benefitted from a more wide open offense to throw for 814 yards and 6 touchdowns in 3 games, with just 1 Int. Borrego is completing 63.9% of his passes and is staking his claim as the best signal caller in the MWC. He has spread things out as three Falcons (Harvey Flanagan, Robert Borkowski and Antonio James) have 13 or more receptions and each is over 200 yards receiving. The running game is not as good as last year though as the Falcons average just 2.83 per carry, 93rd in the country. On defense junior DE Oliver Mauro has been a man among boys for the Falcons with an astonishing 12.5 sacks in three games!!! Cougar LT Stanley Baxter will have his work cut out for him in this one. The Falcons enter the game ranked 7th in the nation.

BYU Alumni in the NFL $ = Starter (Experience)

$Mack Linquist P Dallas (2) – The Cowboys fall to 1-3 at the hands of Carolina 27-17 as Linquist punts 4 times for a stellar 49.2 avg.

$Roderick Jamison MLB Denver (2) – Bye

Jerome Noisy CB Denver ® – Bye
Melvin Flynn C Detroit (3) – Detroit gets off the 0-fer wagon with a 28-20 win over the Buccaneers to go to 1-3. Melvin gets no stats and sees the field for only a few plays.

Donnie Newsome DE Detroit (2) – Donnie also sees very little PT in the win and records no stats.

Korey Webb LT Jacksonville ® – Webster spends most of the game as a spectator and records no stats as the Jags go to 3-1 with a 17-13 win over the Jets at home.

$Daniel Stoddard RB Kansas City (3) – Stoddard gets a season low 6 carries in a 20-6 loss to Baltimore, but still gains 50 yards (8.3 YPC) He also hauls in 1 pass for 9 yards. Strange he would be used so little when he ran for over 8 a pop when he did get the ball. KC is now 2-2.

Darrin Shields MLB Miami (2) – Practice squad

Jackie Trippi DE Miami ® – Much improved New England upends the Dolphins 24-21 and Jackie gets 1 tackle in the loss in limited time.

$Andy Schroder FL New England (2)- Schroder is 100% and welcomes back starting QB Donovan McNabb with 4 catches for 47 yards and a touchdown in the 24-21 win over Miami.

Paul Post QB New England ®- Paul is back to the bench with McNabb’s return and does not play in the win over Miami. He performed well when pressed into duty however completing 32 of 49 (65.3%) for 321 yards with 1 TD and 1 Int for the surprising 3-1 Patriots.

Leland Fletcher SE NY Jets (3) – Santana Moss is back and so is Fletcher….To the bench in the Jets 17-13 loss to Jacksonville. He is thrown to twice but can’t come up with either pass. The Jets are limping at 1-3.

Pete Winslett OLB NY Jets ® – Does not play in the loss to the Jags.

$Kirk Suarez RT NY Jets ® – Suarez has limited impact, going 0 for 1 in KRB, but again does not allow a sack. He has given up just 1 sack on the season in 117 pass plays.

Geoff Joseph TE Seattle (3) – Bye

Andrew Reynolds ILB Seattle ® – Bye

Calvin Shaw RB Tampa Bay (4) – Tampa Bay falls to 1-3 with a 19-9 loss to the Redskins. Calvin carries 2 times for 19 yards and gets his first catch of the season for 2 yards.

The only performance of any note this week was Andy Schroder, so he gets the game ball for being a big part of New England’s 3-1 start.

[BYU 14]

2012 Week 5

BYU 14 Air Force 7
Record Overall 3-0 Mountain West 1-0
Rank: 5th

Leaders
Passing
Donny Ellard 18-37-293 1 TD, 1 Int

Rushing
Wally Jennings 18-83 1 TD
Steven Lane 6-31

Receiving
Wally Jennings 6-73
Xavier Malone 4-80
Gilbert Meyer 3-48

Defense
Shaun Sweeney SS 7 tackles, 1 assist
Dave Yarborough ILB 6 tackles, 3 assists, 1 TFL
Kendall Timlin FS 5 tackles, 4 assists, 2 TFL
Benjamin Arreola ILB 3 tackles, 4 assists

Recap
It was by no means pretty, as both teams came out tight and mistakes were plentiful throughout. We had 9 penalties for 75 yards and Air Force had 10 for 84 and what was expected to be a wild shootout, turned into a violent, defensive war of attrition. Once again it is a stagnant first half and we go into the locker room at halftime tied 0-0!! On top of the penalties we could not keep the Falcons stud DE Oliver Mauro out of our backfield. He had 10 tackles, 1 assist and 3.5 sacks against us!! He is legit and now has 16 sacks already this season. In all the Falcons got to Ellard 6 times and though we didn’t sack Borrego, we did get 11 hurries against the Air Force QB and harass him into a 12 for 32 day for only 148 yards. In the third quarter we finally broke the deadlock just over 2 minutes in when Ellard found Lenny Finley down the seam for a 41 yard strike.

It stayed that way until early in the 4th, when Jennings went off tackle on a 12 yard TD jaunt to cap a 10 play 90 yard drive. The Falcons, who were forced to punt 8 times and turned it over on downs twice more, finally put it together going 65 yards in 9 plays on their final drive of the game. They elected to kick deep and we did what we needed to do, running out the clock for a huge early season win. A special shout out for this game goes to one of the unheralded guys up front, as Guard Bucky Glover went 5 for 9 in KRB and opened the way for some key first downs. The single season sack record is 29 set by LSU DE Jake Garcia in 2010. At his current pace the Falcons Mauro will shatter that mark in 8 games, he is an incredible talent.

Injuries
Jimmy Johnstone OLB – Doubtful – Abdominal Strain – 3 Weeks
Wayne Harrison DE – Probable – Hyper-extended Knee – 1 week
Mo Mikesha DE – Probable – Broken Finger – 1 week

For such a physical game we came out in great shape and I have no complaints here. We have solid depth at some spots, but the D-line is not one of them, so as long as I can keep these guys on the field it is good.

Recruiting
Oscar Forbes RB Oxford, OH – Overall 5th, Position 1 – Visit week 5
Russell Blackburn WR Delta, CO – Overall 23, Position 1 – Visit week 4
Vernon Cash DE Idaho Falls, ID – Overall 24, Position 9 – Visit week 3
Xavier Jamison T Okanogan, WA – Overall, Position 7 – Visit week 5
Tracy Murphy S Yuma, AZ – Overall 33, Position 2 – Visit week 4
Grady Shaw ILB Granby, CO – Overall 35, Position 2 – Visit week 5
Donald Cobb RB Poway, CA – Overall 42, Position 8 – Visit week 5
Charlie Gatas QB Bakersfield, CA – Overall62, Position 5 – Visit week 5
Joel Dillon G Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 191, Position 20 – Visit week 5
Louie Winslett S Yelm, WA – Overall 217, Position 9 – Visit week 4
Conrad Alston CB Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 277, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Ronald Shelton ILB Magna, UT – Overall 299, Position 16 – Visit week 3
Clifton Green DT Kaysville, UT – Overall 323, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Ted Steber WR Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 348, Position 25 – Visit week 3
Jamie Dayne DT Kearns, UT – Overall 446, Position 31 – Visit week 5

A great crop visiting this week and Forbes is a surprise. We are going against USC (of course) for his services, but an early visit tells me we have a chance. We are also the first visit for Xavier Jamison and he would definitely fill a need at OT for us. Apart from that I am excited about Gatas, but overall this is only a so-so year for QB’s and he also has all the California schools on his jock, with visits set up to Cal, USC and UCLA. We are the frontrunner for all the Utah prospects except Shelton (Cal) and Dayne. (Colorado) We are #2 for both these guys. We lose a couple of players to other teams that did not visit us, including QB Bert Turnbull to Air Force. He is the #3 ranked QB in the country and will likely step in to torment us when Borrego is graduates.

Mountain West Scoreboard
BYU 14 Air Force 7
Colorado St 34 San Diego St 10
Wyoming 13 UNLV 10
Utah 27 New Mexico 17

Obviously a huge win for us on national TV and it puts us in the drivers’ seat for the MWC Title. CSU is looking fairly good, while Utah and Wyoming were both involved in closer than they should have been games against the league door mats.

Mountain West Standings

School            W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  Streak  
Brigham Young     3  0  0  1.000 69  23  1  0  0  1.000 14  7   Won 4       
Utah              3  0  0  1.000 68  45  1  0  0  1.000 27  17  Won 3       
Colorado State    3  1  0  .750  112 56  1  0  0  1.000 34  10  Won 2       
Wyoming           2  3  0  .400  74  117 1  0  0  1.000 13  10  Won 1       
Air Force         3  1  0  .750  130 52  0  1  0  .000  7   14  Lost 1      
San Diego State   2  2  0  .500  85  118 0  1  0  .000  10  34  Lost 1      
UNLV              1  2  0  .333  45  51  0  1  0  .000  10  13  Lost 2      
New Mexico        0  4  0  .000  63  131 0  1  0  .000  17  27  Lost 5      

Next weeks Schedule
Rutgers at BYU
Utah at West Virginia
Dartmouth at Air Force
Brown at Colorado St
New Mexico St at New Mexico
San Diego St at Yale

Both teams from the land of Coors are bringing sacrificial Lambs from the Ivy, while San Diego St may end up as one. I wish the MWC teams would quit playing Ivy League Schools, nothing good will ever come of it. Rutgers has been pesky over the years, but this season they come in 0-4 with a Defense ranked dead last against the run and a scoring Defense ranked 116th. Hopefully this means a field day for Jennings and Lane. Offensively they are young starting freshmen at RB, 2 WR spots and OG, along with a sophomore QB in Mark Clark, who can be streaky. The frosh running back Joseph Edwards averages 5.0 yards a pop, but only averages around 11 carries a game with the Scarlet Knights trailing most of the time. This should be a good game to just pound it out.

BYU Alumni in the NFL $ = Starter (Experience)

$Mack Linquist P Dallas (2) – The Cowboys get buried by Tampa Bay 35-14 and now sit at 1-4. Mack punts 4 times for a 37.5 average. In four games he has put an impressive 11 punts inside the 20.

$Roderick Jamison MLB Denver (2) – The Broncos pull even at 2-2 with a 31-20 win over Cleveland. Roderick adds 3 tackles and 3 assists to the cause.

Jerome Noisy CB Denver ® – Noisy plays very little in the win, recording no stats.

Melvin Flynn C Detroit (3) – Flynn sees little action in the Lions first win of the season as they beat St Louis 28-20, no stats.

Donnie Newsome DE Detroit (2) – Donnie does not play against the Rams.

Korey Webb LT Jacksonville ® – Break up the Jags, who move to 4-1 with a 13-12 squeaker over Miami. Webb gets a scant few plays and has no stats.

$Daniel Stoddard RB Kansas City (3) – Bye

Darrin Shields MLB Miami (2) – Practice squad

Jackie Trippi DE Miami ® – Trippi rides the pine for the most part in the Dolphins heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Jacksonville. Miami is 2-3.

$Andy Schroder FL New England (2)- Schroder gets blanked by Tennessee as the Pats fall 33-27 to drop to 3-2. He is targeted four times, but can not manage a catch.

Paul Post QB New England ®- Clipboard duty in the loss.

Leland Fletcher SE NY Jets (3) – Leland gets no receptions in a 38-24 loss to Houston as the Jets are struggling at 1-4. Not that Joe Namath would care.

Pete Winslett OLB NY Jets ® – Does not play in the loss to Houston.

$Kirk Suarez RT NY Jets ® – Again Kirk starts, but he is definitely a weak link as the Jets do not run his way much at all in the loss to the Oilers. At least he does not allow a sack again.

Geoff Joseph TE Seattle (3) – The Seahawks stomp Minnesota 34-15 and Joseph snags his first catch of the season, a 1 yard TD pass from Riddick Tejeda.

Andrew Reynolds ILB Seattle ® – Does not play in the win over the Vikings.

Calvin Shaw RB Tampa Bay (4) – A big 35-14 win over the Cowboys to pull Tampa to 3-2, but Calvin is horrid gaining 8 yards on 7 carries.

I really hate to hand a game ball out at all this week, but I reluctantly have to go with Roderick Jamison, if a 3 tackle, 3 assist performance can even be considered game ball worthy?

[BYU 14]

2012 Week 6

BYU 52 Rutgers 10
Record Overall 4-0 Mountain West 1-0
Rank: 5th

Leaders
Passing
Donny Ellard 25-40-367 3 TD, 2 Int

Rushing
Wally Jennings 28-138 3 TD
Steven Lane 9-113 1 TD

Receiving
Lenny Finley 8-186
Wally Jennings 6-71
Gilbert Meyer 3-27 1 TD

Defense
Reuben Ballard DT 4 tackles
Kendall Malano CB 3 tackles, 2 assists
Shaun Sweeney SS 3 tackles, 1 assist
Kurt Mason CB 2 tackles, 1 assist, 1 Int

Recap
At long last we have the offensive explosion I have been waiting for erupting for 663 total yards against the Scarlet Knights, in a game that featured five scoring drives of over 70 yards. As suspected we exploited their horrid run defense, with two backs going for over 100 yards and Ellard chipping in 45 of his own. We also avoided any sacks for the first time all season. Conversely, our Defense put the clamps on Rutgers, holding them to 9 net yards on the ground and 219 for the game as Rutgers QB Mark Clark was held to 14-45 passing by dominant secondary play and a relentless rush. The lone bright spot for Rutgers was sophomore receiver Lamar Breaux who hauled in 7 balls for 117 yards. We were able to empty the bench and got lots of players’ reps, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Our first “complete” outing of the year.

Injuries
Jimmy Johnstone OLB – Questionable – Abdominal Strain – 2 Weeks

No injuries at all and we have everyone totally healthy outside of Johnstone. A great spot to be in heading into the meat of the MWC schedule.

Recruiting
Oscar Forbes RB Oxford, OH – Overall 5th, Position 1 – Visit week 5
Russell Blackburn WR Delta, CO – Overall 23, Position 1 – Visit week 4
Vernon Cash DE Idaho Falls, ID – Overall 24, Position 9 – Visit week 3
Xavier Jamison T Okanogan, WA – Overall, Position 7 – Visit week 5
Tracy Murphy S Yuma, AZ – Overall 33, Position 2 – Visit week 4
Grady Shaw ILB Granby, CO – Overall 35, Position 2 – Visit week 5
Donald Cobb RB Poway, CA – Overall 42, Position 8 – Visit week 5
Charlie Gatas QB Bakersfield, CA – Overall 62, Position 5 – Commit to USC week 6
Jimmy Cassidy T St Louis, MO – Overall 112, Position 15 – Visit week 6
Jared Alderman C Shelby, North Carolina – Overall 162, Position 5 – Visit week 6
Joel Dillon G Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 191, Position 20 – Visit week 5
Louie Winslett S Yelm, WA – Overall 217, Position 9 – Visit week 4
Conrad Alston CB Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 277, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Ronald Shelton ILB Magna, UT – Overall 299, Position 16 – Visit week 3
Juan Cobb CB West Jordan, UT – Overall 312, Position 28 – Visit week 6
Clifton Green DT Kaysville, UT – Overall 323, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Ted Steber WR Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 348, Position 25 – Visit week 3
Jamie Dayne DT Kearns, UT – Overall 446, Position 31 – Visit week 5

Three new visits, but we lost our top QB to, who else, the fucking Trojans!!! We are down to just a single QB on the board and will not get the quality I had hoped for at this post. Jimmy Cassidy is the most promising of the new visits and at a position we have a big need at. I am really hoping we get some commits this next week, I don’t like being stretched late into the season with low numbers. Of the guys that have paid us a visit we are now #1 with seven of them.

Mountain West Scoreboard
BYU 52 Rutgers 10
West Virginia 28 Utah 14
Air Force 62 Dartmouth 10
Colorado St 38 Brown 22
New Mexico St 45 New Mexico 13
San Diego St 21 Yale 20

Air Force was obviously a little upset this week and Dartmouth paid the price. New Mexico officially takes over the conference Dog title, dropping to 0-5 after a pasting at the hands of their in state rival. CSU seems to be playing well, but I question the sturdiness of their defense.

Mountain West Standings

School            W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  Streak  
Brigham Young     4  0  0  1.000 121 33  1  0  0  1.000 14  7   Won 5       
Colorado State    4  1  0  .800  150 78  1  0  0  1.000 34  10  Won 3       
Utah              3  1  0  .750  92  73  1  0  0  1.000 27  17  Lost 1      
Wyoming           2  3  0  .400  74  117 1  0  0  1.000 13  10  Won 1       
Air Force         4  1  0  .800  192 62  0  1  0  .000  7   14  Won 1       
San Diego State   3  2  0  .600  106 138 0  1  0  .000  10  34  Won 1       
UNLV              1  2  0  .333  45  51  0  1  0  .000  10  13  Lost 2      
New Mexico        0  5  0  .000  76  176 0  1  0  .000  17  27  Lost 6      

Next weeks Schedule
BYU at Wyoming (TV4)
Air Force at New Mexico
UNLV at Colorado St
Utah at San Diego St

I don’t think Wyoming has the team they had last year, but with the game in Laramie anything can happen. AJ Cosell is back at QB for the Pokes and the sophomore has fallen off a bit from last year, with only 605 yards passing, 4 TD and 4 Int coming in. He also has been bottled up as a scrambler with only 8 net yards rushing. Senior Terrell Brennan has stepped in as the feature back and has 468 yards rushing through 5 games, though he will enter our game suffering the after effects of a concussion. Part of Cosells issues could be the fact that the leading returning receiver (Bruce Bergman) only had 26 receptions last year and fact that only one starter returns from last years line, with the Pokes best lineman, C Wally Boltwood out on academic suspension. The Lobos are in for an ass whipping and UNLV is better, but should still get walloped by CSU. I see the Utah/SDSU game as a tossup.

BYU Alumni in the NFL $ = Starter (Experience)

$Mack Linquist P Dallas (2) – Dallas gets stymied by Washington 20-17 and Linquist is called on to punt a season high 8 times for a 47.8 average. Dallas now sits at 1-5.

$Roderick Jamison MLB Denver (2) – The Broncos are on a mini roll and go to 3-2 with a 28-3 shocker over the Steelers. Jamison has 5 tackles, 1 assist and 1 sack in the win.

Jerome Noisy CB Denver ® – Noisy plays some in the win over Pitt, garnering 1 tackle and allowing 1 catch.

Melvin Flynn C Detroit (3) – Detroit gets back on the losing track falling to 1-4 with a heartbreaking 17-16 loss to the Packers. Flynn goes 0 for 2 in KRB off the bench.

Donnie Newsome DE Detroit (2) – Newsome gets his most significant PT of the season in the loss to Green Bay, recording 2 tackles and 1 assist.

Korey Webb LT Jacksonville ® – Jacksonville is now 5-1 with a 30-6 shellacking of Indy as Webb gets in for a few plays and goes 0 for 1 in KRB.

$Daniel Stoddard RB Kansas City (3) – Stoddard comes off the bye with his best game of the season with 20 carries for 92 yards, but the Chiefs fall to Cincinnati at now sit at 2-3 after their third straight defeat.

Darrin Shields MLB Miami (2) – Practice squad

Jackie Trippi DE Miami ® – Jackie gets some quality reps, recording 1 tackle, his first NFL sack and 2 hurries as the Dolphins pull to 3-3 with a 23-0 whitewashing of Tennessee.

$Andy Schroder FL New England (2)- Bye

Paul Post QB New England ®- Bye

Leland Fletcher SE NY Jets (3) – Bye

Pete Winslett OLB NY Jets ® – Bye

$Kirk Suarez RT NY Jets ® – Bye

Geoff Joseph TE Seattle (3) – Joseph sees little time on the Seahawks 17-9 loss to San Francisco. The Seahawks drop to 2-2-1 with the loss.

Andrew Reynolds ILB Seattle ® – Does not play in the loss to Frisco.

Calvin Shaw RB Tampa Bay (4) – It just gets worse for Calvin, 2 carries for 1 yard as Tampa beats Atlanta to go to 4-2.

Jamison had a strong game, but the game ball this week finally finds its way back to D-Stod.

[BYU 14]

2012 Week 7

BYU 56 Wyoming 7
Record Overall 5-0 Mountain West 2-0
Rank: 3rd

Leaders
Passing
Donny Ellard 17-22-263 2 TD, 1 Int
Donnie Davison 3-4-68 1 TD

Rushing
Wally Jennings 21-101 3 TD
Steven Lane 11-68 1 TD

Receiving
Xavier Malone 7-101 2 TD
Lenny Finley 5-104 1 TD
Gilbert Meyer 3-31
Martin Autry 3-77

Defense
Kendall Timlin FS 6 tackles, 1 Int, 1 PD
Dave Yarborough ILB 6 tackles
Kendall Malano CB 4 tackles, 1 PD
Shaun Sweeney SS 3 tackles, 1 assist, 1 Int

Recap
For the second week in a row we are unstoppable and Ellard is done early in the third quarter after a near flawless outing. His only mistake was throwing a pick in the end zone on our opening drive of the game. We are really starting to gel on that side of the ball and racked up another big day running with 190 yards, as well as 370 yards passing. As great as these numbers are, what our defense did is astounding!! Wyomings only score came on an 86 yard kickoff return by Bruce Bergman as we held their offense to 90 total yards!! Cowboy QB AJ Cosell had the kind of game only a three day kegger can erase. He was 2-17 for 18 yards, 2 interceptions and was sacked 4 times before being pulled for the more mobile Mel Guerrero, a redshirt freshman who ended up as Wyomings leading rusher with 23 yards, but faired only slightly better than Cosell passing, ending 2-7 for 26 yards. Freshman sensation Dave Yarborough is living up to the hype so far, as he leads our team with 27 tackles, 10 assists, 7 TFL, 1 interception and 3 passes defensed. He could be our best ever if he continues to develop. We also get up to #3 in the nation, but it is way too early to celebrate anything.

Injuries
Kennedy Mathis QB – Out – Knee surgery – Up to 9 weeks
Jimmy Johnstone OLB – Probable – Abdominal Strain – 1 Week

You have to feel for Mathis, the redshirt freshman who is the heir apparent to Ellard, throws a 39 yard TD on his first collegiate pass attempt, is picked off on his second and in the process injures his ACL. All our starters are still completely healthy as we close in on the halfway mark.

Recruiting
Oscar Forbes RB Oxford, OH – Overall 5th, Position 1 – Visit week 5
Stephen Vanderjagt OLB Standish, MI – Overall 12, Position 1 – Visit week 7
Russell Blackburn WR Delta, CO – Overall 23, Position 1 – Visit week 4
Vernon Cash DE Idaho Falls, ID – Overall 24, Position 9 – Commits to Boise St week 7
Xavier Jamison T Okanogan, WA – Overall 27, Position 7 – Visit week 5
Ted Olivo WR Newburgh, NY – Overall 30, Position 2 – Visit week 7
Tracy Murphy S Yuma, AZ – Overall 33, Position 2 – Visit week 4
Grady Shaw ILB Granby, CO – Overall 35, Position 2 – Commits to Notre Dame week 7
Donald Cobb RB Poway, CA – Overall 42, Position 8 – Visit week 5
Greg Miller QB Cranston, RI – Overall 43, Position 1 – Visit week 7
Ernest Jefferson QB Arden Hills, MN – Overall 61, Position 5 – Visit week 7
Charlie Gatas QB Bakersfield, CA – Overall 62, Position 5 – Commits to USC week 6
Jimmy Cassidy T St Louis, MO – Overall 112, Position 15 – Visit week 6
Tony Dawson OLB Ashland, KY – Overall 160, Position 10 – Visit week 7
Jared Alderman C Shelby, North Carolina – Overall 162, Position 5 – Visit week 6
Dana Beyer QB Mount Pleasant, IA – Overall 180, Position 14 – Visit week 7
Joel Dillon G Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 191, Position 20 – Visit week 5
Louie Winslett S Yelm, WA – Overall 217, Position 9 – Visit week 4
Conrad Alston CB Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 277, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Ronald Shelton ILB Magna, UT – Overall 299, Position 16 – Visit week 3
Juan Cobb CB West Jordan, UT – Overall 312, Position 28 – Visit week 6
Clifton Green DT Kaysville, UT – Overall 323, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Ted Steber WR Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 348, Position 25 – Visit week 3
Jamie Dayne DT Kearns, UT – Overall 446, Position 31 – Commits to BYU week 7

We lose two solid recruits who had given us a visit and pick up our first commit, a decent enough DT that will help us. I expected to lose Shaw, but thought we had a great chance at Cash and I am surprised he picked Boise, even if he is a local kid. Vanderjagt is a welcome visitor, the number 1 OLB in the country makes BYU his final stop. Amazingly he did not visit Michigan and we will compete with Louisville, Tennessee, Miami and South Florida for his services. There may be something to this New York pipeline as Olivo is another great prospect that will give us a look. We are the best fit for him academically (his #1 emphasis) but Michigan and Ohio St are two of the other teams in the mix. At QB Miller is a long shot, but I think we have a real chance at Jefferson.

Mountain West Scoreboard
BYU 56 Wyoming 7
Air Force 48 New Mexico 14
Colorado St 34 UNLV 0
San Diego St 15 Utah 14

Tough loss for our buddies up north as the Aztecs gamble and hit a 2 point conversion to win it. Their offense is looking shaky and you can bet I will look to run it up against them if I can. Air Force continues to roll, while CSU looks to be the deal as they rout the Rebels!

Mountain West Standings

School            W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  Streak  
Brigham Young     5  0  0  1.000 177 40  2  0  0  1.000 70  14  Won 6       
Colorado State    5  1  0  .833  184 78  2  0  0  1.000 68  10  Won 4       
Air Force         5  1  0  .833  240 76  1  1  0  .500  55  28  Won 2       
San Diego State   4  2  0  .666  121 152 1  1  0  .500  25  48  Won 2       
Utah              3  2  0  .600  106 88  1  1  0  .500  41  32  Lost 2      
Wyoming           2  4  0  .333  81  173 1  1  0  .500  20  66  Lost 1      
UNLV              1  3  0  .250  45  85  0  2  0  .000  10  47  Lost 3      
New Mexico        0  6  0  .000  90  224 0  2  0  .000  31  75  Lost 7    

Next weeks Schedule
San Diego St at BYU (TV4)
Colorado St at Air Force (TV3)
North Texas at UNLV
Wyoming at Utah

An absolutely huge game between CSU and Air Force as the Rams will look to validate their place as a top tier team in the MWC this year, while the Falcons need to win to stay in the chase position as we were with them last year. (I will actually tune into this one) We draw the semi-surprising Aztecs, fresh off a thrilling upset over Utah. Offensively they are average overall, but do throw the ball fairly well behind senior Willie Lazer in his second year as starter, who looks to have cut down on his mistake from last year. He still gets sacked a lot (26 times in 6 games) and we will press him. The running game is sparse, with starter Herman Jacobs averaging only 3.1 per carry, with 140 yards on the year. More impressive has been sophomore Raymond Jefferson. He leads the team with 186 yards and a 6.2 per carry average off the bench. The fans are starting to clamor for him to start. They do have a solid linebacking corps, with true freshman Julio Harris and sophomores Austin Coffey and Paul Galloway all over 40 tackles. This group could become formidable as they mature.

BYU Alumni in the NFL $ = Starter (Experience)

$Mack Linquist P Dallas (2) – The Cowboys edge the Giants 16-13 to move to 2-5 and Mack punts 7 times for a 44.5 avg.

$Roderick Jamison MLB Denver (2) – The Broncos are now 4-2 after their third straight win 23-20 over Baltimore. Jamison has 4 tackles and 5 assists.

Jerome Noisy CB Denver ® – Jerome sees limited action against the Ravens and records no stats.

$Melvin Flynn C Detroit (3) – The Lions are now 1-5 as they fall to the 49ers 13-10. Flynn gets his first start of the year for the injured Richie May and goes 1 for 2 in KRB.

Ellis Baxter C Detroit (2) – Baxter gets picked up off the free agent scrap heap to backup his former line mate, but does not play in the loss to the Niners.

Donnie Newsome DE Detroit (2) – Coming off a decent effort against Green Bay, Donnie sees no action against San Francisco.

Korey Webb LT Jacksonville ® – Webb does not play as Jacksonville goes to 6-1 with a 21-16 win over Tennessee. The Jaguars are emerging as one of the teams to beat in the AFC.

$Daniel Stoddard RB Kansas City (3) – D-Stod breaks the 100 yard barrier for the first time in 2012, running for 115 yards on 23 carries as the Chiefs move to 3-3 after trouncing Oakland 30-3.

Darrin Shields MLB Miami (2) – Practice squad

Jackie Trippi DE Miami ® – The Dolphins slip back under .500 at 3-4 after a 25-14 loss to Buffalo. Trippi has 1 tackle off the bench.

$Andy Schroder FL New England (2)- Defense fails the Patriots as they return from their bye week to a 37-21 throttling at the hands of Houston. Schroder has a rather non-descript 2 catches for 22 yards.

Paul Post QB New England ®- Clipboard duty for Paul in the loss.

Leland Fletcher SE NY Jets (3) – The Jets crush Indianapolis 35-3, but Fletcher does not see the field. New York is now 2-4.

Pete Winslett OLB NY Jets ® – Winslett also rides the pine in the big win over the Colts.

$Kirk Suarez RT NY Jets ® – Kirk goes 0 for 1 in KRB and allows no sacks in the Jets victory. For the year Suarez has allowed just 1 sack in 153 passing plays.

Geoff Joseph TE Seattle (3) – Geoff does not play as the Seahawks fall to Arizona 23-20. The loss drops Seattle to 2-3-1.

Andrew Reynolds ILB Seattle ® – Sees the field only from the bench in the loss to the Cardinals.

Calvin Shaw RB Tampa Bay (4) – Every game is a step back for Calvin. In a 30-24 win over Philadelphia he carries 2 times for minus 1 yard. Over the last three games Shaw has carried the rock 11 times for 8 yards, not a good sign for his future. Tampa Bay is 5-2 after their 3rd straight win.

Game ball of the week goes to Stoddard for the second week in a row as he seems to be finding his flow now.

[BYU 14]

2012 Week 8 – VS San Diego State

Recap
A rough start, as we accumulate a paltry total of 10 yards of offense in the first quarter and trail 3-0. At this point I demand Jennings get the ball and we start to move, going up 14-6 at the half. From here we have one of our patented 2nd half explosions with 24 third quarter points, including TD passes from Ellard to Malone and Finley and a 22 yard scamper by Jennings. Andre Carlson put the D on the board taking a Willie Lazer pass back 40 yards to the house early in the 4th and the subs then came in liberally. Our Defense has been incredible this season and we currently rank #2 in the nation allowing just 7.6 PPG and also rank third in yards per pass attempt at 4.8 and 13th against the rush, giving up just 437 yards through 6 games. With the Offense coming off three straight 50+ point performances, the average margin of victory in those games has been 45.6!!! Maybe we do deserve our top 10 ranking

BYU 52 San Diego St 6
Record Overall 6-0 Mountain West 3-0
Rank: 4th

Leaders
Passing
Donny Ellard 13-24-209 4 TD, 2 Int

Rushing
Wally Jennings 19-135 1 TD
Steven Lane 9-32 1 TD

Receiving
Martin Autry 4-66 1 TD
Xavier Malone 3-49 1 TD
Lenny Finley 3-45 1 TD
Wally Jennings 2-42 1 TD

Defense
Kendall Timlin FS 7 tackles, 1 assist
Benjamin Arreola ILB 6 tackles, 3 assists
Reuben Ballard DT 4 tackles, 1 assist, 2.5 sacks
Kendall Malano CB 4 tackles, 3 assists, 1 Int

Injuries
Kennedy Mathis QB – Out – Knee surgery – Up to 8 weeks
Bo Bennett TE – Probable – Bruised Shoulder – 1 week

Still in great shape here, with only our backup QB out.

Recruiting
Oscar Forbes RB Oxford, OH – Overall 5, Position 1 – Commits to Boise St week 8
Deion Kowal RB Kearney, MO – Overall 11, Position 2 – Visit week 8
Stephen Vanderjagt OLB Standish, MI – Overall 12, Position 1 – Commits to Tennessee week 8
Russell Blackburn WR Delta, CO – Overall 23, Position 1 – Visit week 4
Vernon Cash DE Idaho Falls, ID – Overall 24, Position 9 – Commits to Boise St week 7
Xavier Jamison T Okanogan, WA – Overall 27, Position 7 – Commits to BYU week 8
Ted Olivo WR Newburgh, NY – Overall 30, Position 2 – Visit week 7
Tracy Murphy S Yuma, AZ – Overall 33, Position 2 – Visit week 4
Grady Shaw ILB Granby, CO – Overall 35, Position 2 – Commits to Notre Dame week 7
Donald Cobb RB Poway, CA – Overall 42, Position 8 – Commits to UCLA week 8
Greg Miller QB Cranston, RI – Overall 43, Position 1 – Commits to Miami week 8
Ernest Jefferson QB Arden Hills, MN – Overall 61, Position 5 – Commits to Michigan St week 8
Charlie Gatas QB Bakersfield, CA – Overall 62, Position 5 – Commits to USC week 6
Jimmy Cassidy T St Louis, MO – Overall 112, Position 15 – Visit week 6
Korey Vernon DE Plain City, UT – Overall 133, Position 22 – Visit week 8
Tony Dawson OLB Ashland, KY – Overall 160, Position 10 – Commits to Louisville week 8
Jared Alderman C Shelby, North Carolina – Overall 162, Position 5 – Commits to BYU week 8
Dana Beyer QB Mount Pleasant, IA – Overall 180, Position 14 – Commits to Auburn week 8
Joel Dillon G Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 191, Position 20 – Visit week 5
Louie Winslett S Yelm, WA – Overall 217, Position 9 – Visit week 4
Conrad Alston CB Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 277, Position 25 – Visit week 2
Ronald Shelton ILB Magna, UT – Overall 299, Position 16 – Commits to Utah State week 8
Juan Cobb CB West Jordan, UT – Overall 312, Position 28 – Visit week 6
Clifton Green DT Kaysville, UT – Overall 323, Position 25 – Commits to Utah week 8
Jose Tucker OLB Bloomington, CA – Overall 336, Position 19 – Commits to BYU week 8
Ted Steber WR Salt Lake City, UT – Overall 348, Position 25 – Commits to Utah week 8
Jamie Dayne DT Kearns, UT – Overall 446, Position 31 – Commits to BYU week 7

A crappy week despite the fact that we land 3 recruits, including two solid linemen in Jamison and Alderman. Tucker is our third and he committed without a visit and though we really wanted Vanderjagt, we just could not compete with Tennessee. The biggest hit comes when every single QB left on our board goes somewhere else, 0 for friggin 3!!! Don’t they know we are a QB factory? I scramble and go after Rufus Thompson who is the 18th ranked signal caller in the country. Probably even more painful is the fact that we lose 3 of the best in state kids to Utah (2) and Utah State (1). I am crossing my fingers we get Kowal who came on a visit after the number one running back in the country (Oscar Forbes) went to Boise State of all places. (I will be following him with interest)

Mountain West Scoreboard
BYU 52 San Diego St 7
Air Force 56 Colorado St 21
North Texas 38 UNLV 3
Wyoming 38 Utah 35

With Air Forces rout of Colorado State we control our own destiny and with our toughest conference game left (Colorado St) at home it looks good, though we do close our season at Utah.

Mountain West Standings

School                 W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  W  L  T  Pct   PF  PA  Streak  

Brigham Young          6  0  0  1.000 229 46  3  0  0  1.000 122 20  Won 7      

Air Force              6  1  0  .857  296 97  2  1  0  .666  111 49  Won 3       

Colorado State         5  2  0  .714  205 134 2  1  0  .666  89  66  Lost 1      

Wyoming                3  4  0  .428  119 208 2  1  0  .666  58  101 Won 1       

San Diego State        4  3  0  .571  127 204 1  2  0  .333  31  100 Lost 1      

Utah                   3  3  0  .500  141 126 1  2  0  .333  76  70  Lost 3      

UNLV                   1  4  0  .200  48  123 0  2  0  .000  10  47  Lost 4      

New Mexico             0  6  0  .000  90  224 0  2  0  .000  31  75  Lost 7 

Next weeks Schedule
BYU at Notre Dame (No TV???)
Utah at Colorado State
New Mexico at San Diego State
Air Force at UNLV

How in the world does #2 BYU at #7 Notre Dame not get National TV coverage? This could be the game of the year (Definitely the most important game for us) and if we win we are in position to run the table. Colorado St must win at Utah, while Air Force should keep rolling against a horrid UNLV team.

Note: With so many Cougars in the NFL now and very few of them playing much I am going to start doing season end summaries for BYU alumni at the next level now instead of weekly, as it was getting redundant to type "Did not play" or had "one assist off the the bench" every week.

[Tellistto]

Nice to see you continue this after so long.

Tell

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Nice to see you continue this after so long.

Tell

I get the itch every so often whenever some TCY dynasties pop up, so I had to dust it off.