My 2013 BYU Football Predictions

Taysom Hill throws a pass at the
Fall Scrimmage on Aug 10.

 For the first time in 10 years, sadly, I am not buying season football tickets or an all-sports pass (I absolutely refuse to call it by its new name or give it any credit because it has been completely ruined now). Anyway, I hope to still attend a few of the games, but for the most part, I will likely be watching them from my couch. I'm still psyched, though! Go Cougars!

My predictions from last year were partly right, and partly wrong. So much for Brandon Doman doing a great job . . . Anyway, BYU is coming in at #36 in the pre-season polls, meaning at least some of the critics think they've got a good shot at a successful season. However, the recent loss of cornerback Jordan Johnson and some injuries at nose guard could make the defense really shaky, especially to start out. I hate to say it, but maybe the new "go fast, go hard" policy is a little too fast, too hard. We've gotta keep these players healthy, or this is going to be a really rough season!

Anyway, I'll probably write another post focused more on the players, but I've decided to take this one game by game.

August 31 at Virginia
I think the adrenaline of a new season will carry us through this game. KVN, Cody, and Jamaal will bust out of the gate running, and while it will be a tough contest, I think BYU wins by 7.

September 7 vs. Texas
This is going to be a really tough home opener. Texas will be coming off an easy peasy home win against New Mexico State, and I think BYU might be a little battered from Virginia, even if they pull out the win. BYU will probably hang in there through the first half, but will fall behind in the end. BYU loses by 14.

September 21 vs. Utah
We'll be coming off a bye week and still be angry from the loss to Texas. Plus, it's UTAH, and Kyle, Cody, and the rest of the seniors who have never taken down the Utes will come out with a lot of rage. I don't care if BYU loses all their other games this year-- they HAVE to win this one! So I say BYU wins by 10.

September 27 vs. Middle Tennessee State
MTSU finished last season 8-4, which certainly isn't terrible. If BYU comes into the game unprepared or cocky coming off a win to Utah, it could get shaky. I think BYU might fall behind at the beginning, but they will come back strong in the second half. BYU wins by 14.

October 4 at Utah State
Ah, the Aggies. The team BYU doesn't care about at all, yet they think we are a bitter rival. Whatever. I'm actually a little nervous about this game. I think it will be close, and the home field advantage might be BYU's demise. I'm going to hope my reverse psychology works on this one . . . BYU loses by 3.

Backup QB Ammon Olsen

October 12 vs. Georgia Tech (Homecoming)
Time to pull out the Tradition, Spirit, Honor jerseys! Yeah, not so sure that's a good thing. Oh well, at least it's only for one game. We creamed GA Tech last year, but I don't see that happening again. BYU still wins by 7, though.

October 19 at Houston
Houston had a losing season last year, 5-7, and got creamed by the likes of Tulsa, SMU, and East Carolina. BYU should (knock on wood) dismantle these Cougars easily, I say by 24.

October 25 vs. Boise State
Thank heavens we don't have to play on the smurf turf this year! As much as I like the color blue, that's just too much. . . Anyway, I think this will be a tough contest, and the Cougs will cave under the pressure of a national spotlight, especially if we have anyone out with injuries, which is almost unavoidable by this point in the season. BYU loses by 17. 

November 9 at Wisconsin
Um, yeah, BYU's gonna get crushed in this one. Gary Anderson will finally get his revenge . . . BYU loses by 28.

We're ready to rumble!!!

November 16 vs. Idaho State
We'll come back after 2 losses in a row to make a comeback against the Vandals on Senior Day. BYU wins by 21.

November 23 at Notre Dame
While the Fighting Irish have lost their starting QB to academic suspension and some of their other stars to graduation, including the infamous Manti Te'o, they will still be a tough team to beat, especially on their home turf. BYU loses by 14.

November 30 at Nevada
Kyle Van Noy's homecoming game will be a great way to send him off to the NFL. I predict KVN has his best game of the season and BYU wins by 24.

So . . . I guess that means I think we're going 7-5 this year. In all honesty, if they can even get up to 8 wins, I'd count that as a very successful season, considering this brutal schedule. Hope they prove me wrong and pull out a few of those tough ones. Go Cougs!

BYU Spring Football 2013

Great catch!

I know, I know, this post is long overdue. But better late than never! The BYU spring football game was a lot of fun this year. It was a beautiful day, and I got totally fried in the bright, hot sun. Today it snowed (argh!), but I still have my peeling sunburn to remind me that spring IS here, dang it! :)

At the spring football game, I actually got to sit on the front row at about the 40 yard line, thanks to a friend who is a sign language interpreter and got us seats with all the deaf and hard-of-hearing people. So I had a great view of the field and could hear a lot of what the coaches and players were saying to each other.

What I learned:

Wow, we've got a lot of quarterbacks. I spent a good portion of the game trying to figure out who all of them were. My conclusion was that we've got Taysom Hill (of course), Ammon Olsen (who injured his knee in the spring game, but should be fine by fall), Jason Munns (a senior who hasn't had much playing time), Billy Green (freshman), Tanner Mangum (also a freshman, but I was REALLY impressed with him. I was surprised to see him because I thought he was already on his mission. If he's still around in fall, I hope they redshirt him so he can have 4 good years after his mission, or if he's decided not to go on a mission after all, at least 2 good years after Taysom's gone), and Christian Stewart (not to be confused with Kristen Stewart, thank heavens. Don't worry, I checked. haha. He was a walk-on redshirt freshman in 2008, then he went to Snow College, and now transferred back to the Y).

Work it, boys!

Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae likes to yell. A lot. Hmmm... I have mixed feelings about this guy. I'm not sure if he's a good motivational force, or if he's just annoying and kind of scary. I guess we'll see soon enough.

Our kicking game still needs some work. It's better, but oh boy, I fear what might happen if our special teams can't pull it together by fall.

I like the new offense. No more huddles (they're aiming for a snap every 13 seconds-- wow) and no more running quarterbacks head-on into 300-lb linemen (meaning hopefully no more injuries). It's a lot faster paced and is set to be really exciting and fun to watch. I just hope it doesn't get frantic and disjointed. Last year, Taysom Hill missed more games (7) than he actually played in (6), yet he was still the #2 rusher on the team. And he's a quarterback. That's not right . . . Something's gotta change, so I'm glad that it looks like it has.

Favorite Quote of the Day:

I wish I knew who it was, but after a QB sack, the defensive player who was credited with the sack came over to the sideline and said to another player, "I don't know why they gave me the sack-- I didn't even touch the guy! I guess it was just because I was the last one to fall on top of the pile." My friends and I busted up laughing and had to quickly restrain ourselves when he looked over at us. Yeah, sorry, despite where we're sitting, we're not deaf! :) I'm glad they at least have a good sense of humor and really enjoy playing the game.

QB Tanner Mangum

Predictions for the upcoming 2013 season:

Cody Hoffman is going to SMASH several of Austin Collie's records. Yes, he didn't even play in spring because he's still recovering from shoulder surgery, but I'm mentioning it now anyway. Cody only needs 13 catches, 538 receiving yards, and 2 receiving TDs to break all of those BYU records. Piece. Of. Cake.

KVN. I don't need to elaborate on that one.

The defensive line will be great, but not as great as last year. Losing Ziggy Ansah and Romney Fuga is really going to hurt. The upside is that Eathyn Manumaleuna got a medical redshirt, so he's back for another year, and Bronson Kaufusi can finally play a sport where tackling is allowed again! :) On a side note, I re-watched the Mercer basketball game with Bill Walton's commentary, and my favorite moment was when he said (of Kaufusi, obviously), "That's gotta be a new record! He just fouled 3 guys at the same time, and 1 of them was on his own team!" haha. Love it.

The offensive line will be better. Unfortunately, this is kind of a given because it would be tough to be worse. It was hard to tell in the spring game, but I think the OL will improve a lot more in the fall because they've got 8 new recruits coming to campus in June who are all supposed to be potentially huge contributors right off the bat. Hopefully the rumors are true because I just can't handle Taysom (or any of the other QBs, for that matter) getting injured again!

Wow, this post ended up being really long. Oh well, I'm excited! Can't wait til kickoff at the end of August! Go Cougs!

Future BYU Quarterbacks

If BYU football is going to be successful in the coming years, they're going to have to develop a better quarterback system. They can't just keep pumping out QBs left and right, trying different guys in different games (or sometimes in the same game), and hoping for the best. They have to STOP running stupid plays that get their quarterbacks injured. No BYU quarterback that began the season as a starter since 2009 has finished the year without having to sit out at least one game with an injury. We haven't had a truly reliable quarterback since Max Hall left 3 years ago. Riley Nelson and James Lark are graduating this year, so it will be a good chance for a new start . . . but what's next?

Taysom Hill

Hopefully the next big thing is Taysom Hill. He played a few games this year when Riley got injured, but on a useless play at the end of the Utah State game, he tore his LCL and had season-ending surgery. Thankfully, the damage ended up not being as bad as they originally thought from the MRI, so he is expected to be back and at least reasonably healthy in time for spring practice in 2013. So far, he is recovering well and keeping in high spirits. If he can stay out of trouble, I think he will bring great things to the BYU program over the next three years. However, it's not 100% up to him or his health. One of the reader comments on that Dick Harmon story I linked to above really caught my eye: 

"If Doman is allowed to continue as BYU's OC, he owes it to Hill to spend every second from now until BYU's first game in 2013 designing and learning how to coach a passing offense."

That totally hits the nail on the head. If Brandon Doman is still the offensive coordinator next year and he wants to continue in that position beyond next year, he's got to make some big changes. He can't run Taysom on every-other play. Even if Taysom is capable of it, he will probably be shaky coming into the 2013 season because of his injury, and we can't risk him getting hurt AGAIN. He can't become another injury-prone QB like Riley, or we're in BIG trouble. So take note, Doman-- you've got until spring to build a completely new plan around Taysom and a passing offense, or you're gonna have to go. They're also going to have to amp up recruiting and coaching on the offensive line-- they need to be able to protect the QB much better than they have the last few years.

So, knock on wood, Taysom will be at the helm for the next three years, culminating in the 2015 season (which I am still giddy with excitement about). But he'll need a few good back-ups, right? Enter Ammon Olsen and Jason Munns. We saw Munns a few times this year as the 4th-stringer behind Lark, but we know fairly little about either of them. Munns will be a senior next year and Olsen will be a Junior (he transferred from SUU, where he played in six games his freshman year in 2009, completing 8 of 14 passes for 115 yards and 2 TDs, plus 44 yards rushing on 10 carries). If Taysom goes down again (heaven forbid), one of them will have to step up and take charge.

Tanner Mangum, from www.examiner.com

As for the future of BYU quarterbacks beyond the Taysom years, we'll probably turn to Billy Green and Tanner Mangum. Green is from Washington (he was discovered by Coach Doman on a Jake Heaps recruiting trip). Although he isn't LDS, he is a devout Christian and was attracted to the honor code and the school's values. Whether he is good enough to be a starting QB at BYU is yet to be determined. I'd give him maybe one year at the helm, but I think Tanner Mangum will pass him up after not too long. Mangum is on his mission right now (or at least I think he is. If he's not, he's leaving soon) and will return in time for the 2015 season (during which he should probably redshirt, since that will be Taysom's senior year). He is one of the hottest recruits in the country and he just looks like a football star (see photo at right for exhibit A)-- I'm not sure why, but I have a really strong feeling that he might be just what we need. How hard it will be to get to that point, though, I'm not sure.

To sum up, here's how the next 7 years could theoretically go:
2013: Taysom Hill, with backups Ammon Olsen and Jason Munns (Billy Green redshirts)
2014: Taysom Hill, with backups Ammon Olsen and Billy Green
2015: Taysom Hill, with backup Billy Green (Tanner Mangum redshirts)
2016: Billy Green, with backup Tanner Mangum (or possibly vise-versa-- could definitely switch mid-year)
2017: Tanner Mangum, with backup Billy Green
2018: Tanner Mangum, backups TBD
2019: Tanner Mangum, backups TBD

Maybe I'm just daring to dream. For this to become a reality and for BYU to become a dominant college football program again, they're going to need to make some changes. Bronco is going to have to put winning back at the top of his priority list. Right now, his priority is sharing the gospel-- which is a great goal, but it's not going to work when you have 7-5 seasons. They're going to have to start winning-- including tough games-- to get noticed. It's not going to be easy, but I'm cautiously optimistic.