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!