Robert Anae returns & Brandon Doman is demoted

From www.desnews.com

My first thought when I heard that Robert Anae was returning to BYU as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach (and I'm sure it was a common thought) was: "Wait . . . didn't he get fired from BYU a couple of years ago? Why in the world are they letting him come back to do the same job?"

Turns out he wasn't fired-- he chose to leave. According to this article, he resigned primarily because of conflicts with assistant head coach Lance Reynolds, who just retired, so that problem (if it really was a problem) is essentially gone.

Before I go on, let me say that I still like Brandon Doman. I think he made some mistakes (maybe more than he should have), but I think he did a decent job with what he was given. All-in-all, I think it was Bronco's refusal to play anyone but an injured Riley Nelson at QB and the inability of the O-line to protect Riley from getting hurt again and again that really prevented the offense from being productive during the tough games of this past season.

Yes, Brandon made some really bad calls (for example, the "miscommunication" that caused Taysom Hill's season-ending knee injury), and while it was probably enough for him to deserve to lose his job as OC, it definitely wasn't enough to have him be run out of town with flaming pitchforks. For that reason, I think it was a very smart decision on Bronco's part to offer Doman the QB coach job-- showing he still trusts him and respects him, but that he also believes, rightfully, that changes need to be made.

From www.desnews.com

That being said, after thinking about it for a few days, I think Anae's return will help the BYU offense improve, if for no other reason than he's a lot more experienced and he's got a lot more grit than Doman. Next year's schedule is just too scary to take chances and risk more injuries. And, no offense to Doman, but I think it would be pretty tough to make the offense worse at this point.

I wouldn't blame Doman if he decides to turn down the offer of QB coach and apply to be the OC somewhere else, but I hope he decides to stay at BYU. I think he's a good fit for the team, and I think he would be better off focusing on just the quarterbacks instead of trying to run the entire offense, at least until he gets a few more years under his belt. But if Brandon does decide to turn it down, I hope Max Hall gets the job. He'd be amazing!

Being the offensive coordinator really is a "thankless" job -- it's impossible to please everyone, and OCs have to be able to withstand a lot of criticism and be constantly trying to improve, against the odds. Doman just wasn't up for it. Anae, on the other hand, knows what it takes, and he's proven capable of handling the pressure.

Last time he was at BYU, Anae worked with Max Hall, Austin Collie, Harvey Unga, and many others who have since become legends. He helped them pull off some really spectacular wins. This time around, he'll get Cody Hoffman, Jamaal Williams, Taysom Hill, Ross Apo, and a few others who have all the talent and potential, but need to find ways for it to be used to its fullest-- I think Anae has a pretty good shot at helping them shine. We'll find out in September!

KVN & The Hoff Commit to Returning for their Senior Year

The last 2 weeks have been crazy busy, and I was stuck in a house with an internet connection that wouldn't have a chance against a drunk, elderly snail in a race, so I've gotten way behind. I've got like 5 posts in my queue to write, but this one just had to come first. Kyle & Cody are coming back!!! It's going to be a really tough 2013 BYU football season, but having them on the team will really help the Cougars have a fighting chance at a BCS bowl. Here's how the schedule currently stands:

Aug. 31 at Virginia

Sept. 7 Texas

Sept. 21 Utah

Oct. 4 at Utah State

Oct. 12 Georgia Tech

Oct. 19 at Houston

Oct. 26 Boise State

Nov. 9 at Wisconsin

Nov. 16 Middle Tennessee State

Nov. 23 at Notre Dame

Dec. 7 at Hawaii

They've still got 3 or 4  games to fill in, so it theoretically could get even tougher before the season actually starts.

The best part is that I can arguably take full (or at least partial) credit for the return of the Hoff & KVN because I know they read my blog post encouraging them to come back. haha. Twitter provides proof:

What exactly will the Cougars gain from KVN & Cody coming back? They both have chances to smash records and become some of the best Cougar football players of all time. Cody will likely break Austin Collie's receiving records, and having him on the 2013 team, as Dick Harmon puts it, is "like manna from heaven for the Cougar offense." Cody has caught a pass in 32 consecutive games and is already fifth on the BYU receiving yards leader board at 2,718. He's 4th in receptions with 203, 3rd in TDs at 28, but only needs 2 more to break Collie's record of 30. He also only needs 3 more games of 100+ receiving yards to break Collie's record of 11. I predict that during his senior season, Cody will become #1 on all of these record lists, and those records will last for a very long time after he's gone.

As for Kyle Van Noy, he has a really good shot at becoming the #1 defensive player all-time at BYU. He is the only player in the country to record a stat in every major defensive category in both 2011 and 2012. He is currently ranked #1 nationally (tied with 4 other players) in sacks. He is also tied for 2nd place in the country in forced fumbles, and is top-10 in tackles for loss and blocked kicks. Despite losing Ziggy Ansah and Brandon Ogletree, KVN returning will help the 2013 defense give the 2012 nationally-ranked and possibly best-ever BYU defense a run for its money.

I'm not quite sure yet how I feel about the demotion of Brandon Doman to QB Coach (if he decides to accept) and the return of Robert Anae as OC. Although I find it almost impossible to believe it will make the offense worse. I'm sure I'll write another post about that subject in the coming days. But all-in-all, when you combine KVN and Cody's return with the return of Taysom Hill, Jamaal Williams, Michael Alisa, and a few other stellar players, I predict 2013 to be a much brighter season than 2012. Go Cougars!!!

Bronco hands the Broncos a win on a silver platter

Picture from www.heraldextra.com

I've decided I need to get my feelings down in writing about last night's BYU / Boise State game before my head explodes. I don't think I have ever been so angry, confused, disillusioned, and shocked after a football game in my life. I had the hardest time falling asleep last night because I was so tempted to slam my fist through the wall. Yep, it was that bad.

BYU didn't deserve to be in that game, honestly. The offense played horribly as a whole, but mostly Riley Nelson. Something still isn't right there. The coaches are saying he's in a lot of pain from hurting his back a few games ago, but I think it's got to be more than that. Trust me-- I know all too well how debilitating back pain can be. I had back surgery last summer and I'm still in pain on a daily basis... but that's no excuse for committing 5 turnovers, I'm sorry. I still think he has some kind of head injury from the Utah game-- seriously. Has he been examined? There is something wrong, and they need to figure out what it is or they're going to lose out the rest of the reason.

If nothing else, I think Riley has lost his right to be trusted by the coaching staff. In an interview with Brandon Doman last night, he said they wanted to put Taysom Hill in earlier in the game, but Riley insisted he was fine and wanted one more drive to prove it. The coaches trust him, so they let him do it. But he threw an interception on that drive. Trust REVOKED. I'm not trying to criticize Riley's playing ability (even though it seems like just about everyone is right now) and we certainly don't need all the talk that seems to be surfacing wishing Jake Heaps was still here (NOTHING could be THAT bad!), but I do think Riley needs to recognize his limits and turn decisions of who should be playing over completely to the coaches. If he's not playing well enough on a particular day, he needs to be pulled. BEFORE he commits 5 turnovers.

While I am sorely disappointed in the offense's play, the main source of my anger comes from the decision to go for a 2-point conversion at the end after Taysom FINALLY scored a TD. I was FUMING mad, even before they missed it. The decision that Bronco made to go for it was nothing short of idiotic. I think there needs to be an extensive psychoanalysis performed on his brain. WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!? Yes, 5 turnovers from Riley are unacceptable... but when your defense is so stellar that they give you a chance to turn it around and send the game into overtime and you don't take the almost surefire way out, that is unacceptable times a million. Not only was it stupid, but it  was completely disrespectful to Taysom, Cody, and the rest of the offense who fought so hard to get that ball in the endzone. It was also disrespectful to the defensive players, who were the reason they even had a chance in the first place. It threw all their hard work down the drain in about 2 seconds.

As The Daily Herald's Jason Franchuk puts it:

It was one thing to take to put in a freshman quarterback for the rest of the night, giving him the ball at his own 1-yard line in the third quarter. Bold move. Maybe even necessary.

It's another to do worse by Hill, the offense and especially the defense by not playing for overtime Thursday night. The Cougar coaches let BYU’s struggling unit control the outcome, rather than its impenetrable one. Bad move. Totally unnecessary...

BYU fans must be red in the face. With anger.

BYU coaches should be red in the face. With embarrassment.

Momentum, schmomentum.

By choosing to go for 2, Bronco essentially slapped his players in the face and handed the game to Boise State on a silver platter (and yes, it was Bronco's decision-- Brandon Doman confirmed that in his post-game interview). Even if they had made the 2 point conversion and won the game in overtime, I would still think it was the dumbest decision he has ever made (and hopefully will ever make). It was so uncharacteristic of him, too-- he is not one to take risks at all, especially dumb ones when the entire game is on the line.

I just can't believe it. It's one thing to lose the game because your quarterback is having a terrible night (and the rest of the offense is nothing to brag about, either), but to have a really good chance to tie the game and NOT take it because of a stupid, stupid, STUPID decision from the head coach is completely another thing. Thus, I put the blame for this loss completely on Bronco's shoulders. Riley can blame his mistakes on injuries and his head not being in the game, but there are NO excuses for what Bronco did.

That being said, I've got to give MAJOR props to the defense, especially Kyle Van Noy and Ziggy Ansah. That was the most impressive defensive effort I have ever seen in my life. They allowed ZERO points from Boise State on the smurf turf. That is a HUGE accomplishment, and they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Way to go, boys.

Taysom Hill also impressed me. He's got a lot of things he still needs to improve on, but he drove that ball 95 yards when it mattered most against insurmountable odds. It's not his fault his coach threw it all away in the end.

My worst nightmares are coming true... Unless Riley can get healthy and get his head back on his shoulders FAST, the whole season might come tumbling down (in fact, I think it already has). They'll be lucky if they become bowl elligible at this rate.

I don't know how much more of this I can handle. Is it basketball season yet???

BYU Football 2012: Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

With the season opener just 2 days away, it's time to get down to business with BYU football! Judging from past experience, I really should refrain from making predictions because, honestly, I really suck at it. But that's never stopped me before! So, against my better judgement, here are some of my predictions for the 2012 BYU football season.

After writing this post, I found these pics on byucougars.com. They fit perfectly!

The success of the season rides on Riley's physical health. My biggest fear is that Riley Nelson will take a hard hit and break his neck or a major appendage in the first half of the season opener. He's fearless and is known for taking risks and getting hit hard, which definitely has its upsides, but also has its MAJOR downsides. If he gets injured badly enough to put him out for the season, or for even a few games, we could be in really, really deep water. The second-string quarterback, James Lark, doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. He just hasn't played enough. As a senior, he's only seen action in a grand total of 6 games, and in most of those games, he only played a couple of downs. He has potential, but I wouldn't feel comfortable handing the reins over to him for a good portion of the season if Riley gets hurt. The third-string quarterback, Taysom Hill, is a freshman standout, and will most likely be leading the Cougars for the next three seasons after Riley and James are gone. However, since he is a newbie, he's played even less college football than Lark has. I think he'll be just fine after he gets some good plays in him and practices throughout the year, but could we depend on him if Riley goes down? Not sure. So, my plea to Riley is to take it easy . . .  just a tiny bit. I love his enthusiasm and willingness to take one for the team, but we need him to stay healthy and broken-bone-and-punctured-lung-free this year if we are going to have a good shot at winning at least the majority of our tough road games.

Cody Hoffman will be the star receiver, once again.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: It wouldn't surprise me if that boy could catch a football if it was covered in Crisco and shot out of a cannon 100 yards away and he had one hand tied behind his back. He is THAT GOOD, and I don't see things changing much, especially with Riley Nelson's improved arm strength and footwork and the chemistry that has developed between them lately.

Losing Josh Quezada is going to hurt. Don't get me wrong-- I like Mike Alisa, but losing a big piece of depth at the running back spot certainly isn't going to make things easier. How much is it going to damage our offense overall? I don't think it will make a HUGE difference, but I think it will be tougher than a lot of people are predicting.

Ziggy Ansah will come out of the shadows. I met Ziggy at the Cougar kickoff last week, and he was super quiet, but very kind. He seemed a little overwhelmed at all the attention, but quietly and graciously signed autographs without hardly saying a word. I kind of view him as a defensive version of Michael Oher from The Blind Side-- quiet and reserved, but deadly when he puts his mind to it. He moved to the U.S. from Ghana and ran track at BYU in 2009-- he knew nothing about football until he joined the team in 2010. But now as a senior, I think he'll be a real force to be reckoned with.

Kyle Van Noy will turn heads on defense. That man is ruthless. Look to him for some super hard hits, memorable and possibly game-changing sacks, and probably a few interceptions.

Coach Brandon Doman will continue to improve. He really struggled as the O.C. at the beginning of last year, but he slowly and surely improved. He might start out a little shaky again this year, but he'll get into the groove again pretty quickly and by the end of the season, he'll be calling killer plays like nobody's business.

We're starting out with a win! My Cougars will beat those other Cougars on Thursday night. I don't think it will be a blow-out-- maybe a one or two-touchdown difference in the final score. Our defense will be especially tested against Washington State, but I think they're up for it.

We'll go 10 for 12 on the regular season. I think this will be a decent year with a good chance of having an undefeated home season; however, the super tough road schedule will inevitably get us a few losses-- most likely Boise State, Notre Dame, and/or Georgia Tech. I'll be optimistic and give us one win out of those three (Plus a win at Utah. That's non-negotiable. Either that or I secede from the state.) No national championship by any stretch of the imagination, but not too shabby. Hopefully we'll also get a bowl win out of it. With 24 seniors, the Cougs have a lot of experience and a lot of motivation to get it done this year.

Can't wait til kickoff! Look for me in the middle section of the south endzone! :) Go COUGARS!

All pictures on this post from www.byucougars.com. No copyright infringement intended.