BYU TCU Preview

So I had some family in town last weekend and we made the drive to Provo to watch the high powered Idaho State Bengals take on the Cougars. As expected, the result was a 56-3 snoozer. I don’t think I’ll make that mistake again. It was like watching an NBA game in which the visiting team is in last place, finishing a 10 game road trip, and playing on the second night of back to back games. Better yet, it was like a mid-September baseball game between two teams out of contention playing all the minor league call-ups.

It’s just not a good product and not one fans should have to endure. That said, there were still 60,000 folks there on UEA weekend. (4 day weekend for every public school in Utah, during which many, many people head out of town.) BYU football really is a massive draw. They are the real deal when it comes to putting butts in seats.

I’m not entirely opposed to scheduling these “scrimmages.” They serve their purpose – for both teams. Idaho State gets paid and BYU gets a week off to rest all the guys that were banged up against Oregon State. BYU also gets a chance to really flex their muscle on offense.

My only complaint is this: Why couldn’t they schedule that game in week 1 or 2? Yes I know they had to scramble to get a schedule together, this being their first year as an independent. And yes I know you don’t turn ESPN down when they’re willing to broker national TV games against BCS opponents in weeks 1 and 2 (Ole Miss and Texas). However, would the season have been different if Jake Heaps could have come out in week one and been able to throw against a division 2 secondary instead of one from the SEC? You’ve got to admit it would have helped. Not just Heaps, but the entire offense.

Look at all the big schools. They almost always play a cupcake in their 1st or second game. LSU/Oregon in the first week is a rare exception.

If BYU is gonna compete with the big boys, they need to play cream puffs early on like the big boys. It really helps to get an automatic W and get your timing and offensive rhythm going in the first week or two. Of course it’s difficult to get good schools to play you late in the season as they are locked in to their conference schedule later on. However, BYU might want to think about sacrificing some exposure (i.e. ESPN games against quality opponents early on) in exchange for an easy game or two at the beginning of the season. It could really go a long ways in helping them get off to a stronger start each year.

To a degree, BYU will do this next year as they open at Georgia Tech and then come home to play Weber State. BYU will then go on the road to play Utah and Boise Sate. That’s an amazing first month! How they couldn’t get any of those marquee match-ups at home is a bit baffling. Credit the program though for at least scheduling the Weber State game in week 2. That will be a nice tune-up in what will surely be a brutal opening month for BYU. Going forward, I’d like to see the Cougars dial it back even more in the beginning of the season. They ultimately create their own schedule and should be able to work in the big boys beyond September.

 

Back to 2011 though-

The one benefit of playing IdahoState when they did was that it came right before the TCU game, which could end up being the Cougars’ toughest opponent of the year. I would sure hope BYU spent all last week game planning for TCU and not ISU. Gary Patterson, TCU head coach, has completely embarrassed Bronco Mendenhall for the past 3 seasons. Patterson has made no bones in the past about BYU being the biggest game on the schedule. And then his teams have come out and played like it, beating the Cougars 31-3 in 2010, 38-7 in 2009, and 32-7 in 2008. In 2009, BYU/TCU in Provo was the back drop for ESPN’s Game Day coverage. Even with all that hype, BYU still went out and got whooped by TCU.

In each of those 3 defeats we heard the same tired “We failed to execute” excuse from Bronco Mendenhall. What really happened though is the Cougars were out-coached, overmatched in the speed and athleticism dept. and basically overwhelmed by a far superior team in all 3 losses. Cougie fans don’t want to hear or see that again this year. The BYU faithful can tolerate a loss but the team needs to at least compete. This could be the year. TCU has shown they aren’t invincible. They’ve lost two games, albeit both very close losses. Their all world quarterback has graduated and moved on to the NFL.

That said, TCU might be rounding into form. They destroyed New Mexico 69-0 on Saturday. If we do see another TCU thumping this go round, BYU won’t be able to hide from it as they have in years past on The Mountain, CBSC or Versus. This will be the Friday night game on ESPN, potentially exposing the Cougars once again as a team not really deserving of all the hype and air time they’ve received.

Not that Patterson would allow his guys to overlook BYU, but TCU’s biggest game will come two weeks later when they attempt to ruin Boise State’s perfect season. Remember both TCU and Boise State are in the Mountain West this year. This potential look ahead could be the only thing that might help BYU.

I don’t mean to kill the Cougars. It’s just that I’ve not seen anything in the 3 previous seasons, or this one – that leads me to believe BYU can play with TCU, especially in a game that will be in TCU’s back yard – Cowboys Stadium inArlington.

The most recent odds show TCU favored by 13.5 points. I do think BYU has a chance to make it a little more competitive than that. BYU seems to have rallied around Riley Nelson and come to life. We’ll see though if Nelson’s moxy and toughness will shine through even against a quality opponent.