BYU Football Facing Crunch Time as Opening Game with Huskies Approaches

Something draws near, and everyone in Provo can feel it. The uneasiness on Brigham Young University`s campus is so thick, you could cut it with a butter knife. The axis of BYU football is shifting. And in the heart of every zoobie, something tells them that this year will determine the fate of BYU football for years to come.

Then the questions start to pour in.

What will happen? How will the new starting quarterback fit in to the offense? Are we truly confident that Bryan Kariya can fill in Harvey Unga`s shoes? How is the defense going to rebound with just four returning starters? What is going to change?

There are just too many questions and not enough answers. But we do know this much: Something HAS to change.

Why? Because Jake Locker and the Washington Huskies are eagerly awaiting September 4. And if nothing changes, we can expect the Cougars to be devoured this season. All hopes of returning to “The Glory Days” will get digested as well. Sorry to rain on the parade, but its the truth.

I know my overuse of the word “change” will sound like a speech from our president, but that's not what I'm going for. So let's focus. Some of you know exactly what I mean by change, others have no idea. And as for the zoobies, we can be right in assuming that they are sitting in Helaman Halls asking themselves, “What the Fruit is going on here?!”

But for those who have no clue what minor change needs to take place, as Lee Corso would say, “Listen up sweetheart, because you're about to be enlightened.”

The small change that must take place is nothing big and nothing new. In fact, it has actually been clearly visible for years now, and it`s something that could slightly improve the Cougars chances at making a BCS bowl.

The change is simply this: The BYU defense is currently incapable of stopping a mobile quarterback (the sound you just heard was thousands of college football fans saying, “I was wondering when this problem would be directly addressed”).

Has anyone else noticed that? Sure they have. Has BYU noticed that? Apparently not, because the Cougars have visibly suffered at the hands of running quarterbacks for as long as I can remember, and nothing has changed.

Am I calling Bronco stupid? Absolutely not, he is a great coach. Solving this problem just needs to be placed as a higher priority. The Cougars just seem to be illogically oblivious to the fact that they get “worked” the instant a quarterback crosses the line of scrimmage. Want some examples? Lets start in 2004.

Alex Smith

Because of his mobility, Alex opened up a lot of other options, making the BYU defense look about as organized as my horde of play-mobiles from my childhood. The Utes steamrolled the Cougars, 52-21. Smith came away with 34 yards and a TD on 13 rushing attempts.

Brett Ratliff

The year is 2005. The place? Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake, as Utah faces New Mexico. The game is winding down and the Utes are looking for a score. Suddenly, Utes QB Brian Johnson goes down with a season-ending injury. Ute fans gasp as the game is left in the hands of the back-up QB, Brett Ratliff, who happens to be as ugly as Adam Morrison and so white trash that even Jared Zabransky would be proud.

Ratliff, scared out of his mind, naturally chokes under pressure and loses the game for the Utes. By this time, relieved BYU fans are cheering and devastated Utah fans are debating within themselves over whether or not the Holy War is even worth watching next week. Throughout the week, the newspapers all sound pretty similar. Some give BYU a 15-point spread, others a 20-point spread.

But the message is generally the same: This game shouldn't even be close. And really, it shouldn't have been. Game day in Provo comes around, and BYU fans are mortified, Ute fans are ecstatic, and fair weather fans switch from blue shirts to red as Ratliff takes over the game.

He demolishes the BYU defense whenever he pleases by making plays with his feet. What`s even worse is that he isn't even fast! Not at all! I seriously thought I was watching Matt Berry run the football; it was dumbfounding.

Ratlliff`s running ability (cough, cough, if you dare call it that) opened up the passing game. And the next thing everyone knew, the Utes had beaten the Cougars in overtime. Ratliff finished the game with 112 YDS (5.9 YPC) rushing and a TD. Unbelievable.

Dennis Dixon

Granted, the Cougars grilled the Ducks 38-8. However, most of the game was not played with Dixon under-center. Dixon had 51 yards on 10 rushing attempts.

Jeremy Kerley

Kerley is interesting because he played wide receiver. In 2008, when BYU played the Frogs, TCU randomly decided to put Kerley in as QB.

They obviously had discovered BYU`s great flaw (applause), and on only nine rushing attempts, Jeremy had 77 YDS (8.6 YPC) and a TD. Reflecting on that game, I must say that it was killing me to see that a wideout could be under center, and BYU`s defense just somehow not expect him to run with it. What else was he going to do? Throw a deep ball to the punter?

It was truly pathetic and painful to see. It was ridiculously clear that he was going to run it. TCU didn't even try to hide it either, they pretty much handed their playbook to Bronco, and said, "This is what we are gonna run, try to stop us." But the question is, did BYU really know that Kerley would run it? Well, I saw no reaction, and no defensive adjustments, so I'm starting to wonder. TCU assassinated BYU 32-7.

T im Jefferson/Ben Cochran

Both played QB for Airforce. Tim managed to scrap up 75 YDS on 12 carries (6.3 YPC) which is embarrassing for the Cougs. As for Ben, He had a respectable 47 yards on 13 carries.

Christian Ponder

Christian played for Florida State against No. 7 BYU in Provo, in a game that was truly unbearable to watch. I would prefer not to go in to detail about the 54-28 blowout, but on 11 rushing attempts, Ponder came away with 77 yards and a TD. Enough said.

Diondre Borel

Diondre. Yep, some of you are chuckling to yourselves right now, and the rest of you are wondering who this guy even is (the fact that he plays for Utah State dosen't help much).

Here is the deal. In 2008 and 2009, when Utah State played BYU, I saw numberless instances where Diondre turned an “almost guaranteed loss of yards” play into a “hey, I'm going to juke BYU`s entire defensive squad, and make something out of this.” And then he would. 

He made it look like he was playing against junior high players, and repeated it time and time again. Granted, the way he was juking and stutter-stepping had my ankles broken and my mind faked out, but it was coming from a Utah State QB, and that should never happen.

BYU went on to win both games. A lot of zoobies were happy for the wins, but there was a sinking feeling inside of me that was saying, “It`s defensive games like this that prevent us from getting to a BCS bowl.” I was terrified, and had reason to be.

Jake Locker

Ah yes, I thought we would get to him. A player that will be remembered as the “2011 Heisman Trophy Winner,” Locker is fantastic. Before I get started, I would first like to just mention that he made my “Most Hardcore Super-Hero/Villain List” along side Altair, Venom, Marcus Fenix, Darth Maul, and Tim Tebow.

But anyways, in 2008 the Cougars headed up to Washington to face the Huskies. During the pregame predictions, Locker was named as the player who would hurt BYU the most. The predictions were spot on. After Locker slowly started racking up yards, the Cougar fan inside of me was like, “Nah...He´s nothin special.”

But the unbiased college football fan inside of me was petrified. I then sat and watched as Locker (with his 4.43 40 yard dash time) singlehandedly dismantled BYU`s entire defense. But now, we travel to the end of the fourth quarter, Cougars up (amazingly) 28-21.

The Washington offense face a 3rd and 3 with just seconds remaining. Snap to Locker, and what does he do? No questions asked, he tucks it in and skips untouched into the endzone for six, as if to say, “Hey remember when Vince Young did that against USC?” The TD is followed by a controversial celebrating penalty committed by Locker. The score is 28-27.

They set up for the PAT and it is blocked by Jan Jorgenson as time expires. Game over. Washington in awe, Locker furious, and BYU thanking their lucky stars for allowing them to get away with such poor defensive execution. They took it by the skin of their teeth. And the look on Lockers's face was clearly readable: “I won´t forget this game.”

He came away with 62 rushing yards and two rushing TDs.


So, as Jay-Z would say, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don't.” Through the few previous examples it is crystal clear that this is a problem. Let's also keep in mind that the Cougars open up this season on Sept. 4 with a game against Locker, who without a doubt still has a chip on his shoulder from 2008. So what can we expect if nothing changes?

Locker will rush for 120+ yards and he and his 20 returning starters (yeah...) will trample BYU in Provo with a 42-3 blowout. Let's be honest, it's extremely likely. There will be no mercy—Locker is out for blood and he will have his revenge. The look on his face in 2008 is tattooed in the back of my mind...it was unmistakable.

Locker has developed even more since then and he is extremely dangerous. However, if BYU sticks a QB spy on Locker, blitzes the corners at random and unpredictable times, or breaks Locker`s leg during a commercial break, then they MIGHT have a chance at making it a game. And that, of course, would be a best case scenario. I know Darth Vader would undoubtedly say, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

But listen Darth, Locker just simply has more heart and motivation than the four returning defensive starters that BYU has, and teaching your receivers to push off (ahem...Collie) may help an explosive offense but it won`t contribute to the defense. But don't worry Darth, we will continue playing your annoying theme song every time we get a defensive stop.

However, despite my "lack of faith" I must say, after Germany recently beat undefeated Argentina in the World Cup, I realized that sometimes things happen in sports that can`t be explained. Appalachian State beating an “almost unstoppable” Michigan team. Kobe Bryant scoring 81 points in a game. The undefeated Patriots losing in the Super Bowl to a Giants team that wasn’t even expected to get past round one.

LeBron James proving to the world time and time again that he just can´t perform in the NBA playoffs, it´s just too much pressure. Usain Bolt celebrating before the race is even over as he breaks the world record. Vince Carter jumping over a 7-foot player for the slam dunk in the Olympics. These are examples of times in sports where the outcome just couldn't be explained.

It proves that in sports, anything can happen. But for BYU to have anything better than a 7-5 record this year? Hmmm, I just can`t see it happening. It´s not logical. The game has evolved, and in order for BYU to keep up, their defense must do the same. Its survival of the fittest. Mobile quarterbacks have proved their worth—look at Michael Vick, Pat White, Vince Young, Juice Williams, and Tim Tebow.

Can you imagine a BYU defense trying to defend one of them? Well I can, and I can tell you that the final score would look alot like a Lakers-Pacers game (110-42). Granted, those caliber of players can never be completely stopped, but when no-namers like Brett Ratliff and Ben Cochran are out there making names for themselves, then we definitely have a problem.

As Sept. 4 approaches, we know that Locker wants this game more than anyone. He will be playing to win, and to win big. BYU will be playing not to lose, and that won’t cut it against the Huskies this year.

All can see that if the Cougars don’t capitalize on this problem and make some changes, then we can expect a very disappointing season, a lot of sour zoobies, some BYU staff changes, and an extremely happy Jake Locker. The fourth is inching closer, and I’m getting scared. The thought of how much Locker is anticipating this game is nerve racking.

This change must take place, not only for the Washington game, but for the future of the BYU football program. The stakes are high, the pressure is on....Let’s see who cracks.