BYU-Colorado State Post Game Wrap-Up

I seriously don’t know if I am going to be able to take nail biters every Saturday. I loved close games when I was playing, but as a fan I want to see domination and physical play. However, at the same time I have accepted that each game will be close, and BYU has the ideal team to win any game that goes down to the wire.

How much confidence do we have in our BYU offense? You can talk about the turnovers or the penalties, but you have to tip your hat to the offense’s ability to win the close games.

One thing that was hard for me to swallow with this game was that CSU continually found ways to generate emotional momentum. Until that last drive CSU had a serious answer to every possible momentum-swinging BYU play.  That’s why this game was so exciting, disappointing, fulfilling, and ulcer-causing.

I mentioned last week that I liked the identity our team was developing. The '08 BYU team is becoming a team that never doubts its ability to win. Our team could have given into the emotion of CSU’s performance, but we fought tooth and nail for every yard, completion, tackle, and point.

After Max threw the ball to CSU’s corner, our team could've cast their gaze towards the heavens and gone to the bench defeated. Instead the offense, led by Hall, stood ready to win the game, taking the field with that specific purpose.

I wouldn’t say we deserved to win the game. In fact, we played the most horrifying football BYU has played in four years. Yet when the game came down to the offense needing to score a touchdown, they did. When it came down to the defense needing to knock a ball down to end the game, they did.

I am excited about the heart and resiliency of our team, and thank goodness we have SDSU at home.

If we take a look at each position, you’ll see why we weren’t able to pull away from the Rams earlier in the game.

Offense

Offensive Line

The line had a rough start. The Rams brought a lot of pressure, especially up the middle and from the edges. A lot of credit needs to go to the Rams' defensive coordinator, who called great blitzes.

One way CSU got to us was by bringing a safety just behind the linebackers. The speed of the safety made it hard for our offensive linemen to switch and communicate who would be blocking who. In addition, when our offensive line would slide to pick up the blitz, the running backs weren’t winning their individual battles against the backside rusher.

The best thing about the offensive line’s performance is that when the game was on the line, they were nearly perfect. It helped that during the last drive CSU was only bringing three or four, but they did a good job of creating a pocket.

I hope everyone on the line can heal up in time for the SDSU game. I am sure there are a few banged-up bodies on our offensive line.

Last thought: How about Ray Feinga getting a big paw on Harvey’s long touchdown run? It was just what Harvey needed to get him into the open field for the touchdown.

Running Backs

How tough is Harvey? How disappointing have DiLuigi's first carries been? What happened to Fui late in the game?

CSU was stacking the box all night. They also brought a lot of blitzes in order to neutralize the running game. It is tough to establish a running game when there are guys blitzing from everywhere. The Ram safeties were playing very aggressive against the run, and I don’t know of a blocking scheme in football that accounts for the safeties.

Harvey did a great job cutting back and fighting for every yard. Fui was running like a man possessed, but he must have gotten hurt because he wasn’t anywhere to be found towards the end of the game.

One thing I am worried about is Harvey’s body. He has taken a lot of punishment during the last few weeks. Without a solid number two back, Harvey has needed to shoulder a lot of the responsibility for our run game. I am hoping that Fui, Latu, and Kariya can take some of the pressure off Harvey next week so he can recover for the Air Force and Utah games.

Quarterback

Turnovers and fumbles aside, Max showed a lot of leadership and courage throughout the game. He had great stats and found the matchups that needed to be exploited. He also scrambled for good yardage, which kept drives alive.

Fans normally have the “what have you done for me lately” attitude, and frankly, Max did the right things very late in the game and pulled out the win. Did you see his eyes as he looked towards the sideline for the next play? You could see the determination and focus in his eyes.

Moments like the CSU game form a player's legacy. Throwing up a hope and dream on the final play that drops right into the breadbasket for a TD to win the game—that’s why you play the game.

Wide Receivers

All I have to say is Austin better be an All-American. He is consistently playing against double teams and still produces yards and touchdowns. There are only a couple of wideouts in the nation that produce as consistently as Austin has throughout this year. He’s good and would still be good whether playing in the Pac-10, ACC, or SEC.

Mike has been a silent partner as of late. He is struggling to get open and hasn’t been able to create open space.

Tight Ends

Our offense basically put the game in Dennis’ hands, and he didn’t disappoint. He made numerous catches in crucial situations to insure that BYU left Fort Collins with a win.

Defense

My personal feeling is that our defense’s problems hinge on the defensive front’s inability to put pressure on the quarterback, and our developing inability to stop the run. We aren’t helping ourselves in coverage, but there are numerous other problems that compound our coverage mistakes.

What good came out of the game? We won, our secondary got their hands on a few balls, and once again, when it came down to someone making a play to win the game...they did.

Defensive Line

The biggest problem is our defensive front’s inability to put pressure on the quarterback. We are bringing some pressure, but no one is winning his matchups and getting to the quarterback.

Jan is getting continually doubled.  Even Russell is also occasionally working against double teams. This leaves a tackle and a defensive end one on one. Additionally, our Will linebacker has a one on one with a tackle, but I’ll address that later.

I understand that we don’t have the optimal pass rushing defensive linemen, but when we are stunting and blitzing, someone has to get in the quarterback’s face. Farris had plenty of time but was still getting the ball off quickly, which only made our defensive situation worse.

Until someone other then Jan or Nixon can consistently show they are capable of putting pressure on the quarterback, our passing defense will continue to struggle.

Our run defense is somewhat of a mystery. To date our defense has done a decent job of stopping the run. Saturday we just didn’t match CSU’s intensity in the trenches.

Stopping the run boils down to who can play more physical. Scheme and zone blitzes play a role, but the biggest contributor to stopping the run are players that physically beat on the person in front of them.

There isn’t a secret formula. We have to be more physical up front. Our linebackers need to play downhill, and our D-linemen need to play gap heavy and occupy the offensive linemen. It sounds simple, but it’s hard, and we aren’t doing it right.

Linebackers

This is the first game where we really missed a weak side linebacker’s presence. Clawson has played well until Saturday’s game.

Our weak side consistently surrendered the edge to the Rams and allowed the running back to get loose up the sideline. This forced Kellen to make a lot of tackles from his deep coverage and made our defense more susceptible to deep pass routes and trick plays.

Give some credit to the Rams because they played a good game, but we made them look a lot better then they really are. I still believe that our linebackers aren’t playing downhill fast enough. They are letting the linemen get too close—and when a lineman gets some cloth to hold onto, you are not getting away.

We missed Vic Soto’s physical presence against the Rams. We need those backside players to hold up against the run and to play very physical.

We also need a linebacker to come free on a blitz. I understand that teams in our league have seen us enough times that they know what blitzes are coming. If Baumann, Doman, Ah You, Clawson, and Co. want to be remembered, they need to develop the kind of techniques and attitudes that make them unstoppable.

I am still waiting for a big hit from this year's linebacking corps—and when I say big, I mean lights out.

Secondary

Howard knocked down a ball and was very close on a few others. He also withstood a couple of deep shots that CSU took in the first half. I think his play has improved since last week.

On a negative note, we lost Scottie Johnson and Brandon Bradley to injury. I know I saw Bradley hobble off, and Scottie played the first half and then wasn’t seen after the intermission. Bradley was playing well, and I hope he isn’t hurt too badly and can come back and play the final two games.

Until then, Steven Thomas has to fill the role of boundary corner. He is a RS freshman from California who is a solid tackler and has decent speed. He is a young version of Scottie Johnson and Ben Criddle. He climbed the ladder to make a play on the final CSU drive and will have to continue making plays as teams are going to test him early and often.

CSU ran some tough routes to cover. Fifteen-yard comebacks are very difficult to cover, and CSU throws them very well.

As I mentioned before, the main problem we are having is that our defensive backs are forced to cover these difficult route combinations for a long time due to the lack of pressure. The best way we could help our secondary is to come up with some blitzes that teams haven’t seen and will get some pressure on the quarterback.

Defense is very team-oriented and interconnected. If one group struggles, it is difficult to compensate with a different position on the field. Everyone has to do his job in order to be successful.

Our defensive front couldn’t control the running game, which forced our safeties to get involved. That opened up the play action passes and trick plays, which were difficult for our defense to cover the whole night.

I am still impressed with the character of our team. They understand that one play can win or lose the game, and until now our team has made enough plays to win games. I don’t know how long it will last, but you can’t say it’s luck. We’ve done it too many times.

The important thing this week will be getting the defense to respond to adversity. Our coaching staff needs to make enough adjustments to clean up the communication and assignment errors, but they can’t do too many new things. We are going to have some young players on the field, and the best thing to do is let them play.

Give them enough schemes to make them successful, but ultimately players are going to need to make that one play to secure the victory.

Go Cougars.