BYU Football Needs Its Own "Jimmer" to Become Nationally Competitive Again

The BYU Cougars are now 2-2 on the season, a record which somehow feels both disappointing and relieving at the same time. 

After starting a close, come from behind victory where the Cougars played largely uninspiring football for three straight quarters, the blew a close one to the Texas Longhorns. That one was due primarily to an inability to finish drives; BYU finished with a field goal on three of their four scoring drives, while Texas managed touchdowns on two of its three drives, including the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The next game, a rare early season showdown against longtime rival University of Utah, the BYU team played one of its worst games in history, losing by a final score of 54-10.  The game clearly showcased one of this team's fatal flaws that has been slowly exposing itself over the past two seasons, particularly since Jake Heaps took over as quarterback. If the opposing team starts to play well, BYU loses confidence and falls apart.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall had them better prepared for last Saturday's home showdown with the University of Central Florida, and it showed, as the Cougars were able to pull out a come from behind victory and get some of the bad taste of the Utah game out of their mouths.

What will the rest of the season hold for BYU in its first year as a football independent?

They currently rank near the bottom of the nation in both rushing yards and points per game and are in the middle of the pack in terms of both passing yards and points allowed.

Their schedule doesn't look particularly tough, with the one exception being a game at TCU, currently ranked 20th in the polls.  I fully expect them to at least get six wins and qualify for some sort of bowl game, although two big problems could keep them from getting very far beyond that mark.

As I mentioned previously, BYU's football team often tends to wilt when the other team gains confidence, which only builds the other team's confidence even more, which leads to blown leads (like the Texas game) or potentially ugly blowout losses (like the Utah game). This problem is the result of a deeper issue, which is that the Cougars have no star players.

Part of that seems to stem from the way they recruit.  BYU would rather have a solid character player than a superstar who gets into trouble, which is fine.  As we saw with the Brandon Davies scandal last season, it's better for them find players who are not only committed to playing hard, but also to living the lofty standards expected of BYU students.

However, we also saw last year what having a guy like Jimmer Fredette can mean to your team.  Basketball is different than football, in that one dominant player can have more of an impact by himself than he can in football.  But having a star quarterback, wide receiver or running back helps in those situations when the other team is starting to gain momentum, and you need someone who can step on the field, get you a big play and stop the momentum.

BYU football doesn't have that right now. Jake Heaps has so far performed far below what we were led to expect of him going into this season, but really, everyone on the team shares the blame at this point. 

If BYU football is going to return to form, it needs a Jimmer, or a Max Hall, Austin Collie, Dennis Pitta; the list could go on and on.  Having a balanced team is good, but when the pressure is on, each team needs to know who will step up and make a play.  Right now, we don't know who that is for BYU.