http://www.yardbarker.com/content/team/451 Recent articles about the Brigham Young Cougars en-us You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain -- Harvey Dent Anyone who's seen The Dark Knight (if not: run, don't walk) knows which ultimate path Gotham's golden boy district attorney took. Like Dent, the college football preseason is full of hope and potential and everybody has also got the potential to leave casualties (i.e. crushed fans in their wake). With that, here are the five teams that have the most Dent-like promise to both entice and ultimately devastate -- though they're sure to avoid his biggest deficiency: falling for Maggie Gyllenhaal. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:05:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295082 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295082 Now i know you can only take this things with a grain of salt because its pre-season but Ohio State not losing a a NC to an SEC team is hard to belive (just kidding Buckeye fans) NC game: Ohio State vs. Georgia Rose Bowl: USC vs. Wisconsin Sugar: WVU vs. Oregon (really really?) Fiesta: BYU vs Kansas (really really?) Orange: Florida vs VT I think that only the orange rose and NC are possible but Fiesta and Sugar are ridiculous. Oregon is reloading and Kansas was a one-year wonder. Want some thoughts from the yard... Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:53:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295003 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295003 We all know football season is close when media day arrives. There usually is not much news just the same old coach speak about one game at a time bla, bla bla stuff. Each coach was interviewed by a local radio station and I will post that once it is available on their site. Also, to view all of the podium interviews by coaches, players and Commissioner Craig Thompson go to the offical MWC media day web site. Also this season marks the 10th anniversary of the Mountain West Conference, when they broke away from the 16 team Western Athletic Conference that was a miserable failure, and then added TCU in 2005. The news that comes out is the preseason all conference teams and the league order of finish. Looks like there is a tier system with the league split into thirds. I am not giving any clues about my order of finish, which I will start presenting starting in August. To me Colorado State and Air Force should be switched, Air Force only returns three offensive starters and will struggle. As for the Rams they will have one of the leagues best running back duo in Kyle Bell and Gatrell Johnosn III that should challenge the Utes and BYU for best two back program, plus Kory Sperry who had an season ending knee injury was a huge play making tight end and will help ease in the new quarterback at Fort Collins. 2008 Mountain West Conference Preseason Football Poll Rk. Team (first place votes) Points 1. BYU (29) 299 2. Utah (5) 274 3. TCU 239 4. New Mexico 197 5. Wyoming 156 6. Air Force 141 7. San Diego State 92 8. Colorado State 73 9. UNLV 59 Below is the preseason all conference team listed below. 2008 Preseason All-Mountain West Football Team Position Student-Athlete Class School OFFENSE WR Austin Collie** Jr. BYU WR Ryan Wolfe Jr. UNLV OL Nick Charles** Jr. Air Force OL Ray Feinga* Sr. BYU OL Dallas Reynolds* Sr. BYU OL Blake Schlueter** Sr. TCU OL Robert Conley** Sr. Utah TE Dennis Pitta* Jr. BYU QB Max Hall* Jr. BYU RB Harvey Unga** So. BYU RB Rodney Ferguson* Sr. New Mexico DEFENSE DL Jan Jorgensen* Jr. BYU DL Paul Kruger So. Utah DL John Fletcher** Jr. Wyoming DL/LB Ryan Kemp Sr. Air Force LB Ward Dobbs** Sr. Wyoming LB Russell Allen Sr. San Diego State LB Jason Phillips** Sr. TCU DB Brice McCain** Sr. Utah DB DeAndre Wright* Sr. New Mexico DB Stephen Hodge** Sr. TCU DB Robert Johnson Jr. Utah SPECIALISTS P Louie Sakoda* Sr. Utah PK Louie Sakoda** Sr. Utah Ret. Devin Moore Sr. Wyoming Offensive Player of the Year: Max Hall, Jr., QB, BYU Defensive Player of the Year: Jason Phillips, Sr., LB, TCU Special Teams Player of the Year: Louie Sakoda, Sr., PK/P, Utah Freshman of the Year: Braylon Broughton, DE, TCU Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:40:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294992 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294992 BYU has produced a bevy of successful collegiate quarterbacks, and Max Hall hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ty Detmer, Steve Young and Jim McMahon. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:11:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291623 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291623 Which college football rivalries shape up to be for more than just bragging rights in 2008? Here's a my top 10. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:15:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286313 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286313 Utah State, to put it nicely is not a very good football team and has not bee good since John L. Smith took the Ags to the Humanitarian Bowl in 1997. The odd thing is that the Aggies regulary put players in the NFL with the most notable players being TE Chris Cooley and WR Kevin Curtis. The Aggies last year went 2-10 and have a tough time scoring and stopping teams as well, but the defense should be improved with 9 starters back on that squad. This game used to be a yearly rivalry, but tappered off until the two schools made a deal that combined scheduled games with the two basketball programs which is a good thing since the two schools are about a 3 hour drive between the two. A side note on the game that will fire up the fans for the home Aggies the recent announcement that Riley Nelson the QB who started his career at Utah State transfered to BYU while on his church mission. So, the fans may bring some extra noise for the visiting Cougars. Offense: The team returns six starters but they lose their starting QB Leon Jackson III and top WR from last year Koren Robinson, not that those players were stellar. Robinson was a stud player who is getting looks at the NFL level. As for this year their top offensive players they have returning played and have some experience but their stats are nothing to get too excited about.utah state football logo Curtis Marsh RB 302 Yards 2 TD Derrvin Speight RB 504 Yards 3 TD Jase McCormick QB 25-40 258 Yards 2 TD 5 INT Omar Sawyer WR 6 Receptions 96 Yards So, the Aggies do not have the returning talent offensively to compete with BYU. However their running game of 125 per game last year is not great, but was their best in a few years and 3 of the offensive lineman return, so the running game should be their bright spot. Their passing game which was not great last year will have a tough time by breaking in a new QB and new WR's. The basic point is that their offense will struggle to score points this year. Defense: Not much better here with the Aggies defense they gave up 31.25 points per game last year. Utah State does have 9 returning starters, so the defense better come up with big plays and overall be better. Just by being experienced this defensive squad should improve on last seasons play. The BYU offense will be very explosive and it may not matter how the Aggies defense plays their defense will have a tough time. Early Prediction: This will get ugly early and often, BYU should win by at least 21 points and that is being conservative. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:11:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284573 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284573 This game will be the third meeting in one year with each team winning once. This year will be different, because the Bruins have a new coach 'Slick' Rick Neuheisel and former BYU, USC, and Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow.2008 ucla football, norm chow, rick neuheisel Neuheisel took over for Karl Dorrell who compiled a record of 35- 27, and if you take away his 10-2 record UCLA was just a .500 team on his watch. At least on the UCLA side they will be familiar with BYU, since the Cougars return nearly every offensive star from last years team. The Bruins open up with Tennessee at home on September 1, and then have a bye week to rest and prepare for the game at BYU. Playing Tennessee before is good and bad for the Bruins first is because UCLA will be playing a top line opponent in the Volunteers which will help them when they face a good BYU team later, but on the flip side UCLA will not be as vanilla on offense or defense as if they were playing a low level opponent. That could help BYU to see what the Bruin team will really be like, even though UCLA is familiar with team BYU is playing Northern Iowa in week one which will give the Bruins little to go off of since BYU will keep it simple. ucla 2008 football Offense: The main question is who will play QB this season. Injuries and inexperience have clouded who will be starting against Tennessee opening weekend. Pat Cowan was considered the number one and Ben Olson number, but injuries to both in the spring hurt the team in the new offense that Chow has set up. Here is the QB situation as written from BruinsNation and someone who is closer to the situation then me. Cowan is injured indefinetly. Olson is injured, has been inconsistent when healthy and is now working with the fourth OC of his career. Forcier is inexperienced. Craft is inexperienced and a JC transfer who was a San Diego State level recruit. Rashaan has a tiny bit of experience, but lacks something or he wouldn't have been fifth string before the injuries. Crissman is a true freshman. It is safe to say that the offense might struggle, but do not discount Norm Chow who always gets his teams ready to play with his style of play calling. As for the rest of the offense the running back situation is going to be held down by players who saw limited action last year with Chane Moline who had only 196 yards all of last year, another could be Craig Sheppard who saw very limited playing time. This Bruin offense will have new faces and new plays with the changes in the coaching staff. Defense: Since this is the Pac-10 defense is light, but by the conference standards UCLA's was not too bad. They did give up 20 points or more eight times and lost six of those times. The BYU offense will be better then last years offense which was very solid. In the two games last year UCLA allowed 391 yards in the first game which was a Bruin a win, and then in the Las Vegas Bowl they only allowed 154 yards, but lost the game. Their defense will need to be able to apply pressure to BYU's offensive line and QB Max Hall Early Prediction: BYU is at home and they rarely lose at home, and this should be a BYU win because they are the better. This game will go BYU's way with a 7-13 point win. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:12:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284182 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284182 The Cougars take on Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium in Seattle. The Huskies have not been relevant in at least 15 years as a top flight program. The Huskies have not had a winning season since 2002, and that year they were 7-6 and last year they only won four games. However, when fans see teams from Non-BCS play and beat a BCS team they assume an upset when it rarely is an upset. Playing in Seattle will be tough, because Husky stadium is a tough place to play, for any school. The stigma of the Pac-10 is that everyone can score, and little defense is played. Washington could only kind of score and played little or no defense, the Huskies averaged just under 27 per game, but their defense gave up 31 per game. BYU has a high octane offense and should bring the points against Washington. Offense: Washington returns seven offensive starters back from last years 4-9 team. The Huskies top returning player is QB Jake Locker who is a big man and has speed to burn. Locker had just over 3,000 combined yards with 2,062 passing and 986 rushing yards. Locker did have problems with his accuracy by completing only 47% of his passes and throwing 15 interceptions and only 14 touchdowns. The running back position will need to replace Louis Rankin who ran for just under 1,300 yards, the likely replacement looks to be Junior Brandon Johnson. Johnson had limited playing time with only 196 yards and 51 carries last season. There is no doubt that Washington will be able to put up some points in this game, it just depends who is going to do it for them. Defense: The Husky defense returns six players on a defense that was not very good at all last year. The Huskies brought in Ed Donatell to shore up the defense, his previous stops have been a defensive coordinator in the NFL since 1995-2007. This team does need the help because they gave up 31 points per game and could not stop teams very often, so we will see if Donatell can turn things around. This BYU team is similar to most Pac-10 schools that they throw the ball a ton and can score a lot of points. Early Prediction: Looking at the past for BYU they have struggled and lost early non conference games, with such loses to Arizona, Boston College, Tulsa, and UCLA. This BYU team should be able to win this game by ten points or more, but until BYU can prove that they can consistently win non conference road games the Cougars should not look past any team. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:32:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283687 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283687 Those are some predictions floating around from local talk radio in Salt Lake and on Rivals.com. Green Bay Packer Brady Poppinga, who is a former BYU linebacker was on a radio station in Salt Lake saying that BYU will finish in the top five. Then there was a juvenile bet between one of the hosts who said Brady could take a full shot in pads if BYU makes the top five by years end. Top five is a lofty goal for a team that was not won a road non conference game since 2002 when they defeated Utah State, but that should change this year partly because they play Utah State on the road this year, and a subpar Washington. If BYU were to get a top 20 ranking a top 5 finish could be a reality if they go undefeated, but the team has been ranked as high as 13th in an ESPN preseason poll and in the Athlon college magazine. Here is the audio from former BYU Cougar Brady Poppinga and also an interview from former BYU Quarterback and current Miami Dolphin QB John Beck. John Beck interview Brady Poppinga Interview As for Utah there is an article at Rivals that talks about how the Utes could be a sleeper pick in the BCS race, and that ill hinges upon the team staying healthy. The health starts with QB Brian Johnson who should be 100% healthy this year, and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig will be able to finally run the spread with a quarterback who is capable. Other players who were injured last year were star JUCO transfer Matt Asiata as well as H-back Brent Casteel who went down as well. Back in 2005 before Brian Johnson tore his ACL he had better numbers through ten games compared to what Alex Smith did in 2004 during the Utes Fiesta Bowl run, so we know he can play. Quietly, the Utes could, possibly, maybe sneak into a BCS bowl game or if you read Phil Steele he has the Utes ranked top 15 in his preseason poll. This Utah team should be the closest to the 2004 team and the best of the Kyle Wittingham era. This team has a chance to make a national splash in the Big House when the Utes play Michigan. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:25:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283546 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283546 The Cougars take on Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium in Seattle. The Huskies have not been relevant in at least 15 years as a top flight program. The Huskies have not had a winning season since 2002, and that year they were 7-6 and last year they only won four games. However, when fans see teams from Non-BCS play and beat a BCS team they assume an upset when it rarely is an upset. Playing in Seattle will be tough, because Husky stadium is a tough place to play, for any school. The stigma of the Pac-10 is that everyone can score, and little defense is played. Washington could only kind of score and played little or no defense, the Huskies averaged just under 27 per game, but their defense gave up 31 per game. BYU has a high octane offense and should bring the points against Washington. Offense: Washington returns seven offensive starters back from last years 4-9 team. The Huskies top returning player is QB Jake Locker who is a big man and has speed to burn. Locker had just over 3,000 combined yards with 2,062 passing and 986 rushing yards. Locker did have problems with his accuracy by completing only 47% of his passes and throwing 15 interceptions and only 14 touchdowns. The running back position will need to replace Louis Rankin who ran for just under 1,300 yards, the likely replacement looks to be Junior Brandon Johnson. Johnson had limited playing time with only 196 yards and 51 carries last season. There is no doubt that Washington will be able to put up some points in this game, it just depends who is going to do it for them. Defense: The Husky defense returns six players on a defense that was not very good at all last year. The Huskies brought in Ed Donatell to shore up the defense, his previous stops have been a defensive coordinator in the NFL since 1995-2007. This team does need the help because they gave up 31 points per game and could not stop teams very often, so we will see if Donatell can turn things around. This BYU team is similar to most Pac-10 schools that they throw the ball a ton and can score a lot of points. Early Prediction: Looking at the past for BYU they have struggled and lost early non conference games, with such loses to Arizona, Boston College, Tulsa, and UCLA. This BYU team should be able to win this game by ten points or more, but until BYU can prove that they can consistently win non conference road games the Cougars should not look past any team. Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:59:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282578 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282578 The Northern Iowa Panthers were a last minute replacement to play BYU at LaVell Edwards Stadium on August 30th. The Panthers are from the Gateway Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision, (I-AA) and is a very good one at that. Last season Northern Iowas went 11-0 in the regular season and was ranked number one in the polls. Northern Iowa did defeat an Football Bowl Subdivision team in Iowas State on the road. Their offense was quite impressive by averaging 36 points per game. Northern Iowa eventually lost to Delaware 39-27 in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Over the past 5 years UNI has averaged 9.4 wins per season, so they are accustomed to winning and have had some players make NFL rosters in the recent years. OFFENSE: In 2008 the panthers return 6 offensive starters and ARE led by running back Corey Lewis who had over 2,100 all purpose yards and 16 touchdowns. The Panthers do however lose three year starter QB Eric Sanders who passed for 2,806 yards and competed an amazing 75% of his passes, and will be replaced with Patrick Grace who had very limited playing time. Looking back at the Panther offense they like to pass the ball and as mentioned above complete a high percentage of passes. This game could be entertaining early on since both BYU and Northern Iowas like to pass the ball a lot. DEFENSE: Seven defensive starters return to the Panthers and they were very good against their opponents and gave up only 20 points or more just three times all last year. Teams had a tough time running or passing as the their defense was well rounded, but this offense they will be facing is nothing like they have seen at all last year. Saying that this game will provide a stiff test for the Panthers to test this defense. Early Prediction: The early prediction is a BYU win by at two to three touchdowns, with the game being close for the first half. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:31:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281987 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281987 Reasons for Manti Te'o to look elsewhere for his college career. Happily, the same reasons that keep him from Notre Dame would keep him from USC Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:51:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279811 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279811 A BYU beat writer talks a little smack about Notre Dame. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:58:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278222 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278222 If you are looking outside of the BCS for fantasy options at quarterback, this article breaks down the top 25 among the MAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt and WAC. Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour is a top five fantasy option at quarterback, while Ball State's Nate Davis isn't far behind. Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:39:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277186 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277186 The Scout.com 2008-09 Hot 100 high school football players are quickly being gobbled up by the BCS powers. As of June 2, 47 of the top 100 players have committed to play college football at 22 schools, 21 of them BCS teams. Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:35:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273214 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273214