State of the Cougars: September

I'm sure some BYU fans consider this season a failure already. After the win over Oklahoma, it was natural to see this as a non-BCS team's best chance to be in the BCS-title game. And it could have been BYU's best season since 1996, and its first unbeaten season since 1984.


But the season hasn't changed that much for me. Lost in the euphoria of the OK win was the fact that the Cougars were still unlikely to finish the season undefeated. The FSU game worried me (though I thought we'd win), and Utah and TCU are both very good teams. And there's the inevitable let-down game where a good team struggles against a lesser opponent (see USC losing to Washington).

Offense
I love Max Hall. He may be the most confident/cocky QB we've had since Ty Detmer. He believes he can make any throw at anytime.

But that's also his problem. Sometimes I wish he would throw it away instead of throwing the picks. His numbers this year aren't very good. Yes, his completion percentage is high (67%), but he has 8 picks to go with his 8 TDs. Yes, he's averaging almost 300 yards, his passing efficiency is 150+, but if he doesn't get more accurate (from an INT perspective), we may see him throw away a big game.

The biggest problem in passing game though is lack of consistency at WR. Besides Pitta, who can Hall depend on? The announcers on Saturday said Jacobson was on the same level with Austin Collie. Sorry man, Jacobson is fast, but he's not even close. He's very inconsistent. And after Jacobson the consistency is almost zero.

The running game will be fine. Unga looked awesome against CSU. I know everyone was high on Kariya and Di Luigi after the OK game, but they are back-ups. Unga is needed for the long-term health of the offense.

Defense
The defense played the game of their life against the Sooners. It's been a mixed bag since. They got beat up by the speed of FSU, and CSU had more success than they should have.

As usual, my biggest problem with the defense is speed at LB and below-average play in the defensive backfield. I really like Brian Logan, but man taller receivers pick on him and there's nothing he can do about it. The LBs have played well, especially against the run.

Special Teams
Is it possible for BYU to have a decent kick-off team? Less than 20 yards, really? Bad field position hurts both the offense and defense.

The Mtn and DirectTV
I hate DirectTV. Don't dare tell me you're not carrying Versus because Comcast is greedy. I don't care. Get it done. I switched over to your stupid service just to get BYU football, and then two of the biggest games of the year (FSU and TCU) I can't see at home. Let me make the choice and pay a little extra. On top of that, I won't be able to watch the NHL this year. Curse you DirectTV! Curse you!

Overall, I love having the Mtn and getting to see the all the BYU games while living in Wisconsin. But here are some improvements they could make:

• I want all games in HD. I know, I know. I sound like a whining 3 year-old. But I've gotten used to watching football in HD and it's hard to go back.
• Get rid of Todd Christensen. He's awful. We need some good announcers. Come on guys. Go find somebody who doesn't suck and makes observations I couldn't make.
• The half-time studio show is painful. Why do you need three awkward guys? Just go down to one awkward guy until you find a good group.

I realize this will likely get better with time; the Big Ten Network is having similar growing pains.

RISE AND SHOUT!