BYU FOOTBALL PREVIEW: DEFENSE

I have to first apologize for the longing readers that have checked hourly for the past week for my BYU Football Preview. I had finals this past week and it took up my life, sorry. This week the defense steps up on the stand to be judged. Over the last two years the D at BYU has restored what it once had. Bronco has one important stat he uses and thats points scored. The yards given up are important but you keep the points off the board you win. Seems simple, and BYU has dominated the last few years in this category. Take off the Tulsa debacle and BYU had an incredible defense last year. Losing all of our secondary and 3 of our linebackers to graduation will hurt but I don't see the defense missing that much of a beat. Bronco proved last year BYU should be a reloading program and it won't be any different this year. Our defensive line is the deepest its been in years with all starters returning and with the return of Tialavea we should be even deeper. The rest the Defense (linebackers, secondary) I expect to reload. If injuries come like a plague then we could be in trouble but who wouldn't be. I expect a Top 20 D this upcoming year. They should get plenty of help from the offense and the kicking game so don't expect many opponents to get above 20 points a game. My grade B+ Here is a list of some players to keep an eye on.Jan Jorgensen #84

Vic So'oto #37

Brandon Bradly #5

BYU Football Preview SPECIAL TEAMS

This week I preview one of the most important units on the team. Hence comes the name special, they are special and a botched special teams play can change the entire outcome of the game. This past year, the special teams unit was only average. Austin Collie emerged as a dangerous return man with the speed to take it the distance and he has only gotten faster (hopefully his stress fracture doesn't affect him). The biggest addition is Justin Sorensen, the kicker that can kick it a mile. In the first practice he kicked 9 out of 10 out of the end zone with one being 8 yards deep. I don't see many kicks getting returned this year. Hopefully Mitch Payne has stepped up his game or he won't see a down this year. Punt returns won't be anything special but as long as Bryce catches the ball I won't complain. I truly feel last year the special teams cost us a lot of yardage and with new comers I can only see the special teams going forward which it must if we are going BCS. GRADE B+

NEW MANSION IN IDAHO FALLS

As I begin this blog with the mom sitting next to me telling me, "It is not a mansion, I'm embarrassed." Well you guessed it. This weekend we went up to Idaho Falls to help my parents move into their new house. It might not be a MANSION, but it is a big step up from their last house. Other than moving, nothing that exciting happened besides playing with the nieces and seeing Wall-E (which sucked). I won't bore you with moving stories but here are some cool pics of the nice house. They really don't do it justice yet because of the lack of furniture.

Kitchen
Kitchen and Great Room

Family Room Downstairs where projector will be.

Dinning Room Area, kitchen is to the left
Pic of the stairs and entry way.


Here is the front.

Can You Tell What's Missing?

Last Sunday when I was sitting in church, I looked down at my ring and my diamond was missing! Ahhh! Jeff and I teach the 9 and 10 year olds in primary and our class became quite disruptive during singing time as we searched the floor around us for the diamond. After a few minutes of panic, I emptied our church bag and lo and behold, my diamond was in there! It was quite the scare. I'm on my way to the jeweler today and hopefully everything will go okay with the warranty...

BYU Football 2008 Preview COACHING

Here is the weekly layout of BYU Football fall preview. I will begin this week by discussing coaching and giving a grade of the unit. The question in most football minds is what makes a good coach? Many elements go into coaching and I for one do not know them all, but winning makes a good coach in my eyes. Yes back in the growing up days of little league and grid kid football, winning wasn't the most important thing, but at the college level you have to win. Some argue that coaching isn't what wins football games but its the players. I feel both play a role in the winning. Coaching is critical for football especially in college with the role they play in recruiting and the motivating of the players to play at the highest level.
Bronco Mendenhall has been a answer to our prayers here at BYU. After three horrid years, the man has changed the entire state and reputation of the program. Trust me, that isn't easy. Takes a lot of time to do, it is not done overnight. The speed that Bronco has done it is remarkable. The players went from getting arrested for rape to giving Friday night firesides before the game. All this and when we look back and see he wasn't our first choice, kills me. I guess we can still come back to the phrase, "Thanks Kyle, Seriously." You can buy the shirt on cougarfan.com. The university and athletic department may not judge a coach on wins but no matter what you say, all of you want to feel and have to feel the excitement of winning. Why do we get all upset when they lose if we didn't care? I crave wins and want wins and thats what Bronco has brought me and rest of you. We have the longest winning streak in the nation and one of the best records the past 2 years with 22 wins only four losses. I judge coach on wins and thats how it will always be. Its kind of like on my mission, when you really knew if elders were working by baptisms, yes you looked at contacts, invites, discussions, families at church, but in the end the final goal is baptisms. This may not be true for all missions I know but in mine, we wanted baptisms, that was how all of us were judged. No matter what you say, if your team is not winning than your just not that good of a coach. Bronco is winning and that makes him a great coach and will be for a while. At BYU its a little bit different. You can't just win but you represent the church in all that you say and do. Instead of hiding from it like Crowton, Mendenhall has embraced the church and used the spiritual aspect to his advantage. The only thing I can think negative about him is the crazy words he uses, but I feel that reflects his vision and mastery of his players. Will all these praises continue to be said about him? Time will tell as the season progresses, but my vote is they will. How can I not give him a big fat A