Hey!!! What’s your problem? I haven’t been wrong yet!
“If that same offense shows up again, though, I’m going to find something else to do”
Ugh. BYU is my team, even when they’re losing, and even when they struggle to get first downs.
“If the offense plays without emotion again, I’m not going to invest my emotion in it.”
Without emotion? Where are you getting that from? Just because they couldn’t get first downs doesn’t mean they were playing without emotion.
“I want them to look like they care. If that offense can’t get up for a game, why should we?”
Have you ever played sports? Above Little League? Would it have helped if they were screaming and making faces every time they blocked or got tackled (or missed a receiver)? You, and several others, seem to be mistaking inability to move the ball with lack of effort, “not getting up for the game,” no emotion, not caring, etc.
You ask me if I ever played while at the same time questioning the role of emotion and fire in your belly? Did you play sports?
If you did and never got super pumped for a game it makes me wonder. Emotion, contained and channeled, is huge. The adrenaline kicks in and you play above your normal abilities. It’s coming back to the huddle and building a fire under some rear ends and simply stating “let’s get out here and knock some heads”. I don’t see that leadership on this offense. Guys like Takitaki have it on the D, but I have yet to see it on the other side. Williams had it. Hill had it. And no one had it more than McMahon, who at times told guys to get out of the huddle if they lacked in effort.
After the first two games, I have not seen anyone on offense who shows that leadership. We don’t need guys who state after the game that the effort is unacceptable - we need some guys who let their voices be heard and motivate and who get some fire in their eyes while the game is being played and I repeat, that no one on the offense has shown that type of fire and emotion.
You have to admit that the body language of the team, more specifically those on the offensive (pun intended) side of the ball was lackluster at best. They just never seemed to be excited about anything and they played terribly. I guess never being able to cross midfield can really get a team down because that is what it looked like out there to me.
Yes, after their exercise in futility trying to move the ball against LSU, they looked dazed. They did not look, however, like they weren’t trying or weren’t giving their best effort. They didn’t look like they were going at half-speed (although LSU’s speed could make it look that way).
Yes, Rudi, I’ve played (and coached) sports. I was a Charlie Hustle type, but best effort doesn’t always look like grimaces, yelling, chest bumping, etc. You look really silly when you do that stuff when you aren’t getting a first down and it’s 3rd and 9 all the time.
The thing that’s kind of an eerie feeling for me is that, for years now, under Mendenhall/Anae and recently Sitake/Detmer (in other words, completely different staffs and approaches), we have really struggled to hit 300 yards passing. Hill, as good as a runner as he was, was especially bad at passing yardage, and Tanner Mangum has been this year as well. It seems like forever ago that 300 yards was the minimum baseline. I wasn’t thrilled about Kevin Feterik, but even he usually had at least 300 yards passing. I’m not sure why we struggle to get passing yardage for years and years now. Part of the problem is that we are chronically in 3rd and long situations (under Anae, it was especially bad, because we were doing G-F-G-H and not getting first downs, so the defense was on the field a lot with rapid turnaround. The way we look now might make those days look like a Sunday picnic.
Three areas I saw that they weren’t playing with intensity and effort.
- Running back - They weren’t hitting the hole and trying to punish the defense. They tippie toed around.
- All but one receiver, TE, were soft and slow. Remember the long pass for an interception where the WR wasn’t looking and then didn’t try to become the defender on another too short pass by Mangum?
- Mangum was short on most passes and inaccurate, hesitant and…
Even if Squally Canada “hits the hole,” he’s not a juggernaut force. I disagree that our running backs’ inability to bowl people over is due to lack of effort, “dogging it,” etc.
We simply don’t have a menacing group of running backs this year. They’re not fast around the ends, and they aren’t big, powerful backs up the middle. I think they (and the coaches) are doing the best that they can with the hand we’re dealt.
But, I would never, never run Tre Dye up the middle. We’ve tried it twice this year. He’s too tiny. Even if there is a hole, he’s not going anywhere once he gets through the hole.
Burke did it last year with success. Where is he? Talatau is the back if he’s healthy this week. Speed, size and and great vision. But, what happened with the old BYU concept of the pass opening up the run game?
Tolutau…
I hope you’re right.
How do we know? He’s touted, but where has he been? Why hasn’t he gotten any carries?
Just because he’s supposed to be a speedy bruiser doesn’t mean he will be.
I don’t know why Tolutau has not seen action. I thought for sure he would be in the LSU game where we needed some pounding just to keep the offense from going 3 and out and give the D some rest.
Riley Burt, the other stud has changed to the defense as a DB. Guess he just wanted to stay healthy. Guy was amazing in the UConn game
Yep…If his foot is 100% he will show his stuff!
Injured foot. They say it’s about 100%…