Quite a few American college football fans have observed that the month of September 2015 football season will be the most brutal in the history of the Y gridiron program. Could be. The Cougars have been shooting for big things the last 5 years as an independent, but have under-whelmingly finished 8-5 the last 3 years in a row. Two of those three years QB star Taysom Hill missed significant portions of the seasons due to the same tackler from Utah State breaking his bones. And despite that loss and cog in their high powered offense capable of blowing out teams like Texas when healthy, close games were lost that should have led to better records overall for BYU.
But the past is the past. Hopes are interesting next month, and then on to the holidays with the finished season's bowl hopes. If they do get 10 or more wins this year it will mean tremendous progress.
It starts on the road with Nebraska, who are not world beaters but are a classy, respectable, consistently good team. It would be a huge win for BYU. They are not Ohio State, or Wisconsin good, it would seem, but they are decent enough to vie for the Big Ten West division championship.
And they did lose their all-everything Ameer Abdullah to the NFL. Good thing. Then again, BYU's oft-injured best RB Jamal Williams is out for the year.
The following weekend will be against the new big Cougar rival Boise St. Broncos, which at least will be home in Provo. But BYU has struggled to get the best of these new kids on the college football block, and I have seen multiple magazines that rank BSU in the top 20 while BYU is a consensus top 50 team. Underdog the first two, and then on to the top 10-15 ranked UCLA in the Rose Bowl of Pasadena.
And then to finish off the month? The Big House in Ann Arbor, with new coach Jim Harbaugh.
Hmmmmm...
IF BYU goes 4-0, then watch out. Most of us would be satisified with 2-2. Michigan struggled last year but should be better this year. A new coach is always interesting as well. Plus the Wolverines will have played Utah by then, so maybe they will be more broken ...
October will be more doable with Connecticut visiting Lavell Edwards Stadium (the night before General Conference), then East Carolina also at home, followed by Cinncinnati and FCS team Wagner, all in the friendlier confines of Provo where the elevation (some 4500 feet above sea level) can pose problems. Hopefully BYU will have some positive momentum throughout a cooler October.
To complete the regular season there will be the San Jose St. Spartans in California (a particularly vexing loss back in 2012), followed by Missouri (now SEC power) in Kansas City, then the Fresno State Bulldogs in Provo and finally the new arch in-state rival Utah State up the road in Logan. Once they have at least 6 wins (which hopefully happens by October) they are positioned to go to either the Las Vegas Bowl or Hawai'i. UNLESS BYU tears up the year and qualifies for the Football Championship, which has been past Bronco Mendenhall and former BYU fans pipe dreams.
Ahh, to go undefeated, or have one respectable loss by the end of the year... And go for the glory! Wow, what could be if the stars aligned...
Blog it, BYU Alum EMC.
But the past is the past. Hopes are interesting next month, and then on to the holidays with the finished season's bowl hopes. If they do get 10 or more wins this year it will mean tremendous progress.
It starts on the road with Nebraska, who are not world beaters but are a classy, respectable, consistently good team. It would be a huge win for BYU. They are not Ohio State, or Wisconsin good, it would seem, but they are decent enough to vie for the Big Ten West division championship.
And they did lose their all-everything Ameer Abdullah to the NFL. Good thing. Then again, BYU's oft-injured best RB Jamal Williams is out for the year.
The following weekend will be against the new big Cougar rival Boise St. Broncos, which at least will be home in Provo. But BYU has struggled to get the best of these new kids on the college football block, and I have seen multiple magazines that rank BSU in the top 20 while BYU is a consensus top 50 team. Underdog the first two, and then on to the top 10-15 ranked UCLA in the Rose Bowl of Pasadena.
And then to finish off the month? The Big House in Ann Arbor, with new coach Jim Harbaugh.
Hmmmmm...
IF BYU goes 4-0, then watch out. Most of us would be satisified with 2-2. Michigan struggled last year but should be better this year. A new coach is always interesting as well. Plus the Wolverines will have played Utah by then, so maybe they will be more broken ...
October will be more doable with Connecticut visiting Lavell Edwards Stadium (the night before General Conference), then East Carolina also at home, followed by Cinncinnati and FCS team Wagner, all in the friendlier confines of Provo where the elevation (some 4500 feet above sea level) can pose problems. Hopefully BYU will have some positive momentum throughout a cooler October.
To complete the regular season there will be the San Jose St. Spartans in California (a particularly vexing loss back in 2012), followed by Missouri (now SEC power) in Kansas City, then the Fresno State Bulldogs in Provo and finally the new arch in-state rival Utah State up the road in Logan. Once they have at least 6 wins (which hopefully happens by October) they are positioned to go to either the Las Vegas Bowl or Hawai'i. UNLESS BYU tears up the year and qualifies for the Football Championship, which has been past Bronco Mendenhall and former BYU fans pipe dreams.
Ahh, to go undefeated, or have one respectable loss by the end of the year... And go for the glory! Wow, what could be if the stars aligned...
Blog it, BYU Alum EMC.
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