Raiders Television Show 09.02.2006...

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FINDING THE REQUISITE BALANCE

Todd Christensen

Being up in the broadcast booth for the home opener at Cougar Stadium gave me a bird's-eye view of one of the most complete games BYU has played in quite some time. The 49-24 pasting of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane was a coach's dream in terms of what they verbalize so frequently, that being "winning all three phases of the game."

Beginning with the offense, the number of points indicates the obvious success, but if you were to tell someone that the "Y" only threw the ball 22 times- -- one of which a beautiful halfback pass by Curtis Brown that Zac Collie dropped for what would have been a sure touchdown -- they would have thought you misread the statistics.

John Beck was coolly efficient with his throws, averaging a whopping 11.43 yards per attempt in throwing for 240 yards and three touchdowns. The fact that he had seemingly all day to throw is a credit to the offensive line, which kept his uniform clean and road-graded the Tulsa front seven to the tune of 227 yards rushing.

Of course, that was the talk of the town -- the spectacular play of Curtis Brown and Fui Vakapuna. Brown produced more than 200 yards of offense from scrimmage, the most dynamic being a 62-yard catch-and-run in which he broke a half-dozen tackles and electrified the Cougar Faithful. Vakapuna scored two touchdowns and wowed the crowd with his unique combination of speed, power, balance and cutting ability.

The layman may look upon having two quality backs as a problem -- and it could become one if individuals get selfish and start to read their clippings. But from a coaching standpoint, not only does it enable you to your charges fresh with the occasional rest, but because both players are versatile, the predictability that a defense relies upon in personnel and formations goes out the window because both can run, catch and block.

As strange as it may sound, the defense may have actually played better this past Saturday than they did in Arizona, where they put up such gaudy statistics. The offense for the Wildcats is anemic -- witness the scant three points they put up against LSU -- while Tulsa was the defending Conference USA champion that had averaged 33 points a game in '05 and had scored 42 points in its '06 opener. While the Cougars did give up two time-consuming touchdown drives, the reality is that they forced Tulsa to earn them -- the defense of the past two seasons would have given up a 60-yard play for a score. In addition, the biggest series of the game was a defensive one. Following a blocked punt, Tulsa set up shop on the Cougar 15-yard line. If the Golden Hurricane go in for a score to go up 14-7, the game could have been irrevocably changed in the visitor's favor. Instead, the defense stiffened, yielding only seven yards in three plays forcing a field goal. Thus inspired, the Cougars went on a 21-0 run that effectively put the game to bed.

The coverage teams for the Cougars were outstanding all day, as only five yards were garnered on returns. The return teams were solid, if unspectacular, but with an offense so potent, field position is what matters and that was certainly a plus for the Blue-and-White. The blocked punt stands out as the significant black mark. The three-fullback set not only takes away two potential coverage people, but it also creates gaps in the front line making, it easier for rushers to come through untouched and if not block the punt, certainly bother the punter. In addition, the punter becomes distracted with three bodies in front of him, concerned that he may kick one in the butt. This needs to be rectified as it was also an issue in '05.

Overall, however, it appears that many of the young players are understanding their roles and that Coach Mendenhall's approach to ceding power to players to make decisions in this phase of the game has been relatively successful so far.

Will this overall competence continue? Certainly, a significant challenge looms ahead in the form of Boston College, which upset No. 16 Clemson this past weekend. And not only must BYU deal with a hostile environment but be mature enough to handle a long trip in which distractions and fatigue can become mitigating factors.

One thing that bodes well for the team, however, is the fact that the 2006 version of Cougar football appears to have the ability to play hard AND smart. If that trend continues throughout the campaign, then there will be much to cheer about.

Todd Christensen, a former BYU running back and All-Pro tight end for the Oakland Raiders, lives in Highland. He can be reached at [email protected].
 
Angry Pope said:
Here is a cartoon...

Hit it here...
Bwahahahaha.

I hear the natives are already calling for Cutler in Denver. I don't think Shanarat has ever fully embraced Plummer as his starting QB. My guess is that Cutler will be playing QB for Denver before half time!
 
CrossBones said:
Bwahahahaha.

I hear the natives are already calling for Cutler in Denver. I don't think Shanarat has ever fully embraced Plummer as his starting QB. My guess is that Cutler will be playing QB for Denver before half time!

Bite your tongue!

The last thing we need is Jake Plummer on the FA market.
 
Do you really think we'd pursue a poor-man's Kenny Stabler? We're barely keeping Tui on the roster.
 
I've stopped trying to guess what the Oakland Raiders might do.
 
Rupert said:
Do you really think we'd pursue a poor-man's Kenny Stabler? We're barely keeping Tui on the roster.

Without a doubt.
 
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