The Virtual 2012 BYU Season - Part 1/2

-- Covering Weeks 2 through 9

I'm continuing to write about Climps Hansen's quest to lead BYU ... to something great. Either a NCAA title, a promotion to the P12, or 30 straight wins over Utah. For a more thorough explanation of what this is, click here. Credit to Ricky O'Donnell for the idea.

Week 2 home to Weber State

It's another WSU opponent, though facing Weber instead of Washington means our team has a chance to iron out some of the offensive struggles from Week 1. And we do in a big way, winning 51 to 34 (27 of Weber's 34 came in garbage time).We rack up 608 yards of offense, 408 through the air and 200 on the ground. Yet somehow we suffer two major injuries - our best linebacker (Raymond Garret, aka Kyle Van Noy?) and best receiver (Lonnie Washington, aka Cody Hoffman?) will miss the Utah game. Both are rated 88, our 2nd and 3rd best players overall. Unbelievable. Even in video games we're cursed against Utah.

In better news, on the recruiting front we land the first commit of the Climps Hansen era! Julius Hodge, a 4-star athlete who stands 6'3" and weighs 213 is a tremendous first date. He could be deployed at either safety spot or linebacker. Moments later we get a commitment from RB Marcus Robinson out of West Jordan! He picks us over TCU and Utah. Suck it ye old Mountain West foes! Our gamble to redshirt RB Peter Young this year will allow us to redshirt Robinson next year and hopefully let him develop into the next stud in a long line of BYU runners. 

Week 3 at Utah - The Holy War

We've lost two in a row to the Utes as we head into the 2012 edition of the rivalry. 2010 was the famous 'knee is down' game and 2011 was the fumbling debacle of the century. We seek vengeance, but are worried with injuries knocking out the top of our depth chart at LB and WR. Can Climps Hansen's offensive mastery unlock the Ute defense? 

Gadfrey. We've now managed to score one TD against Wazzu and one against the Utes. We were actually decent on 3rd downs in the game (7 of 15) but our three trips to the redzone netted a mere 10 points. A trio of interceptions didn't help the cause. 

In the recruiting game I have my eyes on a MLB out of California named Bobby Berg, who I'm targeting almost singlehandedly due to his name, which both rolls off the tongue and reminds me of an old friend from college. He has me listed 8th on his list despite heavy recruiting efforts. I might take a couple more shots but fear I'll have to cut him loose.

Most of my big name targets are ready for visits which is positive news. QB Steve Latimer, WR Dusty Green, and WR John Anderson all plan to visit during the Oregon State blackout game. 

I need a punter and am racing against a fellow that Stanford ("Standford", to the Utes) wants. I'm not gonna deploy my recruiting points on a punter, thank you very much. I give him a short 10-minute call and hope that the promise of starting immediately as a freshman will be enough to win him to my cause. 

Week 4 at Boise State

It's early in the season, but Coach Hansen is already feeling pressure from all angles. The offensive revolution that was promised is nowhere to be seen. I decide to take a drastic measure: I revise my entire offensive playbook. Initially, when I signed my contract with BYU, I settled on a generic Air Raid package. Like all who take the helm of BYU, I wanted to sling it like LaVell. But as I examine the plays in the Air Raid I realize it contains none of the diversity that I champion. 

I will stick with the Air Raid as my base, but I'm stripping out 100s of shotgun plays and formations. We'll settle on our four favorite shotgun formations, which we'll complement by adding plays from the pro set, pistol, empty set, Ace, flexbone, and I-formations. I make sure to add plenty of option looks and QB draws because what can I say, I like mobile quarterbacks. (maybe I'm more like Bronco than I want to admit) 

All told, after editing the playbook I can attack teams out of about 11 base formations, with various tweaks within each base. Will it pay off in a road match against Boise, the first of our much ballyhooed 10-year scheduling agreement? 

YES! A win in our first overtime game! It's a huge victory that saves us from the disaster that would've been an 0-3 start against FBS teams. RB Steve Reid scored with 2 minutes left to force overtime, and the FG kick in extra time sealed the deal. It's early in my career but this game feels enormous. We held a 28-14 lead from early on in the second quarter, only to give up three straight TDs to Boise. Had we lost, the memory of this choke job may have permeated our team for some time. By the way, Steve Reid rushed for 169 yards and 3 TDs. 

And how bout this! After the Boise game I vault to 4th on Berg's list of schools. I'm back in it baby! I spend 50 minutes scouting him and ... whoa, he's a gem! His rating vaults from 69 to 75. 

I'm after another gem as well, a guard named Albert Scott out of Grantsville who debuted as a 71 but has climbed all the way to 78 after I spent a good hour scouting him. I'm currently the leader for his services but I fear the secret is out because the teams with the second and third most interest are Oregon and Michigan. Is this the first person in Grantsville history to hold a Michigan scholarship offer? By fortune playing close to home rates very high on his priorities. My lead over Oregon is 60 points, which is basically nothing in the recruiting game. 

I've moved into first for Dominique Brown, a 4-star LB out of Idaho Falls who would fill an immediate need for me. He must have been impressed with my conquest over his home town team. Unfortunately Kevin Moss, a CB who I desperately need, still has Boise ranked ahead of me. I need two CBs and beside Moss the only individuals interested in me are 60s caliber players. As in real life for BYU, there are not a lot of great CB prospects calling my name this year. 

Week 5 home to Hawaii

Our second consecutive Mountain West foe sees us post a second consecutive solid offensive performance. We score TDs in every quarter in route to a 41-13 victory. Steve Reid follows up last week's monster performance with 200 combined rushing and receiving yards to go along with 2 TDs. Something very promising is going on in our backfield. 

In recruiting it's Bobby Berg Time. I'm up to second on his list (the Trojans are his #1) and decide to devote a 10th of my entire weekly budget into an hour long recruiting call. I go all in, promising TV exposure and a game in his home state straight away (not a big challenge - I want to play in California to enhance the pipeline). 

Speaking of battles with USC, we're dueling for a 3-star FS named Alvin McDonald who hails from Redding, California. Alvin values coaching stability and playing style, which I rate highly on compared to USC. Things are looking promising!

I've dropped from 2nd to 3rd in the race for 5-star WR Dusty Green. If I can't have him I hope Ohio State overcomes the Utes and grabs this guy.

Scott Benson, a middling LB prospect but the great grandson of Ezra Taft Benson signs immediately when offered a scholly. 

Week 6 home to USU

None of last year's dramatics are needed this time around. We take home the wagon wheel with ease, 35-18. But the cost of victory is extreme. 

Like something out of a Taysom Hill movie, I lose R. Nelson (who is Riley Nelson, but named Reggie Nelson in this game lol) for the season to a torn ACL. Unbelievable! Just as the offense was starting to hum. What is the deal with USU and BYU QBs! It feels spooky when art imitates real life.

I have but one question for the USU defense. 

I decide to pull Senior QB Josh Britton (aka Jake Heaps) off his redshirt. It's either that or throw an unproven freshman into the flames of our schedule -- our next three games are against Oregon State, and undefeated Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, both on the road. I don't feel like I have another choice. Britton will take the reigns. Unlike Reggie/Riley, He has no running game. Yuck. 

It's not the only bad news, as recruiting hits a hiccup in Week 6. Alvin McDonald pledges to USC. My best remaining FS prospects are in the high 60s range. Ugh. Meanwhile Oregon jumps ahead of me in the fight for 4 -tar WR John Anderson. 3-star tackle Victor Royal rates his visit to campus a B- and I'm suddenly about 500 recruiting points behind UCLA. He must have loved his visit to Pasadena. 3-star guard Dan Nelson (there's a BYU name if I ever heard one) ranks Boise ahead of me. 

Also the punter I'm battling Stanford for commits to the Pac-12 Trees. I was not expecting that for some reason. I plumb the depth of the nation for anyone remotely interested me and find a fellow named Chris Malone, who is rated ... a 59. Yowza. I tell him we value the surname Malone round these parts. Maybe Bronco was onto something with his international special team searches? 

The only good news is I'm climbing the ladder for Bobby Berg. I'm second behind only USC. He's up to a 76 rating!

One other note: Steve Reid is 5th in the NCAA in rushing at 715 yards on the season.

Week 7 home to Oregon State 

Oregon State isn't as good in fictional 2012 as they were in real 2012. Still, a win here would be huge because this game presents two big opportunities: 

1) a chance to beat my first P5 team

2) a chance to validate our 3-game winning streak as more than just a clobbering of weak opponents

In a shocker we trounce OSU, 38-13. Finally we're on the right side of a score with a 13 in it! Stand-in QB Josh Britton completes a meager 7 passes, but much like the Tanner Mangum performance vs Wisconsin in 2018, it doesn't matter. Steve Reid dominates again, rushing for 166 yards and 2 TDs. Our last three team rushing performances have been for 236, 293, and 262 yards.   

Steve Latimer who was a soft commit prior to the game signs on the dotted line. Our QB of the future and maybe the 2nd highest rated QB recruit in the nation is headed to Provo! HUGE.

I also move up in the running for 4-star athlete Todd Thompson. He has the look of a poor man's gem, starting at a 71 overall and jumping to a 74 after a couple hours of scouting.

I'm officially not catching Dusty Green. He rated his visit to Provo as a B+ (not horrible really) but I'm 600 points behind the leaders, Notre Dame and Ohio State. It doesn't look like Utah will get him, so at least there's that. I delete his phone number from my cell and pour a tall drink of Dr Pepper. 

Week 8 at #4 Notre Dame - The Other Holy War

Notre Dame is undefeated, ranked 4th overall. In week 3 Irish Freshman QB Reggie Gary was the national offensive player of the week with 418 yards passing, 51 yards rushing, and 4 total TDs. He'll be a handful. Going in our favor is the workhorse Steve Reid. He's averaging 6.1 yards per carry on 144 attempts for 881 yards, good for 2nd in the entire nation. He's also grabbed 13 passes for 167 yards and 1 TD. 

We exit the tunnel with hearts full of belief -- if Rudy could do it, why not us? -- and on national TV we promptly get our faces ground into the dirt, 42-13. Yet another score with a 13 in it. The silver lining? Albert Scott out of Grantsville signs with us. He's listed at 3 stars but is a hidden treasure, rating out at 78 overall. 

I remain stable at 2nd in consideration for CB Kevin Moss, but I believe it's only a matter of time before he signs for Boise. Meanwhile I get oddly desperate for LB Bobby Burg, promising he'll make the freshman all-american team. I don't know where that came from.

Week 9 at #6 Georgia Tech

Our third straight game on National TV. Hey those recruits best start believing in the power of independence am I right? Tech is ranked #6 but I compare really favorably. Unfortunately that jabroni Herbstreit is going with Tech.

He was right to do so. We lose 27-13. I'm sick of scoring 13 points. I've lost four games and in each of the four games I've scored 13 points. I issue a team wide statement that no one will be able to wear the #13 for BYU while I'm the coach. Britton completes 9 passes in the loss and is averaging a 1920s-esque 64 yards passing per game on the season (maybe I should've gone with the freshman) while Steve Reid tops 100 yards again (111 yards, 1 TD). Reid is now ranked first nationally in rushing yards with 1,103 on the season, barely ahead of Air Force's Jerry Byrd at 1,097. 

In recruiting I'm devastated when Bobby Burg tells me he's sticking with USC. Kevin Moss also delivers the news that he'll be a Bronco. I tell Punter Chris Malone about the Malone car dealerships in Utah and I don't correct him when he wonders if he could get in on the deal. 

That's it for this edition. The next installment will take us through the end of the season and the 2013 offseason activities.