The summer of 2008 was my most hyped BYU offseason of all-time. To remind you of the climate of that era: BYU in 2006 had recently completed its best season in 10 years. Bronco had combined his culture-building with Crowton's recruits to form a team that squashed Oregon, scored 31 points against TCU's 3rd ranked defense, snapped the Utah losing streak in all-time fashion, and rose as high as 15th in the polls.
In 2007 we faced an enormous rebuilding year. We had to replace -
a QB who had played in 43 games and threw for over 10,000 yards and was taken in the 2nd round of the NFL draft (John Beck)
a running back who was at the time the leading rusher in BYU history, as well as the 2006 team leader in receptions (Curtis Brown)
a tight end who put up numbers we hadn’t seen since the Chris Smith days (Jonny Harline)
the team’s top three receivers (Brown, Harline, McKay Jacobsen)
a middle linebacker who led the team in tackles for three straight years, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished at any other time in BYU history (Cameron Jensen)
a FG kicker who had drained a pair of 50 yarders in 2006, as well as manned punting duties11. This may not seem like a big deal at first but we went 13 years before we'd have another FG kicker nail a 50-yarder.
So when BYU repeated in 2007 what they did in 2006 - rising to 14th in the polls, beating Utah in dramatic fashion, beating a P10 team in the bowl game, winning the MWC conference – my mind was in shock -- how could we be that good with that many new players? But more importantly my expectations for 2008 were halfway to Mars. Knowing the core of a team that had just owned the 2007 season was returning with a pinch of seasoning in the form of experience, well, let's just say I did indeed think we would be questing for perfection that year.
Those Quest for Perfection shirts, which have since become a symbol of heartbreak and mockery, made all the sense in the world to me at the time. 2008 was the year we were going to light the schedule on fire. We were climbing the mountain with ease. From 2005 to 2007 we scored 50, 31, and 27 points against TCU's vaunted defense and 34, 33, and 17 against Utah's vaunted defense (and that 17 number is understated by a dropped TD by Harvey Unga and a TD to Austin Collie called back by bogus PI).
In 2007 we faced an enormous rebuilding year. We had to replace -
a QB who had played in 43 games and threw for over 10,000 yards and was taken in the 2nd round of the NFL draft (John Beck)
a running back who was at the time the leading rusher in BYU history, as well as the 2006 team leader in receptions (Curtis Brown)
a tight end who put up numbers we hadn’t seen since the Chris Smith days (Jonny Harline)
the team’s top three receivers (Brown, Harline, McKay Jacobsen)
a middle linebacker who led the team in tackles for three straight years, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished at any other time in BYU history (Cameron Jensen)
a FG kicker who had drained a pair of 50 yarders in 2006, as well as manned punting duties11. This may not seem like a big deal at first but we went 13 years before we'd have another FG kicker nail a 50-yarder.
So when BYU repeated in 2007 what they did in 2006 - rising to 14th in the polls, beating Utah in dramatic fashion, beating a P10 team in the bowl game, winning the MWC conference – my mind was in shock -- how could we be that good with that many new players? But more importantly my expectations for 2008 were halfway to Mars. Knowing the core of a team that had just owned the 2007 season was returning with a pinch of seasoning in the form of experience, well, let's just say I did indeed think we would be questing for perfection that year.
Those Quest for Perfection shirts, which have since become a symbol of heartbreak and mockery, made all the sense in the world to me at the time. 2008 was the year we were going to light the schedule on fire. We were climbing the mountain with ease. From 2005 to 2007 we scored 50, 31, and 27 points against TCU's vaunted defense and 34, 33, and 17 against Utah's vaunted defense (and that 17 number is understated by a dropped TD by Harvey Unga and a TD to Austin Collie called back by bogus PI).
If we had that level of success in the 2005 to 2007 range, how good would we be in 2008 with elite players returning at QB, WR, TE, OL, and RB? We had four seniors on the offensive line in 2008. The fifth lineman was a Reynolds prodigy who would go on to to earn freshman all-American honors. Our starting running back was a freshman all-American. Our starting wide receiver was a freshman all-American. Our quarterback had just completed the best debut season by a BYU passer since Brandon Doman.
I didn't just expect good things to happen. I knew good things would happen.
AND THEN.
IT ALL CAME TO PASS.
JUST LIKE I DREAMED.22. Well, for a little while anyway.
In the first game against Northern Iowa Max Hall threw for 486 yards at a 83% completion rate. And it looked like the easiest thing he'd done in his life.
In the next game BYU punted only twice on the road against Washington and beat the potential number one pick in the NFL draft.
The next week BYU dropped a 59 to 0 nuclear bomb on UCLA.
The next week BYU dropped a 44 to 0 house on Wyoming's head.
The next week the Utah State crowd celebrated like they won the national championship just because they scored. That’s how awesome BYU was in the first few weeks of the 2008 season. In the late fourth quarter USU pulled within 27 points of BYU and the fans nearly rushed the field. On the way out of the stadium, one Logan resident (a Loganite? a Loogie?) got in my face and said, “There’s no way Max Hall is winning the Heisman after this game.” That was how opposing fans came at us in early 2008. There wasn’t even a consideration of beating us. The best our enemies could do was celebrate holding our starting QB to 303 yards and two touchdowns.
The next game we gave up three points to New Mexico. In total from the UCLA game to the New Mexico game BYU held their opponents scoreless in 14 of 16 quarters. We outscored UCLA, Wyoming, USU, and New Mexico by a score of 158 to 17. We were on a 16 game winning streak, ranked #8 in the country.
Our next opponent was TCU and can you even begin to imagine how cocky I was going into that game? I remember telling my friend Brian Henderson I was worried about the game, and by worried what I really meant, was “I’m worried this might not be a 45 to 10 blowout”. I recall saying TCU was good enough that this could even get within a two score game possibly. And if this game or any game got close, never fear, we would win. Every time. BYU in the late 2000s was 17 and 2 in games decided by 8 points or less. Max Hall himself was 10-0 in games decided by 8 points or less in his career. I had no reason to fear.
Now why am I bringing up a season from – no it can’t be true, this is impossible – 12 years ago?
Because it reminds me just a little of the current BYU season. Right now we’re flying high. Our QB is being taken out of the game in third quarters like Steph Curry during the Warrior's 73-win season. Wilson's getting national pub like Max did back in 2008 (and the way Taysom did in 2014, to a lesser degree). Our defense is giving up 8 points a game. Our offense is scoring 49 per game. In 2008 I believed our superhuman early season numbers were reflective of our superhuman abilities. This year I believe our superhuman early season numbers are …
The competition has been trash – make no mistake. Navy hadn’t practiced. PFF ranked Troy the 88th worst offense and 96th worst defense in the country. The same goes for Louisiana Tech (73rd and 112th). These are teams anyone should be expected to beat.
But I do think cremating your opponents by 50 is meaningful to a degree. It may not tell us that BYU is the 18th ranked team in the country, but it does tell us BYU has improved dramatically from years past. This outfit would not have lost to Toledo or USF last year, of that I am certain.
So while I’m not sure if the 2020 results through three games merit the hype they’ve received – Cougarboard unacceptably compared this team to the 2001 team, among many examples of hype run amok -- I am at the very least believing in this BYU team. Certainly not like I did in 2008 when I assumed Tim Tebow alone stood between us and a second national championship. That's what smacking two Pac 10 foes to the ground and humiliating the armpits of college football will do to a 22-year old fan.
I didn't just expect good things to happen. I knew good things would happen.
AND THEN.
IT ALL CAME TO PASS.
JUST LIKE I DREAMED.22. Well, for a little while anyway.
In the first game against Northern Iowa Max Hall threw for 486 yards at a 83% completion rate. And it looked like the easiest thing he'd done in his life.
In the next game BYU punted only twice on the road against Washington and beat the potential number one pick in the NFL draft.
The next week BYU dropped a 59 to 0 nuclear bomb on UCLA.
The next week BYU dropped a 44 to 0 house on Wyoming's head.
The next week the Utah State crowd celebrated like they won the national championship just because they scored. That’s how awesome BYU was in the first few weeks of the 2008 season. In the late fourth quarter USU pulled within 27 points of BYU and the fans nearly rushed the field. On the way out of the stadium, one Logan resident (a Loganite? a Loogie?) got in my face and said, “There’s no way Max Hall is winning the Heisman after this game.” That was how opposing fans came at us in early 2008. There wasn’t even a consideration of beating us. The best our enemies could do was celebrate holding our starting QB to 303 yards and two touchdowns.
The next game we gave up three points to New Mexico. In total from the UCLA game to the New Mexico game BYU held their opponents scoreless in 14 of 16 quarters. We outscored UCLA, Wyoming, USU, and New Mexico by a score of 158 to 17. We were on a 16 game winning streak, ranked #8 in the country.
Our next opponent was TCU and can you even begin to imagine how cocky I was going into that game? I remember telling my friend Brian Henderson I was worried about the game, and by worried what I really meant, was “I’m worried this might not be a 45 to 10 blowout”. I recall saying TCU was good enough that this could even get within a two score game possibly. And if this game or any game got close, never fear, we would win. Every time. BYU in the late 2000s was 17 and 2 in games decided by 8 points or less. Max Hall himself was 10-0 in games decided by 8 points or less in his career. I had no reason to fear.
And then we got spanked.
The loss against TCU was more than a loss - it was the iceberg to our titanic. Suddenly our defense was riddled with an absolute host of defensive weaknesses. After giving up 61 total points in our first six games, we gave up 109 in our next three. We allowed 10 points per game through our first six games; we allowed 32(!!) per game through our next six. After winning 16 games in a row we finished the 2008 season barely playing .500 ball, winning four games but losing three. My neck is still recovering from the whiplash.
Now why am I bringing up a season from – no it can’t be true, this is impossible – 12 years ago?
Because it reminds me just a little of the current BYU season. Right now we’re flying high. Our QB is being taken out of the game in third quarters like Steph Curry during the Warrior's 73-win season. Wilson's getting national pub like Max did back in 2008 (and the way Taysom did in 2014, to a lesser degree). Our defense is giving up 8 points a game. Our offense is scoring 49 per game. In 2008 I believed our superhuman early season numbers were reflective of our superhuman abilities. This year I believe our superhuman early season numbers are …
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The competition has been trash – make no mistake. Navy hadn’t practiced. PFF ranked Troy the 88th worst offense and 96th worst defense in the country. The same goes for Louisiana Tech (73rd and 112th). These are teams anyone should be expected to beat.
But I do think cremating your opponents by 50 is meaningful to a degree. It may not tell us that BYU is the 18th ranked team in the country, but it does tell us BYU has improved dramatically from years past. This outfit would not have lost to Toledo or USF last year, of that I am certain.
So while I’m not sure if the 2020 results through three games merit the hype they’ve received – Cougarboard unacceptably compared this team to the 2001 team, among many examples of hype run amok -- I am at the very least believing in this BYU team. Certainly not like I did in 2008 when I assumed Tim Tebow alone stood between us and a second national championship. That's what smacking two Pac 10 foes to the ground and humiliating the armpits of college football will do to a 22-year old fan.
But who cares. Believing – whether with reason or without – is fun. Even if part of that fun is the fear that reality could pull the rug from under your feet at any moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment