-- Covering Week 1 through Week 10
Training results are in and hoo boy does it look like Eric Gates wants to go out with a bang. He improves 5 spots to enter his senior year at a 97 overall. The only player who improves more is a benchdweller named Jon Harris who improved from a 63 to a 69. Bummer to see such a high number wasted on a third stringer.
My rivals are peppered throughout the pre-season all-american list: TCU has a tackle, Utah a linebacker, Boise a kicker, Utah State a corner, but I'm not jealous; I'm fielding one of my strongest teams. We're ranked #24 and we have Gates and TE Gary Lucas leading the offense with 97 and 93 ratings. I have some weakness on the offensive line for the first time in a few years, with two starters below 80 and none above 90, but my defensive line is pure strength: we go 93 (Jon Moss), 91 (George Wheeler), 86 (Josh Grimes), and 91 (Brian Harris) across the board with an 83 and 85 as our 5th and 6th options. We have a 81-ranked freshman who will redshirt. All in all we have a very -- I feel sick -- Utah Utes feel this year. Spectacular defensive line, great running back, and a complete variable at quarterback.
We even face a Utah foe in the first game, Arizona State. Overall I changed four games on the 2018 schedule and am left with the following lineup.
Arizona State (replaced Utah State on accident)at Cal
Wisconsin
Northern Illinois
Boise
Washington
Arizona
Minnesota (replaced New Mexico State)
Kentucky (replaced UMass)
SMU (replaced McNeese State)
Hawaii
Utah
It's an awesome schedule. Let's get to it.
Week 1 #24 BYU vs Arizona State
We ended the 2017 season in an unfortunate way, losing close against Penn State (who would finish 2nd in the country) and losing not close against Boise State in the bowl game. So it's a pleasant sign when we pants Arizona State on national TV by a score of 45 to 16. We pull the starters early in the third and somewhere my old Amex leader and Sun Devils lover Ben Mucha is suffering. Gates only gets 19 touches (I'd like to see him get over 25) but he turns those touches into 131 yards and 1 touchdown. Our defense records five interceptions, one each for Fitch, Manning, Preston, Cohen, and Hagen. Can't think of a stronger way to open a season.
Week 2 #24 BYU at Cal
So we roast a P5 opponent by 30 despite letting off the gas after halftime and we don't move up a single spot in the rankings? OK, we see you pollsters. And we'll make sure Cal sees us as well.
We hit the road ... and we take Cal's head. It's a 45 to 0 blanking and we're halfway to sweeping the P12 this year. We rush 50 (fifty???) times for 312 yards. Gates again gets limited touches (15) for 104 yards, and I guess that's OK cause if we're blowing teams out we don't need to wear the guy out? Going back to last year we are rolling against P5 teams.
After beating two Pac 12 teams by a score of 90 to 16 we've officially moved up from #24 all the way to ... #22. The boys are pissed. At least I don't need to come up with any motivational tactics.
Week 3 #22 BYU vs #21Wisconsin
Our third straight P5 opponent and our 2nd on national TV presents our toughest challenge to date. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say this game will largely swing our season. A win here will lend credence to future wins to send us sky high into the rankings. A loss here and any future wins will be discounted.
Also our primary MLB target has me and Wisconsin one and two in his recruiting rankings so there's that little bit on the line as well. Not to mention I have about 8 prospects visiting this weekend.
And so it's a grim result when we lose 38 to 28. This loss followed the same formula as many of the tough losses I encountered as HC of BYU. We were tied in the fourth quarter before we gave up ten straight. The national media laughs at our claims of disrespect as we sulk into the bye week unranked.
I'm personally upset seeing Eric Gates once again getting limited touches. This is not why he came back for his senior season! Gates is averaging 7 yards per carry but has only 5 more carries than the 2nd string RB (Tom Miller) and only 10 more than Mike Manson, our quarterback. I knock down our substitutions metric in the hopes that Gates will stay on the field more. George Preston, our superstar CB recruit of a few years past had a whale of a game with 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 3 passes defended.
We also picked up an injury in one of the few areas we couldn't afford it - offensive line. Our center and best lineman Frank Green will be down for three weeks. Unless I break a redshirt I'm looking at playing backup TE Jason Stewart on our offensive line. He's respectable at a 76 rating but I gambled by redshirting guys and now I'm paying the price.
Week 4 BYE
Recruiting is a mixed bag. We have needs at FS and SS and are looking very promising with multiple top tier prospects interested in the Y. We also have needs at C and TE and those positions are exceptionally bleak this year.
Week 5 #24 BYU vs Northern Illinois
Well what a surprise, we're back in the top 25 after a week of inaction. Looks like we might finally be getting a little credit for rubbing Cal and Arizona State's face in the mud afterall.
NIU is not trash - they're 3 and 1 and are rated a B- in each of the three phases of the game. They're first in the country in turnover differential and 3rd in the country in rushing defense. If we get a win here we'll be looking at our second top 25 showdown of the year, this time against Boise State who beat us twice last season.
We smoke NIU putting up 42 against their 18. Gates gets 18 touches which he turns into 180 yards. He's not blowing away any records by volume but his efficiency is off the charts. George Preston records two picks and puts one in the end zone. He's having a tremendous junior year.
I'm checking in on our offensive numbers and we're 14th in the nation in points per game at 40. Our yardage per game isn't spectacular but we're really solid at turning drives into points.
This is a weird year in recruiting because there are not many Utah talents. I already lean pretty heavily on out-of-staters compared to real life BYU, and that difference will grow even greater this year.
Week 6 #24 BYU at Boise
Somehow this isn't a nationally broadcast game. Yet another sign of disrespect. But that's really a secondary consideration because bad things happened this week during practice. Starting QB Mike Manson went down with back spasms and will miss three weeks, and Eric Gates has a case of turf toe which will take him out for three weeks as well. So just like that we're missing a 97, a 89, and an 88 rated player -- all on offense -- from this marquee matchup. Maybe that's why ESPN staid away.
They shouldn't have because the Cougars and Broncos play into triple overtime.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. We lead by 10 with three minutes left in the game, and while the Idahoans fled to the parking lots their team pulled a rabbit out of their crack with a touchdown score, an onside recovery, and a 53-yeard field goal at the buzzer to force the tie at 42 to 42. Defense, what you doin??? My depleted offense put up 42 in regulation and our defense can't get one freaking stop.
Boise scores a touchdown in the first overtime and has officially put up 17 points in about 240 seconds of game time. Somehow our backup squad absorbs that would-be-TKO and converts a 4th-and-goal into a score to force overtime number two. This time we get the ball first and can only manage a field goal. Boise does the same and it's 52 to 52 as we journey into overtime number three.
Boise scores on the very first play, a trick shot that harkens back to the Bronco glory days of old. They convert their 2-point conversion by running right into the teeth of my vaunted defensive line and I'm personally hurt.
What plays do you even call at this point in the game? Our backup QB Steve Lindsey has been good enough, throwing for almost 300 yards on just about 50% accuracy, but he's had a lot of good luck baked into those 52 points we've scored. He could easily have more than the two interceptions he's thrown so far. But I can't clam up now. I dial up pass plays and we advance to the two-yard line. If Gates were dressed we'd hand off four times and score at least twice, but with a backup in action our first two runs are shot down. On third down Lindsey throws into coverage and it's picked.
A legendary game ends in memorable defeat for the Cougars. Boise 60, BYU 52.
Week 7 BYU vs #13 Washington
If our defense knew how to stop teams from scoring at will in the final minutes of the fourth quarter we could've been 4-1 and ranked in the top 20 for this game against #13 Washington. The Huskies look a bit paper tigerish. Their wins have come against Stanford, Tulsa, Idaho, and Oregon, with a loss against a common enemy, Wisconsin. I believe this would be the biggest upset in my coaching career (by ranking) if I can pull it off. Let's get to it.
I don't even need to go through the play-by-play because we coast in convincing fashion, winning 35 to 12. Bang!! It didn't even feel like an upset as we controlled from start to finish. We're 3-0 against the Pac 12 with two more games against the conference. If we go 5-0 we get to hang the banner right? What a huge win. Washington was as overrated as I expected but still, getting a win against #13 on the road doesn't happen very often.
In recruiting I have my eyes set on two players who can push me over the top on defense: the number 1 rated FS and number 1 SS in the land. Both might start as freshman if they sign.
Week 8 #21 BYU at Arizona
We're ranked in the top 25 again! But Washington is ranked ahead of us at #20. Huh!?! Our team has been shat on all season by voters and media. If we were at full strength on offense I'd predict we put up 50 plus on Zona.
With our backups at QB, RB, and C we still put up 42 and hold Arizona to 14. Our Pac-12 revenge tour is nearly complete. We are rolling.
Week 9 #18 BYU at Minnesota
There’s not a lot of drama at hand as we face ho hum Minnesota this week. The biggest question is who should start at QB. Backup Lindsay has numbers almost identical to those of returning starter Mike Manson. Should we let Lindsey continue on as starter in prep for the next couple of years?
Not this time. Manson gets the nod and Gates is back too and the seniors explode for 21 in the first quarter in route to a 56 to 35 victory. We amass 704 yards!! It’s Manson's best game of the season -- he rewards our trust -- with 380 yards, 4TDs, on 55% passing while adding 65 on the ground. Gates meanwhile takes 22 carries for 196 yards, further cementing his attack on BYU's career yard per carry record.
Week 10 #15 BYU vs Kentucky
We’re up to 15th in the polls, but Washington is still a spot ahead of us at 14! Amazing. We’ve played six P5 teams and beat 5 so far. Kentucky will likely give us another. Comically the two best teams we play this year might be non-P5ers, Boise (ranked in the top-10) and Hawaii (on track for a top-15 ranking when we play them).
Maybe a little bit of cockiness seeped into the program because Kentucky keeps it close with us all game. In fact we have to do a role reversal and score 10 points in the final 4 minutes to seal this one up. It’s my offense's worst performance of the season — we only score 24 — but it’s enough for a 24 to 21 win.
Mike Manson goes 13 for 36 for 162 yards. What is wrong with my passing attack?
In better news the season success is resulting in early signees. One half of the top rated FS and SS duo signed, as did our future at TE and another 4-star FS who might be a rover or get switched to corner.
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