Cougar Corner Blog
Friday, September 29, 2006
BYU Dominates #17 TCU
BYU put the hurt on TCU thursday night, coming off of a short week of practices (only 2 days) going into TCU's home and trouncing the 17th ranked Horned Frogs after their long (bye week) preparation. BYU came out physical and ouplayed TCU in every aspect of the game, giving up the yardage edge in garbage time.
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=2505502
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/photos?gameId=262712628
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/recaps/2006/09/28/34700_recap.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/boxscores/2006/09/28/34700_boxscore.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/recap?gid=200609280085
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/boxscore?gid=200609280085
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Digg This!Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Cougars Gear Up for TCU
Cougars prepare for TCU.
The Cougars are at a distinct disadvantage this week. They look forward to playing TCU on Thursday, giving them just 2 days to practice because of school policy baring practice on Sundays. But the Cougars who face a strong TCU team coming off a bye week aren't making any excuses. They remember the Horned Frogs sneaking a victory out of their home last year and are looking to give these Texans some payback.
The game will be televised on the VS network. You may have never heard of this network, but it used to be called the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). They have refocused their programming on sporting events and changed their name to VS. On DirecTV it's channel 608, and is available with the Total Choice package. The game will be televised at 4pm Mountain Time, so get home early. This game is likely to be a matchup of two powers of the MWC.
Cougars Blow Past Aggies
They say nothing else matters in a rivalry game. The Utah State Aggies were certainly hoping that was true, they came into LaVell Edwards Stadium as one of the worst teams in NCAA football. In fact, in the previous 3 games the Aggies offense had yet to score any points. Their lone touchdown of the season came on a turnover recovered for a touchdown.
The Cougars could even be forgiven for looking ahead to their next opponent, with a short week they would be playing 17th ranked TCU at TCU. John Beck, starting QB was even sitting out, to let his injured ankles rest up for the big match up with TCU.
Utah State did come out and play tough and smart ball, but the Cougars were just too much to handle for the Aggies who have a future great back, but lack the team to build around him this year.
In the end, the damage was 38 to 0. The Aggies are still looking to find the endzone, or a uprights on offense this year.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
LaVell Edwards Stadium not a fashion show
Cougar fans, please where Cougar colors to the games. It makes for a much more exciting experience and atmosphere. Nothing is more exciting than looking out over 65,000 fans dressed in their team colors.
Most real fans will already be wearing Blue or White (hint, BYU is calling for a "white-out" this week against Utah State, so wear your white Cougar gear!) but we all sit next to some fans that don't know pink and brown from blue and white, so I've created this card that you can print out and hand out to the fanatically challanged at the next game.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Cougars Drop a Heart Breaker in Boston College
In a game that BYU statistically dominated, and with several opportunities to go up for the win, the BYU Cougars just couldn't get it done against a very talented, smart BC Eagles team in double overtime.
The Cougars looked good offensively the first series of the game, marching up the field nearly at will before John Beck took a sneak into the endzone for a touch down. Although John Beck had a statistically good game passing (436 yards) it was an interception in the second overtime that sealed the Cougars fate.
BYU looks to rebound by taking on the Utah State Aggies this Saturday at home in Lavell Edwards Stadium.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Cougar Hodgepodge
Lots of interesting stuff about the Cougars going on. Of course we are prepping to play Boston College Eagles in Boston on Saturday at 10am(MST) on ESPN2 (available in HD).
Fans Irked by the Mountain
Cougar fans are really irked about the infamous deal with the MTN channel. The Mountain West Conference, along with CSTV have created a new network to carry Mountain West games. The channel, called the MTN (pronounced "mountain") is jointly owned by CSTV (CBS) and Comcast. They are negotiating with the Satelite carries now to carry the game. Unfortunatly, the BYU/Tulsa game was already broadcast on the MTN, and only Comcast subscribers in Utah could see it.
Comcast, wants the channel available nationally on the satelite providers (which is good, I think), and yet they don't have it on their own national systems. Comcast get with the picture. Comcast & DirecTV / Dish Network, get this deal done! Craig Thompson, you should lose your job over this debacle.
Todd Erickson at RealFootball365.com writes more.
Fui Vakapuna Making a Name for Himself
After an impressive outing last saturday against Tulsa, Fui Vakapuna is reaping the rewards of a monster day, including a hit song about him. Enjoy this song brought to us by 1280 the zone.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Looking ahead to BC
Boston College is next for the BYU Cougars. It will without a doubt be one of the toughest challenges the Cougars face this year. I had a short conversation with BC Blogger, William Maloney.
What will be stronger? What will be weaker?
2. What does the loss of Mathias Kiwanuka mean to your D-Line?
3. What are the keys to a victory for BC over BYU?
4. Where would you rank BYU among your other opponents this year?
We play FSU, Miami, Clemson and Virginia Tech on the schedule, so BYU is not getting much attention. They are our best non-conference opponent. Knowing only so much, I would group them in the middle of our opponents along with NC State, and Maryland.
5. What do we need to know about BC that may not be covered in the Media?
The WRs will be better than advertised. Most offseason stories are focusing on losing Blackmon and Lester. Both were good, but I think Tony Gonzalez, Kevin Challenger and Brandon Robinson will surprise people and equal the production we got from our Recievers last season.
Thanks a lot!
Monday, September 11, 2006
BYU Game Recap
As you have seen from the images from the game, BYU won this one pretty handily. If you read my earlier prediction on the game, you would have known that Tulsa would keep it pretty close through the first half, but just wouldn't have the gas to keep it up in the second half. Brown and Fui had amazing games. So did the O-line. Congraultions on the 49 to 24 victory.
During the 3rd quarter those of you at the game saw 'Cosmo Begins' on the big screen. It was a hilarious take on Batman Begins and the training of Cosmo. Luckily for us, the people who created it have it on line.
You can view the video, in quicktime here.
Or you can read their blog, here.
As we enjoy our victory now, we have to start looking forward to Boston College next Saturday.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Images from the Game
Here are a few images from the game...
BYU's new Growl Towels or Courags are available for the Cougar United.
The Cougars on offense.
The Cougars on Defense.
Rain Delay...
I should say that after the rain delay both teams came out and scored a touchdown, making it 49 to 24. Cougar Victory.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Tulsa game Preview
BYU takes on the Tulsa Golden Hurricans at home on Saturday, Sept. 9. The Cougars are looking to right the ship after giving away a game to Arizona last saturday, 16-13. The Golden Hurricans meanwhile, look to continue their winning ways after beating perennial no-body, Stephen F. Austin 45-7.
The game will be on the Mountain West Conference's new flagship channel the MTN. You can get this channel on Comcast in Utah, but not much else right now. Although there are rumors that a deal will be inked today with DirecTV and Dishnetwork, though that remains to be seen.
This is how I expect the game to turn out. The Cougars are 5-0 all time against Tulsa, expect that to continue, but don't make the mistake of thinking that this will be an easy game.
BYU will come out with a vengence on the ground game. Expect Cougar running backs, and Offensive Coordinater Anae to be frustrated with their poor outing against Arizona and to come out hard and fast. We will continue to see short controlled offensive passes, with 1 or 2 downfield attempts per half. I expect the Tulsa defense to struggle with Johnny Harline and Mckay Jacobsen. Curtis Brown will also have a big game.
Defensively BYU will show that last week was not a fluke and that they are a much better squad than last year. They will give up 2 or 3 big plays during the whole game, but will ultimately keep Tulsa pretty contained, expect most of their points to come through the kicking game.
BYU will lead 14 to 10 at half time, and by the end of the game will have gone ahead 35 to 26.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Cougars let one go to the Wildcats
The Cougars fell a yard short on Saturday, dropping their opener against the Arizona Wildcats 16 to 13. The game was close all night long, but Arizona was able to bust one big play, while the Cougars were error prone and gave this one to Arizona in the end.
The defense played better than expected. Most analysts agreed that talented QB Tuitama would have little trouble moving the ball against a secondary that was ranked near the bottom last year. However, the defense stepped up, keeping the 'Cats contained.
Also surprising was the lack of offensive proficiency by the BYU Cougars. What was expected to be a high scoring game turned into a game of field goals and field position, thanks to numerous offensive penalties and miscues.
The Cougars look to correct their offensive problems when they play Tulsa this week at LaVell Edwards Stadium.