Cougar Corner Blog

Big Blue Bash Videos

2008-08-20T11:03:00.001-06:00

My wife and I attended the Big Blue Bash this last weekend. It's a great opportunity to meet with some of the current players, and some greats from yester-year.

This year, they had Brandon Doman, Setema Gali, Reno Mahe, Austin Collie, and Max Hall. Rather than talk about it, I'll let you see what these men had to say...

Setema Gali talks about LaVell's last year and the upcoming season.

Adding North Score Board

2008-08-14T10:20:00.001-06:00

BYU is hard at working adding the new North endzone scoreboard. You can see their progress here.

Word is that it will retain all of the capabilities of the old North endzone light board, but will also have video capabilities. This is a long time needed edition to LaVell Edwards Stadium!

Bryan Kehl - Shinning in Spotlight

2008-02-26T15:41:00.002-07:00

Although it comes as no surprise to BYU fans, Bryan Kehl is really making a name for himself at the NFL Combine. Kehl has been a fan favorite for years while racking up awards and accolades at BYU, but now NFL fans are seeing what he has to offer.

Kehl has found himself as a top performer in 40-yard dash | Bench press | Vertical jump | Broad jump | 3-cone drill | 20-yard shuttle.

See his profile here: [link] nfl.com

DirecTV Picks Up the MTN

2008-02-26T15:16:00.003-07:00

It's official. After years of waiting, working the phones and email, we, as fans, finally got through to DirecTV and made them realize it was worth it to them to carry the MTN. Terms of the agreement stated that DirecTV would begin to carry the MTN no later than Sept. 1st, 2008. Just in time for football!

I want to thank all the readers who utilized the auto-generated email to the MTN. Every little bit helped in making this happen.

For me, I am already a subscriber to DirecTV, so I look forward to receiving the MTN. Rumor is that the channel will be available to subscribers in the MWC footprint in a basic package, and to outsiders in the sports tier. However, nothing is official about channel and package.

Jaime Hill Promoted to DC

2008-01-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall has turned over the keys to the defense to secondary coach Jaimie Hill.

This is great news for the Cougars. Hill has proven himself to be a great asset to BYU when he came in 2 years ago and turned a porous secondary into one of the best squads in the MWC, and one that could shut down high powered Oregon's offense in the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl, as well as UCLA in 2007.

This will also provide some much needed relief for Bronco, who had been acting as both Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator. Both of which are extremely difficult tasks, combined would be a great deal of work.

This also helps ensure that we will retain the services of Jaime Hill, where there had been some worry by fans that a coach of his stature and ability would be highly sought after by BCS schools.

New Cougar Fantasy Prediction Game

2007-08-21T15:22:00.000-06:00

CougarCorner.com is very pleased to announce the completion and release of a new BYU Cougars fantasy prediction game. The game will allow CougarCorner.com users (registration is completely free) to predict results from upcoming Cougar games. Those predicting correctly will score points based on how well they do. Users will earn and gain points throughout the season.

As you register you can choose to be part of a "Prediction Group" to compete with your friends, or just join the default 'Open' group to compete against anyone else who doesn't join a group.

We hope that this will be a fantastic game to bring Cougar fans together.

Enjoy the fun at: CougarCorner.com

FUI Breaks a Big One

2007-08-17T17:13:00.000-06:00

Fui Vakapuna, who will no doubt be breaking several large runs this year shows his stuff in today's practice session.

BYU to Retire #14

2007-08-14T13:03:00.000-06:00

BYU to Honor Gifford Nielsen and Ty Detmer

In conversations with Tom Holmoe, both at the Big Blue Bash (see previous post) and over email, I have learned that BYU will officially retire the jerseys of Ty Detmer and Gifford Nielsen, both of which played as #14. In addition to retiring these jerseys, BYU will retire the #14.

Corby Hodgkiss, who currently wears #14 will be allowed to continue to use it until his playing days are done, afterwhich time the #14 will never be used again.

Big Blue Bash

2007-08-13T09:24:00.000-06:00

I attended the Big Blue Bash tonight, held in Salt Lake City at the Sheraton Hotel. The evening began with Blaine Fowler doing some random Cougar Trivia while everyone got in, got some food, and had a chance to meet with Max Hall and Paul Tidwell at one table and Brian Kehl and Eric Drage at another table.

I met first with Max Hall and Paul Tidwell. I asked how the offense was going to do this year and coach Tidwell immediately said that only Max Hall could answer that. Max said the offense was going to be good. I asked him how many points they would average this year. Hall replied at least 24. I went on to ask him what defensive squad would be his biggest challenge this year. Without a moments hesitation he said BYUs was the toughest defense he was going to have to play against this year.

Later I spoke with Eric Drage and Bryan Kehl. I was amazed at how affiable Drage was and he and I spoke for several minutes. He's very invested in the program and in Bronco. I almost asked him if he was Cruiser. As for Kehl I asked him how many points per game his defense was going to give up, and he responded 10 with a twinkle in his eye. I went on to ask him which team they play this year would provide the best offense. He said, "UCLA is going to have a good offense, and so will Utah. Nah, the best offense we will face this year will be whichever BCS school we play in a BCS Bowl game in January."

The best part is, later that night when Kehl was speaking to the assembled Cougar faithful, he recounted our conversation. Everyone cheered his comments of playing in a BCS Bowl this year.

The program went on to include speeches by Greg Wrubell, Tom Holmoe, Blaine Fowler, Paul Tidwell, Eric Drage, James Dye, Max Hall and Bryan Kehl. They played video highlights between each speaker, mainly of the Utah game. They also showed the 'wear blue' commercial, as well as a new 2 minute video of Bronco speaking to students urging them to give their best always.

2007 BYU FOOTBALL Video

2007-07-10T15:58:00.000-06:00

2007 BYU FOOTBALL video now available!

Cade Calls it Quits

2007-06-29T12:05:00.001-06:00

Cade Cooper is calling his career with BYU quits. Cade, a junior transfer to Brigham Young University will leave the program, announced head coach Bronco Mendenhall today.

Cooper who transfered from Snow Jr. College was last years NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year, throwing for 3,103 yards and 31 touchdowns. He lead the Badgers to an 11 - 1 record.

During interviews, Cooper always expressed it was a life-long dream to play for BYU and even joined the team as a walk-on before a scholarship was made available.

During the teams spring scrimmage, the Blue and White game, Cooper suffered a season ending injury. The injury meant that he would be a year behind fellow backup Brenden Gaskins in learning the Cougars offense, severely limiting his chances to ever hold the starting job.

Cougars 2007 Football Poster Available

2007-06-27T14:33:00.000-06:00

(Click for larger)

BYU has just released the new 2007 football schedule poster. It is available for free at the Legacy Hall front desk. Players shown are: Reed, Kehl, Nixon and Aulai.

The poster shows the schedule for 2007:
2007 Football Schedule

2007 Football Schedule


SEP 1	SAT	Arizona	PROVO, UT	Versus
			3:30 PM

SEP 8	SAT	UCLA	Pasadena, CA	Versus
			3:30 PM

SEP 15	SAT	Tulsa	Tulsa, OK	CSTV
			8:00 PM

SEP 22	SAT	Air Force	PROVO, UT	MTN
			1:00 PM

SEP 29	SAT	New Mexico	Albuquerque, NM	CSTV
			6:30 PM

OCT 13	SAT	UNLV	Las Vegas, NV	MTN
			6:30 PM

OCT 20	SAT	Eastern Washington	PROVO, UT	MTN
			3:30 PM

OCT 27	SAT	San Diego State	San Diego, CA	MTN
			6:30 PM

NOV 3	SAT	Colorado State	PROVO, UT	MTN
			12:00 PM

NOV 8	THU	TCU	PROVO, UT	Versus
			7:00 PM

NOV 17	SAT	Wyoming	Laramie, WY	MTN
			12:00 PM

NOV 24	SAT	Utah	PROVO, UT	CSTV MTN
			12:00 PM

End of table

Update on John Beck

2007-06-14T09:49:00.000-06:00

John Beck is sitting pretty. The Miami Dolphins have brought in veteran QB Trent Green. This is a great move for Beck, it removes unrealistic expectations of John Beck to step in and start right away, gives Beck a mature, accomplished QB to learn from. Something that could not have happened with Daunte Culpepper.

'I don't even ask for it, and [Green] will start giving me tips,'' Beck said. ``It's great. There are some things he'll tell me. He'll say, `If you see those guys collide, you know you'll have a right flank to throw it out there.'
``Some of those veteran tips are really helpful.''

Look for Beck to continue to learn and grow under Green for at least a year before stepping up into the starting roll.

How to post a new thread at cougarblue.com

2007-06-13T08:14:00.000-06:00

I've seen several people with questions on how to start a new topic or thread.

So I thought I'd make a quick tutorial.
In the forum of your choice, be it football, other or even soccer, there is a button directly below the box that shows what Forum you are in. The button says, "New Thread" click on that will take you to a post page which will create a new topic or thread.
See below.

John Beck newest Dolphin

2007-04-29T18:14:00.000-06:00

John Beck becomes a Miami Dolphin.

Get ready Cougar fans to become a Miami Dolphin fans. The Dolphins selected John Beck with the 40th overall pick, the Dolphins' first pick of the second round.

The Dolphins, who passed on over-hyped Brady Quinn with the 9th overall pick, selected Ted Ginn Jr. from Ohio State.

Beck will probably enter Miami camps as the 3rd QB, but may be seeing starting action before the year is over.

Beck's career statistics at BYU. (Provided by cougarstats.com)

	Rushing			Passing					Total	Receiving			Total
OFFENSE	No.	Yds.	TD	Att.	Comp.	Int.	Yds.	TD	Off.	No.	Yds.	TD	TD
2003	54	21	1	145	73	5	864	5	885	0	0	0	1
2004	90	-36	0	343	192	8	2,563	15	2,527	0	0	0	0
2005	73	61	2	513	331	13	3,709	27	3,785	1	3	0	2
2006	50	-8	6	417	289	8	3,885	32	3,877	0	0	0	6
Career	267	38	9	1,418	885	34	11,021	79	11,059	1	3	0	9

Mascot Challange - BYU Cougars v. Boston College Eagles

2007-04-26T15:00:00.000-06:00

Vote for which mascot you think is more dominating.

At last check, the Cougars were dominating the Eagles 63% to 37%. Lets go Cougars!

NFL Combine

2007-02-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Three former Cougars were invited to the NFL Combine, and all three have completed their workouts for pro scouts and head coaches.

Pre Combine Hype

John Beck, QB - Ended the season as arguably the nation's best quarterback. There'll be a lot of eyes on him, wondering if he has that BYU QB pedigree.

from CSTV [link]

"... up to this point has been all combine prep. Each day, we start with about an hour to an hour and a half of running drills and speed work. We jump right into our throwing session, which lasts about an hour. After a lunch break and a little rest, we are in the weight room for an extensive workout."

from Scout.com, John Beck's Draft Blog [link]

During the Combine

12:07 p.m.: Brigham Young Quarterback John Beck was asked if there was any pressure playing that position at a school with such great tradition. “Definitely, there’s pressure, but it’s something I’d always wanted to do since I was a little kid. It was an honor being able to follow in the footsteps of guys like Steve Young, Ty Detmer, and Jim McMahon.”

From Scout.com [link]

Combine Times & Measurements
All times and measurements taken from NFL.com [link]

Group 4 -- Top 10 Results: 20 Shuttle
1. Anthony Gonzales	Ohio St.	4.08
2. Chris Davis	Florida St.	4.14
3. David Clowney	Virginia Tech	4.15
4. John Beck	Brigham Young	4.17
5. Dallas Baker	Florida	4.19
6. Reggie Ball	Georgia Tech	4.19
7. James Jones	San Jose St.	4.20
8. David Bell	New Hampshire	4.21
9. Yamon Figurs	Kansas St.	4.21
10. Jason Hill	Washington St.	4.22

End 20 Shuttle

Group 4 -- Top 10 Results: Three Cone
1. Anthony Gonzales	Ohio St.	6.54
2. Johnnie Lee Higgins	UTEP	6.62
3. Chris Davis	Florida St.	6.66
4. Dallas Baker	Florida	6.69
5. Dwayne Bowe	Louisiana St.	6.81
6. John Beck	Brigham Young	6.82
7. Yamon Figurs	Kansas St.	6.85
8. Aaron Fairooz	Central Arkansas	6.89
9. Reggie Ball	Georgia Tech	6.90
10. Steve Breaston	Michigan	6.90

End Three Cone

Group 4 (QB) -- Top Five Results: Ball Speed
1. Toby Korrodi	Central Missouri St.	63
2. John Beck	Brigham Young	61.1
3. Kevin Kolb	Houston	55.3
4. Trent Edwards	Stanford	55.2
5. James Pinkey	East Carolina	53.9

End Ball Speed

Group 3 (TE) -- Top 10 Results: Three Cone
1. Kevin Boss	Western Oregon	6.96
2. Dante Rosario	Oregon	6.96
3. Derek Schouman	Boise St.	7.00
4. Zach Miller	Arizona St.	7.01
5. Greg Olsen	Miami (Fla.)	7.04
6. Jonny Harline	Brigham Young	7.05
7. Daniel Coats	Brigham Young	7.07
8. Ben Patrick	Delaware	7.21
9. Gijon Robinson	Missouri Western St.	7.23
10. Chad Upshaw	Buffalo	7.23

*Group 1 -- All Results: Bench Limited to BYU**
Daniel Coats	Brigham Young	34 reps.
Jonny Harline	Brigham Young	15 reps.

Post Combine Reaction

Beck was the most impressive quarterback I viewed inside the RCA Dome on Sunday. He has a compact delivery and generates good zip on his passes, showing particularly sound velocity on his curls, quick slants and the out routes. This observation was backed up numerically by the fact that Beck's ball speed was timed at 61.1 mph, second-fastest among all quarterbacks testing. Beck also showed deft touch on the post-corner routes and placed the ball on the outside shoulder on his deep throws...

From FoxSports.com [http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6507034]

BYU's John Beck ran a great 40 (4.70) and was the most consistently accurate passer among the quarterbacks. Beck hit all his targets and displayed a quick, compact release. . . .

From SportinNews.com [link]

There is supposed to be some interesting information here, but I haven't yet been able to get the page to load up correctly.

Recruit Bio

2007-02-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first part of our look at Recruits. We're starting with J.J. Di Luigi, who may have the most immediate impact.

According to byucougars.com

J.J. Di Luigi
5-9, 188, RB
Canyon Country, CA (Canyon HS)
Under the direction of head coach Harry Welch, helped lead Canyon HS to the California State Championship with a 27-13 victory over De La Salle ... named the CIF Division I State Championship MVP after racking up 138 yards on 21 carries ... named the Foothill League Player of the Year ... named The Signal-All Santa Clarita Valley Player of the Year as a junior and senior ... earned CIF Southern Section Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors as a junior and senior ... named to several high school All-America teams ... named the Old Spice/Red Zone California Player of the Year ... was named a first-team All-State running back by The Los Angeles Daily News and The Los Angles Times ... rushed for 2,159 yards on 266 carries as a senior ... averaged 154.2 yards per game ... scored 34 touchdowns on the season ... had 29 receptions for 390 yards and four touchdown receptions ... ran for a season-high 282 yards in the Cougars' 49-32 win over Chaminade ... ran for over 200 yards three different times during the season ... recruited by Colorado, Colorado State, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State.

In high school Di Luigi rushed for more than 4000 yards while scoring over 80 touchdowns. He also was named MVP after leading his team to a victory in the California State Championship game.

In June 2006, Di Luigi and his father drove 10 hours to Provo, Ut. in order to look Coach Bronco Mendenhall in the eye and verbally commit to being a BYU Cougar. J.J. said, “I wanted to show Coach Mendenhall my level of trust and that he had my word. I wouldn’t just drive out there and spend 10 hours in car just to change my mind later. I wanted him to know my word was set in stone.”

In fact, after his record setting senior year several other schools suddenly became interested, but by then J.J. was firmly a Cougar in heart and mind.

J.J. who isn't LDS doesn't see any cultural or religious problems to attending BYU, he says, "I have no problem with the Honor Code,” he said. “I already don’t do those things, so it’s easy for me. I’ve had my sights set on things higher and I don’t have time for doing that stuff, anyway.”

This video is from the State Championship game and can be found on YouTube.com

This video is courtesy of byucougars.com and can be seen by clicking here.

Cougars land new recruits

2007-02-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

February 7th, Letter of Intent day. The day when all the jockeying for position finally comes to an end and recruited players actually sign on to play for a particular school.

BYU did well, ranking as the #1 non-BCS school.

Here's who BYU landed

2007 Football Signees
Name                  HT     WT    POS  HOMETOWN (Last School)
Famika Anae           6-5    260   OL   Provo, Utah (Timpview HS)
David Angilau         6-2    255   DL   Longmont, CO (Niwot HS)
Tyler Beck            6-1    205   LB   Murrieta, CA (Vista Murrieta HS)
Brannon Brooks        5-10   175   DB   Elk Grove, CA (Elk Grove HS)
Braden Brown          6-6    230   TE   Salt Lake City, UT (Highland HS)
J.J. Di Luigi         5-9    188   RB   Canyon Country, CA (Canyon HS)
Scotty Ebert          6-0    185   WR   Sandy, UT  (Jordan HS)
Kaneakua Friel        6-4    220   TE   Honolulu, HI (Kamehameha HS)
Austen Jorgensen      6-3    210   LB   Mt. Pleasant, UT (North Sanpete HS)
Ryan Kessman          6-0    190   WR   San Jacinto, CA (San Jacinto HS)
Aveni Leung Wai       6-1    220   LB   Aiea, HI (Grossmont JC)
Star Lotulelei        6-3    245   DL   South Jordan, UT (Bingham HS)
Levi Mack             6-5    315   OL   Thatcher, AZ (Eastern Arizona JC)
Devin Mahina          6-6    225   TE   Upland, CA (Upland HS)
Eathyn Manumaleuna    6-2    269   OL   Provo, UT (Timpview HS)
Marcus Mathews        6-4    200   WR   Beaverton, OR (Southridge HS)
Jason Munns           6-5    225   QB   Kennewick, WA (Southridge HS)
Gary Nagy             6-1    175   S    Kahuku, HI (Kahuku HS)
Jordan Pendleton      6-2    195   S    South Jordan, UT (Bingham HS)
G Pittman             5-9    175   DB   Rancho Cucamonga, CA (Rancho Cucamonga HS)
Houston Reynolds      6-2    295   OL   Provo, UT (Timpview HS)
Jordan Smith          6-4    200   WR   Spanish Fork, UT (Spanish Fork HS)
Steven Thomas         5-11   180   S    Chino Hills, CA (Chino Hills HS)
Manaaki Vaitai        6-3    299   OL   Euless, TX (Trinity HS)

A very good class, with several difference makers expected to step in right away.

John Beck continues to Shine

2007-01-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

John Beck is improving his standing with NFL scouts thanks to the East West game. The game, held Jan. 20th gave Beck the chance to shine in practice with NFL scouts watching. During the game, Beck played the 1st Qtr and engineered the first scoring drive of the game.

John Murphy writes about it at Yahoo.
Read the story here.

About Beck, he says:

John Beck, quarterback, BYU, and Jeff Rowe, quarterback, Nevada – All three of the West's quarterbacks had their moments, but Beck was the most consistent. Rowe flashed very good arm strength and nice touch on his deeper throws, connecting on a 79-yard touchdown pass with Fresno State wide receiver Paul Williams in the first half.

Beck is continuing to look good in front of NFL scouts and has an excellent chance of being picked up in the draft, perhaps even on the first day.

Final Rankings

2007-01-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

BYU is finding itself right around 15 in the major polls.

AP Poll places BYU at 16.

Week 17 AP Top 25

1. Florida (64) 13-1 1,624

2. Ohio State 12-1 1,492

3. LSU 11-2 1,452

4. USC 11-2 1,389

5. Boise State (1) 13-0 1,383

6. Louisville 12-1 1,338

7. Wisconsin 12-1 1,288

8. Michigan 11-2 1,145

9. Auburn 11-2 1,112

10. West Virginia 11-2 1,035

11. Oklahoma 11-3 933

12. Rutgers 11-2 884

13. Texas 10-3 772

14. California 10-3 697

15. Arkansas 10-4 677

16. Brigham Young 11-2 673

17. Notre Dame 10-3 553

18. Wake Forest 11-3 551

19. Virginia Tech 10-3 407

20. Boston College 10-3 353

21. Oregon State 10-4 291

22. TCU 11-2 279

23. Georgia 9-4 204

24. Penn State 9-4 183

25. Tennessee 9-4 181

USA Today's Poll has BYU at 15.

Week 17 USA Today Poll

1. Florida (63) 13-1 1,575

2. Ohio State 12-1 1,435

3. LSU 11-2 1,418

4. USC 11-2 1,345

5. Wisconsin 12-1 1,328

6. Boise State 13-0 1,275

7. Louisville 12-1 1,270

8. Auburn 11-2 1,119

9. Michigan 11-2 1,092

10. West Virginia 11-2 1,012

11. Oklahoma 11-3 849

12. Rutgers 11-2 841

13. Texas 10-3 791

14. California 10-3 716

15. Brigham Young 11-2 615

16. Arkansas 10-4 592

17. Wake Forest 11-3 535

18. Virginia Tech 10-3 494

19. Notre Dame 10-3 485

20. Boston College 10-3 388

21. TCU 11-2 339

22. Oregon State 10-4 206

23. Tennessee 9-4 202

24. Hawaii 11-3 152

25. Penn State 9-4 142

Congratulations Broncos

2007-01-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

CougarCorner.com extends a hearty congratulations to the Boise State Broncos for their BCS Busting year. Boise played hard all year long and deserved to be where they ended up, in the BCS. This is yet another proof of the need for a playoff system in College Football.

The Broncos definitely looked like the better team throughout most of the game. Although they gave up a huge lead late in the game and nearly lost the game on an ill-advised pass that was intercepted and run back for a touchdown putting OU up by 7 with just about a minute to play, the Broncos stayed focused and executed well to march down the field and score on a trick hook and ladder play. In overtime the Broncos went for two, flawlessly executing the Statue of Liberty play and successfully converted for the win.

BYU fans everywhere admire and congratulate the Broncos on their win.

Cade Cooper coming to BYU

2006-12-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

News Agencies are reporting that the National Junior College Offensive Player of the Year, Cade Cooper, will be walking on at BYU. Cooper turned down scholarship offers from Arizona St. and Utah State to have a chance to walk on at BYU. According to Cooper the, "quarterback legacy at BYU, and the fact that it has always been my dream to play there," caused him to stick with BYU, despite not having an immediate scholarship."

Cooper is 6-foot-2, 205-pound and left-handed. He played high school football for Lehi and Timpview, completed 224 of 335 passes for 3,103 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2006 and eight interceptions for a quarterback rating was 170.4.

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_4908463

Las Vegas Bowl in Pictures

2006-12-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Las Vegas Bowl. We decided to stay in the Golden Nugget, might as well, you might end up riding up the elevator to the parking garage with Chad Lewis, which we did.

Pregame warmups shows the BYU side of the field to be packed, Oregon fans have yet to make an appearance. This will be a common theme throughout the game.

Pretty clear view of the game, this is right before half time. Oregon fans are still not present, other than a few pockets of the faithful. Cougar fans fill their seats.

Las Vegas Bowl in Pictures (continued)

2006-12-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures I took from John Beck's 13 yard scramble to the end zone. I've only included the most clear pictures.