Scheduling news is out: We play Washington

http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php?p=8556&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1



Looks like we get to play Steve's team in Provo to open next year's game.



Remind me if they'll have Locker next year? Didn't he say he was sticking around?



Locker versus a new qb Sep 4th...sounds as daunting as playing Oklahoma in Texas even if they were 5-7 last season.

he is sticking around.

I'll wait until the schedule comes out to make the final decision, but this looks like the game for me to make the trip for in 2010.

I like putting the toughest non-Con games first.



a--keeps the team motivated in the offseason

b--no fear of the team looking ahead to another opponent.



I think we saw the results of that focus in September this past season.



This season there is also the added motivation of returning to home-field dominance, considering we were dominated at home as much as we dominated our opponents in 09.

I expect Washington to be very, very good this next season.

Just glad we have UW at LES, because they thump us if game is in Seattle. Also glad it is game 1, because BYU often pulls the upset in game 1.



waiting for the 2011 and beyond games to come out. Hope we have lined up some good ones.

Qman wrote:
I expect Washington to be very, very good this next season.

And I expect Jake Locker to be very, very motivated for a redemption game. When I saw he was foregoing the draft, I wonder if the chance to redeem himself for the '08 loss had anything to do with the decision.

If we know anything about Jaime Hill, it's if he's given plenty of time to prepare for a team, that he has a good defensive game plan for them; if he only has a week, sometimes it's a tossup.

UW will not be a defensive juggernaut next season (we'll be able to move the ball some) and our defense should be prepared for Locker so at least this game will be respectable win or lose.

We'll have a very experienced secondary that should give Locker fits, and I would not be surprised to see Logan or Bradley at safety by then too.

Locker's last season was not better than Bradfords Heisman year and we shut him down (and that was away from Provo)

Why is this news? Haven't we had them on the schedule for awhile now? Did they cancel it and then put it back on? We played them up there and we had a contract for them to come down here next year.

Short_Change wrote:
Why is this news? Haven't we had them on the schedule for awhile now? Did they cancel it and then put it back on? We played them up there and we had a contract for them to come down here next year.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Is this news? So they cancel, reschedule, and we're supposed to be excited?



At least they'll be a better team next year. It will be a challenge for whoever wins the QB job.

Short_Change wrote:
Why is this news? Haven't we had them on the schedule for awhile now? Did they cancel it and then put it back on? We played them up there and we had a contract for them to come down here next year.

No, this was always the year for the return game, they canceled the second "home and home" portion of the contract. This is just news in that we now know which week next year we will be playing them.

Got ya.

This is not news really. They've always been on the schedule for 2010. They only canceled the last two of the four game series that was agreed upon in the original contract. So we'll play UW on the 4th to open the season, then travel to FSU on the 11th, before coming back to Provo to take on the Wolfpack on the 18th. USU will be played as usual on the Friday night before General Conference. Times may not have been set yet but the dates are.



And the reason Locker will be playing is because he was railroaded into staying by his coach. There is plenty of evidence of that. How else do you explain a kid who's projected to be a top 5 pick foregoing the draft to play for a 5-7 team. And don't give me the Matt Leinart and Sam Bradford examples because they were coming back to play for a NC. UW has no chance of that. That would be a huge leap to go from 5-7 to 13-1 or better. It's very unlikely. And if the Bradford and Leinart taught QB's considering declaring early anything, it's that if you are a projected top pick you go NOW. I respect those two for their decision to not let money get into the way of a fulfilling a dream but they didn't make smart financial decisions in doing so.



Besides, I'm not really scared of Locker. I doubt that he's singled out BYU for that one penalty in a lousy (and long) '08 season. For one, it didn't cost them the game. And two, it was nothing BYU did to him like a cheapshot or anything, only the ref's enforcing the rule book. What's more, you could say that in the past it's the running QB's who have hurt us. I would argue that that is becoming less and less the case but even still, Locker is becoming less and less of a running QB. In 2007, he had 986 yards on 172 carries. In 2008, he was on pace to hit 540 yards on 168 carries (evidence that opposing teams were clearly on to his one dimensional game) before getting injured in the fourth game of the season. In 2009, Sarkesian wanted him to focus on passing knowing that without a true passing threat, they wouldn't have any success. He rushed 112 times for 388 yards his past season. The only reason he was projected to go so high in the draft is because he's changed his game. Not that he still couldn't or doesn't take off on occasion but he just won't do it with the frequency we saw his first two years.



But the greatest reason for my peace of mind this offseason concerning next year's opener will be the job that Bronco and co did against OU this year. They played that one perfect and with that much time, I suspect them to do the same thing with the UW game plan. Look at the games we know they've focused on in the offseasons: UA in 2007 (to avenge the loss from the year before), UCLA in 2008 (perceived toughest game on the schedule that year), and OU in 2009. Now if they can just manage to work two games into the offseason (UW and FSU) we'll have a great start to next year and by the time we play TCU/Yewtah, I'll be feeling pretty good about our chances due to the experience gained by the new starters in the early part of the season. Talent and athleticism/speed won't be the thing holding us back next year.

Short_Change wrote:
Why is this news? Haven't we had them on the schedule for awhile now? Did they cancel it and then put it back on? We played them up there and we had a contract for them to come down here next year.

It's news because it originally wasn't going to be the 1st game of the season.

I don't ever remember reading before that it was or wasn't so it's not like something changed all of a sudden. It would have had to have been one of three teams anyway (Nevada, UW, FSU) because the USU game is always the same week of the year.



I like the fact that the guys have something to look forward to and prepare for in the offseason. And the fact that the coaches will have the perfect game plan ready for this one. I can't wait to stick it to the Huskies again for a myriad of reasons. First of which for the prejudice and bigotry their fans showed prior to the last game. Secondly for their continual claim on our NC in '84. And thirdly just because they are a BCS team that benefits from BCS money despite having done virtually nothing to earn it in the BCS era.