About BYU
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:10 pm
I think we can guess fairly accurately where BYU fans' heads are at.
The last they saw us, we didn't get to play any non-conference games, and our team gave up on an ineffective and lame-duck coaching staff and got slapped all over the field. Meanwhile, their #2 pick in the NFL draft had lit it up against whatever schedule they could patch together against COVID. We then brought in a coach none of them has heard of, which probably generated a shrug, if not a snicker. You can't turn it around that fast, and I have every reason to suspect that I'll be with Wildcat fans in Vegas who will be outnumbered 3 or 4 to 1. So, they'll probably start their hot-shot true freshman QB, because he'll have a big veteran O-line, and he can hand off to big backs and make safe passes to their big TE before things get loosened up and he mixes things up to a fairly deep group of WRs. And, even if their offense struggles, they've got a fairly veteran defense and a solid kicking game to rely on. So, that's the script. The oddsmakers agree, and they make it out to something like 34-22 BYU.
But, Arizona has a puncher's chance. Looking at our roster, we have decent size in our lines. Over the course of the year, injuries will highlight our lack of depth, but not so much in Game One. And, if BYU goes with the freshman at the helm, it'll be interesting to see how that goes against Don Brown's blitz packages. I'd expect our offense to struggle, but I think we'll be dedicated to establish some kind of running game, even if it means double tights, H-backs as lead blockers, and more Clay Markoff than we'd otherwise expect. As far as our passing game goes, I don't expect Fisch to be a magician in a first quasi road game. We'll probably see the result of some butterflies, make some mistakes on both offense and defense early, and have to play from behind all game. Still...depending on how the ball bounces, it could actually turn out to be a relatively close and exciting game. If nothing else, I'm going for: 1.) a win, 2.) covering the point spread, 3.) out-drinking BYU fans, and 4.) having fun in Vegas.
The last they saw us, we didn't get to play any non-conference games, and our team gave up on an ineffective and lame-duck coaching staff and got slapped all over the field. Meanwhile, their #2 pick in the NFL draft had lit it up against whatever schedule they could patch together against COVID. We then brought in a coach none of them has heard of, which probably generated a shrug, if not a snicker. You can't turn it around that fast, and I have every reason to suspect that I'll be with Wildcat fans in Vegas who will be outnumbered 3 or 4 to 1. So, they'll probably start their hot-shot true freshman QB, because he'll have a big veteran O-line, and he can hand off to big backs and make safe passes to their big TE before things get loosened up and he mixes things up to a fairly deep group of WRs. And, even if their offense struggles, they've got a fairly veteran defense and a solid kicking game to rely on. So, that's the script. The oddsmakers agree, and they make it out to something like 34-22 BYU.
But, Arizona has a puncher's chance. Looking at our roster, we have decent size in our lines. Over the course of the year, injuries will highlight our lack of depth, but not so much in Game One. And, if BYU goes with the freshman at the helm, it'll be interesting to see how that goes against Don Brown's blitz packages. I'd expect our offense to struggle, but I think we'll be dedicated to establish some kind of running game, even if it means double tights, H-backs as lead blockers, and more Clay Markoff than we'd otherwise expect. As far as our passing game goes, I don't expect Fisch to be a magician in a first quasi road game. We'll probably see the result of some butterflies, make some mistakes on both offense and defense early, and have to play from behind all game. Still...depending on how the ball bounces, it could actually turn out to be a relatively close and exciting game. If nothing else, I'm going for: 1.) a win, 2.) covering the point spread, 3.) out-drinking BYU fans, and 4.) having fun in Vegas.
