In addition to the 3:30 p.m. game (ESPN2) at the home of the Washington Redskins, BYU has played Arizona, Utah and at home against UCLA from the Pac-12 and will play Mississippi State from the SEC, at Michigan State from the Big Ten, Utah State and at Boise State from the Mountain West Conference, at Cincinnati from the American, Toledo from the Mid-American Conference, independent UMass and Southern Utah, a playoff team last season in the Football Championship Subdivision. Tip balls for interceptions, fumbling at the wrong time, whatever it may be, penalty here or there, so they’re not that far off. WVU coach Dana Holgorsen said.
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BYU defensive lineman Corbin Kaufusi simply wants to slow things down for a Mountaineer offense that has averaged 82 plays and 559 yards.
Now an Independent, but interested in joining the Big 12, Brigham Young certainly has the history of scoring points, and no one knows that better than offensive coordinator Ty Detmer, who won the Heisman Trophy for the Cougars in 1990. This is a guy who bleeds BYU blue.
Also, WVU isn’t great at generating pressure. The defense has been very good. “We’ve spent the last week addressing those problems and we feel like we have gotten those points to the players”. Coach Holgorsen has been telling us we’ve got to watch out because they like to hit and play dirty here and there.
Meanwhile, WVU will be going with Skyler Howard at quarterback and trying use its speed advantage over a bigger BYU defense that likes to try and intimidate. Watching the two Big 12 bullies lose just made my weekend and I hope a few other teams struggle. They have tremendous football players. They need to get another win against a Power 5 to seem like a legitimate expansion candidate and WVU is the flawless team for them to beat.
The Cougars haven’t allowed more than 20 points in a game, yet they’re 1-2.
“We’re excited”, wide receiver Garret Juergens said.
“We played at a lot of different places, and it was hard”. But it’s the long view that concerns the coaching staff. “I anticipate our guys doing much better and achieving their goals this Saturday”.
But, while the passing game has been up and down, the running game appears to be right on pace. The Cougs can grind out yards between the tackles with QB Taysom Hill and RB Jamaal Williams, but the former lacks the passing skills to exploit the holes in the West Virginia secondary. “I was ready to go to the big Quad Cities, which was down the road”. I think up front especially. The offensive line will need to improve, but there may be a way to mask their inadequacies (we’ll get to that in a bit). BYU’s problems haven’t been up front as much as they have been at the quarterback position, where Taysom Hill has struggled early after a season-ending foot injury in September of past year.
“I think you can give it too much power, saying it’s hard and everything”, Sitake said.
“I think the main thing that everyone needs to understand is don’t look at their win-loss record, look at their history, their tradition, who they’ve played this year and how competitive their overall program has been for decades”, Holgorsen said. Parkersburg’s D.J. Carozza is among that group.
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∫ Eleven Mountaineers on the 2016 team already have earned their bachelor’s degree – tied for third nationally behind Virginia (15) and Pitt (13).
