Cougar fans, it's time we stepped up our game when it comes to debates, discussions and open conversation in general. I just did a flyby over at our friends http://www.slipperstillfits.com/ (Gonzaga), and was quite impressed with the amount of fan post interactions, namely the replies and comments for each post. Lots of insight being shared.

In general, the typical BYU fan who frequents blogs, is usually quite knowledgable. I like reading others' opinions and points of view when it comes to big games, players, coaches and outcomes. The sum of many fan minds together is much greater than each of us as individuals. We need to make a concentrated effort to open up more dialogue and increase our member interaction, it will make this blog much more fulfilling for all of us!

VTF has a great staff of writers that have posted great pieces almost daily, but this blog isn't just for them to sound off, it's for all of Cougar Nation! Use the fan posts section to share your thoughts, ideas and opionins....and don't be affraid to comment when others do the same. Due to the type of season we're having so far, I'm sure there's many a great debate to be had.

So, last night as I watched Alex Smith battle it out with the Saints, I grabbed my phone and sent my buddy a text. Generally I could care less about the two teams. I am a Packers fan, so I watched with the intent of who we would face, if we won. Back to the text, it read: "the 9ers BYU quarterback will always be better than the 9ers Utah quarterback." his respond was, "whatever dude lol how many BYU players are in the playoffs."

That got me thinking, who from BYU is still playing. So I went on a search. Both Saturday games was duds. No Cougars on the 49ers, Saints, Patriots, or Broncos. But today, there is a few to watch out for:

Dennis Pitta, TE, Baltimore Ravens
-You all know Pitta. The man was a stud. Team captain, John Mackey Award top 3 finalists in 2009, first team All-American. 62 catches for 829 yards and 8 TD in his Senior year alone. By the way, was a greyshirt walk on. If you don't know Dennis Pitta, check your BYU man card at the door. Exploded onto the scene this year after just being a back up last year.

Vic So'oto, LB, Green Bay Packers
-I would write an entire article on this man, but that is just because he is BYU and Green Bay. Loved watching him in pre-season and clean up minutes at end of games. Green Bay signed him as a non-drafted free agent and everybody over at Acme Packing Company is waiting to see this guy explode. Only disappointment is he plays same side as Clay Matthews, so unless coaches think he could play the other side, look at him as a back up. Though he got some good minutes against the Lions and finished with 2 tackles and a sack.

And thats its. Two Cougars still run wild in the NFL Playoffs. Outside of the Playoffs, there is still some good talent getting to watch. A few that come to mind: John Beck, Max Hall, Austin Collie, Brady Poppinga.

It’s the crazy time of the college football calendar when the coaching meat-market is in full swing. It’s also the time of year where the fans of more stable programs get itchy, wondering if maybe another coach could take their team the promise land. BYU fans are not immune to the wandering eye and there has been quite a lot of talk recently about whether Bronco Mendenhall should be replaced. The argument for replacing Bronco generally boils down to the assertion that Bronco is underperforming because he has not gotten BYU to a BCS bowl due to frequent early or mid-season losses. The counter-argument is usually phrased like this: Bronco has a better winning percentage than LaVell, five 10-win seasons, seven straight bowl trips, and five bowl wins, so quit the whining. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a fan of Bronco’s coaching and of him personally, so I am by no means unbiased in this, which is why I decided to check the only unbiased source available - cold, hard stats.

Being a numbers guy, I decided to use some statistical machinations and some advanced metrics from the very smart folks at Football Outsiders. Specifically, I am using their overall, offensive, and defensive S&P+ ratings which measure the effectiveness and efficiency of a team, adjusting for the pace of the game and the quality of the opponent (for a more detailed description, go here). Using the S&P+ ratings for the past 7 years along with the results of the games played those years (note for simplicity I’ve dropped games against 1-AA opponents), I was able to calculate the expected points per game an offense with a given S&P+ rating should score against a defense with a given S&P+ rating and vice versa. I then use those to compute an expected margin of victory (MOV) for a given game. The actual MOV minus the expected MOV for a given game gives a measure of how many points the coach added to his team's MOV that day, or what I call the Points Added. Of course any number of things can effect a single game, but by averaging over several seasons, some trends emerge, which I attribute to the head coach. Because the team’s S&P+ ratings (which cover a whole season) go into the calculation, my Points Added statistic is really not a measure of the coach’s ability to assemble a quality team, but rather a measure of how well they coach their team in each game. Things like recruiting and offensive or defensive schemes shouldn’t impact these ratings too much.

Continue reading this post »

I thought I would check out the record in the "big games" over his tenure. Big games being defined as ranked teams, bowl games, and games against "BCS competition." Here's what I found.

Wins and Losses in "big games" in the Bronco Mendenhall era

And then to break it down into easy-to-understand, meaningful stats.

Nick Emery was highlighted at the Brandon Jennings invitational in this video by Slam Magazine. He's only busy dropping 8 bombs on Lone Peak's opponent.

I tried several ways to embed the video, but couldn't get it to work. So here's the video. Emery appears starting around 1:40.

With the NCAA Football season coming to an end as the SEC Championship being played tonight between LSU and Bama, I am sure that I’m not the only Cougar fan counting down the days ‘til kick off on September 1st (which is 236 days away. Yeah, it’s a leap year, so there is even one more day we have to wait).

But so far it’s all speculation, but then again, what is sports pregame analysis anyway right? We have some great recruits coming, some key seniors sticking around, and one less hot headed QB in the state.

Continue reading this post »

Dana Holgorsen just lit up the Orange Bowl scoreboard for 70 points! BYU fans, you remember when Crowton lit up Tulane for 70 don't ya?? Okay, Okay, Holgorsen and Crowton comparisons are probably bad right out of the gate, but what makes Holgo's offense so explosive and dynamic?? What things can BYU take away from Holgo's stuff to improve our own offense?

Continue reading this post »

From Jay Drew a few minutes ago:

I just gave a round of applause to the Armed Forces Bowl here in my chair at work. Yes, I received strange looks.

Deseret News is reporting Riley Nelson is probably going to start against Hawaii. I have so many mixed feelings right now about the BYU quarterback situation. I feel like Riley Nelson has earned the starting job and it shouldn't be revoked for an injury. Especially when the injury took place just before throwing a deep strike for six to Cody Hoffman. However, I just read an article on KSL by Locke and he mentions that Jake is likely to transfer at the end of the season and he hasn't given us any reason to believe that he won't by reassuring that he plans to stay. I still believe in Heaps and think he is destined for greatness at BYU, just not this year, or next for that matter. Correct me if I'm wrong but if Heaps were to transfer he would lose a year of eligibility anyway, right? When it comes down to it Nelson earned the job, plain and simple, and if Heaps were to transfer and quit on his team, then I'm not sure he is the man that we would want leading this team anyway.

I don't know how many of you read or are account holders over at Cougarboard, I hope not to offend you with what I am about to write. A large majority of the clowns that post over on the website are the reason that we as BYU fans are despised amongst the vast majority of college football fans. Sometimes it depresses me to read over some of their postings and realize that these are some of same human beings that I find myself with at the game.

Hawaii posses and interesting matchup. Going off of their results so far this season, this game would appear to be a blowout. Historically the Cougars really struggle in the Islands and I wouldn't be surprised if this was a really close game. Sounds like Nelson has been cleared to fly to Hawaii, but has anybody else heard if he is play or not? Go Cougars, beat the Bows!

I have heard a lot of different views as to whom should recieve the bulk of the carries? Let me know what you think.