BYU looked solid tonight, Wake was weak

[Ramblin Buzz]

BYU looked quite solid tonight vs Syracuse and will likley give us all we can handle come Sept. 21st, muchless our trip to Provo in 2003. The BYU crowd is quite rowdy out there.

Granted, Syracuse is down from last year, but BYU's offense looked good as expected and their offensive line opened good holes for the Cougar's running game. Whalen (BYU RB) looked a lot like Sean Gregory. The Cougars had 636 Total Yards, which included 233 on the ground!! The BYU defense has some weak spots as SU could have put more points up, except for their own mistakes. Should be a good national TV game on 9-21 for ABC.

Wake however lost to MAC power Northern Illinois. Not only did NIU win, but I think they had more in attendance than Wake normally has. I felt Wake might be an above .500 team this year, but not sure now. ACC losses to Mountain West (CSU over UVa) and to MAC not looking real good at the moment, even if UVa and Wake are in the bottom of the ACC. Clemson best look good Saturday to help the ACC.

Can't wait for Saturday night. Go Jackets!!

 

[kirbee]

The defense better get ready or their O will rip us a new one.

The way BYU uses the TE and the RBs will pick apart one our past weaknesses.

Add to that the mixed running of the backs and QB and it could get ugly for the defense like vs. Clemson or UVa last year.

I also noticed how the BYU line did a nice job of recognizing blitzes and protecting the QB.

Tenuta will earn his money early.

 

[Beesnut]

BYU's offense was decent but that defense is pretty atrocious. Our RB's should have a field day on them. They lack lateral speed and have absolutely no push from the D Line.

 

[GT Adamni]

Wake lost to the team that I refer to as Northern 3. NORTHERN FREAKIN THREE!!! Every time I see the score from one of their games scroll across the bottom of the screen, I always think to myself "who the heck is this Northern 3 team?" I guess now I know.

BYU looked good, and only strengthens my feeling that it will be a good game when we play them. Their defense seemed to be much improved over last year (not that that says much).

 

[ahsoisee]

Wake Forest and Duke probably have the least depth of quality players of any teams in the ACC. Wake started off fairly well, but faded down the stretch. They could not contain the running game of NIU late in the game.It is, obviously, the reason Grobe went for the two points rather than try the extra point kick.

The only thing I disliked about the two point try was the selection of the play. A fake of the big fullback up the middle and then a run by McPherson wide to the right with the option of running or passing would have given them a better shot at the two points.

Since the big fullback from Wake was effective on prior runs up the middle, it was evident the middle would be jammed.

 

[GTB]

I was surprised at how solid BYU looked. Their offensive line did a great job against Syracuse. They will be a tough opponent next Saturday. But first we have to take care of Vandy.

Wake was pathetic. The game should have never been that close. I'm sure they will improve during the season, but it looks like it will be a long one for them.

 

[Beesnut]

Guys, guys, guys... Syarcuse lost like nine starters off their defense from last year. BYU's offense is decent but they were playing against very inexperienced competition (much like UNC). Watch what happens to their defense this week when they play Hawaii.

 

[GTB]

Still, BYU had over 600 yards of offense. Even with Syracuse losing 9 starters, BYU should not have had that much offense.

I do agree that you need to evaluate a team on more than 1 game. However I don't believe Hawaii or Nevada will provide as much of a test as Syracuse did.

 

[ahsoisee]

BYU will be a dangerous opponent, however, we should have the stronger team overall. They do have the ability to upset us, but, at this time, it appears we have a superior edge in defense and match them well on offense.

Changing the subject a bit, Kelly Rhino never ceases to amaze me. I watched Chappel and Randy play, but Kelly is much more exciting. He had a big hand in making Vanderbilt look innefective. His returns kept them bottled up and their hopes crushed.

 

[SanJuanSun]

A quick correction: it was Syracuse's offense that lost nine starters, not the defense. SU's defense was the same defense they had last year pretty much, minus Dwight Freeney. Of course, when has Beesnut ever been a stickler for facts and details?

Syracuse's defense is much better than Hawaii's, which looked very vulnerable against a Division 2 opponent last night.

If you're curious as to how BYU fans felt about the Syracuse game, here's a very rough consensus view:

1. QB Engemann was surprisingly decent for not having played for two years.
2. RB Whalen and the newer receivers played better than expectd.
3. The O line pass protected very well. The run blocking was not as good as it will need to be if we plan to beat GT.
4. The D line played adequately. Needs to get a better pass rush.
5. LBs are quicker than last year, but looked inexperienced and confused against the rush at times. LBs are much better in pass coverage than a year ago.
6. Tough to say much about the DBs (because our two best DBs didn't play mush this game). Looked adequate, but Syracuse isn't a good litmus test for the pass defense. Hawaii next week will be indicative of where we are right now.
7. Special teams ranged from shaky to scary. For a multitude of reasons (BYU fans have been debating them) the kicking game was bad. Kickoff and punt coverage were not great.

This week we get Hawaii, who will pass the ball at least 60 times. This will give you guys a good look at BYU's pass rush and defense. I also expect that BYU will rush the ball a lot, as Hawaii's D looked very suspect against a Div. 2 Eastern Illinois.

Congrats on a nice win over Vandy.

 

[Herr Goldshields]

I was surprised by the speed and athleticism of BYU's receivers and tight ends. Also, they played very confidently from the first whistle against a team it would have been very easy for them to have come out tentative against.

 

[Beesnut]

Sorry SJS but I probably no more about stats and facts than most folks do when ti comes to college football. I had it reversed and you weere somewhat correct but then again Syracuse only returned six defensive starters... not the all except Dwight Freeney you spoke of. There losses included two off the defensive line &three in the secondary. Call me foolish but i call that inexperienced.

Like I said your offense is decent but I am sure our speed on defense will be able to slow down and stop your O better than your defense will slow and stop our O. Hope that makes sense... because I am using figures from last year (facts as you so called put it) to make this argument.

 

[SanJuanSun]

Okay, I'll call you foolish.

Just kidding. I do find it interesting that you predicted BYU to lose (at home no less) by 5. BYU wins by 21, and now the decontruction of Syracuse begins. Is BYU's offense better than you expected? Or was SU's defense below your expectations? Since you know more about college football than most folks, perhaps you'd like to explain how that happened to the rest of us?

A word about my comments on Syracuse's defense: I was implying that Syracuse's defense was solid, but would miss Freeney's pass rush. Almost to a tee, SU fans insisted that their defense would be very good. I took them at their word, since I freely admit that SU fans know more about their team than I do. However, I will tell you this: Syracuse has very good team speed, some good offensive weapons, and will do well in the Big East once they work some of their inexperience out. But you already knew that, because you know kore thn most people about college football.

In any case, as all this stuff points to the GT/BYU game, I expect a good hard fought game. Good luck over the next few weeks. Keep up the good work and excellent analysis Beesnut. One day you truly may know more about college football than most people.

 

[GoldenTornado]

Beesnut, I don't know what you know about college football, besides how to embarass me and other Tech folks by talking smack on opponents' message boards (even to the fans of outmanned opponents like UConn and Vanderbilt -- have you no shame?).

Honestly, I think that Tech fans should be above that.

But whether or not your self-proclaimed expert status is valid, I'm absolutely sure that Army Jacket knows a LOT about college football, especially the ACC and SEC and our OOC opponents.

He thinks that the BYU game will be very tough. He has the game as a tossup in his preseason writeup of BYU.

My opinion counts for less than his, but I will be pretty dang happy if we get a one point win over the Cougars, and I won't be surprised at all if we lose.

By the way, addressing some posts you made on the BYU board, I also think that at this point it's ridiculous to claim we're better than or even equal to Colorado State. We could be very good, but we've yet to prove it against any sort of quality opponent, while the Rams unquestionably have. Not only did they beat top-10 Colorado, but they won in a place where we've lost five in a row including last year. Yeah, I think that makes them pretty good.