Turmoil in Provo
by JazzyUte on Oct 6, 2009 7:41 PM MDT
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PrintSince this isn't a BYU blog, I don't want to put this on the front page. But by now, I'm sure you've all heard Bronco Mendenhall's rant about the Cougar fan base. If you haven't, he essentially told them to shut the hell up because they don't know a damn thing (of course, in Provo-talk, that'd be sit down, be quiet because you don't know a durn thing).
I love it. I love when they start eating their own. You knew it was coming with how high they peaked after Oklahoma and the crash against FSU and it is glorious.
But is Bronco right? Are BYU fans stupid? I think he's actually on to something. And it isn't just Cougar fans. I've noticed Utah fans (and I'm one of them) doing the same thing.
So maybe it's the state as a whole.
But when it's coming from your rival it makes it that much more better.
Are we watching the pending implosion of the Bronco era down there? Last year really wrecked them, guys. I think they are shell shocked over not only faltering the way they did, but watching Kyle Whittingham - the guy they wanted and then didn't - lead the Utes to a 13-0 campaign and a win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
I remember reading something by a BYU fan shortly after the Utes' victory and how they basically had his dream BYU season. You know, opening on the road and beating Michigan in the Big House and then ending it by beating Alabama essentially on the road. Two of the most storied programs in college football history and they were both defeated by Utah in the same season.
Well he almost had that experience. I'm sure this fan felt that experience building after the Oklahoma win. That was a big win. I think in hindsight, it will look about as impressive as our win over Michigan (maybe a bit more because the Sooners will probably still contend for the Big 12 South), but there will be an asterisks next to it due to Bradford's injury and then the Cougars' embarrassing loss against Florida State.
But if BYU does lose to TCU and Utah again and God forbid, lose another regular season game - where does that leave Bronco entering a rebuilding year in 2010?
Is it smart for him to call out the fans? What if Bronco just says screw it and leaves for another job?
I don't know. It seems to me he's not entirely happy down in Provo. He did something similar last season, hinting that the fans didn't know what they were talking about (I think they had booed the Cougars at one point). A coach only can take so much before he says it's not worth it.
If that's the case, then BYU might be screwed either way. If Bronco falters and unravels, they're screwed. If he ups and leaves, I've got to think they're screwed, as well.
Of course, winning cures all and I'm sure if Bronco wins out, everything will be peachy in Provo again. But maybe, at the moment, that's a big if.
We shall see. Thankfully it's not us doing it this year, though.
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I don't think it is just Utah fans.
Every school has fans that think they know better than the coaches.
I actually meant the whole state...
haha, because I can’t even associate with Jazzfanz (the site and group) anymore.
Even if he's right...
which he probably is, that’s not a very intelligent thing to say.
I expect an apology in the next couple days.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Looks like he's already backing away from those comments.
http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php?p=3805&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
After Tuesday’s practice, Mendenhall said he regrets making the statement because he believes it was misunderstood.
Asked if he was comfortable with the statement about fans and education, he said:
"Obviously not, if it is drawing criticism. What I was trying to present is, usually the more people see the big picture, the more precise their criticism is, and the more accurate it is.
I can’t expect anyone to see that if they are not in my shoes, or not in the coaches shoes, and so I have made a lot of mistakes, and that was probably another one. "
Uh-huh, sure, Bronco!
FSU fans
Are worse. They’re deserting the program and scorning it in droves, this after decades of dominance.
Fans get spoiled and start to cry and point fingers teh minute anything goes wrong.
Coaches do have to educate fans and defend their team, but let’s face it: undefeated is the only acceptale season now for BYU and Utah, everything else is an utter failure to most fans. That’s an insane standard in college football and most fans do need to grow the hell up and understand the game more. The majoity of fans forget that the team belongs to the students (and former students) and the school first.
Most of the “fans” who show up atthe stadium don’t come to see a football game, they come to see their team win, BYU fans are spolied brats. They need to grow the hell up.
I've been following the FSU mess.
I don’t blame their fans for wanting Bowden to step aside. He has that program by the balls and it’s caused them all sorts of problems since the 2001 season.
But you’re right. BYU fans are spoiled. Hell, we were spoiled too after 2004. But the Cougars seem to be a special kind of spoiled.
I think they think they’re entitled to a BCS run because of who they are.
That’s ultimately what BYU fans want and will demand. We’ve done it twice with a really good chance of maybe doing it again next year. If we break the BCS a third time before they even make their first BCS bowl – well it’s just going to be a huge meltdown.
How does next year's team look?
I haven’t really thought much about the 2010 team, since we’re only 4 games into 2009, but if we take a look at it, what does that team look like:
QB: Cain (looks good)
RB: Wide/Shak/Huff (looks very good, and killer if Asiata gets another year)
WR: Brooks (great), but we lose Reed and Key. Still, Matthews, Christopher, Smithson, should be okay.
OL: Bergstrom (good), Brenner (good), Watts (good), Taylor (great), Schlauderhoff (great).
That’s a pretty good offense. Returning starters at QB, RB, 2 WR, and almost the entire line (with 3 seniors, a junior and a sophomore)
As for the defense:
DL: Shelby (great), Fotu/Cox (good), Talimaivao (good), Siliga/Kruger (good).
LB: Williams (good), Walker/King/Martinez (good)
CB: Burton (good), Chapman (good)
S: Taplin-Ross (great), and one of the freshmen.
That’s a great DL (5 returning starters for 4 spots, since Siliga, Fotu and Cox have all started some games). A pretty good LB corps (JJ took Sly’s spot away as a freshman, Martinez has looked good). Corners should be better next year after a year in the system, Tap looks good. The other safety spot is a concern.
Everyone hates a pink-shirt-wearing communist.
by displacedute on Oct 7, 2009 12:31 PM MDT up reply actions
The biggest thing will be Utah's schedule...
They get what should be an improving CSU team at home, along with BYU & TCU.
Plus, the opener against Pitt – in Salt Lake – could be huge. ESPECIALLY if Pitt wins the Big East this year (which is still possible).
Outside of road games against AFA and ND, it’s hard to really foresee many losses.
So it all could come down to that game against the Irish in November.
Well . . .
Yes, except that they started bailing after like the second season they weren’t dominant.
Calling for Bowden’s head I understand, they stopped watching the second they couldn’t win a national championship—that’s what I mean by spoiled. Folks I knew just found something else to do. This season they all bailed after Miami, all came back after BYU, bailed out again.
This season must be tough for those fans...
Because there were talks about the Seminoles contending for an ACC and maybe, maybe, a national championship.
Then they lose to Miami in the opener. All hell breaks loose. People freak.
Of course, they had a gimmie against a BYU team that has struggled recently playing in big games. They dominate and everyone returns, thinking the Miami game was just a hiccup.
But it wasn’t.
That loss to FSU by the Cougars is BAD. I mean, really bad. Head-scratching bad.
Tell you what
People down here want Bowden to leave, his staying is eating away at the coaching staff. He’s basically hanging on because all his buddies on the team don’t have good prospects anymore.
He can’t catch Joe Pa, time to hang the cleats up.
BYU lost because FSU had two bad games in a row and BYU just coughed up the ball too much.
Bronco isn't going anywhere.
They will go no worse than 9-3 this season. They win all the “gimme” games and win the majority of the “toss-ups”.
I think that's probably going to happen too.
I thought MAYBE UNLV would beat them this year with how good their offense looked.
But then I saw the Nevada Reno game and realized the Cougars will probably jump out to a 28-0 lead before winning 100-82.
Or something ridiculous like that.
bronco m. is not going anywhere before he gets his meat hooks on jake heaps.
j.h. is supposedly recruited some of his fellow players and peers to goto byu. i wonder how much success he is going to have. he just might end up being another ben olsen. remember him #1 hsqb in the nation. utah broke his jaw in a game utah dominated. he then went on to break a foot and has not played since. peace out!
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 10, 2009 1:47 PM MDT up reply actions
Spoiled...
BYU is spoiled in a special way. They haven’t proved yet to have a good enough team to break into the BCS and yet they are on top of the BCS busters watch every season. How does that happen? I can see TCU up there. Cause they should have done it in 2005 had they not lost to SMU. But in a way it is still the same. TCU always falls to a team that they should have beaten. Just thought I would toss that out there.
GO UTES!!
BYU does get the benefit of the doubt...
And it is because of their history.
Utah doesn’t, though. Even now, we’re fighting to get into the top-25, even though our lone loss came against a top-15 team on the road by seven points.
BYU lost, at home, to an unranked team and continue to rise the rankings.
Sure, that win against Oklahoma was big…but what exactly does that do for them now? The Sooners shouldn’t be ranked and maybe if they weren’t, the Cougars wouldn’t either.
But every year, they get the benefit of the doubt. And you know, I can’t say they don’t deserve it. I mean, Bronco has produced 11-2, 11-2 and 10-3 campaigns. The last three years, his teams have gone 32-7, not bad.
You’re right, though. It’s about how you get to that 32-7. Utah, over the same span, is 30-9.
The difference? They had a meh campaign in ‘06, a decent one in ’07 and an amazing one in 2008. I’m guessing BYU fans would rather go through 8-9 win seasons for a few years if it means they get that 13-0 campaign. Which they’re not getting now. But their success of almost reaching the highest of the highs probably positions them more than most teams. And certainly feeds the media frenzy and the fans’ hopes that this year will be the year.
byu is spoiled and their fans(don't know zhit about football)and call the utes, frutes. it's pathetic they can't live up to the quest
for perfection. never have never will. peace.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 17, 2009 8:50 AM MDT up reply actions
it's still utah's two bcs wins to byu's none.case closed
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 10, 2009 7:53 PM MDT reply actions
They like to count National Championhsips.
Boise State likes to count perfect regular seasons, without bowl games.
1984 national championship is the only one byu has.
i’m for only counting the bcs system since 1998. recent memory’s. i used that alot with all my so called civil discussion’s with my peers from the sec conf. and expecially the 11 or 12 time nc alabama crimson tide. they don’t have 2 bcs wins.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 17, 2009 8:45 AM MDT up reply actions
Cherry picked stats are always fun!
Take a national poll of this question:
Who did more to earn a national championship:
1) BYU 1984
2) Utah 2008
BCS Evolution -- Punctuating the Equilibrium - twitter
Utaj did
But both have to be judged by the systems in place at the time they were crowned.
When BYU won it, if you were undefeated that meant a lot more than what conference you were in.
So, BYU won a NC under the conditions of the time, Utah arguably should have played for he NC, but did not.
Them’s the muffins.
when tcu beats byu this weekend i think the turmoil barometer will soar off the charts
i beg for the byu fans not to jump in utah lake. the government has said the lake is very contaminated. the last thing we need is contaminated byu fans. peace out.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 23, 2009 12:27 PM MDT reply actions
This is a statement game for Bronco, no doubt.
A loss here and it’s going to get interesting.
A win, though, and they’re sitting pretty again.
I don't know, BYU will still leave the season no worse than 9-3.
Playing TCU, Utah, Oklahoma, FSU, Air Force . . .
That’s not a shabby record.
that still 1-3 vs the ranked teams. air force is decent. the rest they should of won anyway
9-3 is not that good when you have the quest for perfection as your mantra. guess they will have to wait for jake heaps and company to get there. utah’s offense next year looks real good especially if asiasta gets a red shirt. tcu will have most of their offense as well but will lose key players on defense. i actually hope that byu wins 10-11 games a year. just not vs tcu and utah. peace.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 23, 2009 2:25 PM MDT up reply actions
I think it goes beyond this season...
If they finish 9-3 (maybe 9-4 if they lose their bowl game), things will get interesting next year. Mostly because they lose so much talent and have a tough road conference slate (@ TCU and @ Utah).
With so many people expecting the BCS last season and this, grumbles will be heard.
IF they do finish 12-1, though (possible) all will be fine again.
But that might be a big if.
Their defense sucks
Even our crummy Offense will score on them, they’re slow, dmiwitted, they look out of place, they’re terrible defensively.
TCU notabig Offensive squad, 255 yards in first half.
Can we move the game this year to Provo?
I am loving the way games go down there this year.
BCS Evolution -- Punctuating the Equilibrium - twitter
Umm...
the game this year is in Provo.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Living in Florida, one can get a bit out of sync with that. LOL
BCS Evolution -- Punctuating the Equilibrium - twitter
their fans have deserted the blog too
they know they will lose to utah and will not be motivated for the poinsettia bowl and embarrass the mwc. i hope they get the houston cougars and case keenum throws for 600 yards. he threw for 559 today. houston would win by 4 td’s vs a likely unmotivated byu cougar team. motivation is tied to leadership.the buck stops with bronco m. peace.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 31, 2009 6:12 PM MDT reply actions
More turmoil! It is a total soap opera down there!
http://heraldextra.com/news/local/article_0d5d3422-2f75-5ade-98e0-8b67c53c010f.html
“Ridiculous,” senior Jorgensen called it. “Fans are always going to be fickle and be up and down, but there’s a certain point where it crosses the line. In our own stadium, this stuff is ridiculous.”
“It’s unbelievable,” said assistant coach Hill. “It’s not like we’re 0-6. We’re 6-2 and still have a lot of goals in front of us. Twenty-one years of coaching and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hill said the frame of mind for Cougar players was “fragile” last week, but the bye week was salve on a wound, good for rest and reflection — and improvement.
Yes. That’s smart. Let’s egg the car of the only black coach at BYU.
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