BYU vs. TCU

October 16, 2008    By: Geoff J @ 6:26 pm   Category: Sports

Feel free to discuss the game in progress.

[Update] Well it is over. BYU got their butts handed to them in Fort Worth by the TCU Horned Frogs. The final score was TCU 32 BYU 7. TCU was simply better tonight in all facets of the game. This game is the culmination of the disconcerting trend for the Cougs that started with Utah State and continued with New Mexico. BYU didn’t look nearly as strong as their ranking would have indicated in those games and they showed that tonight.

At least BYU will not have as much pressure on them going forward. It will be interesting to see how the team responds over the next several weeks.

37 Comments

  1. It’s not looking so good… but the game isn’t over. (which could be good or bad…) :(

    Comment by TrevorM — October 16, 2008 @ 6:54 pm

  2. This is horrible.

    Comment by Ben — October 16, 2008 @ 6:58 pm

  3. Ouch 26 to zip, how embarrassing for the Y.

    Comment by Matt W. — October 16, 2008 @ 7:10 pm

  4. Oh thank heavens! A score!

    Comment by TrevorM — October 16, 2008 @ 7:18 pm

  5. TCU 37 BYU 7, start of 4th. This is horrible.

    Comment by Ben — October 16, 2008 @ 7:38 pm

  6. That’s all she wrote… at least it wasn’t a shutout.

    Comment by TrevorM — October 16, 2008 @ 7:43 pm

  7. I was excited to spend an evening watching the game. I was willing to make the sacrifice of not watching my normal Thursday night TV lineup. Very quickly I saw that BYU was completely outclassed, so I switched from my plan of watching the Cougs and flipping to my shows during stoppages to the other way around.

    Comment by Kevin Barney — October 16, 2008 @ 7:47 pm

  8. This is worse than the stock market the past couple of weeks- I feel sick.

    Comment by Dan Ellsworth — October 16, 2008 @ 7:48 pm

  9. I knew this game was over after that first drive. Effing ess.

    Comment by Rusty — October 16, 2008 @ 8:05 pm

  10. ridiculous

    Comment by Eric Russell — October 16, 2008 @ 8:15 pm

  11. Did I sin when I stopped watching in the fourth quarter? I just couldn’t take it anymore.

    Comment by Robert V. — October 16, 2008 @ 8:16 pm

  12. worst. game. ever.

    Comment by Ben — October 16, 2008 @ 8:43 pm

  13. For once, I am glad Dish doesn’t have whatever channel this was on. Sounds like it was brutal.

    Comment by Jacob J — October 16, 2008 @ 8:51 pm

  14. Let’s be honest. There were inklings of this the past three games when, against bad opponents, Hall kept making inexplicable passing choices. He could get away with it against bad teams. Against a good team…

    I also, sad to say, think this shows BYU wasn’t nearly as good as they or their fans thought. (I had fears of that too the past three weeks) TCU is the first really good team we’ve played. And our weaknesses showed.

    What’s surprising is how badly our defense played though. Wow.

    Comment by clark — October 16, 2008 @ 11:05 pm

  15. I was so excited about this year’s team – this is painful.

    Comment by danithew — October 17, 2008 @ 4:01 am

  16. Well we can still be excited Dan. Winning out this year would be a huge accomplishment. The truth is that a BCS bowl is not completely out of the picture still. BYU definitely has a weakness when it comes to speed, but that does not mean they can’t prepare better for next time.

    Comment by Geoff J — October 17, 2008 @ 8:23 am

  17. There is a silver lining. It turns out that BYU’s upset has led to increased understanding on the grace/works debate. Consider the following dialogue between Texas Christian’s Gary Patterson and Mendenhall:

    Patterson: You know, the “quest for perfection” is just too much. I think it leads to unnecessary ulcers. Really, you have to rely on grace.

    Mendenhall: You’re probably right. Maybe I should revise our motto: grace … after all you can do.

    Patterson: (looks down and nods cautiously)

    Mendenhall: Yep. New motto: Grace, after all you can do.

    (Patterson thinks to self “all you could do was 7 points in the third quarter; you’ll need an awful lot of grace.”)

    Comment by Josh Smith — October 17, 2008 @ 8:51 am

  18. I said it two weeks ago here: Hall isn’t very good. He’s had big numbers because his O-line has given him a lot of time to find open receivers against weak defenses. The O-line was still pretty solid against TCU. Sure, Hall was rushed and hurried more than usual, but considering that TCU leads the nation in sacks, the O-line did as well as you can expect. Hall had as much time as you can expect to get against that kind of defense.

    On the defensive side of the ball, I don’t know if it’s the limitations of our personnel or the philosophy of the coaching staff, but this thing where we give wideouts 12 yards of cushion on third and long is not working out for us. Against that kind of defense, 3rd and 9 might as well be 3rd and 2. You have to suck not to convert most of the time. Even if playing up on the receivers might leave our weak corners vulnerable to the long bomb, you can’t just keep giving people gimmes on 3rd and long.

    Oh well. I think Hall still has it in him to be a good QB. He has the physical skills. He just has to see the field better.

    And I still think we have it in us to beat Utah. If we do that, this will have been a good season.

    Comment by Tom — October 17, 2008 @ 8:55 am

  19. So should we want TCU to beat Utah or not? If they beat them then they win the MWC and BYU/Utah play for not having 2 losses. If Utah wins then if BYU beats Utah there can be a 3-way tie (each having beat another).

    Comment by Rusty — October 17, 2008 @ 10:31 am

  20. I think this sums up my feelings about BYU’s loss.

    Comment by kuri — October 17, 2008 @ 10:58 am

  21. Snort! That link rules kuri. I’m totally going to use it sometime.

    Comment by Geoff J — October 17, 2008 @ 11:06 am

  22. Clark, I couldn’t agree more.

    Comment by Jacob J — October 17, 2008 @ 11:46 am

  23. Devastating, just devastating. Oh, man, how do we go on now? I wonder who on that team sinned so as to hinder the Lord’s blessings. No, really. Who did it? What did they do? Fornicate? Shoplift? Drink coffee?

    Comment by sam — October 17, 2008 @ 1:03 pm

  24. Sam, see comment #20 for an example of clever and cool and amusing gloating. Your attempt at gloating ended up not being clever, cool, or amusing.

    But buck up little Coug hater; with sufficient effort and intensity you can execute your gloating at a higher level after the next Cougar loss.

    Comment by Geoff J — October 17, 2008 @ 1:38 pm

  25. No Sam — the low lifes on the opposing squad complained that Unga was playing organized sports so he couldn’t practice all week and had to take a different plane that cost him all of his practice time. It turned out to be a simple game of flag football with the family. Simply beneath contempt! So Satan has his lies and tricks. Yeah, I’d say that the buck stops there, with you and the rest of Satan’s cohorts.

    Comment by Blake — October 17, 2008 @ 5:30 pm

  26. It’s not over. Check it out. There are two scenarios.

    Scenario #1: The automatic bid. All we need to do is get back into the top 16. We can be as low as 16, but as long as we’re higher than the champion of a BCS conference, we’re in. A few things need to happen. The Big East needs to continue to beat each other up, but I think just one more loss from South Florida and Pitt will keep the Big East champ out of the top 16.

    The biggest obstacle here is Boise State. They need to lose one and they may not. TCU needs to lose against Utah. And, of course, we need to win out the season. I think a final win over a ranked Utah will be good enough to propel us into the top 16 and ahead of Utah.

    Scenario #2: An automatic at-large bid. The mediocrity of the Big East, PAC-10 and ACC is amounting to the possibility of a strange scenario this year: two non-BCS teams in the BCS. We would need to get into the top 14, which would require the assistance of a number of upsets of teen-ranked teams.

    The biggest obstacle in this scenario is Ohio State. We just need to keep Ohio State, Michigan State, and Cal out of the top 14. Michigan State and Cal have likely losses on their schedule this year and one more loss for either team should be enough. But I think Ohio State needs two more losses keep from finishing in the top 14 this year. Their next two games could do it.

    Comment by Eric Russell — October 17, 2008 @ 7:36 pm

  27. I’d like to suggest, ever so gently (if I may do so without being characterized as a cougar hater because I really do wish them well, even though I don’t follow them quite a avidly as I used to) that sam has something of a point.

    If we are going to say that the football team follows gospel principles and that at least part of their success can be attributed to their clean gospel living, what do we say when they play like they did last night? The news coverage has been very positive about all the family men and returned missionaries on the team. I’m proud of that, but I also think we were starting to sound like Osteen’s prosperity gospel, transferred to a sports context: Our winning is proof of God’s favor.

    Again, I’m proud of Bronco and the boys. But for the past few weeks I think we were patting ourselves on the back a little more than was warranted.

    Comment by Mark Brown — October 17, 2008 @ 7:37 pm

  28. Mark, are you referring to something specific? I read a lot, and I can’t say I’ve ever seen a non-crazy person claim, in a non-jesting way, that BYU’s success was actually a result of “clean gospel living.”

    Comment by Eric Russell — October 17, 2008 @ 7:50 pm

  29. Eric,

    In this article which appeared in USA Today this week, players are quoted saying how success on the football field builds the kingdom. I don’t disagree, (although I think that aspect of BYU sports is waaay oversold), I just think it is better when you let your actions do the talking. Also, Bronco quoting scriptures at press conferences is just, well, strange.

    I just want them to play, and quit telling us how white their hats are.

    Comment by Mark Brown — October 17, 2008 @ 8:06 pm

  30. Also, I take exception to the way some recent stories have characterized the previous coach. I know him personally, he’s a good guy and a faithful member. I think he’s willing to take whatever lumps come his way over the losses and honor code lapses, but before we beatify Mendenhall, let’s remember he was an assistant in that organization, too.

    Comment by Mark Brown — October 17, 2008 @ 8:11 pm

  31. BYU is out of the BCS picture they will very unlikely that they will be ranked on Monday. The computer polls do not repect weak schedules and BYU this year has the misfortune of playing great teams that are having a bad year. 2 computer polls did not even rank BYU in the top 25. Boise State, Utah, and TCU will all likely be ranked ahead of BYU and Boise State has played the strength of their schedule. If the mountain west is to be represented Utah will have to carry the banner.

    This team represents BYU admirably. It should still be a great season.

    Comment by hank — October 17, 2008 @ 8:28 pm

  32. They ought not be ranked. TCU really showed their weaknesses.

    While I think the biggest flaws were with Hall, I think that it also showed some big problems with both Bronco and Anae. The play calling on the offense is just too predictable. I think after Crowton that was a big plus. Also people wanted to get back to the Lavelle style. Interestingly several friends and roommates of mine played under the last years or Lavelle and were very excited about the creative play calling of Crowton. I think Anae needs to find a better balance though. Simple enough that it doesn’t overwhelm people – especially when under stress. But more complex such that it isn’t obvious to opposing defenses what we’re going to do.

    As for Bronco I love what he’s done with the team. Especially vis a vis the tendency of players to break the honor code and get away with it. He’s brought a discipline that BYU long needed. Yet he’s also had a bit of arrogance and perhaps this will humble him a bit. He simply didn’t have the defense react to what TCU was doing. (He admitted this at half time but not watching on TV I can’t say how much he actually modified things – it didn’t seem to me that he did)

    Comment by Clark — October 19, 2008 @ 7:52 pm

  33. BTW – for the sake of the conference I hope TCU goes undefeated and busts the BCS.

    Comment by Clark — October 19, 2008 @ 7:53 pm

  34. BYU is ranked #17 and #18 in the Coaches and AP polls. They are ranked #21 in the BCS as of today.

    Clark — You are predictably being a sourpuss about BYU again. I think that ranking is about right. There are very few one loss teams at this point and BYU’s only loss so far came playing away at a ranked opponent. Now if they lose again before the Utah game they can forget about the top 25.

    If TCU can win out they will get the BCS bid. If they lose at Utah and then BYU beats Utah it could be the worst scenario because Boise State could sneak in and take that BCS spot.

    You really need to lighten up on Bronco too. The sky has not fallen. This is only one loss. Bronco has proven over and over to learn from his mistakes. They like the “focus on us” approach but this loss will surely remind him that sometimes that is not enough.

    Comment by Geoff J — October 19, 2008 @ 8:09 pm

  35. Clark,

    Look at what I said on the previous thread about playing on the road on a thursday night. It’s a death trap. Remember USC? Utah beat that same Oregon St. team. As did Stanford. There’s something about Thursday nights that cause road teams a lot of problems.

    And this was a good TCU team.

    And there are aobut 75 programs that would love to have Bronco as their coach.

    Comment by Tim J — October 19, 2008 @ 8:28 pm

  36. I can but say I’m surprised by the rankings given the prior three games and that last one. I think BYU was this time helped by the fact most people don’t watch the games as opposed to being hurt by it (as is often the case).

    If BYU can really cream Utah and Air Force then I think they’ll deserve to be around #15 or so.

    Note that I wasn’t criticizing Bronco so much. I think he’s the best thing to happen to the program. As you said, lots of others would love him. However I think that loss will be an important growing experience for him. Bronco’s a good coach but I think you have to agree that part of the defense issues fall in his lap.

    So please don’t take my comments as being more negative than they were. I think the problem is that people were thinking BYU was much better than they were. There’s nothing wrong with ending the year around #15. For most of the last decade we’d have killed for that. I think it’s just because of unrealistic expectations of BYU’s current team and Hall’s abilities that people that people see this as more negative than it is. I’m also confident Hall can significantly improve. What’s sad is that in those key areas (throwing into heavy coverage, picking only a couple of receivers) it was clear what his problems were weeks ago.

    Comment by Clark — October 19, 2008 @ 9:20 pm

  37. Batter my heart. I’m a little surprised by BYU’s ranking. It wasn’t a close loss. I’d have put us around #23 or so.

    Comment by Adam Greenwood — October 20, 2008 @ 1:59 pm