2010 Brigham Young Cougars Football Preview

2009 Results: 11-2, Won Las Vegas Bowl vs. Oregon State

Head Coach: Bronco Mendenhall (6th year @ BYU, 49-15 Overall)

Home Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium (64,045), Provo, Utah

Last season marked the 4th consecutive year that BYU won ten or more games, largely thanks to an offense driven by departed senior Max Hall. Unfortunately, change might be the theme of the 2010 season for the Cougars as they only have eleven returning starters and could play a ton of freshman this fall. Can Coach Mendenhall mold this young team into a winner and continue their streak of ten win seasons?

OFFENSE

Max Hall graduated from BYU as the Mountain West’s all-time leading passer thanks to three great seasons as the starting quarterback. Hall’s teams were 32-7 with one league title during his tenure! So replacing him won’t be easy, though there are two very viable options. One is last season’s backup, junior Riley Nelson, who played well at Utah State in 2006 before transferring. Nelson has wheels but isn’t a powerful thrower. He’ll have an experience edge over true freshman Jake Heaps, who was one of the top two prep quarterbacks in the entire country last season and the centerpiece of a glittering recruiting class. While they are talented, the lack of experience from both players is definitely a major concern. Regardless of who wins the starting job, there is one overwhelming truth about the quarterback position: There will be a significant drop off from the heady days of Max Hall.

BYU’s offense was also dealt a major unexpected blow this offseason when star senior tailback Harvey Unga (1,087 yards, 11 TDs in 2009) was suspended for violating the school’s Mormon honor code. After a long process, he was officially removed from the football team, leaving the Cougars without the services of a three time 1,000 yard rusher and 1st team All-MWC selection. Needless to say, there is a dearth of experience at tailback without him.

There is a little bit of good news. Though BYU will miss star TE Dennis Pitta, there are multiple players returning who contributed heavily to the Cougars’ pass-happy attack. Along with three upperclassmen who started last season, there are a few talented freshmen coming in as well. The other bit of good news is that BYU returns four starters from a very good offensive line and that should allow the new QB and rushing attack to have a chance to succeed in 2010.

So how will BYU deal with the loss of their big three (Hall, Unga, Pitta) from last season? The running game is definitely a concern as Unga has been a workhorse for the past three seasons, but there should at least be decent production behind one of the MWC’s best lines. However, quarterback is the biggest concern here. The much-touted Heaps will get every opportunity to beat out Nelson but the fact is that neither player will be as good as Max Hall (at least this season) and that means a decreased passing attack and increased turnovers. While this will still be a strong offense, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cougars fall below the 30 point per game threshold for the first time under Mendenhall.

DEFENSE

There is also a ton of youth to be served on defense this season as only five starters are back from 2009’s excellent run D. Only two of 2009’s top seven tacklers highlight this group, though senior defensive backs Andrew Rich (85 tackles, 4 INT) and Brandon Bradley (64 tackles) should anchor one of the best secondaries in the MWC.

I’m also pretty bullish on the BYU defensive line, which does return junior starters Romney Fuga (40 tackles) and Jordan Pendleton (52 tackles, 3 sacks). While the loss of mainstay Jan Jorgensen (the conference’s career sacks leader) is a concern, BYU has a lot of mature, big-bodied players enter the program every season that are returning from Mormon missions and that gives me confidence in seeing another strong front line in 2010. On top of that, BYU’s exceptional 2009 recruiting class also featured a couple of excellent D-Linemen that could see the field as well.

The biggest concern on defense is without question at the linebacker position, where all three spots are wide open heading into fall camp. So much experience was lost from last season and there are precious few career starts and tackles among the returnees. In fact, it seems likely that a true freshman will be one of the starting linebackers as both Zac Stout and Kyle Van Noy were very highly touted, turning down BCS conference programs to play for BYU with Heaps.

That lack of experience at linebacker is the biggest reason that I think that BYU is going to have one of the least effective defenses of Mendenhall’s tenure. While the Cougars usually reload well on the line, it is not a given that they’ll seamlessly replace Jorgensen and company and that could mean that BYU’s young new ‘backers could end up trying to shed a lot of blockers this season. That’s not an ideal way to break in a new second level. Expect opponents to attack BYU on the ground with success in the early going this fall.

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SCHEDULE

The schedule is also another major detraction for BYU’s young team. Their non-conference slate features a trip to Florida State and visits from Washington and Nevada, all three of whom could be ranked when the games are played. Furthermore, their MWC opener is against run-heavy Air Force, who will seriously test their new front seven. Finally, the Cougars only have six home games and have to travel to TCU, Utah and Air Force in league play! This is just a really tough schedule, especially with a young team.

OUTLOOK

The Cougars are undeniably talented, especially with the arrival of their nationally-ranked 2009 recruiting class. However, they are going to have to play a lot of those highly touted youngsters quickly and that is going to produce a lot of mistakes and growing pains, especially if Heaps is the starting quarterback. Furthermore, they have a brutal non-conference schedule and a front-loaded slate that could legitimately see them open up 0-4! While BYU should get their feet underneath themselves late in the year with a much easier lead-up to their visit to archrival Utah, the overwhelming youth of this team will be their undoing and this will be a rebuilding year in Provo.

PREDICTED RESULT: 6-6 (5-3 Mountain West)