W2W4 - BYU

[JasonB]

I'm going to shift these writeups a bit now to focus on the other team now that we have entered the competitive portion of our schedule... hopefully this gives you some insights heading into the game.

BYU on offense:

Reztalff is the BYU QB. He played the second half of last year, and pretty much lost every game he played in. He only completed 50% of his passes even though he didn't throw the ball downfield much at all. In-line with most young QBs, he completed passes over the middle, but really struggled throwing the ball to the outside. The offensive line protected him pretty well, but when he was pressured, it was a disaster.

So what changed last week? Well, he still completes a large percentage across the middle, but now completed his throws down the field, which is a huge difference. Last year on long throws he was 2/18, 80 yards and a pick. Last week he was 4/6 for 170 and a TD. He had better production in a single game than all of last year. He also did much better under pressure (only 4 times). He did struggle when blitzed still, but not nearly as bad as last season. Last season, PFF gave him credit for 4 "Big Time Throws". He had 3 last week. He looks like he has taken a big step forward.

The other interesting thing that changed is he definitely prefers the left side of the field - he didn't throw outside right much at all. But most of the damage is still down the middle. This is just interesting because SMU tends to play our top corner on the left side of our defense. Epps and Roberts are their primary receivers - Epps mostly out of the slot, while Roberts will bounce back and forth between outside and the slot. The don't put a TE in the slot; they typically line a TE inside or they will sometimes go with 4 WR. Marion, Phillips and Kingston are their other outside WR they rotate in. Roberts got most of the yardage, targets, and receptions last week, and most of it on routes over the middle. They hit Roberts, Phillips, and Kingston on deep passes. The receiving corps hasn't really changed from last year other than losing Lassiter and Rex (TE), the younger receivers are just getting that playing time now. No newcomers. So the improvement is purely on the QB.

The matchup to watch here is clearly going to be whomever is on Roberts. My guess is that he will lineup more on their left side and go against Crossley , Sanders, and McGill.

In the running game, Retzlaff can move, kind of like Preston. So he will pick up some scramble yards at times. It will be interesting to see if we play some zone in the secondary, especially when they go 4 wide to protect our corners deep and prevent the scrambles, or if we try to man up. At running back, last year they split time between Robbins and Martin, this year it looks like Martin is paired with Ropeti. All the backs are about the same, big power backs with a nice YPC average (between 4.5 and 5) but not a lot of explosive plays.

They do this all behind a pretty large OL. But there has been some turnover, as they graduated 2 starters who graded out as two of their top 3 linemen. Etienne is their LT. He did great as a run blocker last game, but did get beaten for a sack and a pressure. Last year, he was their backup RT and was their lowest rated lineman. He is a bit of a question mark and someone we will target Pay is their center and also had a great game 1, but last year he struggled a bit in both run blocking and pass blocking while splitting time between C and RG. He is another guy to watch to see if he actually took a step forward. Keim is their RT and he struggled in the first game - 2 pressures, didn't do great run blocking. Last year he graded out as their best lineman, so it may have just been a couple of bad plays. Lapuaho is their LG - struggled a bit, allowed one pressure. He split time last year between LG and RG, but graded out pretty solid. Makasini and Leusa split at RG. Makasini is a RS Sophmore who didn't play last season. Leusa was at Utah State, then to Southern Utah and now is at BYU. He had offers from Baylor and Houston out of S Utah - apparently he went on a mission and grew a bunch, filled out, and is a pretty good recruit. I think they anticipated him winning the position but he is splitting time. BYU always has a big, pretty good line, and this won't be an exception. I'll be watching three things. 1) are the forced to double the NG, because I think our DT can win 1v1 against a guard. Pressure up the middle will really impact an inexperienced QB, and it is a requirement against a power running game. 2) can we tackle better from the DL? They have had problems wrapping up the first two weeks and the big backs will carry our LBs forward if they have a head of steam. Do we play more Kilgore to give us more size at LB? 3) We need Roberts/Turbo/Harvey to win against Etienne. Sometimes a quarterback tends to throw into the side they don't trust. It could be that he looks left because he is watching the pass rush.

Overall, I am concerned about their deep ball, especially against Crossley, Rogers, and Davis. I also suspect that they will leave their TE and RB in to block in order to buy time for receivers to get open. Their offensive efficiency numbers weren't good last year; really the only difference in the team is at QB, who seems much improved. If we can win at DT and DE and our corners perform better than my expectations, we could perform pretty well defensively. They are also going to eat clock, so there aren't going to be as many possessions. I just have a feeling that we are going to give up some plays on the backend and I am still concerned that our DL isn't playing quite up to the level they played at last season. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see BYU score 24 points in the game.

BYU on Defense:

At DE, Batty was their best player last season against both the run and the pass, and is the guy to watch. They graduated their other starter who was also pretty good so Bagnah starts on the other side... he rotated in last season and had a sack and two pressures last week. These are matchups that both PJ and Osborne should do a solid job with, but if either stumble they are good enough to take advantage. Keep an eye on penalties on PJ, which were a problem game 1 and could set the offense back this week.

At DT, they graduated a lot so it is next player up. Mangelson and Nelson started the first game and both did a good job. Mangelson is going to be interesting to watch - he played edge last year and got a pretty good amount of time, and is moving inside this season. It will be interesting to see if he can handle our guards. Nelson played in the rotation last year and was pretty good, created a lot oof pressure inside. Taumoepeau is a JUCO transfer who they expect a lot out of. This is a new group and I would expect us to run straight at them early on with Clark, Byrd and Parr to test them out.

At LB, they graduated both starters and a key backup. Kelly transferred from Weber State where he had a fantastic year last season. They expect a lot out of him, but he struggled in the first game of the season. You can tell that they are trying to figure out who the other starter is based on the snaps, but Taggart is the guy that stood out in the last game. He was a stud HS recruit who transferred in from Oregon. This is an unknown position, but there is a lot of upside here.

It is important to keep in mind that even though it seems like we should be able to win at DT and LB, BYU always finds a way to put together a good defensive front 7. We ran the ball for a ton last week, and that is due to a combination of finding the right positions on the OL and a weak opponent. Don't expect it to be the same this week. That said, if we can run the ball successfully against BYU, we are going to be able to run the ball against just about everyone this season.

BYU plays in a nickel package for the most part. They graduated both outside corners, and Collins and Johnson are the new guys. Robinson started last year and is their slot corner. Collins was as stud at Weber State and transferred in for his senior year. Johnson is a redshirt sophomore who didn't play much last year but was a solid recruit coming out of HS. I would expect SMU to go after the outside corners in this game.

At safety, they graduated one starter. Wakley was the returning starter, but sat out the first game.
Harper is the other starter, and is a real stud who took a medical redshirt last season. He is a fantastic player. Wall started in the absence of Wakley and is just kind of a guy.

The defense was pretty solid last season, which can be very hard to pull off in the Big12. They eat time on offense, which helps the defense stay fresh and limit the number of possessions. If you haven't seen BYU in person, they are going to surprise you with their size and how physical they are.

The key against them is to spread the field, both wide and deep. Make them run. Out-athlete them. This is why I think you start and play Preston for most of the game, and you bring in the Jennings RPO offense for a series or two at some point just for a change of pace. BYU wants you to grind the game out on offense, that is what they live for. Anyone who was at the New Mexico Bowl knows what I mean.

Normally, when I see a team move a DE inside to start at DT, that is a sign that they really lack size inside. I think we need to run the ball straight up the middle and see what we can do. But I would start out by testing their outside corners. Hudson, Mello, or Smith need to step up and have a big game this week. If Wall starts, I am going after him as well. Loosen the scheme up, and then hit them with Smith, Rooster, LJ, and McFall.

Prediction:
I am very wary about this game. I'm concerned about their QB's improvement. They were a terrible offensive football team last year, but they have clearly taken a step forward, and if the step is legit, it matches up well against the weakness of our defense at corner. When we are on offense, I am concerned about our penalties stalling drives, and the most underperforming piece of our team (outside WR) is matched up against their weakness.

That said, RJ, Preston, Jennings, and B Smith are playmakers that BYU just can't match. Our explosive plays get us the win, even through it won't be as easy as the spread indicates.

SMU wins, 28-24.

[highlander]

The improvement you see at BYU QB is from ONE game, and that was against a team that appears to be on the same level as HCU.

Having said that, this is by far our best opponent of the season thus far. If we don't play a lot better than we did in week one, we will lose.

[JasonB]

The improvement you see at BYU QB is from ONE game, and that was against a team that appears to be on the same level as HCU.

Having said that, this is by far our best opponent of the season thus far. If we don't play a lot better than we did in week one, we will lose.

I understand the skepticism, but the history at BYU is the ability to identify and recruit QBs that play well in their system and culture. He was the number one ranked JUCO QB before transferring to BYU for a reason, and the numbers his last season at JUCO are amazing.

It is also very telling that they brought in Bohanan from USF as a senior to compete for the position, and they didn't give him a single drive in game one, even after the game was a blowout.

Sure, if he hasn't taken a step forward, their offense is awful and this will be an easy game. But my bet is that he is a completely different quarterback this year compared to what he showed last season. We will see if I am wrong about that tonight.

[JasonB]

I also want to add one more bit - for the first time in ages, I think SMU has an offensive line that is better at run blocking than pass blocking. We have had clean pockets for our QBs for the most part for several seasons. The BYU DE is going to test our pass protection on the outside, and their quicker DTs are going to test us inside.

If pass protection becomes a big problem early, there might be a quick trigger to switch over to Jennings at QB and focus on the RPO. The unknowns we have at WR and pass protection might turn out to be a bigger driver in the Preston versus Jennings conversation than we realize...

[Hop Sing]

Unfortunately your observations and concerns were dead on.