Dennis Pitta (5 catches, 83 yards, 2 TD) was named the John Mackey Tight End of the Week for week 5, collecting the honor for the third time (after being named twice last year). He is the sixth player to have received the weekly award at least three times (last year’s winner Chase Coffman of Missouri also had won the weekly award three times). Last week I gave an update on the race for the Mackey Award and profiled five players that I consider the frontrunners, five contenders, and five dark horses (you can read that article at http://www.byucougs.com/2009/10/pittas-march-toward-mackey-award.html). Here is an update on the five frontrunners after week 5:
Player, Class, School G Rec Yds TD rec/g yds/rec yds/g
Dennis Pitta, Sr, BYU 5 26 339 3 5.20 13.0 67.8
Ed Dickson, Sr, Oregon 5 22 309 4 4.40 14.0 61.8
Cody Slate, Sr, Marshall 5 26 289 2 5.20 11.1 57.8
Garrett Graham, Sr, Wisc 5 23 268 4 4.60 11.7 53.6
Jamie McCoy, Sr, TA&M 4 18 209 0 4.50 11.6 52.3
McCoy seems to be slipping behind the top four who are all very close at this point, and Pitta strengthened his frontrunner status this week as he is now leading in receptions (tied with Marshall’s Slate), total yards, and yards per game (although he trails Erik Highsmith of North Carolina who averages 72.5 yards/game).
An offical mid-season watch list will be released by the Nassau County Sports Commission on Monday, Oct 19.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
What We Learned in the Utah State Game
With a solid defensive performance (despite a late scoring drive that muddied the box score), and a now familiar offensive performance (good, but mistake prone), BYU controlled the game and ticked off another win in its second of four “no-win situation” games as the team awaits a chance to make a statement against TCU on Oct 24. Along the way, the team helped answer the following questions:
1. Will Max Hall avoid throwing an interception? Two in a row… on what looked like very similar plays. Max now has 10 picks—no other QB in the country has more (Bo Mitchell of SMU is now tied)—and pushed his streak to 8 games in a row. You might expect that from a 50% accuracy passer, but since Hall is a 65-70% passer, it is somewhat surprising. So rather than just poorly thrown balls, they tend to be poor decisions, often trying to squeeze a ball into an all-too-narrow lane, or miscommunications on routes with his receivers.
2. Will Jan Jorgensen get a sack? Finally. He answered the call with his first sack of the season. The defense turned in three sacks total, a season high, now totaling 9 through 5 games.
3. Can we manage to keep the ball for 30 minutes or longer? It’s about… time. Despite an early fumble and two quick picks to start the second half, and with the gratitude of the defense, the offense held onto the ball for 31:15. In the past two games Florida State and Colorado State both seemed focused on winning the time of possession battle as a core game strategy, and used it to successfully mitigate the defense.
4. Will there be a special teams or defensive touchdown? Not this time.
5. Can the offense score a touchdown in all four quarters? 3 out of 4. Scoreless in the third quarter as the interceptions ended what would have likely been scoring drives.
6. Will we get to see more balls thrown to Spencer Hafoka? That depends. As if on cue after reading this column, Hafoka had the first catch of the game, as he was starting in place of McKay Jacobsen (who pulled a hamstring in warm-ups). He then promptly fumbled it, causing the coaches to replace him with Luke Ashworth who proceeded to have a breakout game with 5 catches for 91 yards.
7. Will Riley Nelson see the game? Three plays. One that seemed a bit out of sorts and ended with an illegal procedure penalty. Another that went for 13 yards and a first down on a play designed for him to sneak up the middle. A third—taking a knee on the last play of the game. Perhaps what Bronco meant when telling the media that Nelson would be inserted despite game situation, was that there would be specifically designed one-off plays such as this.
8. How many passes will be thrown at Brian Logan? None. Logan missed a team walk through and did not start, as he was replaced by Robbie Buckner.
9. Will Riley Stephenson ever have to punt and if so will he be able to stay #1 in the country in net punting yards? Yes and no. 3 punts and a 37 yard average, was not enough to stay at the top, dropping to #6 with a 41.92 average.
10. Will the USU fans in attendance be able to come up with any witty, clever, or jabbing signs, chants, or t-shirts for the home team? I am sure they did. The Mtn. was unable to capture it for the viewing audiences. If you were there and can share your stories, please do!
11. Finally, can Oklahoma beat Miami and solve our transitive property strength of schedule issues? Almost doesn’t count. Miami now owns both Oklahoma and Florida State, doing what the Cougars were unable to do.
1. Will Max Hall avoid throwing an interception? Two in a row… on what looked like very similar plays. Max now has 10 picks—no other QB in the country has more (Bo Mitchell of SMU is now tied)—and pushed his streak to 8 games in a row. You might expect that from a 50% accuracy passer, but since Hall is a 65-70% passer, it is somewhat surprising. So rather than just poorly thrown balls, they tend to be poor decisions, often trying to squeeze a ball into an all-too-narrow lane, or miscommunications on routes with his receivers.
2. Will Jan Jorgensen get a sack? Finally. He answered the call with his first sack of the season. The defense turned in three sacks total, a season high, now totaling 9 through 5 games.
3. Can we manage to keep the ball for 30 minutes or longer? It’s about… time. Despite an early fumble and two quick picks to start the second half, and with the gratitude of the defense, the offense held onto the ball for 31:15. In the past two games Florida State and Colorado State both seemed focused on winning the time of possession battle as a core game strategy, and used it to successfully mitigate the defense.
4. Will there be a special teams or defensive touchdown? Not this time.
5. Can the offense score a touchdown in all four quarters? 3 out of 4. Scoreless in the third quarter as the interceptions ended what would have likely been scoring drives.
6. Will we get to see more balls thrown to Spencer Hafoka? That depends. As if on cue after reading this column, Hafoka had the first catch of the game, as he was starting in place of McKay Jacobsen (who pulled a hamstring in warm-ups). He then promptly fumbled it, causing the coaches to replace him with Luke Ashworth who proceeded to have a breakout game with 5 catches for 91 yards.
7. Will Riley Nelson see the game? Three plays. One that seemed a bit out of sorts and ended with an illegal procedure penalty. Another that went for 13 yards and a first down on a play designed for him to sneak up the middle. A third—taking a knee on the last play of the game. Perhaps what Bronco meant when telling the media that Nelson would be inserted despite game situation, was that there would be specifically designed one-off plays such as this.
8. How many passes will be thrown at Brian Logan? None. Logan missed a team walk through and did not start, as he was replaced by Robbie Buckner.
9. Will Riley Stephenson ever have to punt and if so will he be able to stay #1 in the country in net punting yards? Yes and no. 3 punts and a 37 yard average, was not enough to stay at the top, dropping to #6 with a 41.92 average.
10. Will the USU fans in attendance be able to come up with any witty, clever, or jabbing signs, chants, or t-shirts for the home team? I am sure they did. The Mtn. was unable to capture it for the viewing audiences. If you were there and can share your stories, please do!
11. Finally, can Oklahoma beat Miami and solve our transitive property strength of schedule issues? Almost doesn’t count. Miami now owns both Oklahoma and Florida State, doing what the Cougars were unable to do.
Friday, October 2, 2009
What to Watch for Against Utah State
There have been a few close games with Utah State over the years. I remember as a teenager in 1993, coming home from a production of Saturday’s Warrior with my parents and listening to Paul James call the second half of the 58-56 shootout (as the game was not on local TV). Then in 2002 while living and working in Dallas, driving up to Denton with my brother, where there was a high spot in a Waffle House parking lot where we could pick up KSL on the car radio (as there was no Mtn or Slingbox ) and listened to the biggest comeback in Cougar history and Curtis Brown’s coming out party as BYU won 35-34. Despite those two close games, BYU has dominated this series for the last 30 years and it is unlikely that the outcome tonight will be any different. However, there are always a few things to watch for in how they win, that will reveal how much the team has improved over last week. There are also a few things to watch for just to keep it interesting.
• Will Max Hall avoid throwing an interception? With 8 toss-aways Hall has more picks than any other quarterback in the country right now, and has thrown a pick for 7 straight games.
• Will Jan Jorgensen get a sack? He does a good job and is often double teamed, but hopefully he can avoid the Fresno State syndrome (all hype, no results) and get the sack monkey off his back.
• Can we manage to keep the ball for 30 minutes or longer? A lopsided time of possession has demoralized our defense in both of the last two games, and is primarily a function of allowing the other team to get long sustained, chip-away-at-us drives. Utah State has a potent offense but an equally impotent defense. The Cougs need to keep them off the field. Watch to see if the 3-and-out defense from the OU and Tulane games makes an appearance.
• Will there be a special teams or defensive touchdown? The Utah State game has traditionally been a game where the non-offensive players add to their scoring stats.
• Can the offense score a touchdown in all four quarters? After failing to score a TD in the first quarter in any of the first three games, last week the team made up for that by scoring three… and then promptly dozing off during the second quarter.
• Will we get to see more balls thrown to Spencer Hafoka? After an exciting 24 yard touchdown catch and run near the end of the CSU game that included a bit of fancy footwork, fans would like to see more of him.
• Will Riley Nelson see the game? As a much discussed USU transfer, it would be nice to see him get into the game. And, Bronco reaffirmed this week that he would still like to see Nelson get 10-12 quarters of work this season. Since he only has two with 8 games remaining, he is going to have to start inserting him more than in mop-up duty. And while there is mop-up-duty potential this week, Bronco also stated that he would insert him regardless of the game situation (read: doesn’t need to be a blowout).
• How many passes will be thrown at Brian Logan? He is third in the country in passes defended with 9 and fist overall in the nation in passes broken up with 7. A nice JC addition for BYU.
• Will Riley Stephenson ever have to punt and if so will he be able to stay #1 in the country in net punting yards?
• Will the USU fans in attendance be able to come up with any witty, clever, or jabbing signs, chants, or t-shirts for the home team? USU fans have developed a bit of a personality to make up for their shortcomings in other areas (victories) and have become quite adept at it. Remember last year when they chanted overrated as the clock ticked off on a 20 point loss?
• Finally, can Oklahoma beat Miami and solve our transitive property strength of schedule issues? Miami beat FSU who beat BYU who beat Oklahoma who beat Miami???
I think the offense will find their rhythm, move the ball well and score a lot of points, against a defense that has no answer for them. The Cougar defense will be solid at times, but in the end will give up a lot of yards and more points than they should to the Aggies. Final score BYU 47 USU 27.
Feel free to add your own predictions and things you are watching for in the comments section below.
• Will Max Hall avoid throwing an interception? With 8 toss-aways Hall has more picks than any other quarterback in the country right now, and has thrown a pick for 7 straight games.
• Will Jan Jorgensen get a sack? He does a good job and is often double teamed, but hopefully he can avoid the Fresno State syndrome (all hype, no results) and get the sack monkey off his back.
• Can we manage to keep the ball for 30 minutes or longer? A lopsided time of possession has demoralized our defense in both of the last two games, and is primarily a function of allowing the other team to get long sustained, chip-away-at-us drives. Utah State has a potent offense but an equally impotent defense. The Cougs need to keep them off the field. Watch to see if the 3-and-out defense from the OU and Tulane games makes an appearance.
• Will there be a special teams or defensive touchdown? The Utah State game has traditionally been a game where the non-offensive players add to their scoring stats.
• Can the offense score a touchdown in all four quarters? After failing to score a TD in the first quarter in any of the first three games, last week the team made up for that by scoring three… and then promptly dozing off during the second quarter.
• Will we get to see more balls thrown to Spencer Hafoka? After an exciting 24 yard touchdown catch and run near the end of the CSU game that included a bit of fancy footwork, fans would like to see more of him.
• Will Riley Nelson see the game? As a much discussed USU transfer, it would be nice to see him get into the game. And, Bronco reaffirmed this week that he would still like to see Nelson get 10-12 quarters of work this season. Since he only has two with 8 games remaining, he is going to have to start inserting him more than in mop-up duty. And while there is mop-up-duty potential this week, Bronco also stated that he would insert him regardless of the game situation (read: doesn’t need to be a blowout).
• How many passes will be thrown at Brian Logan? He is third in the country in passes defended with 9 and fist overall in the nation in passes broken up with 7. A nice JC addition for BYU.
• Will Riley Stephenson ever have to punt and if so will he be able to stay #1 in the country in net punting yards?
• Will the USU fans in attendance be able to come up with any witty, clever, or jabbing signs, chants, or t-shirts for the home team? USU fans have developed a bit of a personality to make up for their shortcomings in other areas (victories) and have become quite adept at it. Remember last year when they chanted overrated as the clock ticked off on a 20 point loss?
• Finally, can Oklahoma beat Miami and solve our transitive property strength of schedule issues? Miami beat FSU who beat BYU who beat Oklahoma who beat Miami???
I think the offense will find their rhythm, move the ball well and score a lot of points, against a defense that has no answer for them. The Cougar defense will be solid at times, but in the end will give up a lot of yards and more points than they should to the Aggies. Final score BYU 47 USU 27.
Feel free to add your own predictions and things you are watching for in the comments section below.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Pitta's March toward the Mackey Award
Prior to the season, several Cougars were named to national award watch lists. A quick start to the season focused that lens on Max Hall in particular, who came in a consensus third, fourth, or fifth in Heisman forecasts by national pundits through the second week of the season. However now that we are entering week 5, it seems that Dennis Pitta has the only legitimate shot at a national award this year, but with his two primary competitors out for the season (Arizona’s Rob Gronkowski and Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham) he may very well be the frontrunner for the John Mackey Award given to the “best collegiate tight end” each year by the Nassau County Sports Commission. It is still very early, but here is how the competition breaks out so far, and the players to keep your eye on:
Frontrunners
These are upperclassmen playing on winning teams that were nominated to the preseason watch list and are in the top 10 in receiving yards per game.
Player, Class, School G Rec Yds TD rec/g yds/rec yds/g
Dennis Pitta, Sr, BYU 4 21 256 1 5.25 12.2 64.0
Jamie McCoy, Sr, Tx A&M 3 13 169 0 4.33 13.0 56.3
Ed Dickson, Sr, Oregon 4 15 206 3 3.75 13.7 51.5
Cody Slate, Sr, Marshall 4 17 201 2 4.25 11.8 50.3
Garrett Graham, Sr, Wis 4 16 200 4 4.00 12.5 50.0
Dennis Pitta leads the nation in tight end receptions, while Garrett Graham leads in touchdowns by a tight end. Dennis Pitta and Cody Slate were were consensus top 5 tight ends in preseason fantasy football rankings (along with Gresham, Gronkowski, and Arkansas’ DJ Williams), with Garret Graham usually showing up in the top 10. Cody Slate and Ed Dickson were named 2009 Mackey Player of the Week for week 1 and week 4 respectively. Dennis Pitta was twice named Mackey Player of the Week in 2008.
Contenders
These are nominees on the preseason watch list that are either playing on teams with losing records or are underclassmen, as well as un-nominated players that are in the top 10 in yards per game or receptions.
Player, Class, School G Rec Yds TD rec/g yds/rec yds/g
Erik Highsmith, Fr, N Car 3 16 279 2 5.33 17.4 93.0
Jason Harmon, Sr, Fl Atl 3 16 197 0 5.33 12.3 65.7
Riar Geer, Sr, Colorado 4 21 232 1 5.25 11.0 58.0
Kyle Rudolph, So, ND 4 17 214 2 4.25 12.6 53.5
Aaron Hernandez, Jr, Fla 4 15 198 2 3.75 13.2 49.5
Erik Highsmith is only a freshman and is the backup to the injured Zack Pianalto (Jr, North Carolina, who was named the Mackey Player of the Week in week two) and leads the nation in receiving yards by a tight end, yards/reception, and yards per game, all while only playing in three games. Jason Harmon was not nominated in the preseason but is second in the country in yards per game. Riar Greer is tied with Dennis Pitta for most receptions, but plays on team with a losing record. Kyle Rudolph was nominated preseason, and named Mackey Player of the Week in week three, but is only a sophomore. Aaron Henandez was also nominated preseason, but is just outside the top 10 in receiving yard per game at number 11.
Darkhorses
These are players that were nominated to the preseason watch list and are ranked in the top 25 in receiving yards per game.
Player, Class, School G Rec Yds TD rec/g yds/rec yds/g
Tony Moeaki, Sr, Iowa 2 11 87 1 5.50 7.9 43.5
Anthony McCoy, Sr, USC 4 7 160 0 1.75 22.9 40.0
Weslye Saunders, Jr, S Car 4 14 156 0 3.50 11.1 39.0
Dorin Dickerson, Sr, Pitt 4 17 155 4 4.25 9.1 38.8
Jeffery Anderson, Jr, UAB 5 12 179 3 2.40 14.9 35.8
Because they already have somewhat of a spotlight on them by virtue of being named in the pre-season, with a couple of big games and/or special seasons for their respective teams, these players could move into contender status.
Frontrunners
These are upperclassmen playing on winning teams that were nominated to the preseason watch list and are in the top 10 in receiving yards per game.
Player, Class, School G Rec Yds TD rec/g yds/rec yds/g
Dennis Pitta, Sr, BYU 4 21 256 1 5.25 12.2 64.0
Jamie McCoy, Sr, Tx A&M 3 13 169 0 4.33 13.0 56.3
Ed Dickson, Sr, Oregon 4 15 206 3 3.75 13.7 51.5
Cody Slate, Sr, Marshall 4 17 201 2 4.25 11.8 50.3
Garrett Graham, Sr, Wis 4 16 200 4 4.00 12.5 50.0
Dennis Pitta leads the nation in tight end receptions, while Garrett Graham leads in touchdowns by a tight end. Dennis Pitta and Cody Slate were were consensus top 5 tight ends in preseason fantasy football rankings (along with Gresham, Gronkowski, and Arkansas’ DJ Williams), with Garret Graham usually showing up in the top 10. Cody Slate and Ed Dickson were named 2009 Mackey Player of the Week for week 1 and week 4 respectively. Dennis Pitta was twice named Mackey Player of the Week in 2008.
Contenders
These are nominees on the preseason watch list that are either playing on teams with losing records or are underclassmen, as well as un-nominated players that are in the top 10 in yards per game or receptions.
Player, Class, School G Rec Yds TD rec/g yds/rec yds/g
Erik Highsmith, Fr, N Car 3 16 279 2 5.33 17.4 93.0
Jason Harmon, Sr, Fl Atl 3 16 197 0 5.33 12.3 65.7
Riar Geer, Sr, Colorado 4 21 232 1 5.25 11.0 58.0
Kyle Rudolph, So, ND 4 17 214 2 4.25 12.6 53.5
Aaron Hernandez, Jr, Fla 4 15 198 2 3.75 13.2 49.5
Erik Highsmith is only a freshman and is the backup to the injured Zack Pianalto (Jr, North Carolina, who was named the Mackey Player of the Week in week two) and leads the nation in receiving yards by a tight end, yards/reception, and yards per game, all while only playing in three games. Jason Harmon was not nominated in the preseason but is second in the country in yards per game. Riar Greer is tied with Dennis Pitta for most receptions, but plays on team with a losing record. Kyle Rudolph was nominated preseason, and named Mackey Player of the Week in week three, but is only a sophomore. Aaron Henandez was also nominated preseason, but is just outside the top 10 in receiving yard per game at number 11.
Darkhorses
These are players that were nominated to the preseason watch list and are ranked in the top 25 in receiving yards per game.
Player, Class, School G Rec Yds TD rec/g yds/rec yds/g
Tony Moeaki, Sr, Iowa 2 11 87 1 5.50 7.9 43.5
Anthony McCoy, Sr, USC 4 7 160 0 1.75 22.9 40.0
Weslye Saunders, Jr, S Car 4 14 156 0 3.50 11.1 39.0
Dorin Dickerson, Sr, Pitt 4 17 155 4 4.25 9.1 38.8
Jeffery Anderson, Jr, UAB 5 12 179 3 2.40 14.9 35.8
Because they already have somewhat of a spotlight on them by virtue of being named in the pre-season, with a couple of big games and/or special seasons for their respective teams, these players could move into contender status.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)