Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — The BYU football team lost its second consecutive game on Saturday night, its second close loss of the season, when it fell to UCLA 17-14.
The Cougars performed tremendously on the defensive side of the ball, holding their third straight Pac-12 opponent to 20 points or less, more than enough to win the game.
The offense so far has been a different story.
Through three games, BYU ranks 78th in the country with 212 yards averaged in the passing game, 107th in the country with 126 yards per game rushing, and 120th in the country averaging 17 points per game.
The struggle came to a boiling point late in the second quarter, when with 1:04 left in the half, and BYU facing a third down with 14 yards to go, quarterback Taysom Hill was dragged down near the line of scrimmage without attempting a pass. The Cougars were trailing 10-0 at the time, and BYU had failed to move the ball consistently at any point in the game. As BYU’s special teams unit made its way onto the field, fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium booed their football team.
Whether the play called didn’t give the Cougars the best opportunity to convert the third down, or whether Hill attempted to tuck the ball and run before allowing his receivers to get open, or fans were simply fed up with a lack of offensive production, the booing made an impact.
After the game, several BYU players took to social media to offer their opinions.
Injured offensive lineman Ului Lapuaho posted on his Facebook page that fans “haven’t given up anything to cheer for (BYU),” and asked fans to “not come in the stadium if you’re gonna boo (the) team.”
Defensive lineman Harvey Langi sent out this tweet after the game.
Former BYU and NFL linebacker David Nixon joined the Gunther and Ben radio show on Monday and mentioned that he thought the gesture of booing was “classless” in this scenario.
The frustration from both the fans and the players is understandable.
The fans, who pay money to attend games and wear apparel supporting the BYU brand, are entitled to criticize a process they see as failing. The players, likewise, are free to voice their displeasure when they feel they’ve been unfairly criticized.
But both sides must understand the consequences of their vocal critiques.
For fans, in addition to drawing the ire of the players, it can do the same in recruiting. BYU hosted several high-profile recruits during the UCLA game, who were shown the frustrations of an angry fan base.
For the players, fans were privileged to the behind the scenes, and not always glamorous, opinions that players can have towards fans. It also becomes a headache for coach Kalani Sitake, as he was asked about fans booing during games at Monday’s weekly press conference.
Sitake remarked that it isn’t his job “to tell fans what to do, that’s why they’re called ‘fans’ and they can voice their opinions however they want.”
The coach stated that he was unaware of any of his players addressing the issue independently.
While Sitake handled the situation perfectly with the media, erring on the side of the fans, I have sympathy for the players here as well.
While the players are often lauded for their play on social media sites, and in public, they are also unfairly targeted by fans, both their own and opposing, when things are going wrong. All while trying to balance the life off the field of your average 18-26 year old.
While neither the players nor the fans are outside of the right to voice their opinions about one another when they are struggling, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t exercise caution when doing so.
Both play a key role in a healthy relationship of a winning football program, and neither will exist without support from the other.
Ben Anderson is the co-host of "Gunther and Ben in the Afternoon" with Kyle Gunther on 1320 KFAN from 3-7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Read Ben's Utah Jazz blog at 1320kfan.com, follow him on Twitter @BenKFAN.
