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“Go fast. Go hard. Go, Dog, Go!” OK, I added the last phrase, just for variety — something that Cougar fans shouldn’t expect much of when listening to offensive coach Robert Anae this season. He has made it abundantly clear — in every interview given so far — that he has two objectives: Go fast, go hard. Variety never was Anae’s calling card. Establishing an identity, however, is his forte — something Brandon Doman struggled to do in his two years as offensive coordinator.
Notwithstanding Anae’s commitment to consistency, he has shown that he will innovate when he deems it appropriate, as evidenced by his new philosophy of running a play every 20 seconds (or sooner), shooting for 90 offensive plays per game.
When hearing Anae’s new motto, I recognized in it an iteration of Anae’s previous motto from 2005-2010: “Start fast.” During my time under Anae, a practice period hadn’t officially started until Anae huskily shouted for all to hear, “Start fast!” He yelled it not only at the beginning of every practice, but also at the beginning of every practice period (approximately 20 practice periods per day). Drop a ball anytime and Anae was livid. Drop a ball on the first play of a drill, practice period, game, series, second half, etc., and you might not see another ball the rest of the day. Thus, an identity was forged.
And start fast Anae’s teams did. In his first season, BYU scored first in seven of 12 games. In season two, BYU scored first in 12 of 13 games, including a 12-game streak to finish the year. In season three, BYU scored first in 10 of 13 games. Over the course of the next three seasons, BYU scored first in 22 of 38 games. In summary, during Anae’s six seasons as OC, BYU scored first 51 times in 77 games. By way of comparison, in Doman’s two seasons as OC, BYU scored first in only 11 of 26 games. I wonder whether Anae will be able to implement his new motto — “Go fast. Go hard.”— as effectively as he implemented his old motto — “Start fast.”
Not every characteristic of the Anae offensive identity was explicitly stated, however. Toughness was one such characteristic. After the 2005 season in which BYU lost three of four close games (close games defined as seven points or less), Bronco Mendenhall decided that he was going to teach the team to finish the close games. “Fun Friday” and later “super games” were developed, with Anae serving as “commissioner.” Anae’s job was to oversee the weekly activities designed to instill toughness.
After losing four of the first five close games under Anae, BYU went on a phenomenal tear of winning close games. In the final game of the 2006 regular season, Beck connected with Harline in the back of the end zone “on the final play of the game” (in the words of Greg Wrubell) for the victory. Not only did this win break a four-game losing streak to the Utes, it also marked the beginning of one of the most impressive streaks of toughness I have ever seen: Of the next 14 games decided by seven points or less, BYU won all of them — all 14 games. When the game was on the line, when the outcome was up in the air, when either team had the chance to win the game, BYU snatched the victory 14 times in a row.
The close-game win streak was finally broken in 2010 versus Utah, when Mitch Payne’s 42-yard game-winning field goal was blocked. Anae never coached a “close game” at BYU again. Over the next two years under Doman, BYU was just 5-5 in close games, the most troubling of those close-game losses coming in 2012 against Utah, Boise State, Notre Dame and San Jose State. When the offense needed to score most, they came up short every time in 2012.
When I previously thought about the 14-game win streak of toughness, I attributed the majority of the success to Mendenhall. However, after witnessing all of the close losses last year, it seemed clear that Doman had not been as effective as Anae in instilling toughness into the offensive players. When the game was on the line and it was time to dig deep and make a play, the offense failed to score time and again last season. Mendenhall was certainly responsible for some of the toughness that led to the 14-game win streak, but as 2012 showed, it takes more than a great defense to win close games. As the 2013 season approaches, I wonder whether the offense will regain the toughness that carried it to victory 14 consecutive times in close games during Anae’s previous stint as OC.
If history is any guide, Anae will eventually be successful at implementing his new motto. Spring practice was certainly encouraging. Cougar fans just hope Anae can channel his old motto while instilling his new one.
