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PROVO — The BYU Cougars return home to take on Mountain West Conference opponent Boise State. The Broncos have a stranglehold on the state of the Utah, and the Cougars are hoping to finally end the Broncos reign on the state.
Can the BYU Cougars give the Boise State Broncos their first loss in the series between the two programs? Here are five keys for the Cougars to come away victorious:
We finally saw the awesome potential of Taysom Hill against Houston. He was a beast on the ground and in the air. But he was only successful throwing the ball when he had the time to air it out. Some of that time he created for himself and some of that was manufactured by the protection schemes. On the game winning drive, six guys were blocking on the two critical passes to Skyler Ridley. There were also six guys blocking on the touchdown pass to Cody Hoffman.
I understand the "max protect" situation is not what you always want to do, but you can see what happens when they give Hill the time to connect with his wide receivers. The guy has a strong arm and his accuracy is improving each week. And you can see that the receiving corp is getting more comfortable with the new offense and Hill as a passer.
Expect Boise State to come after Hill hard. The Bucking Broncs sacked Nevada's Cody Fajardo six times last week.
Taysom Hill did everything to keep the BYU Cougars in the game against Houston — he also helped the other Cougars out, but we don't need to talk about that right now. Hill had 417 yards passing, 128 yards rushing and was wiped out at the end of the game. It didn't help that Jamaal Williams was injured and didn't play for good chunks of the second half. Williams said he will be back against Boise State and Hill needs all the help he can get.
The other running backs also need to get this ground game rolling. I believe the six-man blocking scheme is the key. It will open up more holes for Jamaal & Co., and potentially provide more protection during play action passes down the field. BYU's skill positions players are actually very skilled; they just need the time to perform their duties.
Boise State has more passing yardage than rushing this season. But that was under the command of field general Joe Southwick. Southwick will be in a walking boot and holding a clipboard in Provo after breaking his ankle, so Cougar fans should expect a healthy rushing attack. The Broncos ran for 407 yards against Nevada, and running back Jay Ajayi tallied up more than half those yards. He scored three touchdowns, including a 71-yard scamper. That shows you the guy has a bit of speed, too.
The Cougar linebackers need to be aggressive and eliminate Boise's run game. But you can't be too aggressive. This is a Chris Petersen coached team, so Cougar fans need to be ready for the trick play.
New Boise State quarterback Grant Hedrick struggled when he first got into the game against the Wolfpack. Then everything changed in the second half. Hedrick ended up running for 115 yards and two touchdowns, plus he threw for another 150 yards. He was very efficient, too, completing 18 of 21 passes. So do you stop his running or his passing? I think you have to do a bit of both.
I already mentioned the Cougar linebackers will need to be aggressive in the run game, and that takes Hedrick into account. Maybe Alani Fua or Kyle Van Noy could be a spy and make sure he doesn't pick up more than a couple of yards when he takes off. I also think the defensive backs will need to be sharp.
Petersen will probably want to make Hedrick feel comfortable with short slants and curl routes. If BYU's defensive backs can jump those routes, they may get an a few interceptions.
Houston hung with BYU because of big plays. In the first quarter alone, the Cougars allowed a kick return for a touchdown, a 69-yard rouchdown pass and an interception returned for a score. Hopefully Cougar fans won't be frothing at the mouth when I mention BYU also gave up a 41-yard touchdown pass on third and 22 in the second quarter. Luckily the blue Cougs had enough fire power and defense to win in the end.
So how can the Cougars be aggressive without giving up the gargantuan score? On defense, I would have to say that you have to pick and choose when you put a large number of guys in "the box." But on every play, I would play the safeties a bit deep to prevent any deep passes. And tackling has to be better this week.
On the offensive side of the ball, I don't think you hold anything back. The reason the Cougars were successful against the other Cougars was due to blocking and daring throws down the field. Taysom Hill was not afraid to throw the ball just because he got picked off three times, and it showed in a victory. Hill learned another valuable lesson last week and he will probably apply those lessons against a team that only allowed him to complete four passes last season.
