The Y is so loaded with 4 and 5 star recruits, that they will probably win the BCS Championship.

If they can find some solid defenders in the secondary, BYU has a chance to be a very good team this year. If not, it will be a downturn in the program.

Let us not talk about winning the BCS OR ANYTHING ELSE BUT our first game. Then we win the the 2nd game and so on. Focus on the task at hand and refuse to lose. Personal mastery is an excellent philosophy. Coach Mendenhall...can you use a 66 year old with 4 years of eligibility? I can throw, catch, but I am a slow runner and I need to hit the training room FAST!
Oh forget it. But I had to ask
Nyron

I don't know about a downturn Marky, but your right about needing to have a better secondary to have a great year....who out there knows what the secondary looks like...it sounds like the offense has there way in spring practice...??

Fishing for comments? You know as well as all of the Cougar Nation that BYU has no 4-5 star recruits. Go away. Try a BCS school where there might be a half dozen of them. We are not a BCS program and never will be. It's ok. We run a great program given the restraints we have to deal with. Any Cougar, myself included, who has lofty aspirations for the Championship Game is just not dealing with reality. Go Cougs!

No matter how many times the Cougars beat us we're still better because the refs make bad calls against us.

"Selling a weiner without the bun"? For the love, Dick... The cutesy little analogies and stuff are awful and distracting from the main topic of your articles. It's not humorous, it's painful. We just want to read about the football team, please.

Yeah, since in '06 we were on our way to a blow out in the first half of the game, and in '07 Utah got spanked in every phase of the game except for field position, goal line defense, and KIND OF controlling a shoulder injured Max Hall pass game.

Does BYU even have a 5 star recruit? Just out of curiousity, when was the last time they had one? Olsen?

I agree with UTE John. The only way Utah can ever lose is if the refs are bad. Just ask Coach Boylen. Utah always has the best team and BYU has no chance this year unless the refs interfere like last year and allow the Cougars to convert on 4th and 18. It was also the refs fault that Harline was so wide open the year before. BYU will be lucky to win two games this year.

BYU's success over the last two years has happened largely under the radar. Let's see what happens to them now that they've got this big bullseye on them. Perhaps their out of conference opponents won't be so easy on them anymore.

I could have done without the weiner and buns analogy. No such analogies should ever make their way into an article about football.

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic so save the replies.

Keep up the analogies Dick. You are the best sports writer in the state regardless of what Ryan and his ilk think,...or maybe they don't think.

BYU John, is a troll, not a clever troll, easily identifed - and should be ignored.

(v.)(1) To deliberately post derogatory or inflammatory comments to a community forum, chat room, newsgroup and/or a blog in order to bait other users into responding.

Note: As a relative newcomer to DN sports forums, there seems to be a fair share of BYU and Utah trolls. Best to ignore them otherwise they do a good job of destroying this or any blog.

Tarheel Ute

BYU in a BCS game. HA HA HA HA, HA HA.

I can't stop laughing about that one. Oh you guys are funny.

Thanks UTE John for the comic relief.

I am always at a loss as to those who dig into a sports writer's style. Ease up, back away from yourself and just go with the flow.

BYU is who they are...a limited recruiting pool school---same as Air Force or the Academys and same as say Vanderbilt--albeit without the BCS money....However, BYU's disadvantages are also their strengths to those who want to come here and play.

And as a fan of sports, BYU seems to be the most clean program in the nation---past flaws aside of some questionable recruits

Lets just focus on having the Cougs win some away non conference games first (we will have a large contingency cheering them on here on Sept 6).

"BYU's success over the last two years has happened largely under the radar."???

So, you're saying that the other MWC teams are such slow learners that they overlooked the 8-0, defending conference champion from the year before?

The same teams from the old WAC that saw BYU dominate the conference year after year after year?

BYU is replacing it's entire secondary this year, so obviously, they're going to struggle. Looking forward to another year of flying under the radar. :)

Obviously the star ranking doesn't mean the player is going to meet those expectations. But for those who care about stars, will probably realize that BYU has signed about 2 players in each of the past few seasons with a 4 or 5 star ranking.

For this year didn't both the Bingham High players have 4 to 5 stars?

I'm excited to see some immediate improvement in our Special Teams play, with a true freshman kicker, and our Offense will buy into the "Quest for Perfection" philosophy and be even more dynamic and explosive.

I don't want to get my hopes up too much, I'll support BYU through thick and thin, but I am more excited for this upcoming season than I have been in a long time. Its going to be great, we have a great shot at perfection!

I Will be very depressed if the cougs lose one game this season. If our secondary is average our offense should be able to keep us in any game. I can't take one game at a time I want the whole thing.

The greatest part about BYU football is seeing a group of less talented, under recruited, over looked athletes come together and play as a true team that emphasizes humility, brotherhood and doing your very best.

I'll take 40 guys who all have each other's back and are willing to give 110% for each other over 40 - 5 star recruits whose focus is on getting the most attention and standing out from their teammates any day of the week.

Even if it doesn't win a BCS game it's still much funner to watch.

"Quest for Perfection"; "Be ye therefore perfect..."; come on, isn't this football? We didn't have to listen to these incessant comparisons between football and religion when Lavell was the coach. I'm OK with it if those are goals they discuss internally, but do we really need to hear about it?!!!

The BCS table will be set for BYU this season like never before. No more complaints of mid-major disrespect as Mendenhall's boys should start the season as high as 15. It is all on them now. No more winning our way to respect and sneaking in the top-25 after 4-5 wins like usual. Either we take this golden opportunity or we don't. Personal perfection with a very veteran team is probably the best way to accomplish that goal.

What is more amazing is I'm convinced that Mendenhall has the most difficult challenge as a coach in D-1. Enormous fan and administration expectations combined with the most challenging recruiting base in the country. Our recruiting base is in reality probably more restricted than even the military schools. The pool of kids who will and can come to BYU and do well within the unique BYU restrictions really is very small. Combine that with the fairly large number from that pool who either opt for a BCS school or the U, the increasing percentage who serve missions during their time at the Y - and what Mendenhall has put together truly is a wonder!!

I'm a loyal Cougar for more than 35 years, no baiting or trolling here. I love my Cougs, however, I feel they are extremely overconfident as well as too many fans are as well.

Mark my word, BYU will lose at least one and possibly as many as 3-4 games this year. The BCS and national championsip are nonsense for 08. If this seems negative, my hopes are for maybe the BCS are in 2009. I think it might be accomplished next year. My reasoning for a good but not great year.

1) Road schedule...Washington, TCU, Air Force, Utah. It would be Miraculous to come away 2-2 on the road for teams totally gunning for us. Seattle has not been kind to Cougar nation.

2) Home dates with UCLA and UNM will not be easy. Both should have beat us (UCLA the 2nd time) last year. UNM is a very good team and will give us all we can handle at home. UCLA wants this one bad!

3) Once the team loses its first game, the players will not want to work for just another Vegas game with a fourth place team like the Bruins.

"Back away from myself"? What are you talking about?

And, I'm sorry, but a writer's style is EVERYTHING. That's like telling a tv news anchor that picking his nose while reading the prompter is ok, it's just his style.

If I find myself groaning and wanting to click away from a story because the attempted humor is so forced and contrived, then the writer is not doing his job. I criticize because I care. Mr. Harmon is a very fine beat writer, otherwise.

BYU should have lost the Utah game but the play in my opinion that won the game was the 4th and 18. BYU won really when they converted there. Yeah the calls will be argued but Utah did not lose the game due to questionable calls. They lost on 4th and 18. If Utah had stopped BYU then Utah would have won. Stop complaining about bad calls and face up to the fact that questionable calls will happen and it is the teams job to overcome them and make plays. Stop BYU on 4th down and those calls are never made. BYU won a very good game to watch and they won it and not the refs.

Come on. BYU's recruiting base is not that small. There are 6 million LDS people in the country (about 2% - even though BYU doesn't get all the LDS kids), and lots of other kids with the right standards to go to BYU. They don't have the recruiting power that the powerhouses have, but they certainly do much better than the academies. Although Mendenhall says he doesn't believe in the star rankings, the fact that he does get 3, 4, and 5-star guys proves that his recruiting base is just fine.

Further, BYU football is well funded. Look at their facilities. Lots of BCS programs don't bring in as much money as BYU.

Would you rather have them talk Aggie football?

Whoa Nellie, you've got to be either Dick's intern or a wiener salesman to appreciate that analogy.

So when should a team aspire to make the BCS bowl games?

well as for me i dont understand how you ute fans can blame the refs for the losing the game last year. if my memory serves me right collie had a wide open touchdown catch right before the half that the refs blew off with a terrible call, explain that.

How about "The Quest for 4 wins," or "Be ye therefore less than mediocre." Those sayings sure seem to work in Aggie-Land.

Dead on.

And to "ME": No--BYU has not scored a single five star recruit in years.

BYU had ONE 4-star recruit this year, ONE in 2007, and ZERO in 2006.

The bright side is that no MWC team has done any better.

With this said, in 2008 ALONE, Alabama has 22 4 and 5 star recruits, Notre Dame has 19, Florida has 15, and OSU has 13. I realize BYU has struggles recruiting, but let's not pretend they would be even remotely competitive in a BCS conference. NOT A CHANCE. BYU plays UCLA and Arizona(a frankly AVERAGE BCS team and a less than average BCS team) and bat around .500. AND BYU TREATS THOSE GAMES LIKE THE SUPER BOWL! You know what those teams think of the BYU game? VACATION. You don't think these teams look ahead when they play BYU? I GUARANTEE THEY DO.

THINK BYU IS BCS BOUND? REMEMBER TULSA AND THINK AGAIN.

because collie pushed off of McCain while the ball was in the air....everbody saw that duh.....

he was not the only one that pushes off. i was at the game and i know for a fact that i saw several of the ute receivers push off there defenders as well.

Maybe I'm speaking in French. Utah should have been BLOWN OUT two years in a row. The fact that the games were even close was luck on the part of Utah, AND, and frustration on the part of BYU letting the games stay close. Utah has been physically dominated at the line of scrimmage for the past two years. For the legnth of the game, they just manage to make enough key plays, and calls going their way, to keep it close.

Is BYU overconfident? Possibly, but Coach Mendenhall knows that, he isn't stupid. Everyone acts like their smarter than the coaches, the coaches know about the upcoming challenges. The thing that bothers me is that even after two conference championships, FEW IF ANY foes of BYU give us any respect. They say "Oh, well, BYU just had a good year." "Well, they won a conference championship, but can they win a bowl game?" Or "Well, they won a bowl game, but the BCS? Come on." One of the keys to BYU's success is that they do respect other opponents, they realize that they can loose. That will again be a key this season, and Coach Mendenhall understands that perfectly.

I agree with Mike-PG Coug. Here are my reasons BYU doesn't make it to the BCS, and I also think they will have a difficult time winning the MWC, though I believe they will.

BYU loses in Washington. Remember 1996? only loss was at Washington that year. 1 Loss
Hangs on barely against UCLA again-1 win
Clobbers Utah State-2 wins
Clobbers Northern Iowa-3 wins
Clobbers CSU, Wyoming, UNLV, New Mexico and San Diego State: 8 wins.
Escapes with a tough win in Air Force-9 wins.
Escapes with a tough win in TCU-10 wins
Gets beat by Utah- Too many Utah fans complaining about bad calls and Utah players are tired of hearing about 4th and 18, and Harline is still open. BYU's luck comes up short in 08, and Utah finds a way to win. I hate to say it, but I can anytime BYU plays Utah they are intimidated and Utah takes BYU out of their game plan. BYU just isn't very mentally tough when they play Utah.

Overall record: 10-2. BYU's defense is unproven in the secondary, and this will hurt the Cougs. Also BYU is only one injury away (ex:Max Hall) from being a .500 team

Your argument is like cheese-cloth, full of holes.

If BYU played in a BCS conference, they'd have the same recruiting advantages those schools enjoy -- nationally televised games in prime time, big bowl money, national media attention, etc. BYU would be getting a lot of those LDS athletes that are currently enticed away from BYU by the bright lights of the bigger conferences.

Sure, it would take them a couple of years to adjust to playing in the Pac 10 or Big 12, because of their current lack of depth, but within a very short time, they would be very competitive in either conference.

As it now stands, BYU still has a very realistic chance of knocking off a couple of Pac 10 schools and making it to a BCS bowl.

It won't be easy. There's always a bit of luck involved in going undefeated. However, BYU has the players and coaches this year capable of making it happen. That's all any true blue fan could hope for -- raising the bar with a realistic chance of success.

Less than 10 comments about Utah's spring training vs more than 40 comments about BYU's, including a lot of negative comments from "Utah" fans. Typical. Either Utah fans aren't all that excited about their team, or, there are a lot more BYU-haters than there are Utah fans.

I don't think the comments from Ute (and Aggie) fans are necessarily negative, just responses to a 'perhaps' overly optimistic Cougar fanbase. It's a little annoying to hear the 'perfection' and 'undefeated BCS team' talk when you have really not approached that level to this point. Maybe an 11-1 or 10-2 season is more realistic? Just not sure how back-to-back 10-2 seasons translates into practically expecting an undefeated, 'perfect' season.

I see nothing wrong with BYU fans being optimistic about the coming season; and, btw, it's been back-to-back 11-2, 8-0 in conference, seasons.

With most of the starters back from a very good offense, an all-American caliber kicker joining the team, and a defense that has solid players to fill the holes left by graduation, there's no reason why any true Blue Coug fan shouldn't be optimistic.

There's not a game on their schedule this year that BYU is not capable of winning. That's not to say they will go undefeated and get an invite to a BCS game, just that they have a decent chance to do so.

That's not to be confused with having a realistic chance to win the BcS championship, which, as the beauty contest that it is, is only offered to teams in the "beautiful" conferences.

Perfection is easy when you deliberately remove all potential obstacles and challenges in your path.

BYU scheduling Northern Iowa as an out of conference game(which I note is forgivable for teams from BCS conferences who play tough in-conference games, but not for MWC teams) is the same thing as a high school kid avoiding AP classes and math to maintain a 4.0.

Technically, such teams and kids can feasibly lay claim to unblemished records, but those records are meaningless. You can hardly call the avoidance of challenge perfection. At some point taking the easy route to look good catches up to you. For BYU, it would be getting massacred in a bowl game (a la Hawaii, OSU). For the high school kid who took the easy route, it would be bombing the SAT and failing out of college. It happens all the time.

If BYU wants "perfection" to mean something, play somebody.

""Quest for Perfection"; "Be ye therefore perfect..."; come on, isn't this football? We didn't have to listen to these incessant comparisons between football and religion when Lavell was the coach. I'm OK with it if those are goals they discuss internally, but do we really need to hear about it?!!!"

Oh, please. When was BYU football ever NOT about religion?

For example, I remember watching the 1974 Fiesta Bowl. Guess who the national TV network interviewed before the Bowl started? President Spencer W. Kimball, and the entire interview was about the Mormon Church.

I remember as a teen reading a story about Coach Edwards written for The New Era (an LDS magazine) by his daughter (who now works for the DesNews, BTW).

I remember reading a Sports Illustrated story in the mid-80's about BYU, and the subject of the article was -- you guessed it -- the LDS religion.

BYU football IS all about the LDS Church, even the Church admits it. Which is why they come down so hard on athletes who violate the Honor Code: The team and its members are unofficial representatives of Mormonism.

I certainly understand the optimism - sure wish I had more towards my Aggies! I guess sometimes the BYU sentiment just seems to border on overconfidence or entitlement - but maybe that is just my interpretation. Anyway, I would love to see all three teams do well.

No doubt the bar has been set high for BYU by their fans. A lofty pedestal it is… tower like in fact. And yes some Cougar fans are annoying; however no more than Ute fans prior to their BSC run. With what - 10 of 11 offensive starters returning, missionaries returning and with their generally pretty good signees they have both a strong starting team, and pretty good depth backing it up. I’d be cautiously optimistic as well. Perhaps their defense is a weak point, but very few MWC teams have speedy enough WRs and RBs to exploit their secondary’s weakness.

No doubt indeed they have a shot at perfection. Somewhere along the way however, I believe BYU is going to lose one; and the fall off that pedestal will be a long one. Getting to the BSC game is not perfection, winning it will be. That is where their secondary will be exploited.

In response to “Utah fans or BYU haters”; it makes far more sense, and is a little more enjoyable, posting my enormous admiration and heartfelt concerns for the Cougars on this blog. I would be preaching to the tabernacle choir on a Ute blog.

You might have a point, IF N. Iowa was the ONLY team on BYU's schedule.

BYU does have a couple of pretty good PAC 10 teams on their schedule and tough road games against Air Force, TCU and Utah. All you have to do is look at ANY conference in the country to see how tough it is to go undefeated back-to-back-to-back in conference play.

Anyone who says BYU's schedule is an easy schedule is just blowing smoke.

BYU would NOT have the advantages of any other BCS team. Why? One word. Provo. No one wants to come to Provo, because it is one of the most boring places on the planet. Think about it, going to college in Southern California, or going to school in a "bubble" in the middle of Utah. Thats why the MWC won't have the conference tourny in Provo. Anyways, I seriously doubt that if you put BYU in a BCS conference, that they would all the sudden be one of the best teams in the nation.