What a great way to end the season (with a blow-out win over UTEP), especially for the seniors who had so much success their first three years and then really had to endure some challenges this season. 

Some final thoughts:

• Bronco’s closing statement: "These guys [the defense] have a special place in my heart. I made a very difficult decision eight weeks ago, or nine weeks ago. Our team was struggling, and our culture was failing. I really didn't know what else to do other than immerse myself in the coaching and lock arms with our team and try to provide an example and let them know that I was with them. To see them respond the way they have, I don't think they have played a poor game since then. There's not a player that doesn't believe in what we are doing. But more importantly, they believe in why we are doing it, which is the most gratifying part. And now to see them have a chance to play well again, and have a good bowl experience, it has been a [good experience]. That's why I keep saying, I am just really proud of this particular team." – well said Bronco.
• Over the Hill: Is Jaime Hill hirable…I mean ever again?
• Gator-Evade:  On dodging the Gatorade shower: "I am competitive, and I like the players to know that even though they think they can get me, they don't have a chance. But they ultimately came back [and got him]. I try to lead by example and have fun at the same time. I know that doesn't show from the outside, but I love this team and it is just, if I can one-up them and they try to get me and they can't, that's something I will remember on the plane ride home."
• What might have been? Firing Jaime Hill before the season and starting Heaps out of the gate?  "I think the worst thing that happened is we beat Washington in the opener with two quarterbacks. And that made me think it could work, and prolonged me ... into naming [a full time] quarterback and putting all the reps into a player. That’s hard to do when you love both players, who are so equal," Bronco continued. "But I think it hurt us at the beginning of the year, and it is no one’s fault but my own."
• Season ending slide show; check it out. http://tinyurl.com/27kgher
• The spirit of conversion: After Friday night’s fireside BYU receive a commitment from one of the top receivers in Arizona, 6-foot-4, 200-pound Josh Weeks, a junior. Weeks attends Show Low High in Show Low, Ariz., and broke six Class 3A state records for receiving last season.
• The few, the proud: BYU officials were given 5,000 tickets, and sold 2,500. UTEP sold around 4,000 tickets. Actual attendance at the 39,000-seat stadium was estimated to be around 20,000.
• The future is "blindingly bright": I’m calling my shot on the Heaps-to-Hoffman nickname for the poster they’ll be putting out their senior year: H²O

See you in Mississippi!

Shanked Punt – Fumble – Interception – Fumble (Montezuma's revenge) – Game Winning TD: That sequence of plays decided the outcome of the game.

Quick Thoughts:

1.  Jake Heaps looked incredible at times, and great most of the game. He outplayed both Utah QB’s.
2.  The "drops" came back to haunt BYU (i.e. Luke Ashworth).
3.  4^th and 1…the decision to go for it instead of going up 9 – 0 haunted BYU the rest of the game. What is the down side of going up 9 – 0? That was a bad decision and it influenced the outcome of the game. Coaches have to take some major blame for that. Also, the call on that play, play action pass, was sketchy. If you are going to be that aggressive then…then why not…
4.  Final series…3 minutes left to start the series and BYU runs two straight running plays, what? They finally throw on third down and get that first first down. After that Heaps was rolling, until…1^st down at the 25 and BYU decides they no longer trust Heaps to get the ball a bit closer and from that point, BYU actually loses yardage. +40 yard field goals are not easy for anyone. BYU decided that a +40 yard field goal was a better option than trusting Heaps to get them a bit closer or into the endzone.

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1.     BYU Birth Announcement: It’s a Quarterback!

BYU Football is pleased to announce the arrival of Jake Heaps.

Date of Birth: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010, 12 pm MST, CSU Stadium

Proud Parents: Bronco Mendenhall and Robert Anae. (Godfather: LaVell Edwards)

Vital Statistics: 15-20, 242 yards and 4 TDs

**You are cordially invited to attend his Christening on Nov. 27th @ Rice Eccles Stadium. Ceremonies will commence at 12:30 pm MST.

2.     Luke Ashworth is Born Again

Having established himself as a quality deep threat during his freshman year but having only caught two touchdown passes so far this season, Ashworth re-emerged vs. Colorado State. Ashworth set a conference record with 4 touchdown catches in the first half. However, he was shut-out in the second half, causing him to fall one touchdown short of the MWC single game record and certain immortality.

3.     "Captain Obvious" Spotted Reporting for the MTN

The reporter conducting the on-field post game interview of Bronco asked this question:  "Bronco, is this the best back-to-back games you’ve had all year?"  Um…considering it’s the only time BYU has won games on consecutive weekends this entire season, I’d say yes.

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It looks like its the New Mexico Bowl or bust for BYU.  Several sources are picking BYU to go to the New Mexico Bowl because San Diego State will go to the Poinsetta, Air Force will go to the Independence, and Army will go to the Armed Forces Bowl. This assumes that these teams win the games they should for the rest of the season. While some people (including myself) might think that one of these bowls would prefer BYU, apparently bowls with conference tie-ins cannot take a six-loss team over a seven-loss team.

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Saturday’s game was a relief in more ways than one. The win was great but there something even more important accomplished last Saturday. If you loved Bronco and BYU you should have been in full meltdown mode coming into the SDSU game. If Bronco was actually "coaching" a team with no heart, no enthusiasm, no defense and no clue, then it was indeed time to hit the panic button.

That’s what had cougar nation so worried…how could the Bronco we know and love be doing such a terrible job? Had he lost his own fire? Was his heart on life support? Why was the defense, which is Bronco’s coaching specialty, almost literally the worst defense in the country?

Before the SDSU game Bronco’s two most important traits; his passion and his defensive coaching skills, were not being reflected in the team’s effort, execution or demeanor. How could anyone see that team and not think that the head coach had lost his grip. It turned out that was exactly what had happened, but luckily not in the way we assumed.

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Man, that Nevada vs. BYU game was just a terrible game to watch on TV. I haven't seen a crowd that dead since the last early morning High Priest Group meeting I attended, and Heaps, doing his best best Jake Locker imitation (the innacuracy part, not the running) didn't do anything to keep them awake. I know he’s a freshman (make that a "true" freshman -- i'm still trying to explain that phrase to my wife) and I don’t really blame him for all the missed throws, but I do blame the coaching staff.  I don’t blame Bronco directly, but I do hope he realizes that fans won’t delegated blame the same way Bronco delegated responsibility.

Instead of Heaps having the entire spring and the last three games to get accustomed to his receivers, their speed, tendency’s etc, he’s only just beginning to get the reps he's needed to learn about the receivers and have the chance to get into the flow of a game and/or practice and we’re already in the 4th game of the season. I think what gets lost in all this "it’s not Bronco’s fault, he delegated this decision to his staff" talk is that it’s definitely somebody’s boneheaded decision, so let’s pile on Anae! Anae/Doman/Bronco (in that order) decided that BYU was going to be the exception to the rule and they, unlike anyone else in football history could make the two quarterback system work.  Now nevermind that even a fan with a very basic understanding of football new this was a bad idea from the start, Bronco's Delegation Crew figured let’s cut each of our two quarterback's playing time in-half for all of spring practice and for the first three games and unlike every other program in the country, we will develop not just one, but two great quarterbacks and figure out a way to win like this. Uhm..fail.

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When I woke up this past Sunday morning I recalled a dream, make that nightmare, I had the night before. I dreamed that a BYU team had given up over 400 yards rushing and they themselves had gained less than 100 yards through the air. My first thought was, "why did I sign up for this 40 family/40 day missionary fast...it's wreaking havoc on my dreams." But then common sense took over and I realized that since that particular BYU scenario hasn't happened since Brigham crossed the Mississippi, it truly must have been just that, a bad, bad dream....or was it?!!

I still don't think I've fully recovered from that game, errr dream...and I hope Bronco realizes that trying to keep two quarterbacks happy is a lot like trying to date two girls at once...it might be fun for awhile but it never ends well. And by the way, why hasn't Gordon Monson thrown out the obligatory "two-quarterback/polygamy" analogy yet? He's lost a step.

Turning our thoughts to FSU. Last week, Oklahoma passed the ball against FSU like a politician passes blame...early and often. The Sooners scorched the Seminoles. I can't help but think that FSU fan is sending up a prayer to Joseph Smith for BYU to start Nelson against them this Saturday. FSU would love to see a white running QB (not that there's anything wrong with that) trying to beat them to the outside corner, instead of possibly living through an instant replay of the Oklahoma game and having a team pass on them for more yards than a Ute has jobs.

So Bronco, we're pleading with you, please play Heaps. He's our only hope. We know he'll get beaten and bloodied for awhile but lets start laying the foundation for the future now. We all accept the fact that there will be significant up-front-costs to playing Heaps, but we're willing to endure it for the long term pay-off. So pull down that blast-shield and trust your instincts.

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I couldn't be happier for Boise State after last night's win. It's hard not to like those guys (although, what did Nike do to those uniforms?). They have a great coach, clean program and players that seem to do things the right way. Last night's game will most likely go down as one of the best regular season games this year, and it's only week 1. The crowd and the intensity level on the field were just amazing. My adrenaline was pumping the entire game (just ask my kids, who caught the "adrenaline-afterwrath" [copyright pending] at bed time). And as much as it pains me to admit it, there was a level of speed and explosiveness displayed by both Boise State and Va. Tech that was absent from the BYU/Washington match-up.

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