Conference RAM-ifications

At 4pm saturday the jerseys in blue will be found in Hughes Stadium in Colorado Springs squared up against the gritty CSU Rams which will continue to sort out the conference standings. The Cougs record all time against the rams is 36-27 with 3 ties in a series that began back in 1922. In Colorado Springs the jerseys in blue have also won 11 of the last 13 matchups. CSUs first year coach (Steve Fairchild) is a former Ram OC as well as QB (was 2nd team all WAC behind ole Jim McMahon back in 1980) who takes over for Sonny Lubick. Of the jerseys in blue coach Fairchild has mentioned "We'll need our best game to be in the thing". When he took the coaching reins coach Fairchild said "We won here before and I'm convinced we can win again"". Currently at the halfway point the rams are 4-4 (yet are 2-2 in MWC play) and already well on their way of turning things around. Keep in mind CSU only averaged 4.8 wins over Sonny Lubicks last 5 seasons. (Helmet photo credit/Adrenalin Design Group)

Coach Fairchild seems to have found a more than capable QB replacement for Caleb Hanie (3 yr starter) in senior Billy Farris. The former JC transfer and walk on slinger from Baton Rouge isn't afraid to take a hit in getting the rock down the field. On the season Farris has 148 completions for over 1,700 yards. His backup is Klay Kubiak (the son of Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak). Farris' options include Rashaun Greer (6.1/200 JR), Dion Morton (5.10/160) and Kory Sperry (6.6/250 SR). Greer has 40 receptions on the year for 715 yards and 1 TD. Morton is a speedy junior from Riverside CA that tallied up over 400 yards receiving with 3 TDs this season. Sperry is much like Pitta, among the best tight ends in the nation. Kory has excellent hands, amazing speed for a big man, and is always a dangerous threat. Last week against San Diego State he racked up 5 rec 61 yards with 3 TDs. Over his career Sperry has 133 catches for 1642 yards and 19 TDs.

On the ground the rams return an abundance of talent and experience. Gartrell Johnson (6.0/227 SR) has the ability to hurt teams. The explosive senior has rushed for over 2,000 yards with 18 TDs so far as a ram. His backup is a former starter Kyle Bell (6.3/230 SR) who as a sophomore back in 2005 rushed for nearly 1300 yards (sat out last year with a torn ACL). John Mosure is a sophomore who will also receive some carries and is the rams most versatile back.

Across the offensive trenches the rams have four juniors and 1 senior all of which are returning starters. The line's experience should help Farris finding time distributing the ball among his weapons (through the ground or the air). Defensive Coordinator Larry Kerr inherits some dangerous hitters in Tommie Hill (6.6/245 DE/SR), Jeff Horinek (6.3/235 MLB/SR) and sophomore WLB Ricky Brewer (6.2/210). Hill had 5.5 sacks last year while Horinek is the soul of the defense and registered 163 tackles the past two seasons.

In the secondary the rams have some difference makers at safety in Klint Kubiak (6.0/200 JR) and Mike Pagnotta (6.0/200 SR). Unfortunately, Pagnotta is scheduled to have surgery soon so starting in his slot could be Jake Galusha (5.10/200 SR) or Josh Gabler (6.0/205 JR). CSU at CB will slot Nick Oppenneer (5.10/175 JR) and Gerard Thomas (5.9/165 FR). Saturday should be a rather intriguing matchup and provide plenty of points on the board.

Best Wishes "G"

Heard some disappointing news that apparently G Pittman (5.10/185) freshman and Rancho Cucamonga native asked coach Mendenhall for his release in order to transfer. The Cougar secondary for the time being will definately get a little bit thinner. Of the situation at hand coach Mendenhall said "I have granted him a released and wish him the very best as he pursues his football and academic goals". The jerseys in blue will be just fine without him and both parties will adjust and move on. Although Pittman would have eventually likely made a fine contribution and asset to the team. Definately hate to see you go but best wishes regardless of whatever road you travel in life!

Fui's Field

Saturday the jerseys in blue successfully defended its territory at Lavell Edwards Stadium in a slugfest to remain undefeated against UNLV (4-0) under Bronco Mendenhall in its 11th straight home sellout. Good ole #9 (Austin Collie) got things quickly rollin with a 75 yard opening kickoff return breaking this seasons previous high of 51 when O'neill Chambers took some serious chunks of yards off the field against Northern Iowa. Marching down a short field Max Hall completed his opening drive with a 8 yard TD completion to Andrew George placing the Cougars on the board first. (Photo Credit goes to Scott G Winterton)

On the day Hall had an efficient day "at the office". Max threw for 4 TDs with no INTs on 30 attempts with 24 receptions putting him at a 186.4 efficiency rating (per Wrubell). It was definately gratifying to see Hall spread the wealth around (9 different receivers) while making the most of the Cougars opportunities. BYU was perfect 6 of 6 in the "blue" zone.

After the dust had finally settled from the matchup the receiving corps had amassed 247 yards. Collie had yet another phenomenal game dissecting the rebel secondary in his 6th straight 100 yard receiving contest (113 for the record). Late in the 1st quarter O'neill Chambers caught his first TD (I'd assume/hope there will be MANY more to come as well) as a Cougar on 20 yd pass from Hall. Reed caught 5 for 71 yards even blocking for a Max Hall 31 yard scamper in the second quarter. Although, Pitta seemed to be AWOL until the forth quarter when he grabbed a 6 yard TD pass. Kudos to the coaching staff for opening the playbook (reverse, Collie pass to Reed, etc) even just a little bit more than usual. Always nice to keep defenses honest on their heels not knowing what to expect. (Photo Credit goes to Scott G Winterton)

While the road graters in the offensive trenches were busy clearing the paths the ground game was a beautiful site to see. Di Luigi was able to add a phenomenal block. Harvey bruised for 82 yards with solo TD. It seemed like the spotlight though was on Fui. Concerning his OL Fui mentioned "They just exploded and the holes were just right there. You could fit an elephant through that". Vakapuna on the ground bulldozed for 71 yards on the day including a TD reception.

For the day the special teams were more than adequate although there is always room for improvement. Freshman Bryan Kariya was able to block a punt allowing the Cougars to capitalize. Santiago had a beautiful punt pinning UNLV deep in its own territory. Payne drilled 2 field goals while his PATs were 4 of 4 perfect. On the other hand there were too many short field's for the rebels from kickoffs heading out of bounds.

Between the 20s the defensive clamps came down on Frank "The Tank" only allowing 32 yards on the day. However, in its place Omar Clayton threw for over 350 yards up and down the field on the "bend don't break" defense. It took a sack by Matt "The Stork" Putnam on Clayton and a desperation heave INT by Andrew Rich in the south endzone as the final seconds ticked off the clock to stop the bleeding. Afterwards Coach Sanford acknowledged "We just didn't make enough plays. Unfortunately, that's been a recurring theme" his rebels shortcoming giving them their 4th straight loss.

Next week the Cougs travel to the rocky mountain state and will take on pesky Colorado State and new coach Steve Fairchild at 4 pm in a matchup that will be televised on "The Mountain". Fairchild served as the OC for the Buffalo Bills the last two years. BYU is 36 and 27 overall against the rams in a series that began back in 1922.

Hitting The Books

Many of us might not be fully invested in furthering our education right now like the student athletes might be. On the other hand if you might be looking for a book to delve into that would pertain to those of us who are Cougar fans here's a short list of books worth checking out (many of which are available at the byu bookstore)....

Wild Blue Yonder/Dick Harmon
Airing It Out/Lavell Edwards
Tales From The BYU Sidelines/Brad Rock
Cougarmania/Jeff Call
The Unholy War/Phil Miller
And They Came To Pass/Brad Rock
Winning Football With The Forward Pass/Lavell Edwards
The Steve Young Story/Laura Livsey
Making Of A Legend (Ty Detmer)/Dick Harmon
Roaring Back To Glory/Jeff Call

Magic Happens

Love him or hate him by the time Austin Collie graduates he likely will leave a legacy as one of the all time greats in the rich tradition of Cougar football. There have been some good ones to come through the program. Names such as Matt Bellini; Margin Hooks, Phil Odle, Reno Mahe, Eric Drage, Glen Kozlowski, Andy Boyce, and Todd Watkins to name a few all bring back incredible memories. The outspoken junior wide receiver should end up passing former great Eric Drage (1990-93 with 3,066 yards and 29 TDs) in becoming the top receiver ever to wear the Cougar blue. Collie currently has 2,506 yards for his career (789 yds 8 TDs on the season) and is definately well on his way. Even back in high school (Oak Ridge) Collie was dissecting defenses piling up yards and collecting awards. As a senior Austin had 60 receptions with 1,654 all purpose yards earning a slot as a top 5 nominee for the California Mr Football Award. Former Cougar receiver and brother Zac commented on Austin "He wants to be the best receiver...to reach goals he set forth for himself". Despite the loss at TCU Collie finished the night with his fifth 100 yd receiving game (116 receiving yards) tying a MWC record set by originally by JR Tolver from SD State back in 2002. According to Austin "my main focus is winning football games especially after the loss we had". Personally I feel much like Collie in the sense that if one sets forth realistic attainable goals, put forth the honest effort, that magic ultimately will eventually happen with all awards, records and accolades will take care of themselves.

MWC Preseason Team

Figured everyone has their lists. Why not do the same? Here's my MWC Preseason First Team. Thoughts? Would love to hear.

Wink Adams 6.0G/UNLV 16.7ppg 3.1apg
Marcus Walker 6.0G/CSU 17.1ppg 2.6apg
Lee Cummard 6.7GF/BYU 15.8ppg 6.3rpg
Andrew Henke 6.6GF/Air Force 11.3ppg 4.5rpg
Luke Nevill 7.2C/Yewts 15.2ppg 6.7rpg

Home Sweet Home

With the rebels coming into town on the 25th it couldn't come at a better time after the sinking of the cougars BCS ship against TCU. The jerseys in blue return to the friendly confines of Lavell Edwards Stadium still clinging to a 16 home win streak trying to regain some composure and confidence.

Former walkon quarterback Omar Clayton (6.1/200 Soph) will lead the offense onto the field supported by senior Frank "The Tank" Summers. No introduction really necessary for Summers. Any questions about Frank? Just ask the yewts when he burned them last season for 190 yards and 2 TDs. In the mold of Unga he's a big physical bruiser bulldozer of a back (5.10/240) who can steamroll up precious yards in the blink of an eye.

At the wideouts are a talented trio of Ryan Wolfe (6.1/205 JR), Casey Flair (6.1/195 SR), and Phillip Payne (6.3/185 FR) who have 12 TDs and have piled up over 1,000 receiving yards combined. Wolfe and Flair currently rank 4th and 7th in conference receiving.

At left tackle is super sophomore Matt Murphy (6.3/300, was a freshman All American). Johan Asiata (6.4/315 SR) returns but switched from right tackle to left gaurd this season. Sophomore John Gianninoto (6.3/285) takes over at center. On the right side is Joe Hawley (6.3/295 JR) and Evan Marchal (6.6/295 Soph). The hogs in the rebel offensive trenches appear to be one of the better experienced and talented crews of the Sanford era.

On the ends and tackles defensively the rebels start Isaako Aaitui (6.3/290 Soph), Malo Taumua (6.0/275 Soph), Marten Tevaseu (6.3/320 JR) and Thor Pili (6.3/275 SR) who can wreak some havoc. Beau Bell (arguably among the best LB in school history) might be gone but the rebels have a LB corps deep in promise. Starr Fuimaono (5.11/215 JR) leads the rebuilt crew. At the middle LB is Ronnie Paulo (6.1/230 Soph) while Jason Beauchamp 6.3/215 JR) covers the OLB spot.

Sophomore standout Quinton Pointer (5.9/185) started eight games as a freshman leads the secondary depth. Geoff Howard (5.10/195 SR) mans the other corner. Junior Daryl Forte (5.10/185 JR) is a two year starter at safery. Junior Terrance Lee (6.0/175, Arizona Western College transfer) splits at strong safety.