Posts Tagged ‘defense’

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Van Noy and Defense Lead BYU to Poinsettia Bowl Victory

December 23, 2012

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By: Danny Holmgren

Throughout his career in Provo, Kyle Van Noy has proven himself time and time again both on the field and off the field. Van Noy’s career got off to a rocky start when he sat out the 2009 season after an Honor Code violation. Rather than leave school, Van Noy apologized to Bronco Mendenhall and told him he wanted to stay with the program and re-prove himself. With his performance in the Poinsettia Bowl on Thursday evening, Van Noy has proven everything. For three years Van Noy has tormented quarterbacks, running backs, and offensive coordinators with his athleticism, speed, and often freakish abilities to blow up the backfield, but he has never taken over a game the way he did in leading BYU to a 23-7 victory over San Diego State. For that matter, I don’t know that any single defensive player has single-handledy won a game for his team the way Van Noy did.

For three quarters the game was a total dud. Cody Hoffman, who was selected as the game’s offensive MVP, was the lone bright spot for the Cougar offense, racking up his 8th 100-yard receiving game of the season. But even Hoffman struggled, bobbling a Lark pass at the goal line that was intercepted. Jamaal Williams was unable to get anything going running the ball and James Lark, in his second consecutive start, struggled to beat the strong SDSU rush and complete passes with the accuracy and touch that he did against the admittedly weak New Mexico State defense in his previous start. Entering the 4th quarter, only three field goals were displayed on the scoreboard at Qualcomm Stadium as SDSU held a 6-3 lead. SDSU had moved the ball effectively throughout the first three quarters, led by running back Adam Muema’s 103 yards rushing, but the Cougar defense had succeeded in keeping them out of the endzone. The inept Cougar offense to that point made many wonder if the 6-3 lead may just hold for the Aztecs. That’s when Van Noy took over.

The unsung hero of the game had to be BYU’s All-American punter, Riley Stephenson who six times pinned the Aztecs inside their own 10 yard line. Following another fantastic Stephenson punt, Aztec QB Adam Dingwell dropped back from his own three yard line. Van Noy made a quick move around the outside and hit the ball out of Dingwell’s hand, just as his arm was beginning to move forward. Van Noy covered the ball for the first TD of the game, a play that would be reviewed and upheld.

The momentum changed quickly from that point. Dingwell fumbled on the Aztec’s next play and Jamaal Williams rushed it in from 14 yards out on the next play to give BYU a 16-6 advantage.

After the Aztecs and Cougars traded punts, Van Noy picked off a Dingwell pass on the left sideline. After a nifty return crossing back across the field Van Noy scored his second touchdown of the game, giving the Cougars their final score. The Aztecs were defeated mentally by this point and the game ended at 23-6.

Van Noy single-handledly took over the game for BYU. In addition to the two TDs, he also had a blocked punt, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 8 total tackles. The way Coach Mendenhall built this defense was truly remarkable. BYU will end the season with a top-5 defense for the first time in school history. As good as Ziggy Ansah, Brandon Ogletree, Bronson Kaufusi, Spencer Hadley, and others played this year, it was Van Noy that was the leader, the heartbeat, and the life of the defense game after game. While nothing would make this Cougar happier than to have Van Noy return for his senior season, there’s nothing he has left to prove to me in Provo. Onwards and upwards, Kyle, wherever you may play.

You can follow Danny Holmgren on Twitter: @dahomes

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BYU’s annual defensive exception

October 17, 2012

By Jacob Kendall

On Saturday BYU faced number 10 ranked Oregon State. Oregon State had just lost starting quarterback Sean Mannion to injury. Cody Vaz, a 5th year senior, would be making his first collegiate start. When he stepped on the field he looked more like an all-american than an untested backup. He marched his team up and down the field with precision and ease, picking apart the BYU secondary and making repeated connections with his top targets downfield. Granted, it’s easier to make your first start when you have receivers Brandin Cooks and Markus Wheaton on your team. They happen to be 2nd and 10th in receiving yards per game nationally. Vaz finished the game 20 of 32 for 332 yards 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

BYU fans, coaches, and players left the game scratching their heads and wondering what just happened. BYU had a defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in most major categories. They had not allowed a touchdown at home to an FBS school all year. But this outcome is not out of the ordinary for BYU football and their defense.

In this loss, BYU surrendered over 450 yards and 42 points. Both of these totals were season highs. As BYU seems to do every year, they got torched on the scoreboard, and the yardage kept piling up in big chunks. These games seem to come against the faster, more athletic, and talented teams on the schedule. With Bronco Mendenhall as the head-coach, BYU has had at least one defensive “exception” game per year.

Year YPG Avg PPG Avg Exception Pts All. Pt Diff. Yds All. Yds Diff.
2005 417 29.3 TCU 51 22 475 58
2006 319 14.7 Boston Coll. 30 15 471 152
2007 307 18.5 Tulsa 55 36 595 288
2008 356 21.9 Utah 48 26 415 59
2009 329 21.5 Florida St. 54 32 512 183
2010 331 21.6 Air Force 35 13 477 146
2011 313 20.4 Utah 54 34 481 168
*2012 261 13.6 Oregon St. 42 28 450 189
Avg 329.125 20.1875 46.1 25.8 484.5 155.4

Since taking over as Head Coach, Bronco’s season averages are just over 20 points per game, and 329 yards per game. In the “exception” games BYU is allowing over 46 points per game, and 484 yards per game. Those numbers are over 25 points, and 155 yards above the defensive season averages. The game that was the biggest exception was vs Tulsa in 2007. Tulsa gained nearly 600 yards and scored 55 points. Those were 288 yards and 36 points more than the season average in 2007.

What do these losses have in common? Allowing a ton of yards and points, and committing to many turnovers. It’s kind of weird to have a “consistent outlier”…but that seems to be exactly what we’ve got here at BYU. And with such perennial consistency, one wonders if it’s just something we’re going to have to get used to.

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Texas 17, BYU 16

September 10, 2011

BYU looked great going into halftime, up 13-0, but Texas made some great halftime adjustments and outscored the Cougars 17-3 in the second half to win the game. BYU led the game until 8:34 remained in the fourth quarter and they had opportunities to win, but they simply came up short at the end.

It doesn’t make it any less painful, but I did pick Texas to win this game (23-17). BYU had great chances, and even had the lead until 8:34 remained in the 4th quarter. BYU’s offense ran out of gas somewhere around halftime, and the defense wasn’t able to come up with a magic touchdown like last week against Ole Miss.

Texas scores the go-ahead TD

So, what went right/wrong for the Cougars? Let’s revisit our keys to the game:

Domanation. Brandon Doman did a much better job with pace this game. There were times when the offense went no-huddle, to keep the defense on its heels, and when the Cougars did huddle, they tended to get plays in and be on the ball more quickly than last week. Play calling was very conservative, including a 3rd and 9 draw play that left many fans wondering if Robert Anae had snuck a play in.

Jake Heaps. Heaps did seem to throw a more accurate ball this week – at least I don’t remember there being quite as many that were too far in front of or behind the receivers. He ended up being 22/38 for 192 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT’s. That’s an average of 5.1 yards per throw. Heaps did spread the ball around again, hitting 11 different receivers, but the top two, Holt and Apo, only had 41 and 40 receiving yards, respectively. He was too quick to use his check-down receiver, especially in the second half. Highlight of the day was a 97 yard touchdown drive in the second quarter that put the Cougars up 13-0.

The Rush Attack. The rushing game was abysmal. The Cougars only managed 43 yards on 23 attempts…an average of 1.9 yards per attempt. Heaps lost nine, but that doesn’t help the picture very much. The rushing leader was DiLuigi who posted 39 yards on 14 carries. Quezada was second with 5 carries for 7 yards. Yeah. 7. The lack of a run game really hurt the play action – as it’s supposed to be the run that the defense bites on to allow you to make the throw to an open receiver. No run game made for a long day and too many passing attempts for Heaps.

Special Teams. You want a bright spot? Here it is. Justin Sorenson was 3/3 on field goals, all of which were right around the 30 yard line. That is a good bit of consistency at short-to-mid range that he hasn’t shown in the past. I wish he’d had the opportunity to go for the game winner, but the offense simply couldn’t get anywhere on their final three drives, netting 6, 7, and -6 yards, all deep in their own territory.

Bronco D. The defense had an amazing start to the game, shutting out the Longhorns through nearly two quarters. The Texas drives in the first half ended like this: punt, punt, interception, interception, punt, punt, field goal. The yards per drive: 6, -3, 5, 47, -1, 0, 19. Texas figured out a few things at halftime, and their next three drives averaged more than 50 yards each, and resulted in two touchdowns. A big part of the second half difference was that Texas did not play their starting QB, Garrett Gilbert, as he had been too kind to the Cougars, going 2/8 for 8 yards and 2 INT’s. In all, BYU gave up 123 passing yards and 166 rushing yards, with most of those coming in the second half.

What we know about Texas (2-0)

It is hard to tell a lot about a team early in the season. Mack Brown’s team certainly didn’t look like Texas in the first half, but they made enough plays to win it in the second. We will have a better picture of the Longhorns when they go on the road to UCLA next week, looking to avenge their big loss that came from the Bruins last year.

What we know about BYU (1-1)

The defense had a great first half, and the offense had a good first half. Both played a mediocre to poor second half, which is a concern. If Texas is back, maybe both teams really are “that good,” but I think this game left us with more questions than answers regarding just how good the Cougars are right now. Two long road-trips on consecutive weeks against BCS teams don’t make an easy start to the season, but it won’t get any easier next week, as the Cougars head home to face Utah. The Utes are coming off a close loss of their own, having lost 17-14 at USC, and both teams will be looking for a big win over their rival in week 3 to set the tone for the rest of the season.

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BYU 14, Ole Miss 13

September 5, 2011

The Cougars went down to Oxford and came from behind to beat the Rebels of Ole Miss by one point. My call was 35-13 in favor of BYU, and while the final score was 14-13, I did at least predict the winner, and the score of the loser. So what went right and what went wrong down south? Let’s revisit my keys to the game:

Enter the Doman O. The offense has taken a lot of heat for not producing points. After reviewing the game, the offense looked out of sync, made mental mistakes, and lacked energy. That’s not to say it was all bad. The Cougars were able to move the ball quite well, and the halftime adjustments made by Doman had great impact. According to @CougarStats, BYU had 102 yards on 36 plays in the first half, but in the second half they were able to gain 214 yards on 33 plays. I am happy to see that halftime adjustments were made, and that they were effective. That’s a far cry from what would have happened with an Anae-led offense. Oh yeah, and the Cougars came from behind to win. The biggest come-from-behind victory in Bronco’s tenure.

Jake Heaps and the Receivers. Jake Heaps had a mediocre first half, going 11/22 for 74 yards, but again, the second half adjustments were favorable to the BYU quarterback – he came out and threw 13/16 for 151 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. It is worthwhile to note that many of the broken plays were the result of poor snaps or missed blocking assignments. So, even though Heaps will take most of the heat (as QB’s do- though they also get the accolades when the team does well…) it is important to remember that his supporting cast has much to do with his success. Ross Apo was the Cougars’ leading receiver, with four catches for 46 yards and one touchdown, with a long of 25 yards.

The Rush Attack. DiLuigi and Kariya led the Cougar rushing attack with 56 and 35 yards apiece. The team was only able to gain 91 yards on the ground, which made this one of the few BYU victories in recent memory that BYU did not rush for at least 100 yards. Quezada left the game with a migraine after the second quarter, so he would have had a greater impact had he been able to stay in.

Special Teams. Special teams were up and down. McKay Jacobson and Mike Hague combined for an average 26 yards on kick returns. Justin Sorensen missed his only field goal attempt, and Riley Stephenson punted five times, with the kicks ranging from 11 to 53 yards. On the other side, BYU held Ole Miss kick returner Jeff Scott to a 13.5 average, though he was able to return a punt for 44 yards.

Bronco D. The defense won this game. They were energetic, excited, and rarely looked surprised by Ole Miss. The players were flying around the field like heat-seeking torpedoes towards whichever unfortunate Ole Miss player happened to be carrying the ball at the time. Each of Ole Miss’ top three RBs were taken off the field with an injury at some point. Last year, Ole Miss had the nation’s 18th best rushing attack, averaging 207 rushing yards per game, but they were only able to manage 64 yards on the ground, despite having the nation’s biggest offensive line. Uona Kaveinga and Preston Hadley combined to cause a fumble, which was recovered by Daniel Sorenson. This was a huge play, as it off-set the short punt by Stephenson. And of course, there was the game-winning play by Kyle Van Noy. Ole Miss was looking at a 3rd and 27, on their own 21 yard line. Van Noy released from the edge and reached Ole Miss QB Zack Stoudt, stripped the ball, and scooped it up as he tumbled into the endzone for a Cougar touchdown. The ensuing extra point put BYU ahead at 14-13. Not only did Bronco’s defense hold Ole Miss to just two field goals, they also scored a touchdown.

KVN in for the touchdown!

What we know about Ole Miss

If you were listening the the ESPN commentary, you know that Ole Miss is from the SEC. Over and over and over throughout the game, all we heard was SEC size, SEC speed, SEC…crap. You don’t win games because of a patch on your jersey. Ole miss had an opportunity to win this game, but they were dominated by the “less talented, non-SEC team” of BYU. Ole Miss has a nice, easy game against Southern Illinois next week, but that’s followed by a jump into their SEC schedule, which will not favor the Rebels, who went 1-7 in conference play last year.

What we know about BYU

The Defense is solid. I do not believe any team will rush for 100 yards against BYU this year. The Offense has some kinks to work out, but the unit has the correct scheme and the talent to be successful. Special teams have got to become more consistent – especially in the short to mid range field goals. If Sorenson can’t kick them, we need to find someone who can. BYU heads down to Austin next week, where they will face-off against the Longhorns of Texas; the second of four brutal weeks to start the season, with Utah and UCF to follow.

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