Hello,
Tonight 7-5 BYU plays in their bowl game, they are playing SDSU in the Poinsettia Bowl. The 9-3 Aztecs will be playing in their home stadium. This bowl game feels very anti-climactic. It's been a long and disappointing season. It also hasn't been that fun.
Whether BYU wins or lose tonight I'll be glad that this season is over for one big reason. BYU will no longer have Riley Nelson as their starting quarterback. It seems that he's still injured and may only play a few plays tonight. Let's hope, because I'd rather have James Lark and the better chance of winning he brings with him. The next time Bronco Mendenhall falls in love with a quarterback, I hope it's at least a good quarterback.
It seems BYU Football has taken a step back because of Bronco Mendenhall's insistence on sticking with Nelson come hell or high water. Instead of going with a younger quarterback and giving him some valuable experience he kept on trotting out the very unreliable Nelson. Nelson otherwise known as Mr. Turnover. He has an amazing ability to turn the easiest and most simple plays into turnovers.
The only underclassman quarterback BYU played this year was Taysom Hill. With BYU coaches carelessness the probable quarterback of the future was injured. What's particularly aggravating is that he was injured on a play that he should have just kneeled down on. (I blame that on the coaches, not the just off a mission freshman quarterback.) At that point Hill was out for the rest of the season. BYU's top two quarterbacks were seniors. Again, instead of giving more playing time to other under classmen the seniors received the bulk of the playing time. Next season Hill will have the most experience of a BYU quarterback. Although he has a tremendous upside over Nelson, what he doesn't have is a lot of crucial experience.
BYU's main rival, Utah, faced a similar situation. Go with a senior that might give them a better chance to win this year or a freshman with a ton of upside. Wisely Utah decided to bypass the senior, Jon Hays. He was a decent player, but this was his last season of eligibility. Instead Utah went with their quarterback of the future, Travis Wilson. There's no guarantee that Wilson will have a better career than Hill. However the experience he gained this year will give him an advantage in the future.
I won't miss Nelson for even a second, but there are two players who I'll miss a lot if they leave to the NFL early. That's Junior wide receiver Cody Hoffman. He's probably been the most important player to BYU's offense this season. Also Junior Linebacker Kyle Van Noy is considering going to the NFL. He's been one of the leaders of this season's extremely tough defense. Both players would be missed quite a bit going into BYU's brutal schedule next season. However the players need to do what is best for them and their families. Good luck to Hoffman and Van Noy no matter what decision they make. IF they do leave going out with a bowl victory tonight would be sweet!
Good luck to James Lark and his fellow Cougar teammates as they battle the Aztecs tonight!
Also today was the day that Chicago high school phenom Jabari Parker announced where he'll play college basketball. BYU was on his final list, but I doubted that he'd pick the Cougars. Honestly he would have been crazy too. I don't know how much difference it will make as he'll only be in college for only one year probably.
Updated: Jabari Parker announced he'll be going to Duke. Although they are one of my least favorite college basketball teams, I still wish Jabari the best.
themusicaddict
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