A year in the rear view mirror

Happy New Year to all, thanks for taking the time to read the Deseret Morning News. We appreciate your patronage and feedback along the way.

I’d like to thank all my co-workers, especially Jeff Call and Scott Taylor and our boss Dave Schneiter, who skillfully planned a ton of coverage this past year.

There were some predictions passed along this summer that turned out to be spot on. Here are a few.

Remember Kalani Sitake, former Cougar fullback, now a coach at Utah? We’ll his father Tom and I go back to when we were both teens in Tonga where my father was principal of Liahona High School. The mothers of Reno Mahe and Fahu Tahi were also there at that time. Anyway, Tom and I were having lunch this past summer and he told me Harvey Unga would be the best running back in BYU’s program and it wouldn’t even be close.

Tom’s prediction and observations were similar to what I believed at the time, but Unga’s performance surpassed even the standards I’d thought the freshman would reach in Year 1.

Folks around Max Hall, also made some bold predictions that Hall may not have the arm strength of John Beck, but he did have a presence in the pocket and would make plenty of plays — enough to be the best QB in the league. These people are very well acquainted with Hall as a high school player and they have coached him at that level and now in college. They proved themselves right.

One other prediction. All summer, folks told me BYU’s offensive line would be a dominating force this year. While I believe they had their moments and settled into a routine in the MWC, I believe they still underachieved from expectations. Perhaps they are one year away from what my sources were telling me this past year.

Any way, it is interesting to see how things turned out, when months ago, all we had is some speculation and a few practices in spring to draw from.

I will say this about this past football season. The biggest surprise for me was the play of Austin Collie, who was in Argentina last year on a mission. For his size, his speed and his focus and play-making ability, I’ll go on record right now and say I believe he is the best BYU receiver I have ever covered. He’s got the entire show and he backs it up practically every game he plays and he does so with a lot of fire.

Hall still has room to improve. I thought he made huge strides this year. He actually shot right out of the chute and on the run. The turnovers hurt early and he may the the only QB in BYU history to help a team win 11 games with a pass efficiency rating around 138. If Hall can get his rating up to the high 150s, he might have as an effective career as many of the big names who’ve played that spot in Provo.

Anyway, just a few thoughts before the New Year parties begin. Again, thanks for following our work in the paper and online. Have a great new year.