Breaking down Game 1

Breaking down this first game.

OK, I’ve heard from plenty of observers about this game, what looked good and what was stinky.

To me, it was a typical first game against an opponent BYU was picked to beat by 24 points. There’s good play, people get puffed up and lose focus and momentum, then have to battle to get it back. I picked this game 38-9 in Saturday morning’s paper. It ended about how I though it would with the exception of one Northern Iowa score and you can pick which one, both were fluky. 1. The Max Hall sack, fumble touchdown or , 2. The 76-yard gadget play the Panthers used in desperation in the third, trailing 27-3.

Other than that, it went as scripted.

BYU’s coaches can now go into team meetings and huff and puff about how the squad needs to be more polished and focused and play a whole game. And they are right.

The most disappointing part of this game to me was the fumble by Hall while driving for a score inside the Northern Iowa 10 yard line. He mishandled a snap from center. It was a play-action fake handoff and he just got antsy. Correctable.

The other three turnovers are also correctable, according to Brandon Doman. The fumble by J.J. DiLuigi was his first major college carry. The fumble by Wayne Latu was by a guy with his family stressed to the max with a premature infant battling for its life. Matt Reynolds played an outstanding first game and broke down with some “set” of his feet out of position that allowed a sack on Hall for a fumble.

All correctable, says Doman.

Ticked about it all, says Robert Anae.

Lessons to be learned for all, claimed Bronco Mendenhall.

OK, got it.

The other point I’d be critical about is not getting Dennis Pitta more looks. Nobody on Northern Iowa’s defense had a clue of how to cover him in the zone. The mismatch was like the Grand Canyon. He should have got 25 to 30 passes because of the NIU focus on Austin Collie and Harvey Unga.

Unga left the game in the third quarter for an extended time to get some tape adjusted. During that time, the Cougar offense simply had no gas. This is when DiLuigi and Latu fumbled and Hall got sacked in the endzone for a TD. When he was on the field, the offense ran just fine except for two or three sputters due to penalties or NOT THROWING the ball to Pitta.

In this game, Pitta was such a big slice of pie for Max Hall, it was silly.

On the defensive side, Northern Iowa gained 362 yards but about 145 of it came on two plays, an option quarterback keeper that the middle linebacker blew and a trick play that David Nixon and Kellen Fowler got mixed up on during a double reverse fake.

The rest of the time, the defense played about how I thought it would in an opening game with eight new players on the field. The system, with exception of a couple of break downs, worked. Take away the 145 on two plays and NIU had 217 total offense, about what the Cougars allowed a year ago per game.

My player of the game, besides Pitta, which is a no brainer, was Snow College transfer Coleby Clawson. The first hit on QB Pat Grace was a highlight film maker for the season. But he repeated it later – another hit that rocked the stadium and left Grace struggling to get off the turf.

Northern Iowa could hit. They dinged up Michael Reed and Max Hall. They’ll surely feel it come Sunday morning. Even so, Hall had an impressive 198 passing efficiency for the game.

Bottom line?

BYU still has the nation’s longest win streak at 11, the 41-17 score is good enough to stay ranked and not drop, the home win streak is extended to three seasons and 13 straight games.

And Pitta is still open.