So, how good/bad is BYU's defense?

So, what about BYU’s defense? Any good? Coverage challenged? Comparable to a year ago in any way after two games?

The likely answer is it’s still too early to tell. The secondary and some linebackers are still a little wide-eyed. We see these guys make plays and cover in practice all the time but they need to make more of an impact in games than we’ve seen (interceptions, fumbles caused, fumbles recovered and sacks).

Having said that, there were a lot of Washington receivers open last Saturday and it didn’t look good.

I can’t bail the secondary out entirely, but one must put in perspective what that defense faced at Washington. It may have been situational rather than scheme or talent. Still, the secondary did have some obvious issues.

Here’s some observations:

1. Jake Locker is a unique challenge for a defense. He changes the way you pass rush, he makes you adjust your coverage, and in BYU’s case, he limited the amount of blitzing done as the Cougars primarily went with a three and four-man rush. Washington went with an empty backfield a lot of the time, spreading the field by sending out five receivers. To cover and to prevent a Locker run in a spread situation is a tough hand to cover. Still, the Cougars sacked Locker four times. David Nixon said he was hit in the back and leveled just when he was ready to sack Locker later in the game. He did have the sack/fumble in the first quarter. Ian Dulan may have had a sack on Washington’s last drive but he was tackled from behind after shooting through untouched as he had a decent angle on Locker.

2. The times BYU didn’t blitz Locker, he took a lot of time to look down field. During that time, he bought some extra time with his feet. What this did the secondary was huge. At times, Washington receivers broke loose and were able to not only get deep but go clear across the field to make plays. Even Florida’s secondary would struggle a little if a QB had that much time to make them work.

3. BYU’s defense set out to key on Locker. His running ability was the prime concern, even if it meant bating Locker and his coordinator into throwing the ball – because Locker isn’t a good passer. Nixon said that may have caused some conservative zone coverage in the secondary because players wanted to prevent Locker from going for 70 yards on a run, when an ordinary QB might have got 10 to 15. Still, when Locker needed 7 yards, he got 8; when he needed 10, he got 11. He didn’t rip off any long ones, but he was extremely effective when he did run. Bronco Mendenhe said Washington had more receivers deep on his defense than any game the past two years. And it is an issue to be corrected.

4. BYU’s defense tired. It showed on the final drive. “We were running around a lot to get after locker and we felt it in the end,” said Nixon.

5. The running QB dilemma. It is a point of challenge for this zone defense. It was last year with SDSU’s Kevin O’Connell. But what about Utah’s Brian Johnson coming up, some have asked. Well, first of all, Johnson is a talent, he does run and he is a far better passer than Locker. I like Johnson for a ton of reasons. But Johnson is not in he same area code as far as quickness, size and running ability as Locker. Johnson will not play in the NFL. Locker could play QB (if he can pass better), running back, tight end or linebacker. If he switched to RB right now, he might lead the Pac-10 in rushing and right now he is that league’s leading returning rusher from last year. BYU will not face another quarterback with Locker’s run ability the rest of the season.

6. Scott Johnson made some big plays stopping the run and he had a great pass breakup in the end zone when over-matched with Washington’s tight end. Brandon Howard was in position, stride for stride, on that long post TD score, defending a bigger receiver. But there were a lot of open receivers plenty of times in the game. (See 3). Kellen Fowler had six tackles and two assisted tackles in the game. David Tafuna should have had a pick. When he broke on that pass in the first quarter, he took a perfect angle and move and then stepped on the receiver’s foot, lurched forward and his hands dropped, causing the bounce off the top of his fingers. Luckily for Washington, that deflection ended up in a big first-down play and successful drive that should have ended and resulted in at least a Cougar FG and likely TD and 14-0 lead. That one play goes the other way and Mendenhall’s team and Hill’s defense is off to the races.

7. The UCLA game provides a completely different challenge for the Cougar defense. Washington’s offensive line was veteran. UCLA’s is a makeshift unit plagued by injuries on the line. Talented, yes. But experience is a challenge. As opposed to Locker, UCLA’s Kevin Craft is a pocket, drop back quarterback. He signed at SDSU but transferred to Mount Sac for a year. He’s a finesse guy, not a power-type athlete who can make a lot of plays with his feet past the line of scrimmage. Because of this, it will be interesting to see how much pressure (blitzing) BYU does to disrupt his timing because he is more of a stationary target. In so doing, if BYU’s defensive seven gets to Kraft, it should bail out the secondary and coverage might appear tighter and better. There’s no better pass defense than pressure applied up front at the point of attack.

8. This one is for the Pac-10 officiating crew haters out there — and there are many. Nobody wanted to go on the record, but there were calls and non-calls in the UW game that raised more than a few eye brows in films sessions today on campus. One coach laughed out loud at the first holding penalty called on WR Michael Reed that brought back a Harvey Unga 9-yard run on BYU’s first scoring drive. Reed came off the line, made contact, and then the defender was chasing Reed down the field from behind when the backfield judge threw a flag 35 yards from the contact and the line of scrimmage and after the play ended. He then picked up the flag, trotted closer to the line of scrimmage and dropped it.

In other news… BYU’s athletc department learned late Monday afternoon, Saturday’s game with the Bruins will not be a split crew, a feature being worked on by the MWC, WAC, Conference USA and Big 12 (future). Saturday’s game will be officiated by a MWC crew. For those of you whom believes this matters, it is a straight balancing act in what the Pac-10 has done at their home games, insisting on Pac-10 crews on home turf.