COME ON, IT"S POSSIBLE TO BRING DOWN A GIANT!
BYU will start the 2009 season on Sept. 5 against currently No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in a historic game being played at the Dallas Cowboys new stadium in Arlington, Texas. As two of only seven teams to win 10 or more games each of the last three seasons, the Cougars and Sooners will be featured in the first college game played in the new stadium. The Labor Day weekend contest will kick off in primetime and be televised on ABC or ESPN as part of the second annual ESPN Kickoff Week presented by Gillette.
After facing Oklahoma, the Cougars will travel to New Orleans to play at Tulane in the Louisiana Superdome on Sept. 12. The game will be broadcast to a national television audience on ESPN or ESPN2. BYU will then return home for its season opener against Florida State on Sept. 19. The final nonconference game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, versus in-state rival Utah State. Television plans for the other nonconference games will be announced at a later date.
Florida State will make its first-ever visit to Provo. The Seminoles won the two previous contests against the Cougars with a 44-28 win at the 1991 Pigskin Classic in Anaheim, Calif., and a 29-3 victory in the 2000 Pigskin Classic in Jacksonville, Fla.

The way I see it, this schedule is not a mistake, Tom Holmoe sees something in the returning cougars. I have to be honest, I see the same thing. This team will be comprised of mainly seniors, both on offense and on defense. The cougars also didn’t want to make the same mistake the Utes made, not being on national TV enough to be recognized, so they beefed up to get recognized. BYU will now start their season on national TV, and will get a second chance the following week versus Tulane. Here is the plan, start at a preseason rank of 18, beat last years national champs out of the gate on national television, follow up with a win over Tulane on national television, to wake up the nation. Then follow it up with an undefeated record, where does that put you? NATIONAL CHAMPIONS....... And remember, all of this on the tails of Utah opening the nations eyes. I know it could happen, do you believe? John and I will discuss the returning starters and if they have what it takes this week. Should be some good radio.

Sept 5th: Oklahoma @ New Cowboy Stadium in Dallas Texas (ABC or ESPN)

Sept 12th: @ Tulane (ESPN or ESPN2)

Sept 19th: Florida State (TV TBA)

Oct 2nd: Utah State (TV TBA)

THE BULL AT THE BOURBON COWBOY, BOURBON STREET NEW ORLEANS.....

AN ODE TO KYLE GUNTHER.....

CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE........

GAME THOUGHTS:
QUICK START: One of my big keys was Utah had to start strong and that they did.  They played like their was nothing to lose, completely took Bama out of their Game Plan and put it on Parker-Wilson to beat them which he obviously could not do.

OFF GAME PLAN: Give it up to Ludwig.  He played to the team’s strength.  Take the game out of his hands and put it into the hands of Brian Johnson to run and call the no-huddle offense.

BRIAN JOHNSON: Nick Saban said systematically he was the best QB they have faced this season.  He played and called an intelligent game.  He also showed his toughness playing most of the 2nd half with a Separated shoulder.

DEFENSE: They stopped the run and took advantage of the offense’s quick start by continuing to attack and confuse Parker-Wilson.  Gary Andersen went out on a high note and will surely be missed.

GOT THE BREAKS: Andre Smith’s suspension and his back-up Mike Johnson getting injured in the 1st half was huge but that’s football and Utah took advantage of the situation and made them pay.

WHITT OUTCOACHES 4-MILLION DOLLAR MAN: With that game plan and preparation, the athletic display of talent that equaled and bettered Bama only shows how far Coach Whitt has come as a head coach.  He may want to go to Dr. Chris Hill and ask for more cash because it would be deserving.

QUESTIONS:
DO THEY DESERVE TO BE #1?
-Some media members that vote in the AP poll will put them #1 due for their hatred of the BCS.  While Whittingham will try to put them #1, the coach’s poll automatically rewards the winner of the Championship game with that spot.  Some of the love they get in the polls will depend on if Florida or Oklahoma win impressively.  I do know this, they definitely deserve to be in the mix and it’s unfortunate they won’t due to the lack of a playoff. 

WAS THE WIN DOMINANT ENOUGH TO GET THE LOVE/CREDIT THEY DESERVE?
-Gordon and I argued about this a couple weeks ago and I was adamant that the national so-called experts would focus on what went wrong for Bama than the Utes.  But due to the impressive and dominant nature of the win I am wrong.  The Utes are getting all the love they deserve.

ARE THEY OFFICIALLY THE NON-BCS SUPER POWER?
-No question they are now above Boise State in this category.  As exciting as that BSU win was over Oklahoma a couple years ago, they did it with trickeration.  The Utes just lined up and played toe to toe with an SEC powerhouse.

WHAT ARE THE FUTURE BENEFITS OF THIS WIN?
-It further puts them on the map.  It will obviously help recruiting.  It should put them in the Top 25 to start next year.  In the bigger picture it should be a big blow to the BCS in moving things forward to a playoff.  I will believe that when I see it.  It should at least put them on the map to join a BCS conference (Pac 10, you paying attention?!) but again that’s probably more of a dream than reality.

WHICH TEAM IS BETTER…’04 OR ’08?
-The ’04 team was more dominant.  The ’08 team played the better schedule and I think had the better defense.  I would take ’08 head to head 28-27.

WHAT ABOUT NEXT YEAR?
-They will lose some playmakers offensively (Johnson, Mack, Godfrey, Casteel, Brown) but return Asiata, Wide, Reed, Brooks and Key.  Two on the offensive line will be gone (Hensel, Conley) but return their entire left side and center.  Defensively as long as Kruger or Smith don’t leave they should be dominant once again losing just Newman and McCain.  The key is who will emerge as QB and who will be the Offensive Coordinator.  If those two things come together they will be right in the mix again a year from now.

It took some work, but I got it done.