Second, the title is a joke.

Mostly.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait for fall camp to begin and to sit in LES again to watch my beloved Cougars. It can be measured in weeks, not months, and that fact alone is reason to celebrate.

But there is something special happening right now in the BYU recruiting world which is making national waves. Unless you have been under a rock, you have undoubtedly heard that Jake Heaps (6’2, 195), the number 1 rated QB* in the class of 2010, committed to BYU last month. Heaps is not only a superb (and never defeated in high school play) quarterback, but possibly the best recruiter outside of Pete Carroll on the west coast, and Heaps doesn’t have the benefit of being buddies with Will Ferrell.

Heaps orchestrated the public announcement at Iggy’s in Salt Lake on June 4th to let the world know that he had chosen BYU over offers from all over the country, but also convinced Ross Apo (6’4, 190) to decommit from Texas and commit to BYU. Oh yeah…don’t forget Mr. Zac Stout (6’2, 220), the #5 middle linebacker in the country. Then Heaps hit the phones, with the help of his new found future teammates, got to work.

There are reports that Heaps & Co. are working on some big time national recruits, names like Josh Shaw, a four-star corner with offers from schools like USC and Notre Dame, are popping up. Current cougar targets, like Missouri speedster Brandon Bourbon (6’1, 209) are hearing directly from Heaps to convince him to come add to the 2010 class.

Players that have since pledged their services to BYU include:

-Tayo Fabuluje (6’6, 265) – A massive defensive lineman with offers from several PAC-10 and SEC teams.  And Ross Apo’s teammate at Oakridge High School in Arlington.

-Jordan Johnson (5’10, 175) – A non-LDS corner from Massachusetts with an offer from UConn.

-Kona Schwenke (6’5, 220) – Considered one of the best freshman in the country a few years back, this national recruit filled out on the defensive line and garnered offers from schools in the Big 12 and PAC-10.

We’ll spend the next few months getting acquainted with some of the less heralded players, but there is plenty to get excited about for 2010.

Possibly the best news of all is that Jake Heaps, Kyle Van Noy (one of the top 2009 commits that was asked to wait due to some issues), and Ross Apo will all be arriving at BYU in January, enabling them to participate in the spring practices to compete for starting spots in 2010.

So while I will enjoy 2009 immensely, in the back of my head at every game will be the thought:

“Heaps is coming.”

*I need to give a shout-out at this point to Brandon Gurney and Talo Steves over at Total Blue Sports (byu.scout.com) who cover BYU like no one else can. All of the rankings and measurables are pulled from their site.  If you can’t get enough of recruiting, sign up for way more information than any adult needs about high school football.

For the past few years, the MWC has pushed to be included at the BCS table. Then when Plan A didn’t happen and Utah smoked another BCS Big Name in one of their own bowls and finished #2 in the nation despite an unblemished record, the league decried the evils of the BCS before a congressional panel (Senator Hatch and a couple of other guys that left early) and demanded its dissolution in favor of a playoff. Now, it seems like the league is back to angling for BCS inclusion in a couple of years.

You want to know what the rest of the nation thinks of the MWC now? Something along the lines of this little dagger, courtesy of EviLBettyLSU on ESPN.com:

“They are suing the BCS for violations of anti-trust laws which they themselves would aparently [sic] willingly violate by proclaiming their eagness [sic] to join the BCS now and in the past… heck noble utah and the robin hood MWC DEMAND to be included in this ‘corrupt’ system… isn’t that the same thing as condoning or [validating] the BCS? isn’t that the VERY definition of hypocricy [sic]?”

Ouch. Yeah, it’s a comment from an obvious fan of the one of the biggest cartel schools, but Betty nailed the MWC right between the eyes with that one.

This tactical blunder has made the league look very silly and perhaps forfeit a lot of the momentum that was building towards joining the club or tearing it down. You can’t run around telling everyone that the lady of your affections is a tramp and a phony and expect her to turn around and go out with you.

I’ll admit it – I’m guilty, too. For about three years, I was totally on board for lobbying to join the BCS, whether by raising the profile of the MWC or by the Cougs jumping ship to an existing BCS league if given the opportunity. But I HATE the BCS. It IS unfair and anti-competitive. It has almost eliminated the focus on academics. I want to see it razed to the ground. No stone left upon another and all of that. My friends, I am a hypocrit.

So now the question is, how do we reconcile two goals that are completely at odds with one another? It’s either beat ‘em or join ‘em, because we can’t try both at the same time. Not with any dignity.

I hate to say it, but I think the MWC should have kept its trap shut and continued to let the on-field evidence mount. Three or four more regular season wins against BCS teams, another BCS bowl appearance/win, two or three teams in the Top 25 on a regular basis…all drops in a bucket, filling imperceptibly but surely.

I think the only way to beat the BCS, at least in the foreseeable future, IS to join it. The non-AQ leagues just need to keep pressing for inclusion, with the MWC perched as the leading candidate to eventually accomplish this feat.

If the MWC can continue to win big games, have multiple teams ranked highly every year, and win a BCS bowl every couple of years, the BCS will have to grudgingly accept them as an AQ conference. Once the MWC gets in, its member schools will be able to recruit more successfully against the traditional Goliaths, spreading the talent more evenly and minimizing the gap between the front of the pack and everybody else.

I imagine that if the MWC were able to pull off such a monumental revolution, it would follow that other non-AQ leagues might get within striking distance as well, what with the talent spread that much thinner and the constant battery of PR work on behalf of the have-nots.

As the wins over big-name schools increase in subsequent years, the BCS would have no choice but to give more and more access to current non-AQ leagues until the playing field has magically leveled by itself. Maybe it takes 20 years to bring the whole thing down, but better late than never.

Anyway, that’s what the MWC should have done. Play nice. Keep the enemy close. Make them think we’re buddies, all the while waiting for the perfect moment to take the next big step. All the progress the MWC and other non-AQ leagues have made to this point has come in short bursts just like that.

Utah’s 2004 run to the Fiesta Bowl broke down the first huge barrier. Armed with that accomplishment, non-AQ leagues drummed up enough support to loosen access to the BCS. Boise State capitalized on that and struck another justifying blow, qualifying in the top 12 and winning another Fiesta Bowl.

Utah’s exclusion from the BCS Championship seemed to a lot of people (mostly Ute fans) a sufficiently gross miscarriage of justice to make another big push. But it wasn’t. The strength-of-schedule wasn’t there. People knew the Utes lucked out in two of their biggest regular season wins (Oregon State and TCU), both at home. No quality road opponents. Nothing to sneeze at, either, but certainly not enough to talk BCS Championship.

By overreaching, the MWC may have cost themselves another year or two of having to pile up the proof that they belong. National pundits are back in “show me” mode rather than focusing on the on-field progress the conference has made. The luster of a few good seasons of strong finishes and nationally ranked teams has become a bit tarnished and dusty on the shelf.

Let’s hope the Mountain West’s big dogs are ready and able to turn the momentum back in their favor.

Flickr image by trekkyandy

Hey! [pfff] [pfff] Is this thing on?

What’s up? Peter and I thought it might be fun to dust off the ol’ blog and have another go at it. We dropped off pretty suddenly last time around, as we both had significant life changes in a pretty short amount of time. Namely, we both got jobs that mattered.

At least for me, it was good to take a break. I can only imagine what I might have written about some of those games last year, what with the early promise of a landmark season that went a little sour. But those days are over. It’s time to have some fun again.

To you readers, all five of you, we hope you’ll tolerate the change of pace we’ve planned for the Legion.  A little less intense, a little less frequent, and hopefully a lot more enjoyable for everybody.

We’ll be posting our traditional editorials a couple of times per week, with some shorter posts mixed in during the week. I’ll be posting links to news and other pearls several times per week to help everybody stay abreast of the online chatter regarding the Cougars as well.

So, if you’d like to start coming by the site again, great! If you think we’re hacks with nothing to add to the conversation, that’s fine, and you’re probably right. Our ambitions for the project have settled back to just having fun and connecting with other fans.

We hope you enjoy the new attitude. We’ll try our best to make everything relevant and interesting and we invite you to socialize with us and other readers in a manner that’s consistent with what BYU stands for.

Off we go then…

1. Establish the run: Geeh, Peter, insightful and piercing commentary.  BYU has looked awful at best trying to run against UCLA.  During the bowl game the defensive line was jumping the gaps and blowing up the running game before it could get started.  Unga had 17 yards on 18 carries.  UCLA is confident in their secondary to man up on BYU’s receivers and tight ends so they will load the box and dare BYU to throw outside.  If BYU can establish a run game (even if its just 50-75 yards in the first half) expect BYU’s offense to roll. Why do I think its possible?  Here is an interesting stat: BYU is 9th in the nation in tackles for loss allowed (just 2.5 per game.) Fui Vakapuna looks like he is having a jolly good time at fullback, blowing up defenders, opening holes for Unga to romp on the poor secondary.  If BYU can rush for 100 yards, BYU wins by 2 touchdowns.

2.  Keep Hall upright: Hall is a gamer.  A maverick.  A gun-slinger.  Word on the street is he has “it.”  He will stay in the pocket as long as he needs to make the pass.  Last year as BYU was driving to take the lead in Westwood a blindside hit jarred the ball loose and BYU’s January dreams evaporated in a blue-hued smoke.  So far, BYU has allowed no sacks (Utah can retain its “sackless” designation) and if they can keep him upright for the game that is a good thing.  I don’t doubt Hall’s ability to rebound from a hit, but an injury to Hall not only compromises BYU’s ability to win tomorrow’s big game but the whole season.

3. Receivers need to win the battles: Stacking the box against any team is inviting an air attack which seems very dangerous against a loaded BYU arsenal.  Collie had an uncharacteristically bad day last Saturday but still ended up with a handful of catches.  Last year Verner, one of the better cover corners in the country, had a hard time keeping up with Collie and could be a big day for Austin and Reed.  Pitta was kept out of the game by a physical defender (safety) who shadowed him every time he was in the game (Utah tried this as well.)  If BYU can open up the air raid and force UCLA to play honest defense, it will open up some nice lanes for Unga & Co. and vice versa.

4. Stop the big play: BYU’s defense has been sufficiently stingy besides for the occasional long play (long run by UNI and trick play, long pass for TD against Washington.)  BYU’s safeties need to play smarter as UCLA’s QB can be much more accurate than any foe thus far.  BYU needs to get good backfield penetration against a young and inexperienced UCLA offensive line to force bad throws.  Linebackers need to play assignment sound and fill their gaps. BYU allowed far too many 3rd and long completions (92nd in the country with 46.9%)  Take away the big plays and BYU rolls.

5.  Take the ball away: BYU has done a horrible job at taking the ball away from opponents (2 fumble recoveries, good for 106th in the country.)  If BYU is negative in the turnover margin they will have a hard time pulling away from a scrappy UCLA team.  BYU needs to get their first interception of the season, which shouldn’t be hard if the first half Craft (4 ints against Tennessee) shows up.

6. Win the position battle: Sorensen needs to put the ball in the endzone every time.  That itself should swing the victory to BYU’s side.

My prediction: BYU 35 – UCLA 17

BYU gets out to a quick start, 14-7 (defensive miscue allows a long UCLA TD) in the first quarter.  BYU gets out to 28-10 by halftime and cruises to victory.  Unga stuns UCLA with 120 yards and 2 touchdowns.  A linebacker gets the first pick of the season.  The media forgets about the Washington call and starts touting BYU as a real BCS threat.  I win the lottery.  Okay, last two are near impossible, but I can only hope.

Note: I am in Southern California for a business trip and will miss the live game.  The odds of me getting all the way back to SLC tomorrow night without hearing the score are slim to none, but I’m going to try (hence my disappearing from tomorrow’s conversation.)

GO COUGARS!

I’m not saying BYU deserved to lose. We all saw the complete lack of officiating competence up to that point that kept Washington in the game. I’m just saying that I’m glad it worked out for the Cougars in the end. They took advantage of an unexpected opportunity and decided the game for themselves. It’s a nice change of pace from three to four years ago when BYU found ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Let’s hand out some game balls:

• Offensive Line: Even if the game had been played on natural grass, Hall’s jersey still wouldn’t have any stains on it. Near-perfect pass protection after a few hiccups last week. Punishing run blocking. It was great to see the improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. UCLA will be the stiffest test for the O-line this year, much stiffer than UW, so we’ll see if the hogs can continue to raise their game.
• Harvey Unga: 23 carries for 136 yards (stats from ESPN). Had the biggest impact on the game of anybody, thanks to the O-line. It never gets old watching him tote the rock. So big and powerful, but so fluid and agile. I’ve never seen anything like him in a Cougar uniform. As for his fumble, I wonder if it happened because Unga was gassed. They showed him on the sideline after the fumble and he was sucking wind like he had just finished the Beep Test. He had a lot of consecutive carries on that drive, if I remember right. With my amazing 20/20 hindsight, I think Unga should have been subbed out before that play.
• Dennis Pitta: If Pitta doesn’t have to twist himself into a pretzel to go for the ball, he makes the catch. 10 catches, 148 yards and a TD. UCLA had better spend a good deal of time this week trying to figure out how to take Pitta out of the game, if that’s possible.