BYU

So, as curious as I was for the Miami game, it did not end up telling me much.  I already knew that, with the benefit of several turnovers, we could jump out to a lead.  And I already knew that, if we did not execute very well for 2 quarters, we could give up that lead.  I was pleased that we fought back to tie the game (except for the extra point - is it my imagination or does this happen to us a lot more than anybody else?).  And, if you had told me before the game that we would be driving at Miami's 30 or so, within 1 score, with 6-7 minutes left, I'd have probably taken that and said let's roll the dice.

Given how the game played out (7 turnovers and a lot of sloppiness both ways) its hard to say if the Vegas spread was the indicator I thought it might be.  The only thing that game really proved was that Miami has better talent than we do - but everybody knew that already too.  We just did not know how much more talented.  In  my opinion, the game did not do a very good job of showing us just how big the gap was.  At times we looked like we could not force 2nd down.  I am not sure if I've ever seen GT give up more plays of 20+ yards.  But at other times, we actually got stops.  Make one more play on 3rd and 15, with the game tied 17-17, or 3rd and 2 with Miami driving to seal the game, or our own 4th and 7, and the ending might have been more interesting.

In the end I was pleased with the way we fought, but not pleased at all with our efficiency.  We continue to make unforced errors and play inefficiently.  Some of that should have been expected from Vad this season, as he matures.  But most of the other players are experienced and, especially the offensive line, should be executing smoothly and making Vad's job easier.  Instead, it usually has been the opposite.  This is not to take anything away from Miami and Virginia Tech.  Both forced many errors on our part as well, and Miami committed many unforced errors of their own.

Despite the at times pitiful looking effort from the defense, I'm still generally happy with the play from that unit this season.  We will face exactly 2 more offenses that have Miami caliber talent - Clemson and UGA.  And UGA seems to lose 1 playmaker per week, so who knows what they'll be trotting out by the time that game gets here.  I'd rather not give up 500 yards and 45 points when we play those two, but there is hope.  Obviously, 7 of Miami's points came on a garbage time pick 6, which should not be counted against the defense.  Furthermore, if we clean up a few fundamental issues, we might have only conceded 28-31 points to Miami.  Holding either of Clemson or UGA to that kind of number would be considered a success.  And I do believe its possible.  At this point of the season, the defense appears to be our strongest unit.  Which is the first time that has been the case since 2008.  The optimist in me can't ignore the coincidence that 2008 was the last time we beat UGA, and that season had a very similar feel to this one.  That team was led by a good defense for 2/3 of the year, until the offense got in sync, and then a good defense slowed down a loaded UGA offense just barely enough.  Another loaded UGA offense awaits us at Thanksgiving, but once again, the UGA defense is vulnerable if our offensive execution improves.  As it appears we are now out of the ACC race, the most important goal in my mind should be improving every week, with an eye toward that UGA game.  I'd of course also like to win as many games as we can and keep the bowl streak alive.  But beating UGA would put a much more positive spin on what has to date been a disappointing season.  I don't think that result is nearly as far fetched as most fans of both teams probably do, at this point.

Anyway, on to BYU.  After dominating us last year in Atlanta, one would think they might be overconfident for this game.  They did lose 7 starters on defense, including their entire defensive line, but nevertheless, return a good unit.  I believe we will have considerably more success offensively than last season, but that still may be only about 14-20 points.  Despite what I would still call poor execution against Miami, overall, I saw improvement from the Virginia Tech game in this area.  With a similar degree of improvement this week, we might be able to score 28 or 31 on this defense, but we won't approach that number unless we play markedly better than we have.

Most likely, our defense will have to win this game for us.  The good news is that BYU is not a very good offense, and is mostly one dimensional.  We are probably the best defense they have faced, which is strange considering they played Texas.  But the Longhorns are a very talented team on paper that so far has put an oddly bad product on the field.  BYU torched Texas, but was pretty well shut down by a solid if unspectacular Utah defense, and just a plain unspectacular UVA team.  They have looked better in the past two weeks, but one of those games was Middle Tennessee State, which is not impressive.  The other was Utah St., but its not clear yet just how good they might be.

While BYU's passing attack has looked better of late, I still don't think its very good.  They are probably the best running attack we have faced so far (the only candidate to beat them would be Miami - but they are much more difficult to defend with an excellent passing attack).  Ted Roof's profile at his previous schools has generally been a very good run defense but a porous pass defense.  However, with this unit, we have mostly been defending teams that pass better than they run (certainly Duke and UNC are in this category, and VT because their rushing offense is atrocious, and probably Miami although they are good at both).  Roof's defenses have been built on two  principles - 1) stop the run, and 2) affect the QB.  Those two goals are one and the same tomorrow, as BYU's QB, Taysom Hill, is both their leading rusher and leading passer.

We will see if Roof and the defense are up to the task.  BYU remains much better defensively than offensively.  They are a team that, if you beat them, you generally beat them 19-16 or 20-13, as Utah and UVA showed earlier this year.  I expect both teams score somewhere around 20 points.  Whether we lose 24-20 or win 21-17 will likely be determined by who takes care of the ball, and who makes the plays in the 4th quarter.

Hopefully, this team, and its quarterback, starts to grow up and learns to win.

I have an oddly good feeling despite being 6.5 point underdogs on the road.  I was terrified by VT (correctly) and curious but pessimistic (correctly) for Miami.  Let's hope my feeling is correct again.

Go Jackets!