Conference USA Football Season Preview 2010

Conference USA has made some noise the last few years with multiple wins against top teams from BCS automatic qualifying conferences. The conference will build on the recent success this year.

1. Who will win the conference? Houston Cougars. Houston will hold off a steep challenge in the west division by SMU, but Case Keenum’s senior leadership will carry the Cougars to the conference championship game. Memories of the loss in 2009 will lead to a big win by Houston.

2. Who is the top returning player? Case Keenum, Houston. Keenum has passed for over 5,000 yards two years in a row. He tossed 44 touchdown passes in 2009, while adding four scores on the ground.

3. Which team will be the most improved? Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes will rebound from the 5-7 season a year ago. With a year under his belt, G.J. Kinne will have the offense clicking again, and this Tulsa team will more resemble the 2007 and 2008 teams that won 10 and 11 games.

4. What will be the biggest surprise? Case Keenum will go to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. With monster numbers to go along with the conference championship, Keenum will earn enough respect from the voters that he will be invited to New York for the announcement.

5. Which coach is on the hottest seat? Bob Toledo, Tulane. A 4-8 season followed by 2-10 and 3-9 is enough to get any coach on the hot seat. Tulane needs to push for bowl eligibility for Toledo to keep his job.

PERSPECTIVE: IT'S A BYU THING

As much as I love BYU and as much as I like to present the up side of issues for BYU, I am seriously concerned that BYU will never go undefeated again. It is not a talent thing; it’s not a schedule thing. It’s a BYU thing. Florida State, yes THE Florida State, came to town last week, and the BYU defense was no where to be found. Maybe I am crazy, but I don’t understand how you don’t come ready to play. Consider the following:

• If you beat Florida State you have beaten one of the upper echelon programs in all of college football.
• Florida State is coached by the legendary Bobby Bowden. How impressed will your children and grandchildren be to know that you beat a Bobby Bowden coached team?
• This is the first home game of the season when you can reward your fan base who has been supporting you by showing up at the airport in the middle of the night when you come home from your road trips.
• If you win much of the college football world is willing to consider you as a legitimate national championship contender.
• If you don’t win, the BCS is a very long shot.

Many people want to blame the loss on BYU being slower than Florida State. That is not true. Yes, Florida State has more speed than BYU, on both sides of the ball. If speed was the issue, why could the offense move the ball at will on the Florida State defense? If speed was the issue, why could the BYU defense stop the Oklahoma running backs from getting to the corner and limit Oklahoma to 265 total yards? Florida State’s speed isn’t that much faster than Oklahoma’s speed is it? It’s not a speed thing; it’s a BYU thing.

Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall further convinced me that it is a BYU thing when he explained BYU’s lost due to “27 simple assignment errors.” Let me say it again this way: How do you have “27 simple assignment errors” in a game that had so much on the line? It’s a BYU thing. As a life long BYU fan, and a BYU graduate, I cannot deny that BYU is a special institution with a divine purpose and mission. I even believe that this special and divine aspect reaches into all university endeavors—including football. The BYU football team feels the same way. All this is fine and dandy. There are certain things about you that you cannot change, so there is no sense in ignoring your identity. The problem for BYU comes when the players start to have an attitude of entitlement.

I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).

Players with an attitude of entitlement read the above citation and they start to think they don’t need to work as hard, they start to think all they have to do is show up and success will fall into their laps, they start to become mediocre. This is the BYU thing. We stop after we hear about our greatness and the promises for being chosen for a special purpose, and we neglect to fulfill our duty.

For of him unto whom much is given much is required; ... I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise (D&C 82:3, 10).

Therefore, after a season opening upset against Oklahoma and a way to easy blowout of Tulane, the entitlement attitude set in, the players took a mediocre approach to preparing for the next game, and the undefeated season that could have been was lost because the players “do not what I say.” Go back to 2008. By the time BYU completed its non-conference schedule unbeaten, the entitlement attitude proved costly as TCU showed BYU was not entitled to a third consecutive undefeated conference record. Go back to 1996. BYU was 2-0 and flying up the rankings. They took their show on the road to Washington and thought they should worry more about the socks they would wear than the actual game. Sixty minutes later perfection was out of the question as Washington won 29-17. That was the team's only loss that year. Unless BYU can change the prevailing attitude I am fear that I will never see BYU go a whole year without losing a game.

HEISMAN HOPEFULS, WEEK 2

Week 2 helped clear the Heisman picture. Jimmy Clausen played very well, but his team lost, so that moves him down a notch or two. Jahvid Best is my new number one--over 10 yards per carry and almost 300 yards in two games. Max Hall did what he needed to do against Tulane, but a few more TD passes without that interception would have helped. Colt McCoy does not look like his 2008 self, and what was that 13-10 score to Wyoming at halftime? Dropping from the list this week will be Eric Berry (he has not done anything yet this year), Terrell Pryor (he has great talent, but still very raw), Zac Robinson and Kendall Hunter for Oklahoma State (Robinson is a hybrid QB who is slighly above average in a high powered offense, and Hunter isn't even the leading rusher on his team, so far). As for adding new candidates, Case Keenum, Houston, and Tate Forcier, Michigan, are close, but I am more about trimming the list than making it grow. If they continue to impress and consistently outperform the rest on this list, they will be added. One final note for clarification, on quarterbacks the first TD number is the touchdown passes and the second in parentheses is rushing touchdowns in addition to the passing touchdowns, so 2TD (2 rush TD) means the quarterback accounted for 4 touchdowns.

Tim Tebow, Florida, 15 completions 24 attempts, 237 yards, 4 TD (1 rush TD),(25-39, 425, 5 TD, 2 rush TD)

Colt McCoy, Texas, 30-47, 337, 3 TD, 1 INT (1 rush TD), (51-76, 654, 5 TD, 2 INT, 1 rush TD)

Max Hall, BYU, 24-32, 309, 2 TD, 1 INT, (50-70, 638, 4 TD, 3 INT)

Jevan Snead, Ole Miss, DID NOT PLAY, (12-22, 175, 2 TD, 2 INT)

Jahvid Best, Cal, 17-144, 1 TD (1 TD catch), (27-281, 3 TD, 1 TD catch)

Terrell Pryor, Ohio State, 11-25, 177, 1 INT (25/46, 351, 1 TD, 2 INT, 2 rush TD) will not continue to track

Daryl Clark, Penn State, 20-31, 240, 3 TD, 1 INT (49-71, 593, 6 TD, 2 INT)

Jaquizz Rodgers, Oregon State, 26-166, 1 TD (42-269, 4 TD)

Kellen Moore, Boise State, 16-26, 307, 4 TD, 1 INT (35-55, 504, 5 TD, 1 INT)

Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame, 25-42, 336, 3 TD (40-60, 651, 7 TD)

Eric Barry, Tennessee, will not continue to track

Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, 5 receptions 85 yards, 1 punt TD (8-162, 2 TD, 1 punt TD)

GAME PREVIEW: BYU vs. Tulane

The most important thing to watch in this game is how BYU follows up its stunning upset of Oklahoma. Will BYU suffer a letdown and lose or win narrowly? Or will BYU come out with the same intensity and light up the scoreboard en route to an easy win? Tulane is coming off a 2-10 season in 2008, and 2009 started with a 37-13 loss to Tulsa. While BYU cracked the top 10 this week, Tulane has a home in the ESPN.com Bottom 10. As odd as it may sound, this game could provide the greatest insight as to how good this Cougar team will be. The way they play will reveal their maturity and how they handle success, which are essential ingredients that separates a physically gifted team from a great team. If they jump up early and don’t let up until the final whistle, this could be the dream season we hoped for last year. If they struggle and pull away late, or not at all, to win, I would not count on this team going undefeated.