BYU Football: Another Season of Possibility, Unforgettable Moments

Taysom. Mitch. Bronson. Fred.

Offense. Defense. Special teams.

Long bombs. Punishing runs. Pick sixes. Goal line stands.

It's football week.

Welcome, BYU fans, to the 2015 season. No more grinding over tidbits dribbled from fall camp or re-watching last year's best moments just to get a fix. This week, the endless spirals of speculation give way to the clean spirals of the pigskin, and what we think and presume and guess will crash headlong into the reality on the field--for good or for ill.

Sports are not like movies. They both have drama, story lines, and characters, but there is no pre-prescribed ending, no carefully constructed rising action, no fabricated character development. Whether the good guys--your team, naturally--win is almost entirely up in the air.

At times, shepherds will slay giants. Others... well, giants will do as giants do.

That infinite uncertainty, or in other words, infinite possibility is what draws us. When two teams that have worked, and schemed, and trained, and bled to achieve an objective--the victory--even the greatest experts can seldom clearly predict the outcome.

But attempting to predict the season is the mana in the long desert of the offseason. Especially this year, when BYU fans got to spend the many months looking down the long list of big-name programs that await the Cougars in their fifth year of football independence:

Nebraska. Boise State. UCLA. Michigan.

And those are just September.

With such a mammoth schedule to overcome, guessing the product of the season brings even the most optimistic of fans closer to Earth. 8 wins, some say: that's a gauntlet, and they'll be lucky to get that many. 10 wins, others say: we've got that superhuman known as Taysom Hill at quarterback, and if he can--no, he will stay healthy and lead the team to a special, if not magical, season.

Undefeated? There are a few who even presume to dream that far.

In all likelihood, it won't pan out that way. There might instead be another 2014 UCF or (heaven forbid) another at Boise State--take your pick. But with this kind of schedule, even if the Cougars are unable to manage a miraculous clean slate, there's also another possibility: you might get another 2009 Oklahoma. Or, if the stars truly align, another 1990 Miami.

That's what we are all on the doorstep of. Unforgettable things can happen every year. The Cougars just need to take care of one thing first:

Nebraska.


Quick hits:

Women's Soccer
At times the Cougars were playing with fire against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, especially in the second half. Some sloppy passing and uneven play kept them from making much headway. Junior Ashley Hatch had an early goal in their sharp-passing period in the 16th minute of play, the 26th of her career.  But then nothing in the scoring column for 60 anxious game minutes of dangerous attacks by Nebraska until Michelle Murphy Vasconselos put in a lucky, bouncing goal with 15 minutes to go. It was good to see Murph get a reward for her hard work through the first three games. With the third straight 2-0 victory, the Cougars are 3-0-0.

The next one is against Utah Friday Sept 5 at 7:00 PM on BYUtv. The last three games between the Cougars and the Utes have ended 1-0 in favor of the home team--and usually by penalty kick. You should really watch this game.

YOU SHOULD REALLY WATCH THIS GAME.


Tweet of the Week:

@DurrantMark
"Utes seem offended I think BYU is the greatest school on Earth. I'm sad they don't feel that way about their school, but I totally get it."

Oh yeah... and #ThugMormons. Yes, that happened.

Quote of the Week

"That's one of the great things about sports and about football, there's some unexplained reasons why certain things happen. I've given up trying to figure it out." 

Lavell Edwards

Upcoming Games:

WVLB Sept 4, 2015 at Saint Louis 7:00 PM CDT Video Stream
WSOC Sept 4, 2015 vs Utah 7:00 PM MDT TV BYUtv Radio ESPN 960/Cougar IMG Sports Network
WVLB Sept 5, 2015 neutral Purdue 12:00 PM CDT Audio Stream
FTB Sept 5, 2015 at Nebraska 1:30 PM MDT TV ABC National Radio KSL 102.5 FM/ESPN 960/Cougar IMG Sports Network
WVLB Sept 5, 2015 neutral Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4:30 PM CDT Live Stats
WSOC Sept 7, 2015 at Stanford 7:00 PM PDT Radio ESPN 960/Cougar IMG Sports Network