Jacob’s Blog

Unlike last year, this year I was able to attend the BYU vs. Utah game, and it was incredible. I was re-watching a recording of the end of this year’s game from Saturday, and with 1:13 left in the game, 4th down and 19 to go, the announcers made this comment:

Final play of the game offensively for BYU…

The actual last offensive play of the game for BYU came some 35 seconds of play clock later, as Max Hall threw a two point conversion pass to Collie just after Unga ran the ball in for a touch down, giving BYU a 7 point lead.

Please, announcers on the mtn. channel, don’t say a play is the last of the game unless it actually is.

Because I won’t be there to see it. The last two times BYU beat Utah in football were 2000 and 2001, which were the two seasons that I served my mission in Romania. My freshman year, 1999, BYU lost.

This year I’m in Oregon studying, which means that BYU will probably win because once again I won’t be there to see it.

I have some friends who are friends with BYU basketball player Gavin MacGregor who got some play time tonight. From the game recap:

Walk-on Gavin MacGregor made his first career appearance in the first half. In the second half MacGregor scored his first points as a Cougar. MacGregor also blocked a shot.

Now apparently these friends have taken to calling Gavin, “Gavinpants.” I’m not sure exactly why, but I remember being around these friends when Gavin called on the telephone only to hear them shout, “Gavinpants.”

One of these friends blogged about the game and cheering for “Gavinpants” (worth the read), and I thought I would like to hear at least the parts where Gavin played, and I excerpted those parts in this mp3 file (about 1 minute).

One thing that impressed me generally about the game is the second half dominance by BYU. I’ve watched so many games where the first half was commanding, only to loose the commanding lead early in the second half. That didn’t happen with this game, and I’m glad.

The following article is from 2006. Click here for 2007 Las Vegas Bowl information.

I’m not all knowing when it comes to football bowl games, but I do know enough to try and guess. The number 4 team from the Pac-10 will go to the Las Vegas Bowl to play BYU. It could be any of these teams: Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, and Washington State.
Continue reading Who will BYU play in the Las Vegas Bowl…

Today BYU will become the Mountain West Conference football champions. All they have to do is beat New Mexico at home. To get psyched up, I went to Google Video to watch some clips. I’ve been in Oregon and haven’t seen but one game on TV and one game live, and I don’t think I fully realized just how talented of a team BYU really is. Amazing. I’ve been listening to the games from KSL.com, and I know the team is good. They are really good. Normally during the last home game of the season they present blankets or whatever to the seniors on the team after the game. This year they are honoring the seniors before the game. I think that is because they want to leave time after the game to announce the championship and the bid to the Las Vegas bowl.

While I was at Google Video, I came across some video of Men’s basketball from last year. Specifically the most amazing BYU comeback I’ve ever seen. I was there, live, in the Marriott Center. It was truly amazing. With just over a minute left, I might had even lost hope in a BYU win, but I was wrong, and I was amazed. I hate to admit it, but watching this clip (below) I almost got a little teary eyed. allergies I’m sure. Anyway, hopefully we will continue to be amazed through the winter with BYU basketball.

BYU football seemed unstoppable tonight with their 55-7 win over Wyoming tonight. Both teams had the midas touch: BYU turning everything to gold and Wyoming turning everything to mufflers.

BYU turned things up a few degrees showing that they are indeed a top 25 team. BYU did more during the first half of play than many teams hope for in a full fame. By the time the teams walked into the locker room at half time, BYU held a 31-0 lead; especially impressive as Wyoming hasn’t scored 31 points in any half of any game this year, and only scored more than 31 points total in two games this year. Fortunately, Wyoming couldn’t mount any sort of comeback, only scoring once in the final few minutes of the game.

Particularly spectacular was the first drive of the game which started with a 84 yard kickoff return that almost was returned for a touchdown. Also great was the 77 yard punt return by McKay Jacobson that was returned for BYU’s last touchdown of the game.

With the win, BYU improves to 8-2, 6-0 MWC. The win guarantees BYU at least a share of the conference title, and almost certainly a trip to the Las Vegas bowl.

BYU gets the weekend off before facing New Mexico at home on the 18th. If BYU wins that game, they will have won the conference title outright. The Mountain West Conference Commissioner will be on hand to present the championship trophy should the Cougars win.

The BYU football team has finally broke into an elite group of football teams with the term, “ranked.” The associated press polls which ranks the top 25 college football teams were released this morning, and BYU just barely squeezed into the 25th spot. This is after the Cougars have won the last 6 games straight and every conference game they have played.

If the Cougars win any of their next three games, then they will do no worse than at least share the conference title. If they win any two of their next three games, then they will be the conference champion outright.

At this point, a trip to the Las Vegas bowl seems like a done deal. The Las Vegas bowl gets first pick from the conference, and after a BYU sell-out crowd last year, they will certainly want to pick BYU again this year.

The final games this year are Wyoming and New Mexico at home, followed by the Holy War at Utah.

I got back to Hillsboro today after watching BYU deliver a decimation to UNLV: 52 to 7. The win (and an Air Force loss to SDSU) puts BYU on top of the Mountain West Conference standings. While the game didn’t contain a lot of suspense, it was an awesome game, in the literal sense that I’m filled with awe about what BYU is capable of. Seriously, I am very impressed with the athleticism of the players and the team in general.

I also wanted to thank some friends who made watching the game very enjoyable. Thank you: C, C, S, W, A, K, K, B, and R. Having good friends like you makes life tons better. I love all of your guts.

This week is homecoming week at BYU. Of course the highlight will be the football game with BYU beating UNLV, and I’m going to be there! To get excited, I thought I would share a UofU joke I found on facebook:

Q: What is the difference between the U. of U. football team and a bowl of Cheerios?

A: The Cheerios belong in a bowl!

Lighter of Lamps? Fits in well with “Alive in You,” “Firm in the Fire,” and “Never stand still.”

It is a good thing that BYU played their football game last Thursday (and beat TCU!) because the scores just did not go my way today. Continue reading Bad day for the MWC…

of course i shouldn’t be surprised that things are not quite like provo, but this is hardly bigger than high school ball. tonight is portland state vs north colorado-and the 1st 2 noCol possessions ended in intercepted passes. more info after the game. Update:Portland State won, something like 45 to 3. I was mostly disappointed in the lack of energy from the student sections (only two sections). The game really wasn’t that interesting, but it was almost amusing during the first quarter or two how many Northern Colorado turnovers there were.

I just read a NewsNet article describing BYU’s record recruiting. Let me offer my perspective why I think BYU has done well with recruiting. It is all about out new head coach, Bronco Mendenhall.

If you have ever head Bronco speak about his football program, he is always talking about the men on the team. He mentions names specifically, and talks about their individual improvements. Bronco believes that developing character, strength, skill and integrity of his players is fundamental to developing the whole football program.

I think this type of individual concern and respect that BYU has for each of its players makes BYU a very attractive school to play with, and certainly an important in BYU’s recruiting efforts.

I just read this from BYUCougars.com that describes just how difficult it will be to participate in the BYU vs. Houston men’s basketball NIT game tonight. Basically, unless you want to go down to Houston, the only ways you can be informed about the game is either listening to KSL radio, or watching the delayed and buggy game tracker stat thingy.

Normally, you can listen to KSL over the internet, but that won’t even happen tonight. It also wont be on TV at all, not even tape delayed.

I just want to express my disapointment that there isn’t any way for me to watch this very exciting game. I don’t know who is at fault, but you are not on my good list today.

March madness is just around the corner. Unfortunately, when it comes to Basketball, March isn’t quite as fun because there are fewer home games. From now on (until next year), all my basketball will be on TV.

I was looking at BYU apparel (shirts and caps mostly) and found that Amazon.com has fairly competitive prices. I’m not looking into buying anything right now, but maybe next year I’ll get something.

Anyway, there is a nice BYU/UofU basketball rivalry on Thursday. I think that Utah was the last team to beat BYU, but that was only because so many of our players were sick. I’m making a victory cake, and anyone who wants to view the game is welcome over at my place to watch the game and eat cake. The game is a late one — it starts at about 10, but you are welcome over.

Update: BYU lost. Shoot.

Congradulations to BYU Men’s Basketball with their victory over New Mexico tonight. The win ends the regular season, with BYU in a tie for 2nd place in the Mountain West Conference.

The game tonight was one of the most exciting I’ve ever seen. President Monson even spoke at half time (which justifies skipping stake conference to go to the game).

BYU beat San Diego State University tonight with a score of 100 to 90. Good defense and good shooting seemed to be the key to tonight’s win. The officiating seemed mediocre at best, but it didn’t seem too favored.

This was an important win, as it only puts us a game and a half out of the conference lead. We are just going to need some luck now that San Diego State looses their next games.

Only two more home games left in the season. I should start looking now for someone to go with me.