vancouvercougar wrote:

Yme wrote:

If we have a defense that is ok we should be able to outscore everyone on our schedule next year with the offensive talent we have returning. 4 starters on the O line is huge (I could be wrong on that number but that is what I remember.) 3 great RBs plus JJ. At WR we loose Allen but return Collie and Reed is listed as a jr...is that right? 3 good/great TE that are underclassmen now. We've all seen Hall's potential at Qb adn he will only get better. Our kicking game will be amazing with that kid from timpview. We'll have a good DL, and we should be ok at LB but inexperianced. I don't really know a lot about our DBs next year but our new DB coach is great so we should be ok there at worst. We do have to win our toughest conference games on the road, but I'm really likeing what I see for next year.

I have liked Sorensen at center when Aulai was out ( I think he played better)

Think ahead even further to 2009 when McKay Jacobson,Austin Colliem JJ Diluigi, HArvey Unga, Dennis Pitta, and Max Hall are all on the field at the same time.

Sorenson could be considered a returning starter in that before his mission he started at Center and was an SEC freshman all-american at that position. If he has started at center in the SEC he will be just fine next year as a junior starter.

We are loosing 2 of our 3 defensive line starters next year in Manumaleuna and Dulan to missions. However, Tialavea should be back and ready to play and I heard a rumor that Matagni Tonga will be enrolling back at BYU in January. Add to this the DT from Snow and other guys already on the team getting some experience and we should be fine again on the DL.

Next year definitely has all the makings to be a BCS-busting year. Also with how well Bronco is recruiting and how far he's brought the program every year could easily be a BCS-busting year, IMO.

Short_Changed wrote:

Next year definitely has all the makings to be a BCS-busting year. Also with how well Bronco is recruiting and how far he's brought the program every year could easily be a BCS-busting year, IMO.

Crazy to think how close last year was and how close this year will be to BCS busting after we roll the rest of the MWC. Wow. Who'd of thought.

Pwride wrote:

Reed is a JR, and the new kicker is from Bingham High school

Our LB's aren't that inexperienced. Nixon is back, and Doman is playing quite a bit (50% of the game.) This season Bauman is getting some good reps. We have some other great LBs in the wings ready to go as well.

Secondary we lose all the starters, but BYU had a very solid DB class last year and this year as well. Tafuna is redshirting and will return. BYU has really improved it's depth in the secondary and there is little drop off now when someone is subbed in. The defense will be reloading, not rebuilding.

two times in the last week ksl sports casters have said that reed was a sr. the last was during the byu coaches show (or whatever they call it now) last night where they did a m. reed player feature (which was pretty good). i was surprised to hear it, and happy to know they were wrong.

at some point i would like to hear more about the lb's that will move into bigger roles next year. doman and hooks are known, i'm wondering about some of the others.....

That probably needs a longer answer, but a short answer is Tolu Moala, a big play-maker from the JC ranks. He will be a great addition to next years corps.

Khinkaid wrote:

We are loosing 2 of our 3 defensive line starters next year in Manumaleuna and Dulan to missions. However, Tialavea should be back and ready to play and I heard a rumor that Matagni Tonga will be enrolling back at BYU in January. Add to this the DT from Snow and other guys already on the team getting some experience and we should be fine again on the DL.

To expand on what you said, of all the positions on the team, DL is the easiest for us to re-load. Just look at the last two years. Significant contributions have been required and made by freshman or redshirt freshman(Fuga, Tonga, Tialavea, Jorgenson, Dulan in '06 and Manamaleuna and Wolfley in 2007). We will have 4 contributors/starters back in Brett Denney (end), Jan Jorgenson (end), Russell Tialevea (NT), and Rick Wolfley (NT). With the guys we have coming in, we should be able to find some another good end or two, plus (as already mentioned) our 4-star tackle from Snow and we should be able to rotate 8-9 guys on the DL.