I was proud of the Cougars for battling and for overcoming some very tough calls and some lopsided officiating but in the end John Beck's inability to make the "big drive" in the big game, killed us. I don't understand John, he made several big time plays on the 2nd to last drive to get us to 35-28 and then can't get it done (again!) when it really counts. As he said himself in an article in the D-News what really counts in the end is wins and he hasn't won enough of them. He's 12-14 as a starter and the 13th and 14th loses really hurt. Sadly, I don't see things changing next year because I think it's in his head now and he simply doesn't have the magic when it counts.

Other thoughts on the game....Congrats to the D for holding Cal in the 4th quarter. Our secondary are the worst tacklers and D-Backfield in Modern BYU history, it killed us not having M. Brown in the middle, and our special teams hurt us badly at times. I thought Watkins looked sharper then he has all season and I thought we should have gone to him more then we did, including deep. That was the Todd Watkins that we expected, great game Bro---thanks for your work---we'll miss you. I loved the call to Tahi on the 2nd touchdown---we shoved it down their throat. Cal is very athletic, and well coached but with just a decent secondary and M. Brown we beat them.

Getback

I was proud of the Cougars for battling and for overcoming some very tough calls and some lopsided officiating but in the end John Beck's inability to make the "big drive" in the big game, killed us. I don't understand John, he made several big time plays on the 2nd to last drive to get us to 35-28 and then can't get it done (again!) when it really counts. As he said himself in an article in the D-News what really counts in the end is wins and he hasn't won enough of them. He's 12-14 as a starter and the 13th and 14th loses really hurt. Sadly, I don't see things changing next year because I think it's in his head now and he simply doesn't have the magic when it counts.

Other thoughts on the game....Congrats to the D for holding Cal in the 4th quarter. Our secondary are the worst tacklers and D-Backfield in Modern BYU history, it killed us not having M. Brown in the middle, and our special teams hurt us badly at times. I thought Watkins looked sharper then he has all season and I thought we should have gone to him more then we did, including deep. That was the Todd Watkins that we expected, great game Bro---thanks for your work---we'll miss you. I loved the call to Tahi on the 2nd touchdown---we shoved it down their throat. Cal is very athletic, and well coached but with just a decent secondary and M. Brown we beat them.

No way, BYU was only in the game because John Beck was having a great game. He ran well and passed well and was leading his team to a comeback. Both of his interceptions came while he was throwing the ball, its hard to fault someone for that.

As for the secondary, I just don't know what to say. I guess after a month of not seeing them play I forgot about their inability to tackle. I don't know where the mentality that if I hit you you should fall down comes from. Its amazing that you can be at this level and not know how to wrap someone up.

Great effort and the outcome was probably just as it should have been. Cal had the better team I think but BYU sure fought back. In fact I think the coach at Cal is an idiot. Cal would have had this game easily in the bag if they had played to their strength and just jammed it down our throat. By the 4th quarter the score might have been the same but there is no way we would have been able to stop them.

I thought the Cougars made it interesting at least. I do not agree on Beck. He played a fine game. Both interceptions were deflected balls, not errant passes. The biggest difference again is the quality of the athlete. BYU is still a long way away from being able to field teams with the kind of athletes that some of the top conferences attract. The big difference now is that previous Edwards teams were able to play above their abilities. Bronco hasn't quite got that figured out yet, but I think he may get there. We have had only a handful of blue chippers in our history. Some PAC 10 teams get a handful every year. Bronco does seem to be able to inspire the team to some extent. Hopefully that will grow. The way the game started, lots of teams would have given up early. Hats off to the Cougars for their tenacity. They were outmanned by those RB's and DB's but they hung in there.

Speaking of tackling issues ... there's an LDS all-state LB named Brandon Ogletree from McKinney TX who had 140 tackles as a junior and 160 as a senior. But BYU coaches have only asked him to send in some highlight tapes -- they're not sure if he's good enough to play in Provo. He's 6 ft., 220 lbs, 4.6 forty, deep snapper. He knows how to hit, wrap up, and tackle against very good competition. Oh well. :?:

BYU ran head to head with Cal and the commentator mentioned Cal should be a #5 team at open of next year. BYU also returns many key
players and had the secondary been in place the crazy long runs
would not have been there for them.

BYU equaled or supassed Cal in total yards (box score not in yet).
There were missed opportunities for BYU so no excuses, but if the
game was called correctly there is no doubt in my mind it would be a
BYU win.

1. I saw no less than three tackles by Cals OFFENSIVE lineman.
(none where called.) These were tackles not holding! Holding exceeding this by far with no calls.


2. All three reviews ended up wrong!!.

A. A very obvious dropped TD pass they counted for Cal
B. A first down for BYU negated after obvious controlled catch was stripped.
C. Decrease in yardage after review on another call.

Those were 3 no doubters, no question, no arguments that were not called
Correctly after review! The commentator was wrong 3 times in a row
After being correct all year.


3. There was another roughing the kicker penalty that should have been called.
4. Another Very obvious roughing the passer way after the ball was thrown.

5. several other obvious HOLDS on our receivers not ticky tack interference.

I have never made mention of a badly officiated game but this one takes the cake! You live with a few bad calls and you overcome them .. but when obvious Review shows a dropped ball in the endzone and first down BYU that erases Cals last opportunity to score before half. Cal didn

I can't disagree MORE about the comments about Beck. It just isn't possible to come close to agreeing that he did poorly.

He did great. What we should be ashamed of was that three rushing Dlineman put enough pressure to force Beck to come forward and give them a chance to hit his arm.

If anything this game proved how terribly we need defensive backs. That score over the last 38 seconds of the half was completely unacceptible. ARGH!

But, I can completely agree on the officiating comment though. I hate the bias against BYU...