penncougar wrote:

Pwride wrote:

Just for perspective:

BYU offense loses:
Center
WR
FB

BYU defense loses:
2 MLBs
1 OLB
2 CBs
2 Safeties

Just for Clarification, Was Matt Allen actually considered a starter. I assume that we had two wide receivers on the starting roster, Collie and Reed, and that Matt Allen was #3 and the backup. Also, I don't want to get nit picky, but was Semanoff actually the starter, or was Tonga the starter.

The only reason I'm picking this apart is that you could look at it through extreme blue goggles to say that we only lost one actual starter on Offense. Fowler could be considered a starter if you use the rational of Devil Puncher and look at the two deep of the last game to say that we only lose 6 starters on Defense instead of seven. This is a very glass half full mentality, but its true...:cheer: :cheer:

I think we will really miss Matt Allen. He had great hands and was a solid possession reciever. We wil miss him and his 3rd down conversions. And as clarification, I don't know if my original post had any "rationale" behind it other than to relay the only information I could find in terms of the players UCLA and Washington would be losing. It just happened that the only places I could find it were from the depth charts of those teams final game. I did not intend it to be a tricky way of making UCLA and Washington seem like they were losing more than they were.

DevilPuncher wrote:

Conosticator wrote:

DevilPuncher wrote:

Seeing as though non-conference games have been our bane, I found myself thinking (worrying) a lot about our games with UCLA and Washington. So much so that I did a little research that calmed my nerves a little. Here is what I found.**

UCLA loses the following starters on Offense:

Split end (backup has 2 games starting experience)
Left guard (backup has no starting experience)
Center (backup has no starting experience)
Right Tackle (backup has no starting experience)
Tailback (backup has 5 games starting experience)
Flanker (backup has no starting experience)

UCLA loses the following starters on Defense:

Defensive Tackle (backup has no starting experience)
Right Defensive End (backup has no starting experience)
Middle Linebacker (backup has no starting experience)
Left Corner (backup has 1 game starting experience)
Strong Safety (backup has no starting experience)
Free Safety (backup has no starting experience)

Washington loses the following starters on Offense:
(I could not find the data for the backup's starting experience)

Split End
Flanker
Center
Right Guard
Right Tackle
Tight End
Tailback

Washington loses the following starters on Defense:

Right Defensive Tackle
Left Defensive Tackle
Right Defensive End
Left Outside linebacker
Left Inside Linbacker
Free Safety
Strong Safety
Right Corner

**Note: I got this off of the last game played for each team for the 2007 season (UCLA vs. BYU; Washington vs. Hawaii). I am assuming those are fairly accurate depth charts as they listed who was redshirting and injured etc.

There, don't you feel a little better? I do.

Finally, both teams begin spring practice April 3rd.

I appreciate the research effort but personally I'm much less interested in how many games the backup started than whether the backup had a significant amount of playing time during those games he didn't start.

This is a valid interest. However, I did notice that many of those listed as second string were also seniors, if I recall that was especially true with UCLA. Nevertheless, I did not intend my post to be a slanted insight as to why Washington and UCLA were going to suck. On the contrary, I think that outside of Utah they will be our two toughest games. The information you seek I could not find or I would have posted it (washington didn't even list any type of "experience" information). You are welcome to find that out and contribute.

Please don't misunderstand me. I appreciate the effort you made to obtain that info. I also understand how difficult it is to find the info I would hope to obtain. I can imagine the coaches like to keep that a little closer to the vest. When I lived in Washington I used to have sources at both u-dub and wazoo but they have all moved on to other things now. Darn it.

My biggest worry about UW is how do we slow down Locker's running game? He had 100+ yard rushing games last year (as a Frosh) against UA, Ohio State, and Wazoo, plus putting up some decent but not great passing numbers. He's the top returning rusher in the Pac-10 even though he's the QB.

I'm hoping that his running ability doesn't translate into coverage errors for our inexperienced DBs. Our offense better be clicking early or it could be a long game.

He comes from a football family - dad and three uncles all played FB at WWU.

His QB rating was 105 last year with a 47% completion rate. Interestingly he also had four unassisted tackles (I'm assuming after interceptions or fumbles). He also played CB in high school so he knows how to make the open field tackle.

In another year, this kid could be a legit Heisman candidate. Here's hoping that we don't provide him his first big headline of the season.

Edit: I forgot to mention that Locker was also the WA Class 3A high school football player of the year and Class 3A baseball player of the year (pitcher & outfielder). This off season he's playing for the Bellingham Bells western collegiate baseball league team.

Let's hope he skips spring practice.

DevilPuncher wrote:

mormonrasta wrote:

Washington's defensive losses could be addition by subtraction. They were terrible last year. The new guys on the defense couldn't be any worse than the guys from last year.

This is a very good point. A team (or unit) that is mediocre (Washington and UCLA's offense) may just need an influx of new blood and spirits to turn things around - perhaps the bigger question is can they get that good feeling that early in the season?

Except they have the same coach. they'll likely be either equal or likely in their first game worst.

A bright side to facing Locker is that our coaches will have plenty of film to go on and can break down his strengths/weaknesses. If he were to come in and they had nothing to go on, I'd expect more trouble with him.
I'm not discounting his ability or talent but I expect we'll be ready for the challenges he'll present and the defense will be adequately prepped as to how to maintain him in their overall goal of "managing points".

cougarfan144 wrote:

A bright side to facing Locker is that our coaches will have plenty of film to go on and can break down his strengths/weaknesses. If he were to come in and they had nothing to go on, I'd expect more trouble with him.
I'm not discounting his ability or talent but I expect we'll be ready for the challenges he'll present and the defense will be adequately prepped as to how to maintain him in their overall goal of "managing points".

Locker is good but all you have to do is put a man on him. He runs nearly most of the time and when he throws it is usually not a very good throw and is likely not to be caught. The guy is a run first throw maybe type of QB. He has an average arm and poor accuracy but is a great runner. I don't think he looks any farther then his first progression maybe his second if he is given time. New O-line and Jorgensen and Dulan coming in, not to mention Nixon he'll have little time to look past his 1st and he'll run. Personally I think he'll be surprised to find out how fast our LB's are.

DevilPuncher wrote:

penncougar wrote:

Pwride wrote:

Just for perspective:

BYU offense loses:
Center
WR
FB

BYU defense loses:
2 MLBs
1 OLB
2 CBs
2 Safeties

Just for Clarification, Was Matt Allen actually considered a starter. I assume that we had two wide receivers on the starting roster, Collie and Reed, and that Matt Allen was #3 and the backup. Also, I don't want to get nit picky, but was Semanoff actually the starter, or was Tonga the starter.

The only reason I'm picking this apart is that you could look at it through extreme blue goggles to say that we only lost one actual starter on Offense. Fowler could be considered a starter if you use the rational of Devil Puncher and look at the two deep of the last game to say that we only lose 6 starters on Defense instead of seven. This is a very glass half full mentality, but its true...:cheer: :cheer:

I think we will really miss Matt Allen. He had great hands and was a solid possession reciever. We wil miss him and his 3rd down conversions. And as clarification, I don't know if my original post had any "rationale" behind it other than to relay the only information I could find in terms of the players UCLA and Washington would be losing. It just happened that the only places I could find it were from the depth charts of those teams final game. I did not intend it to be a tricky way of making UCLA and Washington seem like they were losing more than they were.

Unless we have a future all conference receiver in the pack of eligible guys competing for Allens spot (Ashworth, Hafoka, Chambers????) I think we'll get about the same that we got from Mattl even if it's a combination of receivers providing it.
Allen disappeared part of this year to be honest (1-2 catches a game with a couple exceptions). With Collie a year back from his mission, Reed wanting more touches, Pitta and George with serious experience, Unga, Tonga, and DiLuigi all able to catch the ball out of the backfield, all we really need to do is find a few sure handed guys to stretch the defense a little more. We have a lot of guys that could fit that bill. Now, Chambers could be an x-factor guy, but who knows? Point is, we're not going to have a hard time finding other places for 31-40 touches. (I'll bet Collie, Reed, and Pitta just as much prefer to split them for themselves).
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=148064

(as poorly as Sete played at times (Sorenson could be an upgrade), honestly the only contribution that I think we'll miss at all on offense, would be some of what Joe Semanoff provided (again Fui and Manase as seniors oughta be able to provide what Joe did)

Receiving Statistics
NAME REC YDS YPR LONG TD
Austin Collie 56 946 16.9 66 7
Dennis Pitta 59 813 13.8 45 5
Harvey Unga 44 655 14.9 53 4
Michael Reed 41 449 11.0 36 (TD) 4
Matt Allen 31 358 11.5 22 3
Manase Tonga 27 248 9.2 25 0
Andrew George 17 200 11.8 28 0
Vic So'oto 12 124 10.3 21 1
Joe Semanoff 11 70 6.4 14 2
Bryce Mahuika 1 12 12.0 12 0
Fui Vakapuna 1 4 4.0 4 0
Totals 300 3879 12.9 66 26