Jazz: Gaining Momentum

This has been a fun week to be a Utah Jazz fan. The Jazz are still battling through injuries but they are winning! Slowly the team is getting healthy. Derron Williams is the first key piece of the puzzle that has come back. He has played in the last two games and has been amazing. I'll admit that while he was out, I thought that both Ronnie Price and Brevon Knight did a great job and at times I wondered how much of a difference Williams would make when he returned. I'll be the first to say that I was an idiot for even wondering. It is clear that Derron is the heart of this team. He has only played in two games and it is very clear that the team attitude and culture is already making a great change for the better. It is a winning attitude. It's this attitude that will help them become the championship contender that we so desperately want them to be. It is this attitude that will help them win the "easy" road games. And it is this attitude that will inspire everyone on the team to work together to accomplish team goals.

On Wednesday night, the Jazz rolled over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies didn't put up much of a fight. The Jazz had really good first and third quarters which pushed them to the win. Tonight the Jazz went back to work against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings have also been fighting through some injuries early this year and they were no match more the Jazz who again had great a good first quarter and an AWESOME third quarter. In the third quarter, the Jazz outscored the Kings 44-17. You'd think that the Jazz are just a good first and third quarter team but there's a reason the Jazz are so good in those quarters...IT'S DERRON WILLIAMS! He is always in during the first and third quarters. In each of his first two games back he dished out an incredible 15 assists.

I don't know about other Jazz fans out there but I can feel the wind changing. The Jazz are starting to look like a team that could be great. Jerry Sloan has said that this year's team is the deepest and most talented team that he has ever coached. Now, that's saying something!

History of BYU vs Utah !!

In preparation for the BIG GAME tomorrow, I thought I'd make a quick post and give my prediction.

Tomorrow's game is set to be a good one. Not only is this one of the best rivalries in all of football but this is the first time that BYU and Utah have been as good as they are. Both teams are good football teams that started the year with high expectations. BYU has only lost one game to TCU and Utah has gone undefeated.

In my opinion it really comes down to BYU's offense verses Utah's defense. BYU has a high powered offense that few teams have been able to stop this year. Utah has a defense that is designed to stop these kinds of high powered offenses. I believe that on most days Utah could probably stop BYU but when you have a rivalry game that is this heated, you have to throw all the stats, figures, and predictions out the window becuase WHO KNOWS!

The last two years, BYU has been favored to win by large number but both years it has come down to the last minute of the game. So, all I can say is I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's game. I feel like I'm 10 and it's Christmas Eve. I can't wait!

My Prediction: Since I'm a die-hard BYU fan, I can't predict against my team. Even if everything points the other way. Soooo....
BYU: 27
Utah: 21

Below is a video showing the history between BYU and Utah Football. It's fun to watch:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

It's good to be home...

I think everyone on the Utah Jazz team would agree that it's good to be home for a couple of games. The five game Eastern road trip was tough on the team as they lost 4 of 5. Not only are they not a very good road team but they have been injury plagued. There have been several players that have been out because of some type of injury. The injured player are listed below:

• Derron Williams (Sprained Ankle) - He is day to day and could play soon.
• Matt Harpring (Ankle Rehab) - He played in last night's game but was out for several road games.
• Andre Kirilinko (Jammed Finger) - He was out for a couple of games but played last night as well.
• Jerron Collins (not sure) - He was also out for several of the road games but played last night.
• Memo Okur (Out of the country / Back Spasms) - He didn't play in any of the road games because he had to go home to take care of serious family matters. He was back in the country for last nights game but didn't play because of back spasms.

The Jazz should have come off of that road trip with at least 3 wins but as a fan, I'll give them a pass because of all the injuries. It was very nice to see the Jazz come home and get back on track by beating the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have a good team this year with a new coach that is trying to get them to a championship. They are loaded with stars that have more talent than most teams in the NBA.

The Jazz took over last nights game in the 4th quarter. Everyone chipped in to get this win. However, I was mostly impressed by CJ Miles. In the first quarter, the Jazz looked flat and had little hope of keeping up with the Suns. But CJ Miles turned red hot and scored 15 points in the first quarter alone to keep the Jazz close. Miles ended up with 21 points. With CJ knocking down 15 in the first quarter, Phoenix was forced to put one of their top defenders, Raja Bell, on Miles for defensive purposes. This was great because it opened the floor up for Boozer down low and other spot shooters around the perimeter. So with out a doubt, if I were giving out the game ball, I would give it to CJ Miles who kept the Jazz in it and ultimately opened up the offense for us.

Fan Favorite

The obvious choice for the my Fan Favorite award this week is Austin Collie. Collie had a great game for the Coug's who beat up Air Force on Saturday. Collie had 7 catches for 130 yards. Not only are those big numbers but he also had 2 TD catches at crucial times to help BYU seal up the victory against the Falcons.
If that wasn't enough, Collie set a new record for the most reception yards in a season by one receiver. The last record was set 12 years ago! He is also still working on another record for consecutive games with over 100 yard receiving. He has caught over 100 yard in each of the last 8 games.

Good work!

BYU Tops Air Force

The Cougars topped the Air Force Falcons on Saturday. Going into this game, I was expecting a high offensive performance from both teams. Both teams have weak defenses. It was interesting to see how the game played out. There was more defense than I expected from both sides.

In the first quarter, BYU looked great. They took a quick 10-0 lead and looked like they were going to run away with the game. Then in the second quarter, the Falcons took control and scored 14 unanswered points to take a 14-10 lead into half time. At this point, I was worried that Air Force would run away with the game. They clearly had momentum and were executing plays. However, luckily I was wrong. BYU came out of half time and out scored Air Force 21-3 in the third quarter taking a 31-17 lead into the final quarter. Then, the momentum quickly changed again. Air force started driving the ball and scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. That was followed by a Max Hall fumble which gave the Falcons a chance to get right back in the game quickly. However, BYU's defense stopped the Falcons and forced them to punt. BYU then marched down the field and put the nail in the coffin by scoring a touchdown.

It was a fun game to watch. It makes me more confident in BYU's ability to play with Utah this weekend. It will be a touch game that BYU will have to play perfectly in order to win but beating up on Air Force was a step in the right direction.

For a video recap of the game, watch the video below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Jazz: Here we go again!

The Jazz have picked up right where they left off last year in regards to playing on the road. The Jazz were not a good road team last year. Last year they had 28 losses and 22 of them game on the road! Not good! They Jazz could have easily been the best team in the West if they just would have won another 10 games on the road. But, with last year in the past, let's focus on this year. With that in mind, all I can say is...."Here we go again!"

They Jazz have opened this season with a strong 6-2 start. With only losing 2 of the first 8 games seems to be a pretty good start but when I look at the two losses I can't help but think that they Jazz should be 8-0 right now. Both losses have come from sub par teams (Knicks and Wizards) while playing on the road.

The Jazz were handed their first loss by the New York Knicks. The knicks are a better team this year. They have a quicker offense which can score a lot of points on a defense that struggles. Utah has always struggled against a team that shoots a lot of three point shots. The Knicks average nearly 30 three-point shots a game! For those of you who don't know...THAT'S A LOT! They hit us hard and the Jazz crumbled. So, I might even be able to get past the fact that we lost to the "new and improved" Knicks. What I can't get over is the loss to Washington...

The Jazz lost to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Washington is NOT a good team right now. In fact statistically they are the worst team in the NBA. When Utah arrived in Washington, the Wizards were THE ONLY team that didn't have even a single win. What happened? They Jazz choked. They were playing short handed because Memo had to leave the team and go to Turkey to be with his family but that isn't an excuse for losing to this team. Washington will be a better team later in the season when they get healthy but this should have been an easy road win for the Jazz. It was a hard game to watch.

So, with those two losses, I can't help but think "Here we go again!" The Jazz are still on the road tonight against Charlotte. The Bobcats are only 5-2 this year and the Jazz should take care of business tonight. But, you won't see me counting any eggs before they're actually in the basket. We'll see if the Jazz can dominate them the way they should.

Fan Favorite

David Nixon (Line Backer)

This weeks Fan Favorite award could go to a few different players but this week I had the most fun watching BYU linebacker David Nixon. The guy was everywhere! He had multiple sacks on San Diego States quarterback. He was often times the first to make contact with San Diego States running backs as well. However, I was most impressed with his pass defense and his open field tackles.

San Diego State likes to run quick inside slants and they like to pass the ball to their running backs. Nixon often times had the assignment to cover those quick slants and short passes. On nearly everyone, if the ball was thrown to a receiver that he was covering, Nixon was right there to knock the ball down or make the quick tackle.

There were also a few times where Nixon make it into the back field and had the one on one opportunity to drop the running back for a loss. He made the best out of almost all of those opportunities by making those open field tackles.

All Is Well In Cougar Town...For Now

Just as expected, BYU pounded San Diego State today 41 - 12. Although, some thought that the Cougars would struggle against even the worst team in the Mountain West Conference, BYU showed that they are still one of the best in the conference.

So, what did BYU do to be successful against this San Diego State Football team? To be honest, it didn't take much. San Diego State is just a bad football program that would have a hard time competing with a good high school team. Yes, they are that bad. The Aztec's missed plays, didn't execute and made dumb mistakes. On their first offensive play, the quarterback was lined up in the shot gun formation when without warning, the center snapped the ball. The ball hit the quarterback in the face and bounced off. BYU recovered the ball which lead to their first touchdown. They are simply that kind of team. Stupid mistakes, one after another.

With that being said, BYU wasn't given everything to win this game. BYU did have to go out and take the game by executing plays. Quarterback Max Hall had another amazing game. He was 25/30 for 317 yard and 3 touchdowns. That's a pretty good day for any quarterback. His receivers were running clean routes which allowed them to get some big plays. Both Collie and Reed (receivers) had big games.

It's hard to determine if the defense has improved much. They really only allowed 6 points the entire game. Late in the game, BYU put all of their second string players in who allowed the Aztec's to drive and score a touchdown in the last seconds of the game. It's hard to tell if the defense did any better simply because they were defending a sub par team. San Diego missed some wide open plays for big gains by dropping the ball or fumbling. I certainly have to give the BYU defense some credit for forcing some of those plays but I'm not convinced that BYU's defense is any better now than it was a week ago or even a month ago. It will be interesting to see what they do against Air Force next week. I don't expect much of a fight at Air Force either but I've learned that anything can happen so you never know.

All in all, BYU's performance was good today. I liked what I saw. I didn't see too many bone head mistakes out there. The anticipation and excitement for the Utah game is building up. Only two weeks away from the Holy War.

No Williams? No Problem!! Jazz Roll over Clips

That's right! The Jazz seem to be doing just fine with the star point guard sitting on the bench. To the right, the injured Deron Williams (sprained ankle) stands up and cheers for Paul Millsap who just slammed the ball home. Williams is expected to miss at least one to two more games with his sore ankle.

With Williams out, point guards Ronnie Price and Brevin Knight have been splitting point guard duties. Each have stepped up in big ways to keep this team winning. Price (out of Utah Vally University) provides a huge spark of energy and athleticism. His hustle goes a long way in the absence of Williams. Knight, a seasoned point guard, with eleven season in the league gives the experience and leadership to the young Jazz team.

The Jazz played the Los Angeles Clippers (back-to-back). The games were actually pretty similar. In the first half of each game, the Clippers played the Jazz closes and the score was even closer. Going into half time the lead was lower than 5 points each game. In the second half of both games, the Jazz took over. The Jazz out scored the Clippers 53-31 in the second half of game one and they out scored L.A. 53-38 in the second half of game two.

The Jazz will certainly welcome Deron Williams back when he is ready, but it's good to see that even if something happens to him, the Jazz can play pretty well without him. I'm just excited to see what Williams will be able to do with the team when he is fully healthy. So far, the Jazz look like they will be a top contender in the west again.

Weekly Fan Favorite!

(Austin Collie going for a pass in the TCU game)

Austin Collie get's my vote for this week's FAN FAVORITE (It was close between Collie and Pitta) Collie was fun to watch tonight against Colorado State. Austin Collie has always been a fun player to watch but tonight, he really kept BYU in the game. Colorado State could have easily run away with this game early if it wouldn't have been for Collie who made a couple of great catches. On BYU's opening possession, he made an amazing one handed catch for a touchdown. He had over 100 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns BEFORE half time!

The announcers during the game were saying that he is one of the five best receivers in the nation. I don't know about that but he sure got my vote tonight. He had one of the best games of the year and really helped his team win this game. It wasn't long into the game before Colorado's Defensive Backs were intentionally drawing a pass interference call when defending Collie just to make sure he didn't go for another touchdown.

BYU will need Collie to keep playing at a high level in order to keep winning games.

Austin Collie's Final Stats are listed below:
9 Receptions
3 Touchdowns
156 receiving yards
101 kick return yards
257 TOTAL YARDS

Thriller!! BYU vs. Colorado State

If you missed BYU taking on Colorado State on Saturday, you missed out! This game was a thriller that went down to the final minute!

BYU was favored to win by 14 points but even a BYU fan can find entertainment out of a game going down to the wire. BYU was down by 4 points with less than two minutes left! BYU started their drive at the 20 yard line and marched their way down the field to score the winning touchdown leaving only 22 seconds left on the clock.

Although I would have liked to see BYU win by two touchdowns, there is something about watching your team march down the field when the game is on the line and score a winning touchdown. Any college football fan can appreciate a game like that.

With that being said, there are a few things that I really liked and some thing that I didn't really like. First, the things I liked about tonight's win.

I really liked the heart and determination of the BYU football team tonight. They knew that they were supposed to beat Colorado State by a lot. When you aren't playing as well as you'd hope, it is easy to get frustrated. That is when "let down" games happen. BYU didn't let that happen. They stayed focused and they did what they had to do to win the game tonight. There were a couple of times during the game where I thought it would be tough to win but they didn't doubt themselves. They trusted in themselves and they pulled out a big win. I also really liked Max Hall and Austin Collie. They were playing in rhythm tonight.

Now for some of the things I didn't like about tonight's win. I know I keep harping on the defense but can you blame me? Colorado State isn't a horrible football teams. However, they are not a team that should score 42 points against even an average defense. Now, Colorado State does play pretty well at home but 42 points is WAY TOO MUCH! BYU's defense certainly needs to make some pretty big adjustments in order to keep winning games. Hopefully we'll see those adjustments soon!

I am also quite disappointed in our special teams play. I don't feel like our Special Teams will pull out many positive things for this BYU teams. Every time BYU kicks off, I pray that Sorensen is able to kick it out of the End Zone so that we don't have to worry about teams running it back and giving them good field position. Hopefully that team can get better quickly.

Again, tonight's win was a fun game to watch. These kinds of games is what college football is all about.

NEXT GAME:
BYU vs. SAN DIEGO STATE
Saturday November 8
12:00 pm (in Provo)