BYU's rough finish is needed wake-up call

BYU football could use a dose of adversity this spring.

In the last scrimmage, the defense got an upper hand on the offense, which said good-bye to four star offensive linemen, receivers Austin Collie and Michael Reed and big fullback Fui Vakapuna.

The fact the offense and defense are taking turns having the upper hand may be the best thing going for BYU right now. For the offense, if the defense gets in a few more good punches, that is a good thing because the defense is already operating on edge.

College football tends to be cyclic. Certain trends resurface in a kind of ebb and flow in a program over time. A lot of things contribute: Team hunger, chemistry, leadership, talent, quarterback skills, experience, coaching and the simple handling of success.

Managing success might be the toughest job in sports. That's why the Tiger Woods story is charting a course for legendary status; it is not the norm to stay on top.

Examples? After success in the '80s, BYU football slipped to seasons of 8-3, 8-5 and 6-6 in the post-Ty Detmer era. In those days, eight wins was sub-standard when the program had just come off a pair of 10-3 seasons and a win over Miami.

Scrambling for a fix, hungry BYU players and staff were more motivated and chiseled out a 10-3 mark in 1994 before breaking in El Camino JC transfer QB Steve Sarkisian in 1995, which led to a 14-1 Cotton Bowl season in 1996.

But on the heels of that success, and missing key players, the Cougars promptly went 6-5 the next season.

Leading up to the retirement of LaVell Edwards, the Cougars limped to a 6-6 finish in 2000 on a miracle finish at Utah with Brandon Doman diving for the winning score. Sick of losing, anxious to break out and work harder than ever under a new coach, Gary Crowton, that returning squad finished 12-2 the next season. BYU then failed to win more than five games in any of the next three seasons.

Nauseated over losing, players like John Beck, Curtis Brown, Jonny Harline and Cameron Jensen vowed to change things. They ratcheted everything up after a 6-6 finish in Bronco Mendenhall's first year and led the Cougars to an 11-2 mark in 2006. It was a platform Max Hall enjoyed in the 2007 season, his first year.

Now, 10-3 wasn't bad for Hall and company in 2008, but it fell short of the standard. No championship, a loss to rival Utah, streaking TCU and failure in a bowl game with Arizona? A cycle started.

Will it continue? Maybe.