BYU football: Bronco Mendenhall says Cougars' execution must improve

I thought Mendenhall was right, the Cougars did have more scoring opportunities and did not execute. That is 100% accurate. Some of those scoring opportunities were snuffed out by Utah and their defense, but I believe many more were snuffed out by their own lack of concentration on the field with missed field goals, penalties, over thrown and under thrown passes, and poor execution handling stunts and blitz packages on the o-line. I am not discrediting Utah at all, I thought Erickson called a great game and I believe his play calling followed with Utah player execution won this game. But I do think Bronco's comment was completely accurate.

As for those who say ESPN will not renew BYU's contract, I am certain they will renew BYU's contract. Why? Because it is all about money and viewers, and the viewership is their all over the country for BYU football. You might see more games on ESPNU or ESPN2, but they will be there. Plus the contract is for 8 years and it started in 2011, they have years to even improve and their schedule alone over those years will keep it with the opponents they play.

Even Ray Charles can see that GFGH isn't working. No. 1 in number of plays run in the nation. Last in passing efficiency. For someone who like statistics and uses those in all aspects of the game, why can't Bronco and Anae figure out that GFGH isn't working with this group of players. The only players they are exhausting with this nonsense is their own team!

What we need is a higher level of execution so when we're at a higher level the execution will actually be higher.

Players win games. Players lose games. Good players equal a good season, great players equal a great season. This staff, like the ones before it - have relied on scheme, execution and "teamwork" to overcome the lack of athleticism at BYU. Maybe they picked the wrong offensive scheme. (Pretty sure the 49rs, Eagles are debating that same question with the start they have this year) Only Bronco can answer the question of why they went read option. Was it because they didn't have a passer, or was it because they started recruiting running QB's???? Chicken or the egg???

So yeah, I get tired of hearing about execution and preparation - but the reason they are so important is the lack of athletic talent. Don't misunderstand, they have talent, or your don't put on the uniform, but there is a difference between a talented player and one that is athletic and talented. Does not matter how hard a walk-on linebacker works, or how fast he executes - he won't become KVN.

That's why scheme and execution means everything to BM. He knows what he's got. Time for the fans to get up to speed.

ESPN doesn't care about win loss - it only cares about eyeballs. A 10-2 byu, an 8-4 byu, and 6-6 byu or even at 4-8 byu will pull strong ratings for espn. Strong ratings, equal advertising. Advertising means dollars. The only difference the win/loss record makes is which espn channel they play on. Remember Notre Dame on NBC all those years with a terrible win loss record.

Perfect execution of a poor plan or concept won't make it good. The basic problem is that this coach does not want to throw the ball and the offensive coordinator has no concept of creativity. That can't change.

I hate to say it but I don't think that this coaching staff is going to take BYU to the independent heights it is envisioning. Cougs will always be able to beat the "little guys" but when it comes to the games that count, the big ones, Bronco just can't pull it off. He's a good man, good teacher and philosopher, but not a great coach. Time to cut him loose.

Coaching BYU is the toughest HC job in the country. Your recruiting pool is severely shrunk by the Honor Code and partly by an academic standard. You have to coordinate missions and deal with the fact that most of the time the return missionary is in no condition to play D1 football. Then you have to contend with a fan base that is never satisfied and looking to replace either a coach or player with every loss.

Sure, Utah out-recruits BYU most years. That should come as no surprise to anyone. It is a self imposed restriction on recruiting and rightfully so. For the most part Bronco has taken pretty mediocre talent and has made them competitive at the D1 level. No national championships, no BCS bowls, few wins against our rival, but remarkably competitive for what they have. That is a testament to coaching.

Bronco is going to make some mistakes, but he is good for BYU. I like him, especially since he has attempted to improve his public image.

We BYU fans have high expectations, especially me, but let's consider just a little bit, the cards that have been dealt to Bronco.

@Ida-Coug

Lack of respect? Like the BYU fans that through trash at the game officials when they left the stadium?

Thank you Beaver Native:

I apologize, I did not hear Bronco say what you quoted. If that is the case then I stand corrected. I also agree with your comments. I do not see Anae or any current coaches on the Y's staff being able to develop Hill into a NFL caliber QB. Young, who some have likened Hill to, had Chow and Edwards to help mentor him. Who does Hill have?

Go UTES!!

When throwing on 3rd and 7 or longer this season Hill has completed 1 of 24 passes. This reminds me of the old saying that "even a blind squirrel occasionally stumbles upon an acorn." In this case occasionally means once. It's hard to have any momentum with that kind of stat.

I will say one thing for Bronco, he is far and away the most eloquent coach in the state. Man, I really love to read his explanation for losses. It is like reading a dictionary or thesaurus. I am not a Utah fan, but they have proved they are the best team in the state. They have struggled in the PAC 12 but they have also improved each year. I think they double their win total in the PAC 12 this year and continue to improve. A BYU without a conference and with the most eloquent coach in the state may well continue to play in the Poinsettia Bowl, or is it the Armed Forces Bowl? I can't remember. Any way they are heading toward mediocrity or worse. They lost their national relevance a long time ago.

Got to love this mistaken quote: "Brigham Young Cougars head coach Bronco Mendenhall encourages his players during NCAA football in Provo Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. Utah won 20-13. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News) This could be the biggest news since two piece "G"'s !

You are correct, and most of us acknowledge that Utah > BYU this year. Congratulations on a solid victory and good luck the rest of the year.

I believe when Bronco is talking about execution, he is talking about a missed field goal that wasn't blocked, two costly illegal blocks on kick returns with one potentially going to the house (yes they might not have been good runs without these blocks, but if executed blocks correctly???), 8 dropped passes in the receivers hands. On D, players being out of position even when the right defensive play was called; I'm not talking about when they get beat or blocked by the offense. IOW, missing due to our own mistakes execluding the plays where Utah beat us.

When Bronco answers these questions from the media, he has to account for why he lost, and saying, "Well Utah is just better than we are," doesn't cut it with the audience he addressing.

He could throw his team under the bus, but that's not his style. Personally, I'm glad he doesn't disparage our team, because it only hurts the players confidence in Bronco. Others may disagree

Bronco will never throw his teams under a bus in front to the media. Not saying that is good or bad, but it is his style.

I hope one day everything works out for him. In the mean time, he has quite a job to do in finishing out this season with a bowl game.

I hope Utah is #5 PAC team by end of year, so we can play them again in the same bowl game.

@samurai_jake....
total lack of respect..... The ute fan area cheered and yelled during the whole prayer. I am in the south end zone and it was fairly loud even there. I'm sure others have made some noise but it was pretty loud...

BTW @jasonlivy

Who is Tyson?

The better team did win, Go Utes!

@Tom in CA - Please tell me that you realize that Utah had several drive killing drops and unfortunate penalties too? It goes both way in almost every game. So when you talk about a great defensive effort holding Utah to 20 points, maybe it was more of Utah dropping passes and making mistakes too. But I see the logic that most BYU fans have: if they don't do well, it is because they made mistakes, but if the other team doesn't do well, it was BYU that caused that.

No mention was made about Eric Rowe's taunting penalty that was big time in helping the Cougars have at least one touchdown in the game. Poor judgement on a DB's part has little to do with execution.
Will someone please clue in Bronco and Anae that poor coaching decisions broke the back of the BYU offense.

Except for Idaho State and maybe Nevada, the Cougars have no cupcake games left on their schedule. Even Middle Tennessee State has played well so far.

There's no excuses this season. No sugar coating anything.

If BYU wants to win enough games just to be bowl eligible, they're going to have to play a whole lot better than they are now.

The defense hasn't been perfect, but they're doing their part.

The offense must revamp and quickly or this will be a long season and the patience of Cougar fans will wear out fast.

Wookie, thanks for explaining. That's a fair assessment, but I remember hearing Bronco say, "We were out-executed" right after the game.

I believe that your assessment is correct. We need to stop making excuses. We should have had our ducks in a row, so to speak. We've found out what doesn't work, so now we need to find out what does work for this team and do it.

The U has improved over last year but still has a ways to go to be competitive in the PAC-12, while the Y has got to solve its passing problem or it's going to be a long season. Last year Hill showed us that the ability is there. It's up to Coach Anae to figure out how to bring it out.

@ida-coug:

What happened during the opening prayer? (I didn't attend the game, just watched the football game being played on TV.)

I like Bronco. But I hate losing. However, I can't imagine my experience losing to Utah is worse than the players. I believe they did everything in their power to win.

My biggest problem is preparation and I think that's were things need to change. I'm not talking about the week of practice prior to the game. My main concern is with the off-season preparation.

Just because you are a quarterback going to BYU doesn't automatically mean you are a great passer. It really is in the off-season when a good quarterback becomes a great one. Similar to how a good jump shooter becomes a great one shooting 1,000+ shots a day, every day during the summer months.

Tyson and the offense should have come into the year with all these bugs ironed out, at least the accuracy part. The pressure he should feel coming to BYU as a throwing quarterback should be enough to motivate him during the off-season.

I don't know what it takes to become an accurate quarterback. Off-season is the key and I don't think BYU has that figured out yet.

This is why he gets paid the big bucks- he can see things none of the rest of us can see

What the season has taught us so far is that if we don't get a "PASSING GAME" then we are doomed. Simple and plain, nothing about it. The defense cannot keep saving this team, too many good teams to still play.

That's an understatement. As of today, with the exception of the Texas game, the hurry up offense is merely a gimmick.

Thanks Beaver Native. What this boils down to for me is that Bronco has rarely, if ever, credited the Utes for out executing his teams. I asked the question a few weeks ago, What if both teams playing executed perfectly, who would win the game?

Anyway, both the U and the Y are struggling to find rhythm in their new offense, but there is no excuse, they had Spring and Summer to get things moving and from the way Bronco and Anae explained things, it sounded like they had their ducks in a row so to speak.

GO UTES!

As I read the comments I understand why the tun calls BYU fans "whiners" .... Gosh I'm beginning to think most of you should be coaching the team (in your own minds) I say, go ahead and put Olsen in. as a pure pocket passer he would not last 5 mins. With this o-line that currently plays and the new offense (which I am not sold on) Olsen would not have the ability to get away. then the whining would begin again. Taysom will get there if we let him. He is much better than Nelson was. This game is not won or lost by one player. I do think that a game can be won or loss by lousy prep and coaching which is one in the same. How come no one has mentioned the class of the utah fans during the prayer. Been a season ticket holder for 28 years and have never heard anything quite like that.

Ya think?!

Wookie,

Some of us have, or haven't you read the opinions on articles specifically about the game? This is an article about BYU's execution overall, not the rivalry game.

For those of us who are BYU fans, the Y clearly has an execution problem. Acknowledging faults AND finding solutions is much better than merely placing blame. I don't know the answers, but it's better to work on concrete solutions than posturing generalities. We know what needs to be done, but how do we do it? Last year, Hill proved his ability with a 24/36 passing record against Utah State, so we know he has the ability. Merely getting rid of Anae won't solve the problem either. Will Anae adjust? I don't know, but I believe he has the capacity to make the changes if he's open to better ideas, so give him some specifics instead of meaningless generalities.

"Well-coached teams don't have execution problems"

Yeah right. Yet even John McKay, Don James et all had up and down years. The Heaps-Nelson fiasco left the cupboard bare. The O-line is young and new. The OC installed a new offensive scheme. Hill is a sophomore. We're three games into a new regime.

I agree with Mendenhall. This team will improve. Watch and see.

Bronco again saying that byu beat themselves. Get real Bronco! In the past when you've started 1-2 you had a season full of cupcakes to bolster your record and make everyone feel warm and fuzzy inside. This year you don't have that luxury. I will be surprised if byu wins 6 games this year. It could happen, but it's gonna be difficult.

I agree that BYU had more opportunities to win, but they didn't....bottom line. I always look on the positive and see the bright side, but you can't hide from reality, either.

BYU was also outcoached by Utah,....again. If you know your team has execution problems, dumb down the play book. Maybe they did and I did not see it, but coaches have to know their team and put them in a position to win. Half-time adjustments are great, but half a game late.

A sped up offense could lead to great success; if well executed. Execution is a way BYU can make up for a lack of athleticism. I have no problem in becoming a power team like Stanford either, the (ONLY!!!) comparison being a relatively smaller pool of recruits. There are relatively few who can meet Stanford's acceptance criteria, compared to the relative few who want to live by BYU's honor code.

BTW, I think a key to the recruiting success of Stanford is an LDS guy, Lance Anderson, who played at BYU on the scout team before his mission.

What about giving credit to a team that out executed yours?

Go UTES!

Only devastating when more than a game.

It's always the players fault for not executing??!! How about taking the entire blame for pathetic play calling, poor preparation and glossing over severe ineffectiveness! But, have no fear, fans. We always seem to have a Middle Tennessee State on the schedule after a humiliating defeat to give the appearance that the ship has be righted. We'll beat them and all will be well in Provo until the next decent opponent fractures our skull. Then we'll hear the same stuff that's in this article - AGAIN. Mediocrity is our lot and no amount of paint can hide that anymore. Buy your tickets if that's entertaining to you, but don't expect any more than that.

We didn't get beat by a better team, we just didn't execute.

I think he hit the nail on the head. Looking back on the game BOTH teams had execution problems. Some were caused by excellent play by the opposition, some were self inflicted. BYU just had more execution problems on key plays the Utah did.

I noticed many BYU fans are blaming the officials. I'm glad the coach wouldn't stoop to that and takes the blame himself.

Bronco, how about a dose of honesty in your comments, like:
"I didn't prpare my team again to play our rival like most of my career at BYU--gee, 1-2 to start the season is what I expected all along"
"Our QB coach and receiveers coach have not stepped up and helped our passing game"
"One thing I can tell you that was positive is that Witt didn't pull off a fake punt or onside kick this year as we were prepared for that"
"I need to admit that our receivers are JC quality at best and that APO doesn't really fit our sceme a that we won't be using our TE anytime soon"
"The character of our players is the best in the country--I just wish I had some football studs to defend on the pass up close"

"Well-coached teams don't have execution problems."

Yes they do. Look at the 49ers last week.

No.

You need better athletes.

Nick Saban wouldn't be winning titles with byu's "talent" level.

DonO

I might agree with you 6-6 for this year due to it honsetly being a rebuilding year for the O. I will disagree with ESPN dropping BYU for many reasons, ESPN is getting good rating, when BYU comes to town people show up, even the Utah fan who say they own little brother, and good teams are signing up to play BYU, which is more higher rating for ESPN. The only reason that Utah still wants to play BYU is so they are on ESPN a couple times a year, even if that means they might risk a loss to little BYU brother.

YES Utah is the big brother and like all big brothers he can claim he is cooler and go play with his cool friend in the PAC 12 while little brother BYU goes and plays with different teams all year and on TV.

Wrong!

You need better players.

Think its a coincidence we've won the recruiting war head to head and average stars ever year the last FOUR years, and won on the field the last FOUR years?

No, not a coincidence!

And what did most of these recruits who Bronco wanted say when picking Utah?

Partly it was the Pac 12 membership.

Ouch!

That doesn't bode well for your "future"

Bronco, a QB who can hit open receivers will go a long way to solve 90% of your problems.

Well-coached teams don't have execution problems.

BYU will be fortunate to go 6-6 this year. And ESPN doubtless will look very closely at continuing any kind of long-term relationship with such a "meh" program. IMO, independence and Mendenhall have doomed BYU to years of mediocrity.

The "better team" was held to 20 points. The BYU defense, once again, did a great job.

BYU had a 103 yard kick-off return called back because of a bone head holding penalty. (Nice to see Hine showcase his speed on that one). BYU dropped at least 3 passes that killed drives. BYU had a missed (short) field goal. You can't hold Bronco or Taysom Hill accountable for those kinds of miscues. The PLAYERS need to get their heads in the game and start taking personal responsibility.

Bronco just puts a guy to sleep with all of his spin!

this is why I love Coach Whittingham, he doesn't give sugar coat this teams with positive speeches, even with the utes winning he told his team this week he they are still a mediocre pac 12 team. which they are, it sounds like Bronco still has hopes for a National Championship this year which is do-able (not). But Bronoc....SCOREBOARD!!! 9-12 years 5 out of 6. THE UTES ARE THE TEAM!!

Weak Coach dude...glad we chose Whit and he chose us!

My comments would have been:

1. O line is too weak to establish a running game.
2. Hill is 37% accurate after 3 games.
3. No t-shirt slogan available for those issues.
4. Faster isn't a factor with those issues.
5. Harder is needed! As in summer weight lifting Oline.

Most up pace offenses do it to run MORE plays..because the offense is effective. One must ask, if your offense is not effective do you really want more plays?

Cleanliness
"Lots of Bronco haters as always. You have got to love the garbage that man puts up in dealing with his fan base."

I think your wrong, the refs had to deal with garbage from the fan base.

Y fans let.'s face it, we got out played--plain and simple!!! That being said does that make us a bad team, not really just on Saturday against the U. We still have 9 other games to show our stuff and with a few passes lowered, less penaltys, and the defense doing what we know they can do, at least 7 of those can be wins. Not real excited about the play calling but that hopefully will improve. Perhaps that week off didn't do us any favors. Hang in there Y fans it will still be a fun season.

The concept of improved execution is a great sound bite and nice notion but the truth of the matter is that this is clearly a rebuilding year for BYU's offense. I know that doesn't sell tickets but it's impossible at this point to put enough paint on it to make it look like something else.

Freshman linemen, an inexperienced QB, an entirely new offensive scheme all converging at once is not a recipe for success in the execution department.

There is no shame in rebuilding but don't package it up and try to sell it as something else.

@logical

I am a Ute fan but I think what you wrote was a realistic and you possessed a balanced perspective.

This is the result of a coaching issue at BYU. It is time to realize that the coaching staff is part of a bigger problem that the AD said would change earlier this year. No change in coaching or on the field. It answers the questions about whether the Texas game was a fluke or real.

Y fan here. My take on this is we got beat by a better team and it could have been worse. Bronco could also add that at least it wasn't a blow out, 54-10, etc. So many ways to put a positive spin on it but maybe that's not what the team needs.

Are there actually four comments blasting BYU and no comments cheering for BYU? Lots of Bronco haters as always. You have got to love the garbage that man puts up in dealing with his fan base. I hope for positive changes in every game and I trust the coaches to get them there. Go BYU.

I commented after the TX game, that it was a fluke. Unless BYU can change the offense to a Air Force style offense, we will need the pass and Taysom has been unable to deliver. Or we need receivers that will hold on to a ball that is "close", barely catchable. Actually some of the dropped ones were better than that.
I love the Y and hate to see them loose to a mediocre team like Utah. Yes, the better team won, but don't let that swell you head. Utah will still be lucky to finish with a winning season, in-part because the best of the competition is yet to come. The Y has a lot of easy games with a couple of tough ones left. Utah State will be one of the tough ones.

Saying we didn't execute is a weak way of saying we just got beat. They didn't execute because Utah played better than they did when it counted most. BYU had all of the momentum heading into the 4th quarter. Utah just took it back. Utah's lineman got after Hill and he didn't have time to throw.

This sounds like the same ole 'execute at a higher level' mantra. Sounds okay when you hear it a few times, but more than ever it sounds silly to BYU fans when execution is what you sacrifice trying to hit the century mark for offensive plays in a game, and that with a QB who can't throw or read defenses.

Hill needs some structure. What the suspect O line is starting to do is run this uptempo shuffle scheme. That said, if you switch to Ammon Olsen, the O line would have to adjust to a new protection scheme for a pocket passer. BYU has rolled the dice with the offense they have now since installing it in the spring. With coaching turnover and young inexperienced players on the line and at QB, BYU realistically needs to ride the storm out this season with Hill and hope he develops into a legit QB.

If Hill gets hurt running the ball, and he needs to run it (desperation), so be it for the blue I guess. I mean you surely don't want Hill throwing it 48 times again do you BYU? Here comes 8 in the box each week.

Nice speech.

LOL

"There’s a dose of reality, an urgency in getting the execution to match the opportunity,”

There isn't a dose of reality in Bronco's entire body. His team was defeated by a better team. There is no shame admitting that.

Execution? We've heard this again and again, for years, from Bronco.

What about play calling? What about a QB that completes 37% of his passes? What about having a fire in the belly for every game played (they had it for Texas, not for Utah)?

I getting tired of hearing "lack of execution." That seems to be code for, "I don't know what to do."