Author: hatchcay000

BYU could use a bye week

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BYU could use a bye week

With their season now being an 8-0 season, they have been undefeated and there is no more use for any more games this season, but one thing they could use is a bye week. BYU has gone through a lot, some of them have been due to COVID-19 or others may have been due to injuries or cuts or bruises. A bye week is what BYU needs right now, (which means that they need a break from playing football) and this will hopefully help to heal the players up for the upcoming season, or what’s left of it. 

 

The hilly season

A lot has happened to BYU’s schedule this year, and some of them could’ve possibly caused BYU to not have a season this year, but thanks to Tom Holmoe, this season stayed put. BYU had a 10 game season which was kept thanks to Tom Holmoe. As said by KSL.com “With conferences and schools canceling almost daily amid the coronavirus pandemic, Holmoe deserves a medal for his accommodations to fit in a 10-game slate that has put the Cougars in a position for their first New Year’s Six bowl bid in the modern era, or at least since 1997.” As said by KSL.com Tom Holmoe does deserve a medal because of what he did to keep a 10 game season. This was very helpful to BYU because they then got a chance to come into this season and show people that they have worked hard this season and that they have earned respect from teams and people. Tom was also working to possibly add 1-2 more games, but as it came up to players on BYU getting injured and illness, head coach Kalani Sitake announced that they will be having a bye week from football.

 

The bye week

It was the Monday after that coach Kalani Sitake announced that Saturday would be an off day for them, and they would play no games on that Saturday. With that, some of the players think that they could fall behind in the season with this bye week, but it won’t likely happen with an 8-0 season. “But after seven-straight weeks of football, it’s time for a bye week. No matter the opponent.” BYU isn’t necessarily injured as much as they are tired. They more than anything just need to stay healthy and rest up during this bye week, so they can get feeling better and well-rested for what’s to come next.

 

Moreover, this bye week comes at a good time for BYU as more have been receiving injuries. With BYU’s running back Lopini Katoa rolling his ankle during the BYU vs Boise state game, he would’ve been out of this week’s game if they had not had this bye week. Moreover, everybody else should be fine and rested. Now as BYU is having a bye week, it would be nice to play a game that week too, but the truth is, “there aren’t a lot of opponents that could help the Cougars anymore”, as said by the College Football Playoff and its selection committee. Now as BYU has done a great job this season with their 8-0 undefeated season, they need a bye week or a break from football to get rested and heal up for their next game, and the rest of the season.

With success comes adversity

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With success comes adversity

With BYU coming this far into the season and winning every game, they haven’t just had to overcome all the teams they have played. They have also had to overcome the pandemic for one but also the adversity that has come up this season. Adversity and the pandemic were both two things that they had to overcome as well as playing all the other teams, and winning against them.

Adversity and success

First off, the pandemic took BYU to the brink of canceling the season, which thanks to Tom Holmoe didn’t happen as he railed back the season. This pandemic had almost blown away the season. Then comes the cuts, bruises, and even illnesses, which they had plenty of. Tristen Hoge had even got pneumonia and missed a few weeks due to it. But all these cuts and injuries hadn’t had much to do with Covid-19, moreover adversity. The cougars had faced plenty of adversity from other locales, but with this, the cougars have come out in this season with an undefeated 6 games now. “With that comes a new adversity: success” as said by the cougars. BYU inched up in the rankings and moved up to no. 10. They have also moved up to no. 11 in the associated press top 25, which was followed by the win against Texas State 52-14 as the final score. As Kalani Sitake and the players don’t really like talking about it, “Success breeds challenges just as much as injuries, illness, suspensions, and on-field losses.”

Handling adversity

Now BYU has talked about how to handle adversity really well and also been able to bounce back at it, and as Kalani has said BYU has also handled their success well and humbly. He believes that they have a fine line and they are well balanced. But with this, it’s hard to not get into their heads with the honors and accolades, and drink the poison. With the media, they know that it’s their job to praise teams and criticize them as well, but it takes maturity and years to accept both success and criticism. It’s not just the adversity that they have handled too, it’s themselves that they find being their own enemies, trying to fix their mistakes, and finding the weaknesses in one of the top 10 national teams this year. BYU has had to face all kinds of distractions during this season, and they have learned how to handle all of it well. BYU has had to go through a lot of adversity, but this season they have learned to handle it well and while having an undefeated season.

BYU’s 2 wins against Navy and Troy, and the playoffs

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BYU’s 2 wins against Navy and Troy, and the playoffs

BYU has had some lopsided wins over the past few weeks, and they are a little bit in shock but also are glad. BYU is good, but will they be great? BYU’s starting Quarterback Zach Wilson has been on fire the last two games, and his recovery from his arm being messed up has been confirmed that it worked for him. In the last two games, his stats are great, and he was killing the Navy, game 1, and Troy, game 2. Zach had played well against the Navy, but he was absolutely awesome in the Troy game. With these 2 games under BYU’s belt, they could be a team this year that can go undefeated, but it’s still not certain or confirmed. With BYU, they can always take a turn, and for example, they could be playing great, and then they could fall apart. But it’s still not fully confirmed they could go undefeated this year.

 

The Navy may have been unprepared for the BYU game, but before they touched BYU’s field, they played Tulane, and they beat them 24-27, and also they played Middle Tennessee State and beat them as well 47-14. As BYU’s opponents are good, BYU still thrashed the ball on both sides on whether or not BYU is a really good team, but also a great team. That’s exactly what BYU did, they thrashed it on both sides of the lesser competition. It is likely though that BYU is a really good team, but we can’t be certain until they play great in the competition. Unfortunately, that will most likely not be happening.

 

After these two wins BYU is currently ranked in both the AP and also the Coach’s pole, but despite teams losing ahead of BYU, they dropped in the polls after the Big 10 and the PAC-12. Despite all of this BYU still has a good chance of going undefeated, even if they don’t have the big margins like in the past two weeks with Troy and Navy. The power five teams would probably have to implode on themselves for BYU to be getting a spot in the finals and possibly in the New Year’s. Still, though, they would have to win every game like the past 2, and also the Power 5 teams would have to have 2 losses, and mid-majors, but if you put that together then BYU would definitely not be making it this year. Even if the table gets run, the year may still end with a disappointment, and an opportunity wasted. In the end, BYU’s team is doing well right now, but they will likely not be undefeated or get a place in the playoffs.

 

Jake Oldroyd’s 70-yard field goal

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Jake Oldroyd’s 70-yard field goal

This field goal was big and definitely needed for the BYU v.s Texas State game. A 70-yard field goal in a college football game is very good, and it helped the Cougars to pull off the win against them. This wasn’t the only good thing, they also had a 10-yard onside kick by Jake Oldroyd was something that he had been practicing and waiting for the right time to strike and use it on Texas State. These two kicks were amazing and they were well-practiced and well used.

Jake Oldroyd’s famous field goal

Jake was ready for this kick but didn’t exactly expect 70-yards to kick for a field goal. He accepted it and got ready for this very long kick. “Jake Olroyd measured the distance in his mind, looked far down the field, and checked the uprights.” Then he backed up and got ready for the kick, and then just let it fly through the air. Jake never thought of himself ever kicking more than 60-yards, but in that game he did it, and this gave him a lot more confidence. This kick also made him hope that he will have more consistent kicks for other shorter kicks.

Sure there were others on the team that had great achievements like Zach Wilson, BYU’s main quarterback, and his 400-yard passing day which he got plenty of credit for, or Dax Milne’s 3 receiving touchdowns. But Jake’s contribution in this game was just as crucial as the other’s.

The onside 10-yard kick

Now as Jake had already kicked the field goal, he wasn’t asked to boot a 70-yarder. But one thing he was on the field for was for a 10-yard onside kick which he had also previously practiced. This kick had been practiced by Jake for a long time now, and also he did similar things like this kick in high school. He had been ready for a long time and was very excited when he was finally going to do it. Jake kicked the football straight into the air which was successfully caught by Talmage Gunther midair. This led them to have two first downs, and although they got a few first downs they still had to punt twice for Houston. With BYU’s undefeated season, their defense held and with their force they made them punt. With BYU having the ball they got a nice shovel pass in for a touchdown. BYU ended the game with a win, and as others on the team had done well and got many great achievements, Jake Oldroyd was just as crucial in that game especially with the things he contributed towards the win.

 

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