2002 Statistics

written by Tim Chapman

BYU played four QBs last season and three of them return. Someone has to emerge from this pack. The leader appears to be soph. Matt Berry, who took over for Brett Engemann as the starter in the seventh game against UNLV. Berry shows a promising arm, he is your current leader for the job. The knock against him, though, is he needs to improve his decision-making. In the seven games he played, Matt threw nine INTs against only seven TDs. If he does not deliver, look for junior Todd Mortensen to push the envelope. Todd is a very intelligent signal caller with enough experience under his belt to make the competition that much better. He has seen action as a backup over the past two seasons. Freshman QB Ben Olson announced that he plans on serving a two-year LDS mission and won't return until 2005. Olson was ranked by several recruiting services as the top high school senior in 2001. Pushing the pack will also be John Beck and Lance Pendleton, but again, smart man's guess is Berry to hold down the starting role heading into the fall opener.

The QB stable in the "Air-Crowton" attack will team with a group of experienced receivers. Even though the Cougars lose their top pass-catcher, they bring back a number of receivers with great hands. The biggest name is senior Toby Christensen. Toby (son of former BYU and NFL great Todd Christensen) brings the ability to get deep, runs quality routes, and has a superb set of hands. His leadership skills are a boon for this team lacking an experienced "field-general". Look for the tandem of "whomever to Christensen" to litter score sheets. Suffice to say, whoever does throw the ball will have an ample target in our boy. Also in the receiver-mix are juniors Rod Wilkerson and Jason Kukahiko. Kukahiko is a former high school track star with speed to stretch defenses to go with his good hands. Expect a breakout year from this young man.

One of the main reasons BYU had little success in 2002 was the weak running game. Two years ago Luke Staley provided what is now needed. The 2002 Cougars only averaged 3.5 yards per carry and 121 yards per game on the ground - not enough to take pressure off whichever QB. Junior Marcus Whalen returns after falling only ten yards shy of 1,000. Whalen showed he is an all-around back too, catching 27 passes out of the backfield. He will be helped out by soph. Curtis Brown.

Berry and Mortensen will have to get help from three new starters on the offensive line. This is probably a blessing in disguise. If the last crew couldn't produce with the qualified Whalen, then bring in the next kids and let them have a chance. If you believe in your recruiting, this is a no-brainer for improvement. C Scott Jackson returns as the anchor, along with steady Quinn Christensen. Surrounding these cats will be a long list of youthful faces. No doubt about this, though: BYU loves to throw the football, meaning this new group of linemen will have to, but will struggle to, solidify in a hurry.

Replacing tight ends Spencer Nead and Gabe Reid, who are both bound for the NFL, has been a bit of a concern for BYU coaches. That concern spurred Crowton to move a growing Daniel Coates from wide out to tight end. Coates entered fall camp last season as a 6-foot-2, 200-pound true freshman. After a redshirt season, and an increase of some 40 pounds, Coates will be competing for a starting job at tight end. BYU must find an eminent replacement for reliable Spencer "Teton-Terror" Nead, and his 40 catches. BYU has always utilized TEs well. This year, it will be important to find one (BYU's young QBs will need one to establish offensive success), and quick. Look for several names jockeying with playing time at the TE position (see depth chart). But this is a weakness nonetheless until established.

Finally, the Cougars must flat out score more points. BYU lulled to 88th in scoring offense in Division I-A (second to last in the MWC), averaging only 22 points per game. They need to put up the numbers they used to post, which usually hovered around 35 to 40 ppg. There are way too many shootouts in their conference for this scoring issue not to need fixing. TOs need to be addressed, too.

RB Marcus Whalen

written by Tim Chapman

The Cougars are bringing back ten starters on the defensive side of the ball. The biggest name on that squad is junior DE Brady Poppinga. Poppinga led the MWC with eight sacks, so he will draw double-teams. Keeping with that, watch out for DT Ifo Pili to make some noise as he fights the injury bug in the spring. Senior DL Shawn Nua and two-year starter John Denney will complete a line that has to overcome its 2002's marginal performance - giving up 4.1 yards-per-rush and earning 22 sacks won't disrupt many offensive game plans, so… experience has to equal improvement.

The linebackers are three mangy dogs who can run, seek, and destroy. They are lead by four-year starter Paul Walkenhorst in the middle, a 2002 Butkus candidate. Walkenhorst can move well laterally, eating up everything that comes his way. On the outside, Levi Madarietta is a quality cover-man, and Colby Bockwaldt is especially strong at run-pursuit. Both provide added speed to an already quick defense. This unit will provide a run-stopping handicap. They need to also remain viable in coverage for any dynamic levels of play to be reached. Otherwise, it will be a long season if the LB corps is predictable in its responses to play development.

The strongest dimension for BYU may be their secondary believe it or not. Quality cover-men CB Chad Barney and SS Aaron Francisco anchor the DBs. Francisco's 99 tackles (team's second best) speak for the entire unit's ability to also run-stop as they cover. Keep an eye out for ball-hawking safety Kip Nielson, who was the team's INT leader. Cougar fans can rest easy this season. All-MWC performer Jernaro Gilford is back at corner, and he's healthy. Back for his senior season, Gilford had an outstanding spring, and did not miss a down. Depth in the secondary will likely lead to nickel defenses being emphasized so LBs can focus on the play underneath and inside whenever needed. With so many starters back, this crew can improve on being Div. I-A's 23rd ranked pass-efficiency defense.

During this off-season, long-time BYU defensive coordinator Ken Schmidt retired. They bring in former New Mexico coordinator Bronco Mendenhall. Mendenhall liked to use a 3-3-5 defensive scheme with the Lobos, and the Cougars' personnel, as detailed above, will fit well into that scheme. The problem will be getting the players acquainted and comfortable with this new system. Look for this to take a few games, especially since the quality non-cons scheduled will be keen to this.

What's weird is that the players all show good 2002 numbers and plenty of promise - none is a weak point individually. But the team gave up about 28 points-per-contest. The problem with the 2002 Cougar defense was defending against the run. They were 92nd in I-A as they gave up 177 yards-per-game (2nd worst in the MWC) at over four yards-per-carry. The answer to explain the statistical anomaly is this: the defense either stopped the run with a tackle-for-loss, or they gave up a big, double-digit gainer. Mendenhall's DL will need to be better at making the initial stop consistently instead of getting caught using too much quickness in over-pursuit. Just having a new coordinator should instill enough new ethics to reinvent the same players into a solid unit by mid-season.

DE Brady Poppinga