BYU Cougars: Keys to defeating UNLV Rebels

By Todd Erickson  |   Friday, October 24, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

College Football
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Will the real Brigham Young Cougars of 2008 please step forward this game? Since peaking in early September with a near-perfect 59-0 blowout of UCLA, the Cougars have progressively descended beyond mediocrity in just four games, finally hitting rock bottom in Fort Worth last Thursday night.

UNLV can relate. They surprised everyone with a 3-1 start this season, including two shocking overtime upsets over BCS opponents. Since then, they’ve dropped three in a row. They’re edgy and anxious for another upset.

Cougar Keys to defeating UNLV

1. Shut down the Rebels’ passing game. The Cougars will be fine allowing Rebel running back Frank Summers his 83.4 yards per game average. Heck, they can even give up 140 yards to Summers and they’ll survive. But they'd better corral Omar Clayton and his three top receivers—Ryan Wolfe, Phillip Payne and Casey Flair—or they’re in for a boatload of trouble on Saturday.

Clayton is the second-ranked quarterback in the MWC, completing passes at a 59 percent clip with 16 TDs and only two picks. Wolfe has 49 receptions and three TDs, Payne has 24 grabs and seven TDs, and Flair has 31 catches and four scores. Every UNLV win has hinged on the success of its passing game.

2. Establish the rushing attack and don’t abandon it. BYU can easily get a couple hundred yards through the air against any opponent, but it needs to have a balanced offensive attack. The Cougars abandoned the rushing attack too early against TCU last week and paid for it by forcing Max Hall to carry the team with his arm.

Besides chewing up the clock and wearing down UNLV’s defense, a successful Cougar ground game will keep their potentially explosive passing attack on the sideline as much as possible. The teams that have been the most successful against the Rebels this year, such as Nevada and Utah, have had balanced offensive attacks, slightly favoring the run over the pass.

One more item about the Cougar running game. It’s too predictable. Harvey Unga accounts for 87 percent of the yardage from the starting backfield. BYU needs to mix it up with an alternative style of running back (DiLuigi, Latu, or Kariya) lugging the rock out of some new formations. And what about Austin Collie taking the snap from the shotgun and running the option?

3. Put the game away early. Listen, this sounds really simple, but you don’t want to mess around with the Rebels. Especially after you’ve had your hat handed to you in the preceding game. The Cougars need to get their confidence back quickly and nothing will make that happen better than lighting up the scoreboard early and often.

UNLV hasn’t been down at halftime by more than eight points in any game this season. They know what it’s like to hang around and have a chance at the end of the game. Arizona State and Iowa State learned this lesson last month and Air Force narrowly avoided learning this the hard way last week.

Prediction

UNLV and BYU are both hungry teams eager to get back on a winning track. Still, the Cougars have more to play for this season and they have home-field advantage. Expect the scoreboard to light up for both teams. BYU 45, UNLV 28

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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl ...
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