BYU routs northern Iowa

A few hours after Kyle Whittingham’s University of Utah team upset Michigan, the Beehive State’s other major college football program got the 2008 season underway successfully as BYU easily handled FCS/1-AA Northern Iowa 41-17.  And like Utah’s Whittingham, BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall is another first rate coach that is seriously overlooked by the national media.  Mendenhall has been instrumental in reviving the Cougar program after Gary Crowton ran it into the ground, and the swagger evident during the Lavell Edwards era is starting to return to BYU football.

It wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination, and 4 BYU fumbles—including one in their own end zone recovered for a TD--allowed Northern Iowa to keep the final score competitive.  Aside from the turnovers, however, BYU’s offense led by QB Max Hall looked as unstoppable as the vintage Cougar juggernauts of the WAC era.  Hall finished 34 of 41 for 486 yards with 2 TD passes.  The concept of a rushing attack is usually an afterthought at BYU, but the Coogs running back corps added 77 yards.

The BYU defensive effort wasn’t as impressive, though some of that could be attributed to a lack of intensity after the team went up 27-3 at halftime.  Northern Iowa finished with 362 yards (213 passing, 149 rushing).  The Cougars were also whistled for 8 penalties costing them 65 yards.  Still, the dominant offense allowed them to extend the nation’s current longest winning streak to 11 games without much trouble at all.

BYU will have to tighten up their game considerably over the next few weeks, as they face a couple of PAC 10 opponents travelling to Washington and hosting UCLA.  Ranked #16 entering the season, these games could show just how good this Cougar team is, or else expose them as an overrated side.  BYU does catch Washington in something of a down cycle, as the Huskies were destroyed by Oregon in their opening game.  Additionally, Washington will enter the BYU contest with an even bigger game on deck against #4 Oklahoma.  The Washington offense sputtered against Oregon, producing only 95 yards rushing.  In other words, they’re a beatable opponent for Mendenhall’s Cougars.

UCLA should prove to be a tougher challenge, though the Bruins are off of a 6-7 season and under the guidance of a new head coach in Rick Neuheisel.  The Bruins begin their season on Monday as they host #18 Tennessee and that game should help determine just how dangerous UCLA will be in their first season under a new coaching regime.