2009 BYU Cougars Football Preview
2009 BYU Cougars season preview from Maddux Sports. Below you can find our official BYU Cougars football preview as well as the 2009 BYU Cougars Football Schedule. Get Free football predictions against the sportsbooks college football betting line.
Coach: Bronco Mendehall (5th year at BYU)
Team Name: Cougars
2008 Overall Record: 10-3
Returning Starters: 12
After finishing third in the Mountain West Conference, the 17th ranked BYU Cougars (10- 3 overall, 6- 2 MWC) went to their fourth straight Las Vegas Bowl. They were defeated by the unranked Arizona Wildcats 31- 21, making the Cougars 2- 2 in their last four post-season appearances. This year, BYU looks to be primed to contend for first in the MWC.
In 2008, the BYU offense put an average of 34.3 PPG (20th nationally) on the board. Senior QB Max Hall (477 ATT, 330 COMP, 3,957 YDs, 14 INTs, 35 TDs) has a two-year record as a starter of 21- 5. Last season, he led the 6th ranked passing game in the country. Senior tight end Dennis Pitta (83 REC, 1,083 YDs, 6 TDs) is the team’s top returning receiver. The starting wideouts from last season are gone but there’s potential in McKay Jacobson, O’Neill Chambers and Luke Ashworth. Junior RB Harvey Unga (240 ATT, 1,142 YDs, 11 TDs) is back to anchor the running attack. Although there’s limited depth on the O-line, the starting talent upfront is quite good.
Last season, teams that had speed were able to exploit the BYU defense. The same will be true this season. The “D,” which allowed an average of 21.9 PPG, will feature a sound front. Senior left end Jan Jorgensen (54 TKLs, 5 SKs, 3.5 TFL) is a tough competitor and senior right end Brett Denney (37 TKLs, 1.5 SKs, 6.5 TFL) is a fine run stuffer. Although the linebacking unit is without star David Nixon (90 TKLs, 2 SKs, 9.5 TFL, 3 INTs), there’s still plenty of talent. MLB Matt Bauman (108 TKLs, 2 SKs, 6.5 TFL) is back as the leading tackler and WLB Coleby Clawson (55 TKLs, 4 SKs, 7.5 TFL) is a versatile performer. The secondary is a major concern, especially the corners.
The special teams are a question mark. The best thing going in this area is the kick return chops of O’Neill Chambers (35 Kick RET, 809 YDs, 23.1 YPR). Chambers was not as proficient at punt returns, averaging 5.9 YPR. Junior Mitch Payne will handle the kicking duties and sophomore Tyler Holt will do the punting chores. Both are inexperienced.
Head coach Bronco Mendenhall (38- 13 in four years with BYU) has brought in another fine group of hearty recruits. Last season, the Cougars lost two regular season games. TCU beat them 32- 7, and in the final game of the season, Utah won 31- 21. This season, BYU meets TCU on October 2 and Utah on November 28. Winning both of those contests will give the Cougars the league title. They play two huge games in the first three weeks of the season—Oklahoma on September 5 and Florida State on September 19. If they can win those two, it will be one heck of a year. The BYU Cougars stand a good chance of taking the MWC, and if they can also beat the Sooners and Seminoles, they’ll get a BCS Bowl invite.
BYU Cougars Football Schedule
| Date | Team | Opponent | Site | Line | Total | Points | Opp Points |
| 9/5/2009 | BYU | Oklahoma | neutral | ||||
| 9/12/2009 | BYU | Tulane | away | ||||
| 9/19/2009 | BYU | Florida St. | home | ||||
| 9/26/2009 | BYU | Colorado St. | home | ||||
| 10/2/2009 | BYU | Utah St. | home | ||||
| 10/10/2009 | BYU | UNLV | away | ||||
| 10/17/2009 | BYU | San Diego St. | away | ||||
| 10/24/2009 | BYU | TCU | home | ||||
| 11/7/2009 | BYU | Wyoming | away | ||||
| 11/14/2009 | BYU | New Mexico | away | ||||
| 11/21/2009 | BYU | Air Force | home | ||||
| 11/28/2009 | BYU | Utah | home |
For more info on the 2009 BYU Cougars football program, view the Cougars website or read up on the rest of the non BCS ncaa football teams below.
