2007 Brigham Young Cougars football team

NCAATeamFootballSeason
Year=2007
Team=BYU Cougars


ImageSize=100
Conference=Mountain West Conference
ShortConference=MWC
CoachRank=14
APRank=14
BCSRank=
Record=11-2
ConfRecord=8-0
HeadCoach=Bronco Mendenhall
OffCoach=Robert Anae
DefCoach=Bronco Mendenhall
OScheme=Spread
DScheme=3-4
StadiumArena=LaVell Edwards Stadium
Champion=MWC Champion
BowlTourney=Las Vegas Bowl
BowlTourneyResult= won 17-16 vs. UCLAThe 2007 BYU Cougars football team represents Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 2007 college football season.

In this year BYU clinched its second consecutive Mountain West Conference (MWC) championship title outright after defeating Utah on 24 November. [ [http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=273280252 ESPN - Utah game recap] ] It was BYU's second consecutive, undefeated season in the MWC, its fourth MWC championship since the league began in 1999, and its 23rd conference title. The Cougars have won an MWC record 16 straight league games dating back to 2005 and are on a ten game overall winning streak, the longest winning streak in the country. The Cougars began the season with the second longest winning streak in the country at 11 wins until their loss to UCLA in the second regular season game. The Cougars ended this season ranked 14th in the nation. This finish was the highest back-to-back rankings in the AP Poll since the Cougars won the national championship in 1984.

The Cougars improved their bowl record for the second year in a row. They defeated UCLA 17-16 in 2007 and blew out the Oregon Ducks 38-8 in 2006 in the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Cougars play their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium, named after its legendary coach, LaVell Edwards.

Pre-season

Spring Practice started March 19 and ended April 14 at the annual Blue/White Spring game. The key question was who will fill the empty quarterback position left behind by John Beck: Max Hall, a redshirt sophomore, or Cade Cooper, a junior college transfer from Snow College. On the third snap during the April 14 scrimmage, Cooper suffered a season-ending injury (Lisfranc fracture). Hall was named the starting quarterback the following Monday, and Brendan Gaskins as the back-up. Jacob Bower transferred out in late January. Cooper then decided to transfer in July.

Among the 7 returning starters on offense and the 5 returning starters on defense are: Sete Aulai (center), Travis Bright and Ray Feinga (offensive guards), Dallas Reynolds (Offensive Tackle), Manase Tonga (fullback), Matt Allen and Michael Reed (wide receivers), Jan Jorgensen (defensive end), Bryan Kehl and David Nixon (linebackers), Ben Criddle (cornerback), and Quinn Gooch (free safety). Dustin Gabriel had a foot injury during Fall camp to end his 2007 season, and make him unable to start as KAT. Russell Tialavea, nose tackle, went out in Fall camp with a torn ACL and MCL.

Fall camp started August 4. In the preseason, several players suffered foot and leg injuries (Gabriel, Tafuna, Cooper), like Lisfranc fractures, that may be related to the Nike shoes the players were wearing.

MountainWest Sports Network

Fans, coaches, players, and officials of the Mountain West Conference (MWC) eagerly hoped for progress on national distribution of the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.), particularly on satellite. DirecTV continued to negotiate with Comcast for distribution in the MWC "footprint", but Dish Network discontinued negotiations until the FCC resolved a legal question regarding the Big Ten Network (BTN) that could potentially affect the mtn. While "satellite" distribution seems closer, "national" distribution appears unlikely for the 2007 season. Currently Dallas-Fort Worth is the only remaining MWC market that has "no" provider for the mtn.

During the season

The Cougars were ranked #25 in "Sporting News" pre-season ranking. They started the season unranked in the Coaches Poll (with 47 votes) [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankings?pollId=2&seasonYear=2007&weekNumber=1 ESPN - preseason Coaches poll] ] and unranked in the AP Poll (with 14 votes) [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankings?pollId=1&seasonYear=2007&weekNumber=1 ESPN - preseason AP poll] ] .

Injuries

Garret Reden suffered a season ending injury. Starting free safety, Quinn Gooch ended his season when he tore his ACL in the second half of the TCU game.

Postseason awards and citations

Freshman Harvey Unga was named to the Rivals Freshman All-America Second Team. Unga, has 1,211 rushing yards and 629 receiving yards for the season, is the Cougars' all-time leading freshman running back and the first BYU freshman to pass the 1,000-yard mark in a single season. He has rushed for over 100 yards in seven games this season, the most for a freshman at BYU. He is five yards short of the MWC all-time leading freshman running back. [ [http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=9973 www.byucougars.com - Unga named All-American] ]

Senior wide receiver Matt Allen was named one of 11 finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy. [ [http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=9866 www.byucougars.com - Allen named finalist for Wuerffel Trophy] ]

All-Mountain West Conference Football Teams

[ [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mwc/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/07FBAll-Conf.pdf CSTV - All-Mountain West Conference Football Teams] ] [ [http://cfn.scout.com/2/709889.html CollegeFootballNews.com All-Mountain West Team] ]

Harvey Unga was named as the MWC Freshman of the Year, BYU's third recipient of that award following Luke Staley in 1999 and Austin Collie in 2004.

First Team Offense: Max Hall, Dennis Pitta, Ray Feinga, Dallas Reynolds, Harvey Unga* and Austin Collie*.
First Team Defense: Jan Jorgensen and Bryan Kehl.
Second Team Offense: Austin Collie and Harvey Unga.
Second Team Defense: Kelly Poppinga.
Honorable Mention: Austin Collie (KR) and Quinn Gooch

*CFN only

chedule

CFB Schedule Entry
date = September 1
time = 3:30 pm
w/l = w
nonconf = yes
rank = #
opponent = Arizona
opprank =
site_stadium = LaVell Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = Versus
score = 20-7
overtime =
attend = 64,525CFB Schedule Entry
date = September 8
time = 3:30 pm
w/l = l
nonconf = yes
away = yes
rank = #
opponent = UCLA
opprank = 14
site_stadium = Rose Bowl Stadium
site_cityst = Pasadena, CA
gamename =
tv = Versus
score = 27-17
overtime =
attend = 72,968CFB Schedule Entry
date = September 15
time = 8:00 pm
w/l = l
nonconf = yes
away = yes
rank = #
opponent = Tulsa
opprank =
site_stadium = Skelly Field @ Chapman Stadium
site_cityst = Tulsa, OK
gamename =
tv = CSTV
score = 55-47
overtime =
attend = 24,445CFB Schedule Entry
date = September 22
time = 1:00 pm
w/l = w
nonconf = no
rank =
homecoming = yes
opponent = Air Force
opprank = #
site_stadium = Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = mtn.
score = 31-6
overtime =
attend = 64,502CFB Schedule Entry
date = September 29
time = 6:30 pm
w/l = w
nonconf =
away = yes
rank =
opponent = New Mexico
opprank =
site_stadium = University Stadium
site_cityst = Albuquerque, NM
gamename =
tv = CSTV
score = 31-24
overtime =
attend = 34,204CFB Schedule Entry
date = October 13
time = 6:30 pm
w/l = w
nonconf =
away = yes
rank = #
opponent = UNLV
opprank =
site_stadium = Sam Boyd Stadium
site_cityst = Las Vegas, NV
gamename =
tv = mtn.
score = 24-14
overtime =
attend = 38,026CFB Schedule Entry
date = October 20
time = 3:30 pm
w/l = w
nonconf = yes
rank = #
opponent = Eastern Washington
opprank =
site_stadium = Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = mtn.
score = 42-7
overtime =
attend = 64,522CFB Schedule Entry
date = November 3
time = 12:00 pm
w/l = w
nonconf =
rank = #
opponent = Colorado State
opprank =
site_stadium = Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = mtn.
score = 35-16
overtime =
attend = 64,441CFB Schedule Entry
date = November 8
time = 7:00 pm
w/l = w
nonconf =
rank = #
opponent = TCU
opprank =
site_stadium = Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = Versus
score = 27-22
overtime =
attend = 64,241CFB Schedule Entry
date = November 17
time = 12:00 pm
w/l = w
nonconf =
away = yes
rank = #
opponent = Wyoming
opprank =
site_stadium = War Memorial Stadium
site_cityst = Laramie, WY
gamename =
tv = mtn.
score = 35-10
overtime =
attend = 19,827CFB Schedule Entry
date = November 24
time = 12:00 pm
w/l = w
nonconf =
rank = 23
opponent = Utah
opprank = #
site_stadium = Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = Versus/
CSTV/mtn.
score = 17-10
overtime =
attend = 64,749 [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2007/11/24/36667_viewcast.html CNNSI - Utah game recap] ] CFB Schedule Entry
date = December 1
time = 3:30 pm
w/l = w
nonconf =
away = yes
rank = 19
opponent = San Diego State
opprank =
site_stadium = Qualcomm Stadium
site_cityst = San Diego, CA
gamename =
tv = mtn.
score = 48-27
overtime =
attend = 28,473CFB Schedule Entry
date = December 22
time = 5:00 pm
w/l = w
nonconf = yes
neutral = yes
away =
rank = 19
opponent = UCLA
opprank =
site_stadium = Sam Boyd Stadium
site_cityst = Las Vegas, NV
gamename =
tv = ESPN
score = 17-16
overtime =
attend = 40,712

MWC Standings

"See also 2007 Mountain West football season"

Players

Roster

Depth chart

External links

* [http://www.byucougars.com/football/ BYU Cougars football]
* [http://www.cougarstats.com/ Cougar Stats]
* [http://www.cougarboard.com/ Cougar Board]
* [http://www.cougarlegion.com/ Cougar Legion formerly My 3 Cents]
* [http://www.cougarblue.com/ Cougar Blue]
* [http://www.bluefangroup.com/ Blue Fan Group (Garn videos)]
* [http://www.cougaroutpost.com/ Cougar Outpost]
* [http://www.cougarfan.com/teams/football/ Cougar Fan]
* [http://www.cougarchampion.com/ Cougar Champion]

Notes and references