BYU football's collateral damage

Not on the scoreboard, of course. That showed a 44-point spread -- Utah 54, BYU 10.

The collateral damage was to BYU's three cardinal values, the ones that are inscribed on all its paraphernalia, its marketing material and (new this year) on the turf at LaVell Edwards Stadium: Tradition, Spirit, Honor.

• Tradition: Seven turnovers is not traditional; BYU has a tradition of success. This was the worst home defeat to Utah in school history, and it was among the Cougars' worst defeats ever. Saturday witnessed the destruction of tradition, and this was the most painful thing BYU fans had to endure.

• Spirit: Never have we witnessed a more dispirited home team. In the second half, BYU handed the ball to the Utes again and again. Beginning in the third quarter the Cougars just quit playing altogether and politely unrolled a red carpet leading to the end zone. BYU fans were sullen, and started leaving in droves before the fourth quarter had even begun. (Not that we blame them.)

• Honor: Too much bluster before the game, too little ownership afterward. Fingers were pointing every which way. True, head coach Bronco Mendenhall said it was all his fault -- that he had not prepared his players. Humble words, but what about consistency?

BYU's defensive coordinator, Jaime Hill, was fired last year for a purportedly weak showing. So who is the defensive coordinator now, the one who just gave up 40 unanswered points in arguably the most important game of the year? Uh ... that would be Mendenhall.

And then there's the offense. The Cougars have scored a total of three offensive touchdowns so far this season. Is anybody casting a jaundiced eye on offensive coordinator Brandon Doman? Where's the blame monster that chomped around last year? Perhaps it has lost its appetite.

Dirty play? Mike Pereira, formerly the NFL's Vice President of Officiating, noted that a BYU defender delivered a dangerous and illegal helmet-to-helmet hit that "might have been the most egregious all day." The officials didn't see it. Football may have inherent dangers, but this sort of thing is life-threatening assault, which is why it is outlawed.

So what's next? The road ahead is perilous for the Cougars: After all, it is inhabited by a bunch of undistinguished teams.

BYU can still rise up. It can turn the season around. But let us give voice to tens of thousands of disappointed fans: Please do not rise up just so you can get knocked senseless again. It's more than we can bear.

From the Provo editorial: The BYU football team lost by three on Saturday. Not on the scoreboard, of course. That showed a 44-point spread -- Utah 54, BYU 10. The collateral damage was to BYU's three cardinal values, the ones that are inscribed on all its paraphernalia, its marketing material and (new this year) on the turf at LaVell Edwards Stadium: Tradition, Spirit, Honor.

From the article: Tradition: Seven turnovers is not traditional;...Spirit: Never have we witnessed a more dispirited home team. In the second half, BYU handed the ball to the Utes again and again.

Each of the two BYU QBs fumbled or failed to recover a loose ball in their own end zone, resulting in two Utah TDs. Hey, I think the "gods-in-embryo" (one of the "fave" terms Lds leaders give their young members of the priesthood) are failing in their divinity somewhere!

From the article: And then there's the offense. The Cougars have scored a total of three offensive touchdowns so far this season.

Hey, the BYU offense has no problem scoring TDs...for the other team, that is!

From the article: Dirty play? Mike Pereira, formerly the NFL's Vice President of Officiating, noted that a BYU defender delivered a dangerous and illegal helmet-to-helmet hit that "might have been the most egregious all day." The officials didn't see it. Football may have inherent dangers, but this sort of thing is life-threatening assault, which is why it is outlawed.

Well, let's see. Utah, the non-religious school, had 3 penalties for 26 yards. BYU? 8 penalties; 70 yards (meaning that these weren't just the cheapo 5 yd variety)...and had the above-mentioned "assault" (Provo newspaper's description, not mine) been called, that would have been 9.

BYU "dirty play." BYU "egregious...assaults" with helmet to helmet contact. Hmmm...Not very becoming of those who pretend to be "gods."

I haven’t seen Mormons get such a whipping since Joseph Smith.

It 'twas nice to see them self-destruct...with emphasis on "self."

Six fumbles lost. One interception. Gift touchdowns (plural).

A 10-7 lead that BYU had (with even that first 7 pts they gave up being a gift TD) late in the 2nd qtr mushroom into a 40-point Utah second half.

I firmly believe among the greatest sources of pride is religious legalistic pride. IOW "Zion" (read Mormonism) is supposedly a breed apart. They say they were with Heavenly Father before the world began. They say their spirits were sent here to inhabit bodies -- including lineman, linebacker and ball-handler bodies. They say they alone are the true church. And they say they alone are "gods-in-embryo" about to grow up into full-grown gods.

"Zion" isn't supposed to be whipped 54-10.

"Zion" isn't supposed to turn the ball over 7x.

So whadda ya know. They're "human," after all. The "gods" aren't so "god-like," after all.

Don't worry, years from now a BYU team will defeat Utah and credit the 2011 team with a “proxy” victory.

Indeed. They'll claim, "Yeah, we drowned in that game. But Utah got dead-dunked."

(Every day, the Mormon church falls that many more "names" behind of loading non-Whites into their genealogical data bases...and even further behind in recruiting enough teens and young adults to be "proxy" dead-dunked on behalf of processed names...despite that, they keep claiming the whole world will be presented with the Mormon "gospel" and that all of the other-world "presentees" will have been dead-dunked...)

Hence, Mormons display cognitive dissonance as well as anyone: The "math" about their genealogy and temple rituals in comparison to world birth figures & lack of historical retrieval of records says one thing...but their doctrine about "proxy" presentations of their legalism by other-worldly missionaries is held in tension.

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