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BYU Football Countdown: Player No. 100

By Adam Gibby

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - SEPTEMBER 27: John Denney #92 of the Miami Dolphins warms up before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Sun Life Stadium on September 27, 2015 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - SEPTEMBER 27: John Denney #92 of the Miami Dolphins warms up before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Sun Life Stadium on September 27, 2015 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – NOVEMBER 24: Matt Hadley #2 of the Brigham Young Cougars celebrates his touchdown in the second half of a game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – NOVEMBER 24: Matt Hadley #2 of the Brigham Young Cougars celebrates his touchdown in the second half of a game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /

Honorable Mentions

It isn’t often that you see a list of people and it have 100 people on it and it still need an honorable mention, but this is the exception. Again, with well over 2500 players (Probably more towards 3000), narrowing it down to the top 3-4% is not an easy task, and for that reason, here are the honorable mentions:

No. 103: Matt Hadley: Linebacker, Punt returner and Running back – 2012-2018

Hadley doesn’t score any points with the statistics or memorable moments especially since in probably ten years nobody will remember him or what he did considering he was really only an impact player for the latter half of his senior season. Hadley however, is a perfect example of working hard and it getting paid off. For the first four years of playing, Hadley did alright as a linebacker averaging 18 tackles per season, a decent but not great statistic. It wasn’t until the latter half of his final season he made a big impact as a running back. He averaged 5.5 YPC and scored six touchdowns including two against Utah. Perhaps his biggest contribution goes unnoticed however. With freshman Zach Wilson behind center, Hadley gave him an anchor of experience and maturity which may have helped Wilson in his early games.

  • Impact: B
  • Statistics: D-
  • Memorable: C+

No. 102 John Van Der Wouden: Wide Receiver – 1975-1979

John Van Der Wouden was actually one of four “Van” players on the 1976 team. What ever happened to those last names anyways? Van Der Wouden was a very consistent receiver during his three years with the Cougars catching for 629, 669, 661 yards respectively. He was also a dependable scorer catching 18 TD passes on only 118 career catches. Although he wasn’t Gifford Wilson’s number one target (you will see who he is in the top 100), he was still worthy of (almost) making the list of BYU’s all-time greats.

  • Impact: C+
  • Statistics: B-
  • Memorable: C-

No. 101 Scott Arellano: Punter – 2013-2014

Punters are one of the most underrated positions on a team. A good punter can make a coach decide to punt on a 4th and 3 from the 40 yard line if he believes the punter can pin the opposing team inside the five yard line. A good punter can also switch field position if they can out punt the other team. Arellano was not a great punter as far as pinning teams inside the five or even protecting the ball. He had three punts blocked and 12 touchbacks on  42.5 yards per kick. What set him apart however was the occasional booming kick he would send off. To this day Arellano holds the BYU record with an 82 yard bomb against Middle Tennessee. He also had punts that hit 76, 73, 67 and 65 yards. His inconsistencies are what kept him off the Top 100 list (barely), but his memorable score is what got him on the honorable mention.

  • Impact: D+
  • Statistics: C+
  • Memorable: A-
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