Welcome to Too Optimistic Tuesday! This weekly column reminds BYU fans why they should count their many blessings and have an abundance of hope. Every season in every sport is full of both ups and downs. This column will amplify the "ups" and help fans quickly recover from the "downs". So put on your blue-tinted goggles and just enjoy your BYU fandom for a moment.
BYU just manhandled a more talented Stanford team
The prevailing notion in college football is that talent wins. Period.
The more four-star and five-star talents a team collects, the more that team is going to emerge victorious.
While some BYU fans are somewhat poo-pooing the Cougars 27-3 victory over Stanford, the reality is BYU just dominated a more talented Power Four team. While, yes, BYU should have scored 40+ points in this one but didn't due to some drives stalling out and some curious calls by refs to take touchdowns off the board -- a phantom hold negated a Parker Kingston touchdown while another potential touchdown seemed to break the plane of the end zone but was not reviewed -- BYU still just beat a more talented opponent by 24 points, people!
Don't take that for granted!
Why do I say Stanford is the more talented team when compared to BYU? Because that's what the 247 Sports Team Talent Composite tells us.
The total talent on Stanford's roster ranks No. 46 nationally. BYU's talent ranks No. 70.
Per 247 Sports, Stanford has 11 four-star talents compared to BYU's eight.
Stanford has 71 three-star talents to BYU's 62.
The average player rating for the Cardinal is 86.71 while the Cougars is 85.36.
On paper, BYU just dominated a more talented Power Four opponent. The Cougars did this with a freshman quarterback in Bear Bachmeier making his second college start with the added pressure of facing the team he just transferred away from. BYU did this despite missing their best offensive lineman in Weylin Lapuaho, their projected starting defensive tackle in Justin Kirkland, cornerback Jonathan Kabeya, and losing key wide receiver Jojo Phillips in the first half.
Coming away with a dominant victory facing those conditions is awesome.
Rejoice over every win!
BYU fans, if you're not overly happy with the Cougars' dominant win over Stanford, you need an intervention from Too Optimistic Tuesday. While Stanford is a reeling program right now, they are still a Power Four team with loads of talent on its roster. Most football games can go either way based on one big play, one impactful penalty, or one crazy bounce of the ball. BYU overpowered Stanford from the opening kickoff until the final whistle.
BYU fans, enjoy every win! We should take nothing for granted. Just this past week a host of favored ranked teams fell in games they were supposed to win, and other Power Four programs lost to schools from non-Power conferences.
No. 12 Arizona State lost last weekend to Mississippi State, a team that has gone 1-15 in SEC play over the last two seasons.
No. 13 Florida lost Saturday at home to then unranked USF in an embarrassing in-state letdown.
No. 17 SMU fell last last week at home to unranked Baylor.
This past week Kansas State lost to Army. West Virginia lost to Ohio. UCLA got handled by UNLV.
Never take victories for granted, especially dominant ones, even when they are a little sloppy. Victories in college football are rarely easy. Any team can lose at any time.
With a bye week coming for the Cougs, it means we now have two weeks to revel in BYU's latest dominant victory.
Enjoy it!