If you're a BYU football fan, you might be a little (or a lot) concerned after seeing the final score of Saturday night's Utah State game.
And ya know what? You should be.
After all, the Aggies went to the West Coast and put an impressive 61-10 beatdown on San Jose State. Now granted, those Spartans from San Jose aren't exactly a formidable foe like the Top-25 opponents that BYU has faced previously this season.
Far, far from it, in fact. Indeed, nobody's ever gonna mistake San Jose State for LSU, Utah or Wisconsin.
But the fact remains that Utah State piled up 61 points in a road game against a Mountain West Conference opponent. And that alone should strike plenty of apprehension, if not fear, gloom and doom, into the hearts of BYU fans as the Cougars — suffering from a severe case of ODD (Offense Deficit Disorder) — prepare to travel to Cache Valley, where they'll face the Aggies on Friday evening.
Heck, BYU hasn't come close to scoring 61 points all season — in all four of its games combined! After sputtering to put up 20 points in their season-opener against Portland State, which at best is a middle-of-the-pack Big Sky Conference team, the Cougars have managed a whopping total of just 19 points combined in their last three outings, all losses, against powerhouse FBS teams LSU (27-0), Utah (19-13) and Wisconsin (40-6).
So let's get this straight. In three games against FBS opponents, albeit three mighty good ones, BYU has scored an average of only 6.33 points per game. Even worse, two of those three losses came at home, LaVell Edwards Stadium, where BYU teams of the past routinely scored 19 or more points in a half, if not a single quarter.
And next up are the Aggies (2-2), who in their two victories have lit up the scoreboard for an average of 56 points. Although in all fairness, their other win (51-13) came against another Big Sky school, Idaho State, which isn't going to scare many FBS or FCS teams on its best day.
Still, there aren't many schools, save perhaps the University of Utah and maybe Boise State, that USU and its fans get more fired up to play against than BYU. The fact that Friday's game is in Logan, and the offensively challenged Cougars come to town reeling through a humbling three-game losing streak that may have them questioning their own abilities as players and coaches, it will certainly give the Aggies renewed hope and confidence that this is their year to beat BYU in this in-state rivalry.
It's shaping up like the perfect storm for the Aggies, who are likely licking their chops with an explosive offense that appears capable of exploiting the Cougars' weakness at putting points on the board.
When he's got it rolling, like he did Saturday night at San Jose, USU quarterback Kent Myers can be an absolute load to try to stop. Myers threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 84 yards and two more TDs, and the Aggies roared to a 55-7 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Of course, in Utah State's two lopsided losses, its offense was — dare we say it? — as inept as BYU's. The Aggies also got walloped by Wisconsin, 59-10, but that came on the road, not at home. USU suffered a similar 46-10 setback at Wake Forest before doing a 180-degree turnaround this weekend at San Jose State.
At this juncture, BYU doesn't appear to have any potent offensive playmakers like Myers who are capable of unleashing that kind of firepower on opposing defenses. And if Utah State can capitalize on that advantage, it would go a long way in giving the Aggies their third win over BYU since 2010 — but just their fourth victory over the Cougars since 1983. BYU has dominated the series since then, winning 25 of the last 28 games played in the series between the two schools.
So again, if you're a BYU football fan, Friday's game could be another challenging one. And if Myers and Co. get it rolling and the USU crowd gets behind ’em, well, like that famous line from the horror film "The Fly" says, "Be afraid. Be very afraid."
Since its embarrassing loss to Wisconsin on Sept. 16, BYU had a bye and has now had more than a week to try to figure things out and, hopefully, take steps to fix what's wrong with its clunky offense. There's certainly plenty of blame to go around.
Now it's time for somebody in that BYU locker room to boldly step up into a leadership role and get the troops' full attention, a la that famous speech from the 1970s film "Network" in which a frustrated TV news anchor begins by saying, "I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad …" and then ends his speech with this classic, crazed rant: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
In the end, someone or something like that might go a long, long way to helping save the Cougars' season.
EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com