I have looked over the schedule a hundred times, and maybe that's my problem. Every game looks like a game that we can/should win. Even Texas. I don't subscribe to the notion that Charlie Strong is good enough to turn that mess around in two games. We were close in Austin a few years ago, and we blew them out at home last year. They aren't returning much, and are breaking in new schemes, new coaches, new players, new everything. It will be the second game ever that those players look over to get the call from Strong or his coordinators on the sideline. I think Charlie Strong will get them going in the right direction, but not by week 2. Maybe in year 2?

UCF doesn't scare me much. By the time we get them, I don't think any of us will be too scared of them. I see them starting 1-4, with a win vs a FCS team. I think Penn State beats them, as does Mizzou. Then they play at Houston, which I believe Houston wins. Last year at home in Orlando, UCF was only able to beat Houston 19-14. Now UCF is gutted and starting over, and a good Houston team is on the rise.

Houston is the game on our schedule that scares me the most right now. I know that it's our home opener, and Bronco and our Cougs usually do well at our home opener. But that is a good team, like a "Best of the Rest" type team this year. I would not be surprised to see Houston representing "the rest" in a New Years day bowl this year. Who is better?

Last year's game was super fun to watch. For me, it's second only to Texas on my "re-watch" list. It was back and forth the whole game, and if it wasn't for Fua's pick (I still don't know how he was able to get around on that ball.. amazing pick), we very well could have lost that game. That was with Taysom throwing like a maniac (29-44 for 417 and 3 picks), but O'Korn matched him almost identically (29-45 for 363 and 3 picks), and that's against our stingy D. No one got close to 46 points on us last year. In my opinion, the Houston game is the game most taken for granted by BYU fans. We beat a really good team that day, and this year they are going to be out for revenge. If we are coming off a big win at Texas the week before, I'm afraid that this will be a huge let down game. They've got a really good QB in John O'Korn, some freaky athletic playmakers on both sides of the ball, and Tony Levine is a very underrated coach. He was hired by Kevin Sumlin and took over when Sumlin went to AM. I wouldn't be surprised if this was his last year at Houston, even though he just signed a 5 year extension. They started really strong (5-0), but after the VERY close loss to us they won a couple more before hitting the UCF (with Bortles and co.)/Louisville/Cinncy buzz saw. They went 0-3 but didn't lose a game by more than a TD, then lost to a solid Vandy team in their bowl game. They finished 8-5 and I bet they feel like they could have had a special year last year.

In my opinion, this game more than any game on our schedule, is being overlooked because they were one of our "W's" last year. If we slip in Austin or East Hartford, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see us start the dreaded 1-2 this year. We had one of our best offensive games of the year and still barely pulled it out. I hope it's a lot better for us at home, in the home opener, but that is a really good team that is going to sneak up on folks this year..