I expect BYU to roll in this game and win going away. I am aware of the early season stumbles by Bronco and the fact that it is on the east coast, and how things went at Virginia last year ... yada yada yada. Just because there is some history for slow starts and tepid play on the east coast does not mean THIS GAME will follow suit. I think BYU will win very comfortably unless they have the turnover bug tomorrow. The reason I think this is as follows:

1. Defense should be fine. Yes, we are losing some starters for the game, but even then, other players have been practicing all fall with the first team and there should not be too much drop off in talent with our guys who will be playing. BYU's deficiencies due to suspensions are such that I do not think the talent level and execution of UConn will be able to fully capitalize on. BYU can afford to give up points in the 20s, I think, and win. As it is for this game, BYU's overall defense appears to be more balanced than last year when you think of the gaping hole at the CB position last year. Bronco can make up for the defensive deficiencies this game.

2. UConn is not Virginia. By that I mean Virginia has nice recruiting classes with very good athletes, regardless of the turmoil of their team in general. We all know that a team with lots of high caliber athletes is traditionally lots of trouble for BYU. UConn does not have the same caliber of athletes as either Virginia last your or BYU this year.

3. Taysom Hill. Last years opener was a joke with the weather (which played a factor in BYU getting a rhythm going) and the fact that the offense was brand new. Taysom Hill grew so much as a QB in this system after a few games that I expect BYU's offense to play at least at the level of the latter half of last year (which if BYU was doing in game 1 last year, BYU beats Virginia by double digits). Some may say the loss of Hoffman will hurt against UConn. Well Hoffmann did not play against Virginia either. I think Taysom will be clicking and the talent of BYU's RBs will fill in nicely. Taysom may be able to dominate UConn the way he did Houston's defense, Boise's defense, GT's defense, etc.

4. BYU's OL. I think BYU's OL will need to season quite a bit over time, but I also think they will be as good or better in game 1 this year compared to the season ending OL last year. Because of that, I expect Taysom to have a little more time to throw on average and the RBs to have a little better line push on average. This is another reason why I think BYU's offense will click at least as well as it was in the latter half of last season, especially when looking at how BYU played against teams (i.e., UConn) with talent below the level of Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Washington.

If BYU plays their A game, I can see BYU winning by much more than the current spread. As long as BYU does not turn the ball over like they did against MTSU last year, BYU should be just fine. Even if BYU plays their B game, I think BYU still wins even if UConn plays their A game. I think UConn needs to have a lot of factors really go their way are important times in the game if they have a chance of winning. The bottom line BYU fans is ... don't fret so much. I see this game akin to the danger of BYU playing Nevada or someone like that last year. I fully expect BYU to win this. You may say Nevada was close last year, but if we look at the factors in that game, Nevada had a lot of things go their way and BYU was sluggish for a lot of it, etc. I can see last years Nevada result happening against UConn if BYU comes in with less than their A game and UConn is getting a lot of breaks going their way.