This year, we averaged more points and fewer yards than we did last year, and our offense was quite a bit better in S&P and FEI (48 in both last year, 39 and 33, respectively, this year). That's a sign of an offense that was much more efficient than last season's.

The 37.1 PPG we averaged this year were the best we've done since 2001 (thanks, CougarStats). And the 460 YPG were on par with the best offenses in Anae 1.0. Many people will point to the offense reverting to something closer to Anae 1.0 than we saw last year as being the reason for the improvement, and they will have a point. The offense Stew ran was similar to Anae 1.0, with the zone-read providing the basis of our run game and maybe slightly less emphasis on timing routes than we saw with Beck and Hall. That said, it wasn't really a return to the BYU offense of old, regardless of what people think, but rather an odd mixture of Mike Leach (an iteration beyond Doug Scovil) and Rich Rodriguez. Even so, it was closer to the classic 80's BYU offenses than last year's (though not as close as Anae 1.0), and that both made people happy and provided for a lot of success through the air - necessary with the loss of Taysom and Jamaal.

Moving forward, we have learned a few things that should both temper our expectations and provide hope for the future. Our OL is improved, although not completely "there" yet, as our difficulty running and protecting Stew against Memphis showed. I think it is clearer what kind of offense Anae really wants to run, though he will still adapt to maximize the talents of his players - at every skill position. In particular, I think he will make the passing game as aggressive and varied as Taysom is willing to make it, and the onus is on #4 to become the most effective player this offense can produce. That requires taking a long-term perspective on play-by-play decisions (e.g. throwing the ball away rather than trying to force his way to the LOS when he won't gain more than a few yards or taking a check-down throw rather than running up the middle, even if the former will likely be a shorter gain). If Taysom will show the decision-making necessary to make this offense hum, we will see the play calls that will make it hum. If he wants to scramble every time his first read isn't there, we will keep seeing every route sent long and/or to the outside so that he has room to run in the middle of the field, and we will see what we did in the first four games, and probably an injury as well. Barring injury, what the offense did in the first four games was not at all shabby, but it wouldn't be maximizing its potential.

Basically, I think it is clear that the offense was not only the bright spot of the team, but a legit reason for enthusiasm moving forward. We have a lot of good talent coming in, and there isn't much reason to think things will change. I don't see Holmoe letting Dr. Bob get away again, as long as Anae is happy here.