Most of this analysis comes from their game against App State, plus a few other times I have caught them. App State is a good team. This isn't their best team ever, but still a good opponent to CCU. I felt they were evenly matched with CCU (App State was ahead most of the game, a desperation Pick-6 late in the game made the score look worse than it was). My overall takeaway was that BYU will win this game by 10, but if we are flat, CCU will win (and their offense is good enough to turn this into a blow out if we are really off). This is a really bad team to have to prepare for on a short week.

Offense:

Their offense is legit and fun to watch. It reminds me of Nevada's old pistol option offense. They are a spread option team that prefers speed option to the triple option. Their running is much more of a threat than their passing, but they pass well enough that you can't play them like the service academies. Their offense relies on misdirection and stretching you horizontally and they do it very well. They don't take a ton of shots downfield, but they will occassionallty and their receivers are fast enough to house those. But the they pass primarily to alleviate pressure off the run game. They rarely triple option, and seem to prefer the pass to the dive (which is unfortunate for us as I think Tonga is a perfect dive disrupter).

Their O-line is small, but won't be nearly as bad as some on this board are saying. CCU will not line up and try to block you 1-on-1 and that is why their smaller linemen aren't going to hurt them much. In fact, they rarely try to run the ball inside the A gaps (inside gaps). Most inside runs are the QB scrambles from overrushing the edges (since that is where they like to run AND a good place to get pass pressure from). In fact, the inside QB run is primary (only?) way they seem to try to relieve pressure when teams try to take away what they do best.  Their QB is both fast and clever - so he's tough to catch and bring down when he does scramble.  Even though I felt App State's D-Line was better than CCU's O-Line, but CCU made it work.

Their running backs are good, but I didn't feel like they were great. They are good at understanding their role in the option and that is where most of their danger comes from. They play the option well and don't make positional mistakes (something we benefited from again and again against Navy).

Their receivers are decent. They seem to catch everything but other than that, didn't blow me away with speed or route ability. I think their RB's are better than their receivers.

Their QB is great for a Freshman, but he certainly has weaknesses. He is a better runner than passer (although the game I saw was against some really good corners, so that may have accounted for some of it). He is fairly accurate, but has an iffy arm. He typically does not hit receivers in tight windows or on timing routes. Instead, the offense is designed so that receivers are open because they have you locked into the run game (sort of like the service academies, but with more emphasis on the throw). They seem to know he is very limited as a pocket passer as you will see them even trying to run option on 3rd and longs instead of passing.

Most of CCU's big plays seem to come from the QB improvising after his initial read or run lane was not there.Same with the running back.  Their offense was best against App State when App State had successfully taken away their first option.

Luckily for us, their offense does NOT seem to rely too much on timing routes and stuff like that which I feel eat us up too often when done well. Unluckily for us, they do not run their offense in the pocket (neither the run game or the pass game), so Tonga won't have the impact that has had on some of our other games. Their O-Line is better at straight up pass blocking than straight up run blocking (they rarely try to straight up run block and are even less likely to try so against us). However, their right side seems weaker, susceptible to both speed and power rushes. Our dogmatic adherence to the 3/4 man rush will probably be a big benefit here as CCU seems especially adapt at killing you when you bring too many players across the line without guessing the play direction correctly. Even though they don't triple option like Navy (and will be way tougher than Navy), I do think our practice with gap discipline will help us in this game too. However, I repeat, this is a REALLY bad team to have a short week on.  

Defense:

Their defense is OK.  Their stats say they are better than the games I have watched, so maybe they are better than the 1 game I really paid attention to.  The one worry I have is that we have struggled in the past against smaller faster teams who have gotten into the gaps before our blockers could close them off.  CCU could be a team that does that.

With the exception of their DT Brewer (who IS very good), I think their D-Line might be their weaker defensive units.  App State was sleepwalking 9 yard jaunts until App State threw the kitchen sink at the run.  The right side of their D-Line in particular was brutalized until CCU made adjustments to essentially staunch the bleeding by throwing more bodies at the holes.  Brewer has a knack for getting in the backfield, but I am hoping he will be neutralized by one of the best centers in the country.  I don't think you will see CCU trying to play the run evenly based on what I saw against App State and based on how effective our O-Line and Allgeier has been.

Their pass rush is better than their run defense - possibly because they are an aggressive defense.  For the most part, they were only able to get pressure from Brewer on the inside and their backers from the right edge.  Christensen might not have too much to do and we might see Zack encouraged to scramble to his side (which he has been effective at in the past).  Their linebackers are probably their best unit, but I imagine they are going to be devoted to stopping the run game instead of back in coverage.  A big reason that CCU beat App State is because the Mountaineers went to the well too many times on the right-side runs (even when CCU clearly loaded that side of the line, they still attempted it).  Their backers are good enough to stop our run game if we stubbornly try run into them.

In fact, I think we are going to see loaded boxes all game long.  With lots of pressure from lots of different places.  I don't think our run game is going to be as effective as everyone thinks they will, because CCU will play like they did 2nd half against App State.  App State's defensive path to victory is to use their front 7 to take away the run AND rush the pass, and then hope penalties, sacks, and missed passes put us in one-dimensional situations.  I don't think they will be able to limit our run game enough by playing us even on the run.  Instead, I think you will see a lot of quick stuff on the outside, a lot of Rex in the middle, and probably a healthy dose of long balls.  CCU likes to leave their corners on islands.  If they get really over-pursuy, Zack might be able to rip off some long runs.  His mobility will probably have a big impact on this game.

Special Teams:

They kicked a 50 yarder, and had good kickoff coverage, but I also saw a lot of short kickoffs, bad punts, and ugly XP's.  I think we have the advantage here.

Coaching:

Their coach is very likable and made good halftime adjustments.  When the team was down early to CCU, they were resilient.  The team is extremely disciplined, and are one of the best in not being penalized.  The offense executed complicated motion and plays perfectly.  The defense went from being gashed 10 yards at a time to stuffing the run with some coaching adjustements.  If the game is close at half, we should expect them to keep it close the rest of the game.