I worked for several years as a therapist, working mostly in the field of couples therapy. If I could give one piece of relationship advice to anyone out there it would be to memorize this formula. Your expectations – your perception = how you feel about X. I’d like to apply this to BYU fans as a form of therapy and how it can help us enjoy the turbulent season even more.
In early August of 2017 I remember a media member explicitly wearing the bluest of blue glasses asking the bold question. “Could BYU be a dark horse national championship candidate?” to which my expectations rose high and dove into the blissfully ignorant pool of royal and navy blue Kool-Aid.
So then, the dark days. Lest we forget the 2017 season. If memory serves, BYU didn’t venture far into LSU’s territory. They struggled against Portland State. The offensive house of horrors that was the BYU-UMass game had the Umass bench exclaiming to the home crowd in Provo “Better beat the traffic!”
My expectation was that BYU would be top tier in 2017, my perception that it was a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that wasn’t there, and how I felt? And I felt the same as everyone else.
But now in the year of 2022. BYU returns 80% of their production, a starting quarterback with 1st round aspirations, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before but a secondary that could be the best BYU has ever seen.
Fan is short for fanatic. You can and will feel however you want about BYU in early August. A litany of players are on watchlists for which they have done nothing yet. And don’t forget that every team is undefeated. However, if I can be so bold as to offer some therapy for BYU fans that will help keep our overall feeling of “X” in line.
Expectation 1. Jaren Hall will throw more interceptions in 2022 than in 2021. In 2021 Jaren Hall threw 5 interceptions. It’s safe to say that won’t happen again. With no Tyler Allgeier to eat up carries, Jaren will throw a few more picks. Therapy for BYU fans is hard. Throwing 5 picks or less in a season is harder.
Expectation 2. BYU’s defense will inexplicably struggle at times. What a broad and generic statement. While listening to Mitch Harper, he discussed and nailed the point about how sometimes BYU would just allow long, seemingly easy drives last season. Is it drop 8? Personnel? BYU’s coaches have forgotten more than I’ll ever know about football, but at some point this season expect to scratch your head when an opponent drives 80 yards and scores effortlessly.
Expectation 3. Enough of the negative. BYU’s offense is going to be strong. How could they be better than last year? Turnovers were low and over 450 plus yards of offense per game? Well expectations aren’t always rational. Jaren Hall is going to be pissed about losing to South Florida and with the additions of Brooks and Heimuli going with Nacua, Rex, and especially Gunner Romney. This offense is going to be the heartbeat of the team.
A prediction. So if Expectation-Perception determines how we feel about X, in early August what do we feel BYU’s record will be at the end of the season? 9-3 is the answer. BYU will start hot as with recent history, be humbled by Notre Dame and Arkansas, have an inexplicable loss somewhere else along the way, and finishing emphatically against the Pac 12-11-10-….9? Stanford.
For More Silly BYU Content
Follow me on Twitter at @gridironBYU for more great content, or Gridiron Heroics. Every game day I will post an article that is therapeutic for BYU fans. Other content includes BYU Haikus, and letters from Colonel Collie.
1 Comment
Good stuff!