Inside Darnell's Head: Is the excitement for the BYU football game killing you? | News, Sports, Jobs

This is what is going on in Darnell’s head:

On Friday, our family went on our annual tube adventure on the Provo River to celebrate my wife's birthday, and I'm happy to report that I survived it again. I know it's a pretty simple activity, but the older I get, the more I wonder when my body will stop allowing me to do such things. But everything was great, including my dismounting from the tube to get out when we were done.

Even the Russian judge gave me a 10.0.

Let's start

In Week 0 of college football, Georgia Tech defeated No. 10 Florida State, SMU overcame a nine-point deficit to beat Nevada, and New Mexico blew a 17-point lead with a loss to FCS school Montana State.

What do you expect from BYU in Week 1?

Some Cougar fans are just hoping for a win, others want a blowout. BYU has an 18-0 record against FCS schools, but last year's less-than-impressive 14-0 win over new FBS school Sam Houston (which lost its first eight games) in the opening game is still fresh in their minds.

Southern Illinois had a pretty good defense last season but lost some key players to graduation. The Salukis are replacing their best quarterback ever and have added some significant new recruits from the power conference to their program.

I have to admit, I would be pretty disappointed if the Cougars didn't dominate this game. A Big 12 team should be superior at the line of scrimmage, a position BYU has worked hard to improve, and should be able to impose its will on an FCS team.

I believe we will see both Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon as quarterbacks during the game, with Retzlaff starting.

I'm predicting a three-touchdown win, roughly 35-14.

Meanwhile, BYU fans are losing their minds on social media as usual. Calm down, folks. Have fun with it.

Spell it for me

I play word games against strangers on Facebook and often lose to people who can come up with more words than me in the allotted time. Then I look at their list and they don't really seem like real words to me. One person I played with recently got 44 points for the word “zep” (apparently a long sandwich made from a crusty bread roll cut lengthwise and filled with meat, cheese, vegetables and spices) and 28 points for the word “zea” (a genus of large grasses with broad leaves and monoecious flowers).

I bet they're just stringing letters together in hopes of getting points. I mean, who has even heard these words before?

Lunchtime talks

The local media covering the BYU men's basketball program recently caught up with new coach Kevin Young in a casual setting. It was a rare opportunity to just talk about life and basketball. I won't go into too much detail, but one thing I can say about Young is that he is the most genuine person you could imagine. He was a tough, hard-working basketball player who went unoffered out of high school, went to junior college and eventually got a scholarship. He worked unpaid for the first three or four years of his coaching career.

He's a guy who works hard and gets things done. He doesn't accept, “You can't do that because BYU has never done that.” He's already shown he can recruit at an incredibly high level, far beyond what was ever accomplished in Provo. Cougar fans have something to look forward to in the future.

Deep coffers

CBS Sports.com asked 100 coaches which three college basketball programs have the best NIL situation. No. 1 was Arkansas (73.7%), No. 2 was Kansas (43.2%), and No. 3 was… BYU (30.6%). A few things stood out: The Cougars are listed one spot ahead of Kentucky (16.9%). The article also pointed out that most coaches are skeptical of the numbers they hear about NIL, suspecting that they are often inflated by agents to get more money for their clients.

All I know is that these 100 coaches are under the impression that BYU can make it in the NIL area, and that's pretty cool.

Ouch

“Let stand for two minutes” is definitely the most ignored instruction among microwave users.

Thank you, indeed

DeVaughn Eka from Lehi is my new favorite high school football player.

Not only because he's a great running back, but also because he thanked the Lehi Free Press last week for the article about the Pioneers' win over Davis.

There are still newspapers that cover your son, daughter, brother, sister or neighbor's high school games. We appreciate Eka's comment and your support.

That's all for now, but for now: Stand up and salute Charlotte defensive lineman Demon Clowney, Duke defensive end Memorable Factor and UTSA safety Pig Cage. There are only five days until the actual start of BYU's college football season, and we're all here for it.

I wish you a great week.

Newsletter