BYU Football

The BYU Cougars will head to Marlins Park on Monday, December 22 to tangle with the AAC’s Memphis Tigers in this season’s inaugural Miami Beach Bowl. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (ET), and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

The Cougars closed out the regular season with a 42-35 victory against California as 3.5-point road underdogs to finish 8-4 straight up on the year. It was their fourth SU win in a row, and they are 3-1 ATS during this run. The total went “over” the 71.5-point closing line, and it has now gone over in two of their last three outings.

The Tigers come into this game riding six-game SU winning streak with a 3-3 record ATS. They went 7-1 in conference play to earn a share of the AAC title, and overall, they were 9-3 SU (7-5ATS). Memphis outscored South Florida and Connecticut 72-30 in its last two games, with the total going over in both contests.

BYU vs. Memphis Betting Storylines

It has been a tale of two seasons for the Cougars; the one with Taysom Hill at quarterback and the one without. BYU jumped out to a strong 4-0 start with Hill under center but then endured a costly four-game losing streak when he was lost for the year due to injury. The offense was finally able to regroup with Christian Stewart at the helm to help the Cougars win their final four games of the year.

Stewart ended up throwing for 2,273 yards and 22 touchdowns, and the offense finished the season ranked 33rd in the nation in passing yards per game (272.9) while averaging 36.2 points. BYU put an exclamation point on the turnaround in that win over Cal. There is still some genuine concern on the other side of the ball with a defense that allowed 30 points or more in half of the games this year. During that four-game slide, this unit was torched for an average of 40.7 points a game.

Memphis came into this season flying well under the radar in the AAC after winning just three games in 2013. It was able to quickly make a statement in a tight seven-point loss to UCLA in Week 2 as a 22.5-point road underdog. The Tigers started conference play by knocking off Cincinnati as three-point underdogs on the road, and their only setback in the AAC this season came to Houston in a tight 28-24 loss as 7.5-point home favorites.

While the Tigers showed some solid balance on offense between the run and the pass to average 34.7 points a game, the main strength of this team remains a rock-solid defense that was ranked fifth in the nation this season in points allowed (17.1). Looking back at their current six-game winning streak, this unit has held teams to 20 points or less in all six contests to lower that scoring average to just 13.3 points.

BYU vs. Memphis Betting Odds and Trends

Point spread: Memphis -1

Total Line: 56.5

The betting trends on Odds Shark have BYU listed at 5-11-1 ATS in their last 17 games, and the total has gone over in seven of their last nine games.

The Tigers are 5-4 ATS this season when listed as favorites, and the total has gone over in five of their last seven games.

This will be the first meeting between these two teams in recent memory.

Miami Beach Bowl Picks: BYU vs. Memphis Betting Predictions

BYU has been able to turn things around since the loss of Hill, but it is going to have its hands full against a highly underrated Tigers defense. While you probably cannot go wrong with a play on the “under” in this game, my official pick is Memphis minus the one point.

Take: # 212 Memphis (-1) over BYU, 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22

After suffering a fractured leg and ligament damage in the team's 35-20 loss to the Utah State Aggies on Oct. 3, BYU Cougars star quarterback Taysom Hill is doing well with his recovery following surgery.

Jay Drew of The Salt Lake Tribune provided an update on the junior signal-caller: 

Hill also shot down reports that the ligaments were shredded, that he considered a position change or planned on bolting to the NFL in the upcoming draft:

Hill is done for this season, finishing with 975 passing yards, seven touchdowns and three picks. He also ran for 460 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Cougars were 4-0 heading into the game with Utah State but went on to lose their next four games without Hill. On the season, BYU is 6-4 and finishes the regular season with matchups against Savannah State and Cal.

After last Friday's 55-30 loss to Boise State, BYU has arguably reached rock-bottom under head coach Bronco Mendenhall. With a four-game losing skid to non-Power Five teams escalating, the Cougars are scrambling for a solution to their struggles.

Blame whatever you please, but the coaching has been as ugly as anything in the past four games. BYU has come out unprepared, unmotivated and sloppy, and there is no one to shoulder the blame but Mendenhall. He has absolutely toyed with the reins to his defense, failed to prepare his players and simply been out-coached for the past several weeks.

Derik Stevenson, a former BYU linebacker, stated the truth clearly in a recent article on FanSided:

(BYU football's) great culture...has taken some serious blows. The team is currently, officially the third best program in the state. There is no bigger fan and proponent of BYU than I am. But the reality is clear: Brigham Young Football is at a tipping point. (Mendenhall's) services have been appreciated. But it’s time for (Mendenhall) to go. Anyone that takes the time to truly dig into the stats can see that (Mendenhall is) not going to change.

I agree wholeheartedly with Stevenson's statements and know that BYU will never reach an elite level with Mendenhall at the helm. But when the truth rears its ugly head, reality is clear—Bronco Mendenhall may never get fired from BYU—at least, in the near future.

First off, even if the Cougars only win one more game this season and miss a bowl game, too many people love Bronco. He should be respected for putting faith first and building quality young men. But as a football coach, he also needs to win games.

It would appear Mendenhall has had just enough success—on and off the field—to gain respect from the administrators, church leaders and nearly anyone who has a say at BYU, even though he may not be able to lead his team to home victories over Utah State and Nevada.

Secondly, even if Bronco lost every game remaining on the schedule—even against winless FCS team Savannah State—who has the right to fire him? BYU's current director of athletics, Tom Holmoe, has anything but the authority to give him the boot.

Holmoe had a five-season tenure as Cal's head coach and posted the following records:

*Four wins in 1999 were stripped after NCAA violations

On top of winning only 16 games through five seasons, NCAA violations under Holmoe gave Cal five years' probation and limited scholarships, among other punishments. He obviously has no right to fire Mendenhall, especially after eight straight bowl games.

Lastly, if BYU were to fire Mendenhall, who would they hire as a replacement? Apologies to the dreamers, but Andy Reid and Norm Chow aren't reasonable choices. Neither are Kyle Whittingham, Mike Leach, Robert Anae and (definitely not) Holmoe.

So, who's left? Navy's Ken Niumatalolo is a name that has been tossed around lately. So has Utah's Kalani Sitake, who is a former BYU star and proven defensive guru. But would anyone in their right mind want to face the expectations from BYU fans that are growing every year?

At this point, we can only wait and see how this all plays out. Maybe Mendenhall stays on board for several more seasons, or maybe a brave new coach takes the reins at BYU.

If anything is clear, it is that Mendenhall's time as a Cougar should be running short. He isn't the type of coach who can steer BYU to a nationally elite level or contend for a national championship. The biggest problem BYU faces is finding a way to say thanks and get him out the door.

Only time will sort out the mess that has sprung up in Provo. And at this point, unless things change, it will go downhill from here.

Someday, one can only hope that BYU will get back to being, well, BYU.