This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Earth, Wind and Fire sang the following lyrics in their iconic song "September": "Now December found the love that we shared in September, only blue talk and love." The group sang on, with a few "hey-heys" and "yow-yows" mixed in: "Do you remember, dancing in September, never was a cloudy day."

Good song. Good beat. Can't get the confounded thing out of my head now. Good wishful thinking for BYU football.

Ba-de-ya-de-ya-de-ya. Ba-de-ya-de-ya-de-ya.

The Cougars are hoping in a big way for such good love and good fortune in September, talking some deepest-shade-of-blue talk, looking to dance rather than lose, and lose a lot.

Let's say it — or sing it — the way it is here: The Cougars, who opened camp for their 2015 season on Saturday on their practice fields, have a great deal riding on the first month of fall, not unlike previous years, and that's the foremost thought banging around in everybody's mind. But it's more exaggerated this time around.

If they fail this September, the rest of the season won't mean much, especially in a time when BYU is trying to prove to the college football world that it belongs where it always says it belongs — with the big boys.

They'll get their chance, playing from jump in successive weeks: Nebraska in Lincoln, Boise State at home, UCLA at the Rose Bowl and Michigan at the Big House. After that, other than facing Missouri at Arrowhead in November, they get their more typical level of opponents, some of which may cause them trouble. No dis intended here for East Carolina, Cincinnati or Utah State. Since we're remembering and all, last season BYU got beat by Central Florida, Nevada, Utah State and Memphis, two of those losses coming at LaVell's Place.

It's no revelation that the Cougars often have struggled against teams from Power 5 conferences. Over the past five seasons, for example, they are 10-14 against those opponents. If Boise State is included — which it should be, given the quality of its program — BYU is 11-16.

In 2010, the Cougars were 1-4, including losses to Utah and TCU, who at that time were not yet official members of the Pac-12 and Big 12. In 2011 and 2012, they were 2-3 each season. In 2013, they were 2-5, including a loss at independent Notre Dame. The single bright spot came last season, when BYU was 3-0 against P5 teams — Texas, Georgia Tech and Cal. As noted, in total, they were 1-2 against Boise State.

Of all those games, the Cougars were 6-3 at home and 5-13 on the road. The fact that three of the first four this season are away from LES and, later, the game against Mizzou is in Kansas City, doesn't stir a lot of confidence for BYU.

Add to that the loss of running back Jamaal Williams, as well as the anticipated yet-unannounced suspensions from early games of players involved in the ugly brawl at the Miami Beach Bash Bowl, and it will take something out of the ordinary for the Cougars to finish at .500 over the first month.

It's not the way to bet.

Still, those are the games that matter most. Too frequently in the past, BYU has padded its win-loss records with weaker foes, since going independent and before that, when the Cougars played in the relatively substandard Mountain West. Boasting about winning percentage against that kind of competition, in retrospect, is a bit hollow and stale.

Even with that padding, great seasons, or the appearances of great seasons, have dried up in Provo. Over the past three years, they've finished 8-5 in each. In the two seasons before that, they were 10-3 and 7-6. During that five-year span, they were 37-24. Against their better opponents, they've lost more than they've won.

If BYU wants to just run a happy little program with players who mostly adhere to the Honor Code, who keep up the image of the university and the church that owns and operates the school — postgame brawls notwithstanding — perhaps 37-24 overall and 11-16 against P5 schools and Boise State is enough. But if it wants to strive for excellence and actually attain it on the field, it has to find a way, some way, with its Eagle Scouts and returned missionaries to beat some combination of Nebraska, Boise, UCLA, Michigan and, later, Missouri.

The image of winning a majority of those games seared into the minds of college football powerbrokers is what could boost — and maybe save — BYU football over the long haul. There's not even a guarantee in that case. But it's the best shot, however long. The Cougars might have a better tradition than some teams in P5 leagues, but those teams are already in, raking in the money that comes with that association, even as they lose. At some point, BYU has to win — against the right kind and number of opponents.

The only way that can happen in 2015 is if Taysom Hill stays healthy and has a monster season. The loss of Williams will hurt. A defense that was all-matador in the secondary a year ago, a defense that struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, also has to find some form.

As the players slipped their helmets over their ears on Saturday and started working and sweating, that thought had to be somewhere in their heads. It's not fair really to put that pressure on a single outfit, but … it exists still the same.

They're sure to say they'll take it one game at a time — with the Cornhuskers first up — as they should. But the lasting evidence of their real success will be made apparent over those first four weeks.

In September. Only blue talk and love.

Ba-de-ya-de-ya-de-ya.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.