All week long, Bronco said the difference the last few years against TCU was turnovers and special teams. Turnovers I understood, for sure, with Mad Max and Jake Heaps finding wide open TCU cornerbacks with ease the last three years. However, I hadn't thought about special teams...until last night. The special teams absolutely lost us the game (as well as Riley's two awful interceptions. But, we all knew that's how he plays; he'll make some great plays and he'll make some decisions where you wonder how Utah State even wanted him). Riley Stephenson single-handedly decided he did not want to beat TCU. Those snaps weren't great but they should have been caught. The one that was partially blocked was awful protection. The kick returns defense was bad, as well. The only reason I haven't gotten to the point where I say just go for it every fourth down and get rid of our special teams unit all together is both Hoffman and Falslev played well in the return game.
Geoff thinks this is Bronco's fault (he always does). I don't think it's Bronco's fault that our punter doesn't catch snaps, all of a sudden. I'm sure Stephenson gets to punt over and over again in his own practice segments. Gap protection on kick returns might need some tweaks (especially with how fast TCU's returners are). It's also not Bronco's fault that Nelson thinks a pick is better than a two yard loss...or that the number one high school QB recruit is a bust. However, the fake FG early in the first half was weird, mostly because there was no covering of what we were trying to do (we didn't leave the special teams in there or just have the offense stay in) and the clock management by both Bronco and Nelson at the end of the second quarter for that awful FG attempt was bad. We should've just taken the five yard penalty and ran a route that took us down the sideline. Or anything quicker would've been a good decision.
All in all, I thought we looked pretty good other than Special Teams. There always seems to be something against TCU. With exception of last year, they are not this much better than us. They just have our number. But, hey, they had been in the top 10 the last three years and I still think they'll be a Top 20 team by year's end. Could have a worse team to have your number (so, let's not let that be Hawaii).
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
BYU-Idaho St. What We Learned
What we learned...BYU looks good against really bad competition. Idaho St. did what they were supposed to do: collect a paycheck for getting their butts kicked and making us look good. We played so well that Jake Heaps and Matt Edwards got into the game!
What we learned...Jake is definitely not our guy this year; if ever. I know we kept the offense very simple for him and weren't looking to throw downfield. But, every single pass he threw was an out (one of which was terrible for an interception). We all know he can throw an out. There are two real questions I have with Jake: is he afraid to get hit and can he utilize the whole field? Against the Bengals, he still rushed his throws (even his completions he was throwing way before his receivers were out of their break) suggesting that he's got happy feet. And, again, there was no indication that he can successfully use the whole field.
What we learned...Kyle Van Noy is a freak. Add a punt block to his stats. Is their any stat he hasn't accumulated this year that I'm unaware of? Put him in as a quarterback and then do a trick play pass to him. That always seems to get Heisman voters' attention (for whatever reason). If we were 8-0, he'd be an All-American.
What we learned...Cody Hoffman continues to separate himself as our go-to receiver. McKay Jacobson again has disappointed me (he might be the biggest disappointment at WR that I've seen at the Y). Ross Apo had a solid game but it's apparent he's still learning the game and getting a feel for it. With Riley in, Hoffman has been unstoppable. I hope by next year he breaks out as a 100 yard a game WR. He has the potential.
What we learned...Riley Nelson as the quarterback makes us a lot more dangerous on first down. Our yardage gained per first down yards has drastically increased with Riley. This leads to much more manageable second and third downs (if we even need them). This obviously helps our offense but it also keeps our defense a lot more fresh.
What we don't know...Can Riley beat a team with his arm? I've got a feeling TCU isn't going to let him run wild like he has against everyone else. While their D is a little down, it's still TCU and it's still Gary Patterson. Riley has thrown plenty of TDS (11; 3 each game as a starter), relatively few picks (only 3 even though all were pretty ugly), has a very solid yard per attempt (9.3 compared to Jake's 5.8) which has lead to a very good 174.5 QB Rating (which would be 6th best in the NCAA if he had enough attempts). However, this has come against bad competition and his 61% completion percentage is still worrisome to me. That's not terrible but against our competition, it still implies that he is not a fantastically accurate quarterback. This could hurt us against TCU if it doesn't improve.
What we don't know...Can our secondary shut anyone down? My answer is no. Thus far, we've banked on keeping teams in front of us and getting the occasional turnover. It's worked against bad teams, but a smart QB isn't going to throw 3 picks to our guys. We need to figure something out or make some adjustments for a better team.
What we don't know...Is BYU a good 6-2 team? Or has the recent run of bad competition (though Oregon St. looks like it may knock off the U) made us look like we've got it figured out? Hopefully the confidence we've gained in this 5 win stretch carries over.
What we learned...Jake is definitely not our guy this year; if ever. I know we kept the offense very simple for him and weren't looking to throw downfield. But, every single pass he threw was an out (one of which was terrible for an interception). We all know he can throw an out. There are two real questions I have with Jake: is he afraid to get hit and can he utilize the whole field? Against the Bengals, he still rushed his throws (even his completions he was throwing way before his receivers were out of their break) suggesting that he's got happy feet. And, again, there was no indication that he can successfully use the whole field.
What we learned...Kyle Van Noy is a freak. Add a punt block to his stats. Is their any stat he hasn't accumulated this year that I'm unaware of? Put him in as a quarterback and then do a trick play pass to him. That always seems to get Heisman voters' attention (for whatever reason). If we were 8-0, he'd be an All-American.
What we learned...Cody Hoffman continues to separate himself as our go-to receiver. McKay Jacobson again has disappointed me (he might be the biggest disappointment at WR that I've seen at the Y). Ross Apo had a solid game but it's apparent he's still learning the game and getting a feel for it. With Riley in, Hoffman has been unstoppable. I hope by next year he breaks out as a 100 yard a game WR. He has the potential.
What we learned...Riley Nelson as the quarterback makes us a lot more dangerous on first down. Our yardage gained per first down yards has drastically increased with Riley. This leads to much more manageable second and third downs (if we even need them). This obviously helps our offense but it also keeps our defense a lot more fresh.
What we don't know...Can Riley beat a team with his arm? I've got a feeling TCU isn't going to let him run wild like he has against everyone else. While their D is a little down, it's still TCU and it's still Gary Patterson. Riley has thrown plenty of TDS (11; 3 each game as a starter), relatively few picks (only 3 even though all were pretty ugly), has a very solid yard per attempt (9.3 compared to Jake's 5.8) which has lead to a very good 174.5 QB Rating (which would be 6th best in the NCAA if he had enough attempts). However, this has come against bad competition and his 61% completion percentage is still worrisome to me. That's not terrible but against our competition, it still implies that he is not a fantastically accurate quarterback. This could hurt us against TCU if it doesn't improve.
What we don't know...Can our secondary shut anyone down? My answer is no. Thus far, we've banked on keeping teams in front of us and getting the occasional turnover. It's worked against bad teams, but a smart QB isn't going to throw 3 picks to our guys. We need to figure something out or make some adjustments for a better team.
What we don't know...Is BYU a good 6-2 team? Or has the recent run of bad competition (though Oregon St. looks like it may knock off the U) made us look like we've got it figured out? Hopefully the confidence we've gained in this 5 win stretch carries over.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Preparing for TCU and Review of Oregon St.
BYU plays this week against Idaho St. who is 2-5 in Division II (or whatever they call it, now). That's about all you need to know about them.
So, on to more important things with BYU football. First of all, I made the point that I liked the dispersion of passes to different receivers, backs and tight ends by Riley Nelson in his first two games against Utah State and San Jose. Against Oregon St., 162 of his 217 passing yards were to one receiver. Is that a problem? This might sound hypocritical, but I am going to say no. Hoffman ran wild against Oregon State and if the dude is open and going to catch everything you throw towards him, go for it. I did not see anything on Saturday that would suggest a Max Hall-Austin Collie/Dennis Pitta problem where Hall would always pass it to Collie or Pitta at the loss of his other receivers (who were more open).
Having said that, I am disappointed by the disappearance of Ross Apo since Riley took over. Apo got hurt early in the UCF game and so he didn't put up any numbers in that game. The three games prior to the UCF game, he had at least 3 catches in each game and at least one catch of over 20 yards in each to go with 3 touchdowns. In the three games since, he has only 5 catches (no TDs) with a long of 16 yards. I am not sure whether he is not getting open, if he is still shaken from the hit against UCF or if Riley isn't looking for him but it worries me that such an important weapon of our team has been non-existent for three straight weeks.
Offensively, Alisa is a stud. His running style reminds me a lot of Unga. Not the fastest or the strongest, but a great combination of enough speed, enough strength and great vision. He had some big runs against OSU (including a beautiful 30 yard TD taken back) but I most appreciate how he is churning out a good 5 yards a pop. This is a big reason for our huge jump in third down percentages. Before, we would get 2 or 3 yards from JJ or Kaiyra on first down, errant throw from Jake on second, and another errant throw (or pick) on third down. With Alisa running this way, we have had a huge jump in manageable third downs and our percentage has gone through the roof with it.
Riley has played well, too. In all three games since he has taken over (including the second half against Utah State) the team has finished with over 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. That balance makes us tough to beat. Our running backs are good (particularly Alisa), right now. However, I am worried about the thought of what will happen if we are forced to win games with Riley's arm instead of his (and our backs) legs. Except against a Utah State game in prevent defense, we have not seen yet whether Riley can pull that off. Also, he is a machine that only has two functions it seems: touchdowns and turnovers. We have only punted once with him in but six of our drives have ended in turnovers, 4 by him (including that terrible pass to Apo. Never took his eyes off him and he wasn't even open).
The fact that Riley hasn't beaten anyone except 2-4 Utah State in a prevent defense with his arm brings me to the TCU game. TCU, this year, is beatable but not bad. They are 4-2 and have lost to two good teams. The deciding factor in both of those games, though, was the teams ability to throw the football. Both SMU and Baylor had fantastic passers. Against SMU, TCU gave up 349 passing yards and 4 TDs in the air. Against Baylor, TCU gave up 359 passing yards and 5 TDs in the air. In other words, they are beatable through the air. Can Riley do it? We'll see.
While BYU as not proven we can beat anyone through the air, it's been proven that we are definitely beatable in our own secondary. While the defense only gave up two meaningful touchdowns last week (the offense coughed one up on Riley's pick six and Oregon St. scored with less than a minute left down by 17) the secondary again gave up over 300 yards. This is especially concerning because TCU has a good passer that doesn't make many mistakes (15 TDs, 4 INTs). Our secondary has made a living off of giving up huge chunks of yards and then getting a mistake from the QB (OSU: 306 passing yards, 2 picks; SJSU: 255 yards, 2 picks; UCF: 272 yards, no TDs and a pick in the red zone). Since TCU's QB, Pachall, gets lots of yards, lots of TDs and makes few mistakes, this could spell trouble for our secondary. On the bright side, he lacks the mobility Dalton had and is very sackable. The D-Line needs to step up.
All that said, looking forward to an easy one this week and a good one two weeks from now. Now, for your viewing pleasure.
http://vimeo.com/30648763
So, on to more important things with BYU football. First of all, I made the point that I liked the dispersion of passes to different receivers, backs and tight ends by Riley Nelson in his first two games against Utah State and San Jose. Against Oregon St., 162 of his 217 passing yards were to one receiver. Is that a problem? This might sound hypocritical, but I am going to say no. Hoffman ran wild against Oregon State and if the dude is open and going to catch everything you throw towards him, go for it. I did not see anything on Saturday that would suggest a Max Hall-Austin Collie/Dennis Pitta problem where Hall would always pass it to Collie or Pitta at the loss of his other receivers (who were more open).
Having said that, I am disappointed by the disappearance of Ross Apo since Riley took over. Apo got hurt early in the UCF game and so he didn't put up any numbers in that game. The three games prior to the UCF game, he had at least 3 catches in each game and at least one catch of over 20 yards in each to go with 3 touchdowns. In the three games since, he has only 5 catches (no TDs) with a long of 16 yards. I am not sure whether he is not getting open, if he is still shaken from the hit against UCF or if Riley isn't looking for him but it worries me that such an important weapon of our team has been non-existent for three straight weeks.
Offensively, Alisa is a stud. His running style reminds me a lot of Unga. Not the fastest or the strongest, but a great combination of enough speed, enough strength and great vision. He had some big runs against OSU (including a beautiful 30 yard TD taken back) but I most appreciate how he is churning out a good 5 yards a pop. This is a big reason for our huge jump in third down percentages. Before, we would get 2 or 3 yards from JJ or Kaiyra on first down, errant throw from Jake on second, and another errant throw (or pick) on third down. With Alisa running this way, we have had a huge jump in manageable third downs and our percentage has gone through the roof with it.
Riley has played well, too. In all three games since he has taken over (including the second half against Utah State) the team has finished with over 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. That balance makes us tough to beat. Our running backs are good (particularly Alisa), right now. However, I am worried about the thought of what will happen if we are forced to win games with Riley's arm instead of his (and our backs) legs. Except against a Utah State game in prevent defense, we have not seen yet whether Riley can pull that off. Also, he is a machine that only has two functions it seems: touchdowns and turnovers. We have only punted once with him in but six of our drives have ended in turnovers, 4 by him (including that terrible pass to Apo. Never took his eyes off him and he wasn't even open).
The fact that Riley hasn't beaten anyone except 2-4 Utah State in a prevent defense with his arm brings me to the TCU game. TCU, this year, is beatable but not bad. They are 4-2 and have lost to two good teams. The deciding factor in both of those games, though, was the teams ability to throw the football. Both SMU and Baylor had fantastic passers. Against SMU, TCU gave up 349 passing yards and 4 TDs in the air. Against Baylor, TCU gave up 359 passing yards and 5 TDs in the air. In other words, they are beatable through the air. Can Riley do it? We'll see.
While BYU as not proven we can beat anyone through the air, it's been proven that we are definitely beatable in our own secondary. While the defense only gave up two meaningful touchdowns last week (the offense coughed one up on Riley's pick six and Oregon St. scored with less than a minute left down by 17) the secondary again gave up over 300 yards. This is especially concerning because TCU has a good passer that doesn't make many mistakes (15 TDs, 4 INTs). Our secondary has made a living off of giving up huge chunks of yards and then getting a mistake from the QB (OSU: 306 passing yards, 2 picks; SJSU: 255 yards, 2 picks; UCF: 272 yards, no TDs and a pick in the red zone). Since TCU's QB, Pachall, gets lots of yards, lots of TDs and makes few mistakes, this could spell trouble for our secondary. On the bright side, he lacks the mobility Dalton had and is very sackable. The D-Line needs to step up.
All that said, looking forward to an easy one this week and a good one two weeks from now. Now, for your viewing pleasure.
http://vimeo.com/30648763
Monday, October 17, 2011
Gameday BYU-Oregon State
I figured I would post some pictures from the game since it is the only one I will actually attend in person this year. As for analysis...we won. That's all I care about right now. Yeah, it was frustrating we didn't put up more points after getting three TOs in a row...but we won, so whatever.
JIMMER!!!!
JIMMER AGAIN!
geoffrey.
This is obviously a picture of that one play.
Legend sighting.
**Spoiler alert** The clock says there are 8 second left, but nobody scored after this picture was taken.
The Legend with his Grandfather LaVell and niece.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Interview of a Legend
On BYU's website, they interviewed my cousin, Matt. Matt hasn't caught a pass in his BYU career, but he is a legend for the way he played through practice with a completely busted arm. It was pretty grodily-awesome. Here are his answers. Interesting things I never knew about him. Particularly about how he would have Nelson Mandella and Robert E. Lee at the same dinner table. Wonder how that would go over.
Nickname: Matt, Eduardo, Eddie
Favorite cold cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Favorite Bronco Mendenhall Quote: “Good is the enemy of great.”
Why did I choose to play football over other sports: Because I love it.
Before a football game, I: Listen to music, visualize myself making plays.
How did I spend my off-season: Traveling and working out.
Who is the best player I’ve ever faced: Bo McNally.
What would I like to do sometime in my life is: Visit Antarctica to say I’ve been to all the continents.
If I could play another position, what would it be: Quarterback.
One place I would like to visit: Rio, Brazil.
Who has had the greatest influence on my football career and why: High school coach Alema T`eo.
How did I select my jersey number: Childhood hero Chad Lewis was #89 for the Eagles.
What is my favorite hobby or activity away from football: Reading.
If I had to give up all my possessions except one, what would be the one thing I kept and why: iPhone, it has everything: scriptures, google, texting, other ways to contact family and friends.
If I were on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” the person I’d call for my lifeline is: My Mom, she literally knows everything.
People say I look like: LaVell Edwards.
My favorite professor or most interesting class I’ve taken at BYU: Survey of world religions.
My favorite scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20
What is the best book I’ve ever read: Killer Angels
What is my most memorable athletic achievement: Scoring game-winning two-point conversion vs. my rival high school my sophomore year.
On game day my friends and relatives: Go to my grandparents and eat gameday stew.
My favorite website: www.espn.com
My advice to youngsters: Be involved in as many activities as you can.
If I were hosting you on a recruiting visit to Provo, the most impressive thing I’d have to show you is: Athletic facilities and the outdoors.
One rule I’d change in college football is: Celebrations, we need more fun on the field.
If I could invite any people to dinner, who would they be: Genghis Khan, Robert E. Lee, Nelson Mandela.
Nickname: Matt, Eduardo, Eddie
Favorite cold cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Favorite Bronco Mendenhall Quote: “Good is the enemy of great.”
Why did I choose to play football over other sports: Because I love it.
Before a football game, I: Listen to music, visualize myself making plays.
How did I spend my off-season: Traveling and working out.
Who is the best player I’ve ever faced: Bo McNally.
What would I like to do sometime in my life is: Visit Antarctica to say I’ve been to all the continents.
If I could play another position, what would it be: Quarterback.
One place I would like to visit: Rio, Brazil.
Who has had the greatest influence on my football career and why: High school coach Alema T`eo.
How did I select my jersey number: Childhood hero Chad Lewis was #89 for the Eagles.
What is my favorite hobby or activity away from football: Reading.
If I had to give up all my possessions except one, what would be the one thing I kept and why: iPhone, it has everything: scriptures, google, texting, other ways to contact family and friends.
If I were on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” the person I’d call for my lifeline is: My Mom, she literally knows everything.
People say I look like: LaVell Edwards.
My favorite professor or most interesting class I’ve taken at BYU: Survey of world religions.
My favorite scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20
What is the best book I’ve ever read: Killer Angels
What is my most memorable athletic achievement: Scoring game-winning two-point conversion vs. my rival high school my sophomore year.
On game day my friends and relatives: Go to my grandparents and eat gameday stew.
My favorite website: www.espn.com
My advice to youngsters: Be involved in as many activities as you can.
If I were hosting you on a recruiting visit to Provo, the most impressive thing I’d have to show you is: Athletic facilities and the outdoors.
One rule I’d change in college football is: Celebrations, we need more fun on the field.
If I could invite any people to dinner, who would they be: Genghis Khan, Robert E. Lee, Nelson Mandela.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Ah, We're Halfway There!!!
BYU's season is halfway over, believe it or not. If somebody would have told me before the season that BYU would be 4-2 with losses to Utah and Texas, I would have believed them. However, if they told me that Utah game was a complete blowout and Utah's only D-1 win, I wouldn't believe them. Nor would I believe that Jake Heaps would be a complete mess scared to get tackled and lacking any confidence. Nor would I believe that we would be 4-2 while averaging a measly 20 points a game with only 11 total offensive touchdowns. But, here we are. 4-2. Which is not bad since we played a brutal schedule (I think everyone we've played except Ole Miss and SJSU will make a bowl game). So, looking forward, here's how I think it shakes out.
@ Oregon St. I think Oregon State is pretty bad. But, they are at home, and they have played better the last few weeks. Still, their defense and offense combined stink. I think BYU pulls it off but it's going to be closer than we would all like.
BYU 28-14.
vs. Idaho St. I think this is the game BYU's offense finally gets completely rolling. If not, we will be the worst 5-2 team in college football history.
BYU 56-7.
@ TCU. This game scares me. TCU is down, for sure, but they're still not a bad team. Interestingly, they are amazing on offense this year and below average on defense. They are averaging over 41 points a game but also giving up nearly 28. In their two losses, they gave up 9 TD passes 708 passing yards. This will be a game to see if Riley can beat anybody with his arm.
BYU 28-25.
vs. Idaho. Just like Idaho St., this team sucks. Great analysis, right?
BYU 49-0.
vs. New Mexico State. This team is a lot like SJSU. They are pretty bad but not as bad as you would expect. But, their wins are less than convincing and I am still shocked we didn't kill SJSU.
BYU 42-14.
@ Hawaii. Finally, the only remaining game besides TCU that should be a good one (if any of the others are, that's just sad). Hawaii is ok, this year, other than the inexplicable shellacking they received at the hands of UNLV (who was beat bad by a D-2 school). But, this game is in Hawaii which always seems to be bad news for BYU. Many a good season has met a sad ending in Hawaii (1990, 2001). Hopefully, BYU can keep focused and not surf too much with Bronco in order to win this game. It's winnable and should be won but I'm still not sold on our secondary and Hawaii specializes in the pass.
BYU 38-28.
 |
| Hopefully this game looks like the 2009 Vegas Bowl. |
BYU 28-14.
 |
| They should get a logo that suggests that they suck, rather than ferocious tiger. |
BYU 56-7.
 |
| Hopefully LaVell's 2009 prediction (rather than Lee Corso's) turns out to be correct. |
BYU 28-25.
 |
| I prefer my ECU mascot. Did you know, the Vandals come from a basketball coach nearly 100 years ago that said his team 'vandalizes' the opponents? More importantly, did you care? |
vs. Idaho. Just like Idaho St., this team sucks. Great analysis, right?
BYU 49-0.
 |
| I thought an Aggie was a bull? I'm so confused. |
BYU 42-14.
 |
| Bring this logo back! "I'm a real toughy!" -The Gender Bender, Futurama |
BYU 38-28.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Game Day Grades
BYU pulls off a victory that was never really in doubt but much closer than it should have been, 29-16. A great first quarter (minus a fumble), a decent second, an awful third and an ok finish. Here's the grades:
Riley Nelson: I started writing a post about how I thought the decision to go with Riley was a mistake before the game. The main reasoning I used to justify not starting him was that I didn't feel his arm was good enough to keep teams honest. I never got around to finishing it. Then, I watched the first quarter and thought, "well, I guess I was wrong. There's a first for everything." It was late, here, on the east coast when the game started so Julie wanted me to come read to her and I didn't object since I thought the game was going to be a route. When I came back to the game, I was dismayed by how ugly Riley looked in the third quarter (he didn't complete a single pass in it). Then, he went out and had a solid but not great fourth. So, I still have no idea what to make of him and whether we can consistently win (particularly against anyone half decent) with him as our guy. Overall, good stat line (14-24, 219 yards passing; 9 carries for 65 yards) but inconsistency and three turnovers leaves me still scratching my head.
Grade: B- (he gave himself a C)
Running backs: Where did Michael Alisa come from? The guy had 3 carries this season coming into Saturday. His line, this week: 16 carries for 91 yards for a clip of 5.7 yards a carry. He showed a lot of power and elusiveness and had some Unga-esque plays where I was like "how did he turn that into a positive play?" We've needed a guy that can consistently give us 5 yards a pop. Alisa looked like that guy, if not necessarily a home run threat. I also liked the distribution of carries for the rest of the team and thought it shaked out about how I would like: Juice with 9 carries, DiLuigi with 5, and Kairya with 3. The team rushed for 224 yards (lots of that was Riley) and averaged 5.1 yards a carry. Not bad, at all. I know it's part of Riley's game to run and he is not as worthwhile if he's not running often, but I still worry about him running that much because of injury threat (see Mike Vick).
Grade: A-
Wide receivers/tight ends: One of the things that makes me nervous about Riley is that since he doesn't have the big arm, the wide receivers might get left out a little bit. Riley did have a beautiful throw to McKay Jacobsen that convinced me (at the time) that we can still have a downfield presence with Riley in the game. It was a great route and a perfect throw. Ross Apo also had a pretty decent game with 3 catches for 41 yards. However, Hoffman only had 1 catch for a measly 8 yards and Apo only had 1 catch, last week (from Jake Heaps). I think it's a serious possibility that Riley's presence makes the best part of our offense (our WRs) not reach their potential.
With that said, the tight ends did play pretty well. I was glad to see they finally used Wilson. I think he's got by far the most potential of our TEs. The play drawn up for him in the first quarter was fantastic and he made another great play to set up a touchdown later. With Riley in, those safety routes and easy throws to the tight ends will become more crucial (Jake Heaps had all but forgotten this group). While Wilson played well and Holt had another long play (16 yards), Marcus Matthews continues to not impress me. I know he had the game winning touchdown, last week, and actually has the highest total of receptions for TEs but he dropped yet another perfect throw in the fourth quarter on 3rd and long that would have helped set up a TD instead of kicking a FG. I would like to see Wilson continue to get more reps and targets.
Grade: WRs: C, TEs: C+ (with only 24 total throws, this unit was under utilized)
Offensive line: I do not pretend to know much about line play. I don't particularly watch for them. But, 443 total yards of offense, no sacks allowed, 5.1 yards per carry is fantastic. None of the three turnovers were their faults, at all, so this unit played great (as they should with their amount of talent and experience).
Grade: A
Defensive line: This unit did well containing the ground game of SJSU. San Jose only had 70 yards on 26 carries. That's a very good defensive effort (only 2.7 yards per carry). However, our secondary continues to be hurt by the line's inability to sack the QB. They have put almost no pressure, all season, on opposing QBs. They came up, again, with zero sacks in this game.
Grade: B-
Linebackers: Kyle Van Noy is an absolute beast. If BYU were 6-0, he would be receiving hype about possible All-American. It seems like every game he has at least one big play. His interception was great and he showed amazing athleticism for a LB on the return. He also had important stops and tackles throughout the game. It was nice to see Pendleton actually playing for a change, too. He had a big sack and his rushing the passer forced the bad throw to Van Noy. With that said, the game left me a bit frustrated with our linebackers in coverage. San Jose's tight end had over 100 yards receiving and it seemed like the linebackers were overmatched in coverage all game.
Grade: B+
Secondary: Hard to say what to give these guys. SJSU didn't have much trouble throwing the ball against us, at all. Their QB hit 25 of 35 passes. As mentioned, a lot of this falls on the LBs in coverage and on the d-line for not getting pressure on Faulkner. Plus, they did not allow a TD through the air. Also, Uale ran a nice route (or something?) that Faulkner thought he would reward him with a pass right to him. Kudos to him for catching the pass that hit him in the chest. Overall, though, we need a much stiffer pass defense than this.
Grade: C+
Special teams: Nothing spectacular. Cody Hoffman was solid in the return game (par usual) with a 25 yard return average. Sorenson is a strong kicker that has played well, this year, and gives us the element of being able to kick more often (though I still miss the days when BYU attempted the fewest amount of field goals in the nation).
Grade: B
Coaching: This one is tough to grade. I thought Doman did really well with Riley's strengths. That play to Wilson was perfect. Now that he is a QB that is willing to take a hit, we can do slower developing plays like that. I felt like he did a good job of mixing up the play calls, and realized that we're better if we don't make Riley win it with his arm (24 throws compared to 44 rushes). I would like to see us throw the ball downfield, still, though a little more because we're going to need to do that to beat TCU and Hawaii.
Overall, Bronco's defense held tough. They only allowed one TD (although it came on a 96 yard drive). They gave up way too many yards through the air but we employed a bit of a bend but don't break strategy. I'm not sure whether he's not calling many blitzes or what, but we also need to get some more pressure on the QB. We won our third straight game, I feel in large part because of Bronco's attitude and leadership. However, I don't know why we keep coming out of the second half sluggish. We have been a pretty poor 3rd quarter team, this year. On the bright side, it was too cold in Provo for Bronco to only wear his sloppy Band of Brothers shirt.
Doman's Grade: B+ Bronco's Grade: B+
Riley Nelson: I started writing a post about how I thought the decision to go with Riley was a mistake before the game. The main reasoning I used to justify not starting him was that I didn't feel his arm was good enough to keep teams honest. I never got around to finishing it. Then, I watched the first quarter and thought, "well, I guess I was wrong. There's a first for everything." It was late, here, on the east coast when the game started so Julie wanted me to come read to her and I didn't object since I thought the game was going to be a route. When I came back to the game, I was dismayed by how ugly Riley looked in the third quarter (he didn't complete a single pass in it). Then, he went out and had a solid but not great fourth. So, I still have no idea what to make of him and whether we can consistently win (particularly against anyone half decent) with him as our guy. Overall, good stat line (14-24, 219 yards passing; 9 carries for 65 yards) but inconsistency and three turnovers leaves me still scratching my head.
Grade: B- (he gave himself a C)
Running backs: Where did Michael Alisa come from? The guy had 3 carries this season coming into Saturday. His line, this week: 16 carries for 91 yards for a clip of 5.7 yards a carry. He showed a lot of power and elusiveness and had some Unga-esque plays where I was like "how did he turn that into a positive play?" We've needed a guy that can consistently give us 5 yards a pop. Alisa looked like that guy, if not necessarily a home run threat. I also liked the distribution of carries for the rest of the team and thought it shaked out about how I would like: Juice with 9 carries, DiLuigi with 5, and Kairya with 3. The team rushed for 224 yards (lots of that was Riley) and averaged 5.1 yards a carry. Not bad, at all. I know it's part of Riley's game to run and he is not as worthwhile if he's not running often, but I still worry about him running that much because of injury threat (see Mike Vick).
Grade: A-
Wide receivers/tight ends: One of the things that makes me nervous about Riley is that since he doesn't have the big arm, the wide receivers might get left out a little bit. Riley did have a beautiful throw to McKay Jacobsen that convinced me (at the time) that we can still have a downfield presence with Riley in the game. It was a great route and a perfect throw. Ross Apo also had a pretty decent game with 3 catches for 41 yards. However, Hoffman only had 1 catch for a measly 8 yards and Apo only had 1 catch, last week (from Jake Heaps). I think it's a serious possibility that Riley's presence makes the best part of our offense (our WRs) not reach their potential.
With that said, the tight ends did play pretty well. I was glad to see they finally used Wilson. I think he's got by far the most potential of our TEs. The play drawn up for him in the first quarter was fantastic and he made another great play to set up a touchdown later. With Riley in, those safety routes and easy throws to the tight ends will become more crucial (Jake Heaps had all but forgotten this group). While Wilson played well and Holt had another long play (16 yards), Marcus Matthews continues to not impress me. I know he had the game winning touchdown, last week, and actually has the highest total of receptions for TEs but he dropped yet another perfect throw in the fourth quarter on 3rd and long that would have helped set up a TD instead of kicking a FG. I would like to see Wilson continue to get more reps and targets.
Grade: WRs: C, TEs: C+ (with only 24 total throws, this unit was under utilized)
Offensive line: I do not pretend to know much about line play. I don't particularly watch for them. But, 443 total yards of offense, no sacks allowed, 5.1 yards per carry is fantastic. None of the three turnovers were their faults, at all, so this unit played great (as they should with their amount of talent and experience).
Grade: A
Defensive line: This unit did well containing the ground game of SJSU. San Jose only had 70 yards on 26 carries. That's a very good defensive effort (only 2.7 yards per carry). However, our secondary continues to be hurt by the line's inability to sack the QB. They have put almost no pressure, all season, on opposing QBs. They came up, again, with zero sacks in this game.
Grade: B-
Linebackers: Kyle Van Noy is an absolute beast. If BYU were 6-0, he would be receiving hype about possible All-American. It seems like every game he has at least one big play. His interception was great and he showed amazing athleticism for a LB on the return. He also had important stops and tackles throughout the game. It was nice to see Pendleton actually playing for a change, too. He had a big sack and his rushing the passer forced the bad throw to Van Noy. With that said, the game left me a bit frustrated with our linebackers in coverage. San Jose's tight end had over 100 yards receiving and it seemed like the linebackers were overmatched in coverage all game.
Grade: B+
Secondary: Hard to say what to give these guys. SJSU didn't have much trouble throwing the ball against us, at all. Their QB hit 25 of 35 passes. As mentioned, a lot of this falls on the LBs in coverage and on the d-line for not getting pressure on Faulkner. Plus, they did not allow a TD through the air. Also, Uale ran a nice route (or something?) that Faulkner thought he would reward him with a pass right to him. Kudos to him for catching the pass that hit him in the chest. Overall, though, we need a much stiffer pass defense than this.
Grade: C+
Special teams: Nothing spectacular. Cody Hoffman was solid in the return game (par usual) with a 25 yard return average. Sorenson is a strong kicker that has played well, this year, and gives us the element of being able to kick more often (though I still miss the days when BYU attempted the fewest amount of field goals in the nation).
Grade: B
Coaching: This one is tough to grade. I thought Doman did really well with Riley's strengths. That play to Wilson was perfect. Now that he is a QB that is willing to take a hit, we can do slower developing plays like that. I felt like he did a good job of mixing up the play calls, and realized that we're better if we don't make Riley win it with his arm (24 throws compared to 44 rushes). I would like to see us throw the ball downfield, still, though a little more because we're going to need to do that to beat TCU and Hawaii.
Overall, Bronco's defense held tough. They only allowed one TD (although it came on a 96 yard drive). They gave up way too many yards through the air but we employed a bit of a bend but don't break strategy. I'm not sure whether he's not calling many blitzes or what, but we also need to get some more pressure on the QB. We won our third straight game, I feel in large part because of Bronco's attitude and leadership. However, I don't know why we keep coming out of the second half sluggish. We have been a pretty poor 3rd quarter team, this year. On the bright side, it was too cold in Provo for Bronco to only wear his sloppy Band of Brothers shirt.
Doman's Grade: B+ Bronco's Grade: B+
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Is it the hair?
Yes. Yes, it is. Well, except for not really. A few days after the thrilling ending of the game, I've come to this conclusion: BYU can't beat good teams with Riley Nelson as starter. That pains me to say because Riley played so well and has so much heart, grit and leadership. But, Bronco essentially admitted it himself when after the game he essentially said Utah St. had a hard time adjusting to Riley. I think if you give a good team a week to prepare for him, though, Riley is pretty limited. Even his completions were pretty awful looking (that pass he threw to a wide open DiLuigi who was maybe five yards downfield that didn't even make it to his foot was just bad). If you go back to last year, BYU got trounced by FSU and AFA when Riley was in the game. They knew they didn't have to respect the downfield pass, at all.
So, the only solution, I feel is that Jake really needs to become a man. He talks the big talk. After every game, he says "I'm going to learn from this and nobody's going to outwork me" and then he comes in and stinks it up the next week and looks even more afraid to get hit. Thus far, he is the Jimmy Claussen of BYU. Claussen had unreal talent, but he came to Notre Dame in a limo predicting four national championships. Jake did essentially the same thing, but just held a big conference announcing BYU (because Claussen had already stolen the limo idea). I think with that start, he rubbed a lot of BYU fans and players the wrong way. It is absolutely clear from the body language of the team and even post game comments by guys like Ogletree that this is still not his team. Whereas Jake has all the tools to be a good QB (that Riley doesn't), he needs to grow up and be a man. Maybe this benching has humbled him and will make him realize that he needs to play well to start. I highly doubt he has ever been benched in his entire career until that point. We'll see.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
You're such a [insert word]Fan
I start with saying this: I do not understand the hatred people have for Boston Sports.
These past few weeks I have been forced to explain my fan-hood for a few reasons. I decided it would be an appropriate entry for our blog.
Growing up, I had few sports in my house. I grew up playsoccer and tennis, however my desire to play basketball, football and baseball came from mostly my association with the Cannon boys, and my other Avenue friends. Although my father grew up in Detroit and was a Tigers fan as a kid and grew up playing basketball, he was not involved with the game at all.
With this as my background, I had for the most part neutrality for my "fan hood":
Red Sox - 80+ year drought in world series.
Celtics - dominate 70's, most winning team ever but late 90's early 2000? Worst team in the league.
Patriots - won the AFC TWICE in 20 years before the 2000's.
I joined and rooted for what was now MY teams. RED SOX, PATRIOTS, CELTICS, MANCHESTER UNITED. Of these only Manchester united ever won anything when I was a kid.
Now, enough of the history. You are all probably asking why I am writing all this but the reason is I am tired of all the Boston hatred. "You're such a FAIR WEATHER-Fan", "You're such a STUPID BOSTON-fan", "You're such a BOSTON-fan", "You're such a typical RED SOX-fan", "You're such a CELTICS-fan", etc etc.
I understand we had the best decade arguably for any city in history from 2001-2011. But so what? Boston fans are LOYAL. I hate all the actual fair weather "red sox nation" fans wearing pink hats and using Boston for fashion sake I am with all you on that. But have you tried to find a red sox hat anywhere outside of boston? You cant do it. Lids only has Yankees, Braves, Cubs, Giants maybe a few A's hats and one or two Boston hats. Why does everyone think Boston has some corner on the market? But even though Lakers fans are the worse, Angels fans don't watch the baseball game, Yankees fans - don't even get me started about "rooting for the big guy"- are typically ignorant on who is even on their team (Obviously I am bias against yankees fans and some, like dylan, actually love baseball but any team whose hats sell for a "hip-hop" status and mean more to rep East coast love than baseball has to agree yankees "fans" are seriously stretched) Boston is the hated one.
As I have lived in 8 states and traveled the country been to dozens of pro sporting events, college events and even high school events let me say BOSTON loves its sports. I will say NY does as well but have you seen their new stadium? Their corner on baseball market? How many "yankees fans" cant name two pitchers on their rotation? Oh yea lets not forget they have how many championships? Oh and their players are overpaid and include such class acts like Alex Rodriguez?
LA - worst fans ever
NY- dedicated but still terrible
Boston - many fans who joined after we started winning but overall, why the hatred?
To close Geoff said boston (specificly the red sox) were his most hated franchises ever. I don't get it? Cuz we spend money? Cuz we won two world series in 100 years? Cuz tom brady has luscious locks and reps uggs? Cuz "the hoody" is a coaching genius? Or you want to blame "spygate" for our decade of wins? Seriously why the hatred?
With that off my chest, do not challenge my fanhood.
http://youtu.be/C7Bvk70VsI4
These past few weeks I have been forced to explain my fan-hood for a few reasons. I decided it would be an appropriate entry for our blog.
Growing up, I had few sports in my house. I grew up playsoccer and tennis, however my desire to play basketball, football and baseball came from mostly my association with the Cannon boys, and my other Avenue friends. Although my father grew up in Detroit and was a Tigers fan as a kid and grew up playing basketball, he was not involved with the game at all.
With this as my background, I had for the most part neutrality for my "fan hood":
- I hated the Jazz (still do).
- I had a choice for baseball friends (Yankees (dylan), Cubs (alec), Braves (rich), Tigers (dad), reds (g), giants (q - although I did not know of this one till much later)).
- Football - my grandfather liked the 49ers being from California, but no one else had too much dedication in Utah to sway me or my fan hood.
- Soccer - I grew up watching Manchester United because they were the only team who were ever on TV as a kid and I being a big fan of many of there players.
Red Sox - 80+ year drought in world series.
Celtics - dominate 70's, most winning team ever but late 90's early 2000? Worst team in the league.
Patriots - won the AFC TWICE in 20 years before the 2000's.
I joined and rooted for what was now MY teams. RED SOX, PATRIOTS, CELTICS, MANCHESTER UNITED. Of these only Manchester united ever won anything when I was a kid.
Now, enough of the history. You are all probably asking why I am writing all this but the reason is I am tired of all the Boston hatred. "You're such a FAIR WEATHER-Fan", "You're such a STUPID BOSTON-fan", "You're such a BOSTON-fan", "You're such a typical RED SOX-fan", "You're such a CELTICS-fan", etc etc.
I understand we had the best decade arguably for any city in history from 2001-2011. But so what? Boston fans are LOYAL. I hate all the actual fair weather "red sox nation" fans wearing pink hats and using Boston for fashion sake I am with all you on that. But have you tried to find a red sox hat anywhere outside of boston? You cant do it. Lids only has Yankees, Braves, Cubs, Giants maybe a few A's hats and one or two Boston hats. Why does everyone think Boston has some corner on the market? But even though Lakers fans are the worse, Angels fans don't watch the baseball game, Yankees fans - don't even get me started about "rooting for the big guy"- are typically ignorant on who is even on their team (Obviously I am bias against yankees fans and some, like dylan, actually love baseball but any team whose hats sell for a "hip-hop" status and mean more to rep East coast love than baseball has to agree yankees "fans" are seriously stretched) Boston is the hated one.
As I have lived in 8 states and traveled the country been to dozens of pro sporting events, college events and even high school events let me say BOSTON loves its sports. I will say NY does as well but have you seen their new stadium? Their corner on baseball market? How many "yankees fans" cant name two pitchers on their rotation? Oh yea lets not forget they have how many championships? Oh and their players are overpaid and include such class acts like Alex Rodriguez?
LA - worst fans ever
NY- dedicated but still terrible
Boston - many fans who joined after we started winning but overall, why the hatred?
To close Geoff said boston (specificly the red sox) were his most hated franchises ever. I don't get it? Cuz we spend money? Cuz we won two world series in 100 years? Cuz tom brady has luscious locks and reps uggs? Cuz "the hoody" is a coaching genius? Or you want to blame "spygate" for our decade of wins? Seriously why the hatred?
With that off my chest, do not challenge my fanhood.
http://youtu.be/C7Bvk70VsI4
Some Thoughts
Prospective is a theme for me this year and as a BYU fan mine is skewed in that direction but I still want to review the Utah St. game. The newspapers (mainly the tribune in Salt Lake) are saying that Utah St. COMPLETELY dominated this game and collapsed at the end. Really? Come on Utah reporters, sure Utah St. built an 11 point lead in the forth quarter but aside from a 80 yard run on the first play Utah St. hardly dominated. The game seemed back and forth to me. BYU had more yards, more first downs, and held the ball longer. Utah St. had a couple of big plays, big plays do not win games, but being able to consistently move the ball which Utah St. did not do for most of the night (BYU did not either until Riley came in).
For me this game is a perfect example of how close BYU is to putting it all together. If BYU finishes drives for touchdowns instead of field goals it is likely the game is not close. Second, how did Utah St. collapse? It is not like they had stopped a Riley led drive, only we did that on a fumble and missed field goal. They did not turn the ball over, they got out played by BYU, BYU went out and won this game. Finally, I heard that Utah St. would have won had their player not been ejected. Really? Um, do those that are saying that realize that the man that caused the fumble was his replacement? Maybe that does not happen and BYU does not have to win in the last seconds. Lets be honest, BYU played a great game defensively, for the most part and made big plays when it had to like on Utah St. drive after the fumble, and as soon as Riley came in Utah St. had no answer. Can I just say it is wonderful to see a guy who likely wanted to play in this game more than anyone, come through and play well. Riley did something Heaps may never do, rise to the occasion, in a tough spot and succeed. Wow another Provo temple (sorry watching conference).
For me this game is a perfect example of how close BYU is to putting it all together. If BYU finishes drives for touchdowns instead of field goals it is likely the game is not close. Second, how did Utah St. collapse? It is not like they had stopped a Riley led drive, only we did that on a fumble and missed field goal. They did not turn the ball over, they got out played by BYU, BYU went out and won this game. Finally, I heard that Utah St. would have won had their player not been ejected. Really? Um, do those that are saying that realize that the man that caused the fumble was his replacement? Maybe that does not happen and BYU does not have to win in the last seconds. Lets be honest, BYU played a great game defensively, for the most part and made big plays when it had to like on Utah St. drive after the fumble, and as soon as Riley came in Utah St. had no answer. Can I just say it is wonderful to see a guy who likely wanted to play in this game more than anyone, come through and play well. Riley did something Heaps may never do, rise to the occasion, in a tough spot and succeed. Wow another Provo temple (sorry watching conference).
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