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.
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