Riley Nelson PER > 136!!

He put up a 204.97 PER throwing to the same receivers, behind the same o-line, against the same defense and with the same coaches calling the plays. (compared to Heaps' "Heapseque" PER of 79.95)



I think we have a new starting QB and a new 5-star clipboard holder....unless the clipboard holder gets offended and decides to declare for the NFL draft.

Ouch. Gotta give props to Heaps though, he didn't pout and was as excited as anyone that the game turned out the way it did. I'm still hoping he becomes a polished QB that can be great in the BYU system. Definitely a humbling night for the kid though.



It seemed like Nelson's version of the offense was VERY fast paced. I'm wondering if the slow progress down the field was more Heaps than I imagined, I had kind of given him the benefit of the doubt.

declocoug wrote:
Ouch. Gotta give props to Heaps though, he didn't pout and was as excited as anyone that the game turned out the way it did. I'm still hoping he becomes a polished QB that can be great in the BYU system. Definitely a humbling night for the kid though.



It seemed like Nelson's version of the offense was VERY fast paced. I'm wondering if the slow progress down the field was more Heaps than I imagined, I had kind of given him the benefit of the doubt.

I just posted separately, but I'll repeat--now Jake gets to see what it takes to be a man--humbly work harder and with more determination. He can learn from this and can be better....

LOVED the way he looked off defenders and deceived the defense to help his receivers get open. LOVED the intensity and fearless style of play. Haven't seen either of those things from Heaps all season.

This is miraculous! This from a guy that can only throw 10 yards and is not a division I quarterback.

If he plays like that we can win some games this year. TCU does not look good but he probably gives us a better chance.

nuk13 wrote:
This is miraculous! This from a guy that can only throw 10 yards and is not a division I quarterback.

his passes are only a little better than the snaps.

CougarClaw wrote:

This is miraculous! This from a guy that can only throw 10 yards and is not a division I quarterback.

his passes are only a little better than the snaps.

Good enough to get caught.

Is it just me or was anyone else REALLY impressed with the majority of his passes? I felt like the ball came out very fast and zipped to the receivers. These were not the lame duck Riley passes I remember from last year or even the one last week...impressive.

runbyu1 wrote:
Is it just me or was anyone else REALLY impressed with the majority of his passes? I felt like the ball came out very fast and zipped to the receivers. These were not the lame duck Riley passes I remember from last year or even the one last week...impressive.

Not really a lot were behind, or high, and the WR's stepped up, and made AMAZING CATCHES, a few of his were gold, but not all.

They weren't the same receivers. All the sudden they caught everything, instead of dropping it - but I'll take it!



I just want to win, and I want the guy out there that gives us the best chance. If that is Riley, then I'll take it.



He is very easy to gameplan against, so... Hopefully he can do his kind of thing over 4 quarters against good teams. I'm not sure he can when teams take away the run, but I will cheer for him every step of the way!

Amazing what having a QB that can actually put catchable passes into the hands of the receivers. They are "suddenly able to catch everything." Certainly that has nothing to do with the poor throws that were coming to them before.



We're just lucky that Doman finally pulled his head out of his butt and got a winner in there before it was too late.

Ermmm... We won, so I am happy. I like Riley, but you are fooling yourself if you are saying that any of his passes were any more catchable than the majority of the Heaps drops.



I don't care WHO they are catching the ball for, as long as they are catching it!

Heaps and Nelson had approximately the same number of drops, within 1 or 2, without a doubt, having just rewatched the game on BYUtv. It's pretty clear.

runbyu1 wrote:
Is it just me or was anyone else REALLY impressed with the majority of his passes? I felt like the ball came out very fast and zipped to the receivers. These were not the lame duck Riley passes I remember from last year or even the one last week...impressive.

Riley was injured before the season started last year. He played injured until the injury got worse and required surgery. He throws some ugly passes, but they give the receiver a chance to make a play. When defenses prepare for Riley or we play TCU type speed, Riley won't have a 206 PERv- unless he does. But he will not lose to Utah and USU four in a row.



We don't know what he can do. I would like to see him jump us up on whomever is next by 3 TDs or 4 and see Lark get a quarter or two. I really would. We need three experienced QBs.



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BlueIsBetter wrote:
Ermmm... We won, so I am happy. I like Riley, but you are fooling yourself if you are saying that any of his passes were any more catchable than the majority of the Heaps drops.



I don't care WHO they are catching the ball for, as long as they are catching it!

You don't really sound any more convincing about your happiness than Jake seemed about his on the sidelines. Quit being stubborn. Let Jake grow up. You saw the leaky boats, oats, driftwood, and tug boats lifted up by a leader who made plays instead of excuses. Only one thing changed. And you still want to argue that Jake's passes were catchable. If they were - Doman would not have made the change.



Maybe you need to go up in the box and get a clearer vision of the field. Jake missed wide open receivers by a mile. Multiple times. Jake had time to throw - he just does not use the time and certainly does not know how to create more time - one dimensional - might survive if he could throw accurately under pressure. Maybe someday. Not tonight.



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I'm glad BYU made the change and was extatic about RIley's play, but I'm a little concerned that this is what people are going to be expecting every week. Let's be honest; a great portion of Riley's ability to move the ball came from Utah St. being caught completely off balance and confused when he came into the game. It will be interesting to see how he performs when a team gameplans for him specifically.



That being said though, he definitely injected a leadership, energy and urgency into the team that we haven't seen in more than a year. And with the exception of TCU, he isn't going to be facing any decent defenses the rest of the season, so I think he very well may be getting the starting job the rest of the year. I wonder if that will factor into the coaches decision of whether or not to start him. Will they keep Riley in as BYU probably beats up on their upcoming WAC opponents or will they revert back to Jake to give him the experience?



I'd definitely rather watch Riley. Put Jake on cleanup duty and see if it doesn't lead him to become a bit more of a genuine leader. I'm hoping fans step up though and help Jake make the best of the situation. From everything I've seen, the kid tries very, very hard. He obviously has weaknesses, both on and off the field, but I really don't think that there is anything to gain by negativity.



I'd sure be disappointed if Riley doesn't get the keys to the offense.

DarthMagnus wrote:
I'm glad BYU made the change and was extatic about RIley's play, but I'm a little concerned that this is what people are going to be expecting every week. Let's be honest; a great portion of Riley's ability to move the ball came from Utah St. being caught completely off balance and confused when he came into the game. It will be interesting to see how he performs when a team gameplans for him specifically.



That being said though, he definitely injected a leadership, energy and urgency into the team that we haven't seen in more than a year. And with the exception of TCU, he isn't going to be facing any decent defenses the rest of the season, so I think he very well may be getting the starting job the rest of the year. I wonder if that will factor into the coaches decision of whether or not to start him. Will they keep Riley in as BYU probably beats up on their upcoming WAC opponents or will they revert back to Jake to give him the experience?



I'd definitely rather watch Riley. Put Jake on cleanup duty and see if it doesn't lead him to become a bit more of a genuine leader. I'm hoping fans step up though and help Jake make the

best of the situation. From everything I've seen, the kid tries very, very hard. He obviously has weaknesses, both on and off the field, but I really don't think that there is anything to gain by negativity.



I'd sure be disappointed if Riley doesn't get the keys to the offense.

This. Hopefully Jake learns and grows from this experience. His apologists that want to blame everyone else are not helping him grow. Jake was just starting to be accountable - tonight was Accountability 101. Hopefully Jake learned. Jake needs to be put under pressure in practice with the green vest off if he is going to grow. Playing vs patsies that cannot bring pressure will not teach him what he needs to learn.



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would have been interesting to see what Heaps apologists would have said about Riley if the defense couldn't get a stop after the JJ fumble. I'm sure Riley would be just be that guy who has no right being a D-1 qb for ANY school, let alone BYU. Funny how much that last drive reminded me of the BYU-Utah game in 2000.



And I'm sure that he will struggle at times in the near future, but with the cupcakes we have coming up, it will be good to give him the majority of snaps in games in preparation for TCU. I just hope that he doesn't get too reckless with the runs. He's going to get hurt again if he's putting it all out there every play.

hawkwing wrote:
Amazing what having a QB that can actually put catchable passes into the hands of the receivers. They are "suddenly able to catch everything." Certainly that has nothing to do with the poor throws that were coming to them before.



We're just lucky that Doman finally pulled his head out of his butt and got a winner in there before it was too late.

I don't think this is really a fair statement. I can think of four to five of Heaps passes that should have been caught - or were right on the money - that were not. I say this not as an excuse for the misreads or poor throws...but at least try to be fair.



Heaps put the ball on the money on several plays that could have been game changers, but were dropped basically. For whatever reason, some relatively poor Nelson throws were caught that were not being caught when Heaps threw them.



That may be the reason to make the change...but I think it is unfair, disproportionate, and biased to act like drops have not plagued Heaps for much of his career here.