Observations at the Game

I sat on the 50 and just 20 rows or so up from the players on Saturday night. I watched the interaction between Jake and Nelson and observed Jake through most of the game.



First off, aside form one high five when I think he knew the cameras were on him, he didn't even look at Riley from what I saw. After the first scoring drive by Riley Jake went and sat something down about three feet away from Riley and didn't even make eye contact with him.



Not sure if much can be read into this but I was disappointed. I would have liked to see him be a little more supportive and appear to be more of a team player, whether he really is or not (i can't know that from watching him on sideline for one game). He did give Riley a five later on after another play but I am not sure if that is because he thought cameras were on him or sincere.



They also called his number when riley got the wind knocked out of him but he didn't get the chance because he couldn't find his helmet and was running up and down the sideline frantically looking for it. by the time he found it byu was forced to call a time out. It was embarassing.



I am disappointed with our qb situation. Riley has given Jake a much needed break but Max would have put up 50 points on sjsu saturday night with the likes of apo, hoff, holt and wilson at his disposal.



why can't one our highly touted qbs get it together.



I get the impression that Jake has a lot to learn about being a leader. That is an opinion of someone who is not close to him or an insider, just from my observations that is the hunch I get. He seems lost right now.

I want to know how Heaps didn't even know where his helmet was. When I was playing football you weren't even allowed to take your helmet off. Heaps lost his shot at taking one snap and handing the ball off. If I was Munns I would have jumped out there and told the coaches I had my helmet and was ready to go...



I don't care if Heaps and Nelson don't like each other. They obviously don't, who cares. The only time your back up quarterback likes the starter is when the starter is so much better than the back up that the back up actually tries to learn from the starter. I'm pretty sure all of the Peyton Manning's back ups like him. When the back up knows that they shouldn't be starting it pretty easy to get along.

JL, I saw some other vantage points from the sideline when I looked. And when I watched my dvr, it confirmed to me that Jake looked much more relaxed than when he was playing. He was high-fiving alot of players and having fun. Looked like the weight of his poor play and a struggling offense was his shoulders. I know this will sound bizarre to some of you, but he looked like a kid again. I do believe he has lacked maturity under pressure and now he can learn to enjoy the game again. I wouldnt be getting in Riley's grill to much either. It wasnt as though Riley ever interacted with Jake when Jake was starting. Of course I would routinely watch Jake go to the north part of the sideline, where the defense meets than hang around where the Oline sits and the offense congregates.

As for the laughable, almost embarrassing helmet search, I really dont think he expected to play at all. No excuse. He should be ready. I wonder if he was even watching and knew that Riley was down.

BUt I did for sure see a more relaxed Jake Heaps.

dmcougar wrote:
I really dont think he expected to play at all. No excuse. He should be ready. I wonder if he was even watching and knew that Riley was down.

what's the coaching mantra? preparation + opportunity = success. And knowing Nelson's play style of trying to get injured on every. single. play. how Heaps is not ready at any moment is beyond me.

Wickchad84087 wrote:
I want to know how Heaps didn't even know where his helmet was. When I was playing football you weren't even allowed to take your helmet off. Heaps lost his shot at taking one snap and handing the ball off. If I was Munns I would have jumped out there and told the coaches I had my helmet and was ready to go...



I don't care if Heaps and Nelson don't like each other. They obviously don't, who cares. The only time your back up quarterback likes the starter is when the starter is so much better than the back up that the back up actually tries to learn from the starter. I'm pretty sure all of the Peyton Manning's back ups like him. When the back up knows that they shouldn't be starting it pretty easy to get along.

Munns appeared to be goofing around most of the game :)

Just what the DR ordered in IMO. The dude has been so wrapped around the axle of trying to be savior for a team that has as many problems as Jake does himself with his own performance, that he couldnt enjoy what was going on. He needed to lighten up.

I also noticed that #74 didn't speak to #43 once

Here are some of my observations/thoughts:



1. Doman was a lot more creative with his play calling and was pretty pleased. Definite improvement there.



2. The run game awoke from their slumber. Of course it helps when you're playing SJSU.



3. Alisa is our most talented RB. I've been calling for him since the 2nd game of the season when I said the RB's weren't performing. The kid hits the whole harder than Kariya, has just as much speed as DiLuigi, knows when to put a move on someone, and keeps pumping his legs like Quezada does. I likey!



4. Riley is an improved QB from last year, which the Riley haters won't admit but still isn't very good (I'm not in either camp like many of you but it seems like there are a lot who are in one camp or another). Riley also made some really bad mistakes that if Jake made the Heaps haters would have rioted about.



5. Our receivers were getting open (again we were playing SJSU). Factors of this I believe were SJSU, play calling, effectiveness of our RB's, and Riley's ability to scramble.



6. For the Jake haters did we forget how Jake played last year vs poor teams? If Jake had a stat line like Riley did vs SJSU would you have been pleased? Do you think Jake would have performed better than Riley vs SJSU?



7. It seems weird to me that many think Jake isn't a leader. I'm not saying he is or he isn't right now, but it seems to me that he has a lot of leadership qualities. Hence, why Apo and Stout followed him to BYU. He also knows how to say the right things in interviews. He isn't immature, so something weird is going on and I wonder what it is.



8. I was very surprised that Jake didn't play at all, especially since Riley didn't take care of the ball. I'd like to see both play next game.

Short_Change wrote:
Here are some of my observations/thoughts:



1. Doman was a lot more creative with his play calling and was pretty pleased. Definite improvement there.



2. The run game awoke from their slumber. Of course it helps when you're playing SJSU.



3. Alisa is our most talented RB. I've been calling for him since the 2nd game of the season when I said the RB's weren't performing. The kid hits the whole harder than Kariya, has just as much speed as DiLuigi, knows when to put a move on someone, and keeps pumping his legs like Quezada does. I likey!



4. Riley is an improved QB from last year, which the Riley haters won't admit but still isn't very good (I'm not in either camp like many of you but it seems like there are a lot who are in one camp or another). Riley also made some really bad mistakes that if Jake made the Heaps haters would have rioted about.



5. Our receivers were getting open (again we were playing SJSU). Factors of this I believe were SJSU, play calling, effectiveness of our RB's, and Riley's ability to scramble.



6. For the Jake haters did we forget how Jake played last year vs poor teams? If Jake had a stat line like Riley did vs SJSU would you have been pleased? Do you think Jake would have performed better than Riley vs SJSU?



7. It seems weird to me that many think Jake isn't a leader. I'm not saying he is or he isn't right now, but it seems to me that he has a lot of leadership qualities. Hence, why Apo and Stout followed him to BYU. He also knows how to say the right things in interviews. He isn't immature, so something weird is going on and I wonder what it is.



8. I was very surprised that Jake didn't play at all, especially since Riley didn't take care of the ball. I'd like to see both play next game.

#5. Receivers were open for Heaps. He just overthrew them.

#6. Completely legit point, but I can't remember when Jake put the game practically out of reach in the first half followed by a complete deferment to the running game (is there such a thing as the prevent offense?) in the 3rd quarter.

#7. I have no idea who Heaps is or if he is a leader, but he certainly looked timid this year. I always got the "wo is me" feeling from him.

#8. If Riley is winning games, why put Jake in? To possibly cause another upheaval? I think Riley has earned the right to continue to play until he is not effective. And if he becomes ineffective I'm all for benching him. You sound like you want a return to the 2003 QB carousel. 1 pick meant getting benched and had all the QBs playing like poo.

Riley plays as long as he gets it done. IF that stops, Jake will get his shot.



By the way, Jake was not less successful because he always overthrew guys. It did happen, but I would attribute it far more to the fact he was a one read and throw QB. Hence, very few sacks, which was a positive, but also few big plays, because he got it out so fast he never game patterns time to develop. Jake needs to learn to go through a progression--quickly--and not just one read and throw, or check down. Once he learns to do that, he goes next level.



The ironic thing is that I made the some critique of Riley last year, except he was 1 read--then run, and he has made the next step of sticking in the pocket and buying time to make throws, so I can see that the coaching is taking place. Jake just needs time to master it so it becomes second nature.

I watched on TV and did not see the helmet fiasco, but that explains the time out. What I did see was a huge, I mean huge, grin on Heaps' face when he trotted onto the field. Then, when Nelson got back onto the field he went up to Heaps and pointed to the sideline. I replayed it 3 times and got a good chuckle out of it. I know I'll get some flak for laughing about the bad QB chemistry ripping our team apart, but I thought it was funny.

byufan4ever wrote:
I watched on TV and did not see the helmet fiasco, but that explains the time out. What I did see was a huge, I mean huge, grin on Heaps' face when he trotted onto the field. Then, when Nelson got back onto the field he went up to Heaps and pointed to the sideline. I replayed it 3 times and got a good chuckle out of it. I know I'll get some flak for laughing about the bad QB chemistry ripping our team apart, but I thought it was funny.

Not only did he point, he then pushed him towards the sideline. And yeah, it did happen. Heaps had a crap eating grin too when he came on the field. The bad blood between those two is not a secret. Competitive guys, so it happens.

I was just happy that Jake showed some emotion, some excitement to see the field. That's why I think riding the pine for a bit may be good for him, get his competitive mojo going.

FWIW:



"Mendenhall acknowledge that there has been talk of perhaps bringing Jake Heaps off the bench for a series or two, but reiterated that is not likely if the starter is playing well.

"There is talk of it. But again, it gives us a great chance to either develop one, which adds consistency, or training two, which sometimes takes away from consistency -- which I learned a year ago. So most likely, the starter, as long as they are playing well, they are going to play probably through the whole game.""



I think Mendenhall learned a lot about QBing last year. Good to know that he's going to stick with Nelson, like he did with Heaps.

Time to develop Riley. Heaps will need to get some backup duty later.

scott715 wrote:
Time to develop Riley. Heaps will need to get some backup duty later.

And by playing Riley now, we're actually giving Heaps time to develop as well.

I don't get why people can't see this clearly. Nelson needs to be the guy for the rest of this season and all of next. This will benefit them both the most, more than in any other scenario.

mizzoucoug wrote:
I don't get why people can't see this clearly. Nelson needs to be the guy for the rest of this season and all of next. This will benefit them both the most, more than in any other scenario.

If that's the case then Heaps needs to Redshirt.



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Question for all you guys with inside scoop. I talked to a friend of mine last week that lives & works in Utah Valley. He has a friend that is connected with the Y football team.



So - supposedly the inside scoop is folks are questioning Jake Heaps "mental capacity" to really "get it." He has all the physical tools - they are questioning his mental abilities now. I called B.S. He just shrugged & said that was the buzz from folks on the inside.



Anybody have any light to shed on this? Is this sewing circle baloney?

Schmoe wrote:
I was just happy that Jake showed some emotion, some excitement to see the field. That's why I think riding the pine for a bit may be good for him, get his competitive mojo going.

I know I'm not the only one who had gotten tired of Heaps' "everything is ok" PR lines and I wouldn't mind one bit if Heaps hated (and I mean HATED) Riley. Frankly, I think it would do both of them a bunch of good. It was cute last year when they were sharing reps and were trying to be buddy-buddy, but this is football, if you don't have some fire in your belly you're not going to push yourself as hard as you could.



I do a lot of cycling and I push it pretty hard no matter what, but I simply CANNOT push myself as hard riding by myself as I can when I'm chasing down another cyclist. I don't claim to be inspired by the noblest of emotions, mostly it's a combination of pride, ego, shame, anger, and even hate ... and I can make my legs push a lot harder for a lot longer when I'm feeling them. If Jake can tap into a similar vein after riding the pine for the first time in his life, it might turn him into the player most of us think he could be.