Putting Teams Away - Delivering the Knock Out Punch

I know that we all should be happy with another win - this one on the road and in enemy territory, but I still have an uneasy feeling about this team and the killer instinct.



Specifically, in the OSU game (in the 3rd quarter), we had a chance to put them away and really suck the wind out of their team.



Case in point:



The BYU defense forced 3 turnovers (two fumbles and an interception) during that period, including giving the Cougar offense the ball twice inside the Oregon State 40-yard line.



What did we come away with:



Missed 53-yard FG, a punt, 33-yard FG. We scored 3 points when we could have possibly scored 1-2 TDs (14 - 21 points).



When the defense plays hard and sets up opportunities to capitalize on miscues, we need to make the other team pay. Scoring TDs is the way to do this.



If we don't learn this lesson soon, and continue to allow teams to hang around, we are poised to succumb to an upset.



Here's hoping that we learn our lesson, and that Riley/Doman/et. al. take it to heart to make teams pay for their turnovers, and allow us to roll onto a convincing victory not only on the field but on the score board.

Penalties and drops iirc. I don't have DVR of the game to go back and check. But that is what I recall. Meltdowns - probably from players being too anxious and getting a little jumpy off the line or holding.



That is probably more of a discipline and execution issue than play calling.

I thought we've done an admirable job the last two weeks of learning how to win. We never let SJSU to get within one score - and that was with sleepwalking through the 3rd quarter.



We closed strong against OSU. We turned a 24-21 game into a 38-21 game before giving up a garbage TD in the final 30 seconds.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I thought we've done an admirable job the last two weeks of learning how to win. We never let SJSU to get within one score - and that was with sleepwalking through the 3rd quarter.



We closed strong against OSU. We turned a 24-21 game into a 38-21 game before giving up a garbage TD in the final 30 seconds.

Good points Spiff. A 17 point lead against a Pac 12 team on the road (even if it is OSU) in the final minute is great--that's a 3 score lead. We did put them away and deliver the knock-out punch--it was just in the 4th quarter rather than the 3rd quarter.

Our normal conservative "play not to lose" offense probably wouldn't have scored that last TD yesterday.

I agree that we are not there yet Offensively - still growing. But we seem more effective & more of a threat with Riley Nelson @ the helm. Just me sense. I would like to see Riley more effective at dissecting the Defense from 20 yards in - really hitting those receivers consistently.

Good news was that we at least played 3 quarters of decent football. We will need to play 4 quarters vs TCU.



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I don't think it's a matter of "learning," I didn't notice any conservative play calling, it just didn't get done. You're right about what needs to be done with those turnovers, but I wouldn't make too much of it.



I have these concerns:

1. Why are our linemen (all experienced linemen) still guilty of false starts? man those dumb penalties just killed us, especially after those turnovers. That junk needs to stop.



2. I think Doman called the QB draw a few too many times, it worked early, then OSU stuffed it. Reilly can do more than the QB draw, get him outside, he's even more dangerous out there. I'm sure Doman saw that too.



3. The offensive penalties really hurt the offense in the OSU game. Alisa has a TD run called back, a couple of first downs were nullified, and we had our first punt in three games because of penalties. A well oiled, offensive machine does not hurt itself, it needs every yard and every first down it can get. I was somewhat disappointed in the offensive line play in the OSU game, it wasn't all bad, but had the OL played flawlessly, BYU would have scored at least two more TDs, OSU would have scored two less.

golong wrote:
I don't think it's a matter of "learning," I didn't notice any conservative play calling, it just didn't get done. You're right about what needs to be done with those turnovers, but I wouldn't make too much of it.



I have these concerns:

1. Why are our linemen (all experienced linemen) still guilty of false starts? man those dumb penalties just killed us, especially after those turnovers. That junk needs to stop.



2. I think Doman called the QB draw a few too many times, it worked early, then OSU stuffed it. Reilly can do more than the QB draw, get him outside, he's even more dangerous out there. I'm sure Doman saw that too.



3. The offensive penalties really hurt the offense in the OSU game. Alisa has a TD run called back, a couple of first downs were nullified, and we had our first punt in three games because of penalties. A well oiled, offensive machine does not hurt itself, it needs every yard and every first

down it can get. I was somewhat disappointed in the offensive line play in the OSU game, it wasn't all bad, but had the OL played flawlessly, BYU would have scored at least two more TDs, OSU would have scored two less.

Not sure I agree with 2. Nothing works every time. That worked almost every time. And it makes other things work later. And it makes them think twice about selling out on the blitz. Riley was our leading rusher. Bit was pretty effective mix. And he is also effective on the outside, and probably less likely to get a concussion banging into DBs instead of inside LBs.



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golong wrote:
I don't think it's a matter of "learning," I didn't notice any conservative play calling, it just didn't get done. You're right about what needs to be done with those turnovers, but I wouldn't make too much of it.



I have these concerns:

1. Why are our linemen (all experienced linemen) still guilty of false starts? man those dumb penalties just killed us, especially after those turnovers. That junk needs to stop.



2. I think Doman called the QB draw a few too many times, it worked early, then OSU stuffed it. Reilly can do more than the QB draw, get him outside, he's even more dangerous out there. I'm sure Doman saw that too.



3. The offensive penalties really hurt the offense in the OSU game. Alisa has a TD run called back, a couple of first downs were nullified, and we had our first punt in three games because of penalties. A well oiled, offensive machine does not hurt itself, it needs every yard and every first down it can get. I was somewhat disappointed in the offensive line play in the OSU game, it wasn't all bad, but had the OL played flawlessly, BYU would have scored at least two more TDs, OSU would have scored two less.

The Alisa TD that was called back was a horrible call by the refs. That would have really put the game away. I didn't see anything and the commentators said as much as well. There was also a no-call on an OSU pass interference in the 3rd quarter, on a third down I believe and off of one those turnovers. It killed the drive and the OSU player made at least as much contact as Ogletree did on his call.



On the ESPN recap aritcle, an OSU fan posted a comment saying that the refs helped BYU. Really??!! Having been a ref/official myself I usually take it easy on them, but I was yelling at them through my TV this time. I thought there were several calls intended to keep OSU in the game...

BYU has always had problems putting the other teams away. When BYU gets a lead, they play not to lose. They also want to be perceived differently than most other teams. The other teams have learned that most leads are not safe until the other team is de-moralized.

BYU hasn't always had problems putting other teams away. Crowton's first year brought us scores of 70-10, many Lavell years brought us blowouts, even several Bronco years we got it done, this year we haven't been able to finish in the red zone and haven't been able to put teams away. It's bad, and it's something that needs attention.

Bronco's teams are very good at closing the games. BYU is 18-6 in games decided by a 7 or less since 2005 and it's something like 17-2 since 2006.