It is a Rising Tide - Not a Conspiracy

KSL article re Bronco's comments from Monday Presser.



http://www.ksl.com/?nid=498&sid=17702126&s_cid=rss-498" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;





I asked Mendenhall how Nelson's personality frames the "element of risk" that exists in having QB who is as mobile and runs as often as he does, using a play in the Oregon State game to illustrate.



On the play, after a successful downfield run, Nelson took a hard hit during which his helmet came off. A mini-war of words ensued with an Oregon State player who had gotten in Nelson's face after the hit.



"I think that he has to be himself," said Mendenhall, "and that's part of Riley leading our team."



"If he's not taking hits, and his helmet is not coming off, he's probably not as effective. That sounds maybe counter-intuitive, but our defensive players and offensive linemen and running backs, they like our leader at quarterback being one of them, so to speak, and he is."



"He's a football player and he's not afraid of contact, he's not afraid to take a hit, he's very composed, he's also super-competitive, and our team likes that."



"It's one of his strengths as a quarterback, when elements like that do happen (referring to the play at OSU), he bounces up and isn't afraid of whoever hit him, no matter if he's outsized or not, puts on his helmet and plays again."



End of Quote - Bibster Note below



Last year - Jake Heaps provided a similar lift when the accuracy and timing and precision of his passes improved. This year it is Riley Nelson and to a lesser extent Michael Alisa - just two of the guys. Football players. Physical.

Conspiracy? That's a bit of a stretch of some people's comments.



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Cougarbib2 wrote:
KSL article re Bronco's comments from Monday Presser.





"If he's not taking hits, and his helmet is not coming off, he's probably not as effective. That sounds maybe counter-intuitive, but our defensive players and offensive linemen and running backs, they like our leader at quarterback being one of them, so to speak, and he is."



"He's a football player and he's not afraid of contact, he's not afraid to take a hit, he's very composed, he's also super-competitive, and our team likes that."



"It's one of his strengths as a quarterback, when elements like that do happen (referring to the play at OSU), he bounces up and isn't afraid of whoever hit him, no matter if he's outsized or not, puts on his helmet and plays again."

I appreciate Riley's toughness. But I also worry that he might get hurt before the end of the season.

birdie702 wrote:

KSL article re Bronco's comments from Monday Presser.





"If he's not taking hits, and his helmet is not coming off, he's probably not as effective. That sounds maybe counter-intuitive, but our defensive players and offensive linemen and running backs, they like our leader at quarterback being one of them, so to speak, and he is."



"He's a football player and he's not afraid of contact, he's not afraid to take a hit, he's very composed, he's also super-competitive, and our team likes that."



"It's one of his strengths as a quarterback, when elements like that do happen (referring to the play at OSU), he bounces up and isn't afraid of whoever hit him, no matter if he's outsized or not, puts on his helmet and plays again."

I appreciate Riley's toughness. But I also worry that he might get hurt before the end of the season.

Me Too!

Here are some good videos. You will get really tired of the 15 second commercials repeated in front of each one - so just in case you aren't gong to listen to all of them - Go



Houston Reynolds first - a young - highly touted pup - gets asked some very pointed questions about the OL and the QBs. Think what you want about him - what an articulate young man. Such a pleasure to hear starting football players come across this way - Vs some gangsta from TUN or Miami.



Matt Putnam second - with his well-publicised academic struggles - who would expect much from an interview of this big guy. Down to earth. Happy to contribute. Accountable. Vulnerable. Intimate. Actually reasonably articulate for a big ole nasty DL.



And Bronco always has an interesting comment or two amongst the coach speak / babble.





http://www.deseretnews.com/video/2320/Houston-Reynolds-BYU-offensive-lineman-Oct-17-2011.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BYULV wrote:
Conspiracy? That's a bit of a stretch of some people's comments.



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It is a stretch for most people's comments - there was a thread with pretty much this theme and title. DM has some strong feelings about it. I agree that there is some division within the team - but I think it is a normal amount of it.





Reynolds in particular comments about why the OL and others are playing better.

Cougarbib2 wrote:

Conspiracy? That's a bit of a stretch of some people's comments.



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It is a stretch for most people's comments - there was a thread with pretty much this theme and title. DM has some strong feelings about it. I agree that there is some division within the team - but I think it is a normal amount of it.





Reynolds in particular comments about why the OL and others are playing better.

Never used "Conspiracy." But there was more than what meets the eyes of the fans. The devil is often in the details.

dmcougar wrote:

BYULV wrote:
Conspiracy? That's a bit of a stretch of some people's comments.



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It is a stretch for most people's comments - there was a thread with pretty much this theme and title. DM has some strong feelings about it. I agree that there is some division within the team - but I think it is a normal amount of it.





Reynolds in particular comments about why the OL and others are playing better.

Never used "Conspiracy." But there was more than what meets the eyes of the fans. The devil is often in the details.

This is true. DM was very clear that it was an open campaign to subvert Jake's success and blatant attempts to sabotage his career.

Half-truth trolling using red herring as bait. Get your facts straight.



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One of our Lineman speaking:



"Every quarterback has their own strengths and one of his is the fact that he can keep plays alive," the sophomore explained. "Even if you miss a block or things get a little messed up, you know he's back their fighting and there's a chance he's making something happen on the other side of the field. You fight a little harder and a little longer because it might be your block that gets the first down when he turns and decides to run."



Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/college/byu/football/article_7fb5fe76-f74e-11e0-8366-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bAeskF6I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Read between the lines " It doesn't matter if I miss a block, Riley will save us!" This way of thinking scares me. When a play breaks down, and if improv is what your good at, what will happen? How do you practice that in a practice session? And what really is an assignment for a broken play?



Just some things that worry me.

I will tell you why the line likes Riley better--he makes them look better. Lineman only get noticed when things go bad, and the run game was BAD early in the year. Part of that was blocking scheme, part of that was RBs not able to shed blocks for big gains, part of that was a QB who was a pocket player only. A running QB does cover up mistakes. Go ask the Eagles O-line about that.



RIley's running and the additiona of Alisa have caused our running game to go from bad to great. Not sure I want to rely on Riley's legs every game, because that is a recipe for injury, but I am glad to have Alisa getting it done. Watching his run is fun to see. Nice to see a guy not go down at first contact.

mgdhunter wrote:
One of our Lineman speaking:



"Every quarterback has their own strengths and one of his is the fact that he can keep plays alive," the sophomore explained. "Even if you miss a block or things get a little messed up, you know he's back their fighting and there's a chance he's making something happen on the other side of the field. You fight a little harder and a little longer because it might be your block that gets the first down when he turns and decides to run."



Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/college/byu/football/article_7fb5fe76-f74e-11e0-8366-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bAeskF6I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Read between the lines " It doesn't matter if I miss a block, Riley will save us!" This way of thinking scares me. When a play breaks down, and if improv is what your good at, what will happen? How do you practice that in a practice session? And what really is an assignment for a broken play?



Just some things that worry me.

This is the second time you've brought this up, so I'll respond this time. You can practice a play breakdown in a practice session. You can make assignments based on the called routes what you do if/when the pocket breaks down and the QB is scrambling. These are things the team should be working on.

SpiffCoug wrote:

One of our Lineman speaking:



"Every quarterback has their own strengths and one of his is the fact that he can keep plays alive," the sophomore explained. "Even if you miss a block or things get a little messed up, you know he's back their fighting and there's a chance he's making something happen on the other side of the field. You fight a little harder and a little longer because it might be your block that gets the first down when he turns and decides to run."



Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/college/byu/football/article_7fb5fe76-f74e-11e0-8366-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bAeskF6I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Read between the lines " It doesn't matter if I miss a block, Riley will save us!" This way of thinking scares me. When a play breaks down, and if improv is what your good at, what will happen? How do you practice that in a practice session? And what really is an assignment for a broken play?



Like anyone believes or believd our Oline could hold a block or the pocket for more than 3 seconds. there were whole threads on this. Our Oline has underperformed and one of those criteria has been toughness and endurance.

Great that Riley got them to try harder longer!! But they were almost as bad as Jake Heaps in their performance. But, who was going to take their starting job? Nobody! TBrown should have been benched for his bad snap vs utah.





Just some things that worry me.

This is the second time you've brought this up, so I'll respond this time. You can practice a play breakdown in a practice session. You can make assignments based on the called routes what you do if/when the pocket breaks down and the QB is scrambling. These are things the team should be working on.

Like anyone believes or believd our Oline could hold a block or the pocket for more than 3 seconds. there were whole threads on this. Our Oline has underperformed and one of those criteria has been toughness and endurance.

Great that Riley got them to try harder longer!! But they were almost as bad as Jake Heaps in their performance. But, who was going to take their starting job? Nobody! TBrown should have been benched for his bad snap vs utah.

Thanks for responding. I still don't believe that you can practice improv. A play has assignments, and when that breaks down it becomes schoolyard, "everyone get Open!" I am just concerned that if we depend on it, it will become a problem. And when Bronco specifies that our execution is lacking, where do you go with it? Execution and improv do not go together.

mgdhunter wrote:
Thanks for responding. I still don't believe that you can practice improv. A play has assignments, and when that breaks down it becomes schoolyard, "everyone get Open!" I am just concerned that if we depend on it, it will become a problem. And when Bronco specifies that our execution is lacking, where do you go with it? Execution and improv do not go together.

Execution and improv can and do go together. You can make assignments on what to do when it becomes schoolyard. It's not that hard.



Here's a quick hypothetical. In practice Doman tells Hoffman if the play breaks down you run a deep post. McKay you head to the sideline. Kariya, you get out in the flat. Holt you find a spot in the center of the field. There are ways to do it.

mgdhunter wrote:
Thanks for responding. I still don't believe that you can practice improv. A play has assignments, and when that breaks down it becomes schoolyard, "everyone get Open!" I am just concerned that if we depend on it, it will become a problem. And when Bronco specifies that our execution is lacking, where do you go with it? Execution and improv do not go together.

When you have been around for a while you will realize that every plan of execution has a contingency plan except for really bad plans of execution.



Because



Stuff Happens - which is why - Experience Matters

How many plans for one play? Still a problem if a designed play breaks down even 50% of the time. All I am saying is that a good game plan does not have a contingency plan for every play. I am concerned, not bashing in any way. We can debate forever, but what good would that do. Everyone has an opinion, and i am just expressing mine.

You don't need separate contingency plans for every play. You assign each receiver a hot route to run should any play break down. I don't see why this is a difficult concept to grasp.

mgdhunter wrote:
One of our Lineman speaking:



"Every quarterback has their own strengths and one of his is the fact that he can keep plays alive," the sophomore explained. "Even if you miss a block or things get a little messed up, you know he's back their fighting and there's a chance he's making something happen on the other side of the field. You fight a little harder and a little longer because it might be your block that gets the first down when he turns and decides to run."



Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/college/byu/football/article_7fb5fe76-f74e-11e0-8366-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bAeskF6I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Read between the lines " It doesn't matter if I miss a block, Riley will save us!" This way of thinking scares me. When a play breaks down, and if improv is what your good at, what will happen? How do you practice that in a practice session? And what really is an assignment for a broken play?



Just some things that worry me.

Riley certainly takes some pressure off the O-line. But it's just not because Riley is more mobile. Riley can also take a hit.



With Heaps behind the line the O-line was under immense pressure to be perfect. Heaps wilts with any contact and plays nervous for an extended period of time after the hit. Someone gets through and gets to Heaps it wasn't just the down at risk, but the entire game.



The pressure is off with Riley. Riley can evade rushers or take a hit and pop right back up, even congratulate the lineman that popped him. Riley doesn't play, as mentioned on here before like "a 12 year old girl." Like most people, the O-line likely plays better loose. They can have fun. There is confidence in the guy behind him. They just have to play their best as opposed to perfectly.



That's what I read between the lines.