The Quirky - Unique Riley Nelson

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He definitely walks to the beat of a different drummer.

However, I love the way that Bronco states how he manages him,



"Riley is very strong-willed,He’s very independent. He’s a risk-taker, and that’s what makes him good. There is a delicate balance with him. You don’t want him to be confined and restricted so that he plays so tightly within the system that it takes away those things.

You want to give him enough freedom — but not too much to where he takes unnecessary chances. But we err on the side of giving him more freedom than less. That seems to be how he plays best."

It's no secret that I'm not the biggest Riley fan, more from what I have seen from him off the field and what I know from some people in the area where he grew up than anything on the field. The one thing that I really like about him is that he doesn't give up, even when he should. You can't teach that.

I hope Riley's attitude spreads to other teammates and we can approach the 1996 team that had swagger and thought they should win every game when they took the field.



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byucougar1 wrote:
I hope Riley's attitude spreads to other teammates and we can approach the 1996 team that had swagger and thought they should win every game when they took the field.



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2 problems...Nelson isn't as good as Sark, and we don't have 2 All-pro tight ends and a break away back like Jenkins.

To mirror a popular thread from last year.



"are we setting Riley Nelson up for failure???"



Just wondering. From what I've read and heard, a ton is going to be expected of Riley Nelson, unlike last year when he was basically expected to be "competent" enough to let the defense do their job. He did a bang up job and hopefully he's the most prepared for the job this year. I just don't expect him to be superman.

We haven't had a player like Riley for a while in that he is very adept at avoiding pressure and can make something out of nothing. To think that he can't improve his decision-making and passing ability is to say that all the hard work with Doman and studying the offense will not result in improvement. There will be significant improvement because of his work ethic and desire to win which is second to none. Couple this with his unpredictable manner of free- lancing with plays - makes him very difficult to defend. Evidence of this was demonstrated by his improvement as the season progressed and he became more comfortable with the offense. Let's not forget his independent decision to call the fake a timeout and TD toss to Hoffman vs Tulsa - thing of beauty and very, very adroit play. His avoiding several likely tackles for loss at HI and completing the TD pass to Hoffman was a thing of beauty. Doman and he both believe his improved grasp of the offense and improved throwing mechanics will result in a top 5 efficiency ranking - goal if 300 passing yards/game. Last year he was in top 10 for PER - should keep up the trend. Granted competition will be more difficult, but Riley and team are up for the challenge as the 29 seniors want this season to be one to remember.



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Don't leave out the special and unprecedented NFl tutelage that Bronco and Doman received on Rileys behalf to help him maximally prepare.

Oh and that he is a Sr QB!

In the famous mantra of a recent poster, "If you don't Iike the pressures of a Sr qb, don't play the game."

And for you fans, "if you don't like the reality of elevated expectations of a Sr qb at BYU, go cheer for another sport."

;)



If we are going to start lowering the bar and apologizing for this QB I'll be there to call out ther hypocrisy. Sorry, I know that won't be popular. But we have expected no less from any of our Sr QB's. This isn't Patsy U. Its freakin QBU!

I don't think people are expecting anything more than they should expect of any returning starting senior QB at BYU. Few and far between are the SR QBs who didn't have an outstanding SR season.

Spiff - Just curious - what is our record vs UT with a senior QB at the helm - as well as our overall record? Like to know if our winning percentage increases markedly.



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stuckinbig10country wrote:

I hope Riley's attitude spreads to other teammates and we can approach the 1996 team that had swagger and thought they should win every game when they took the field.



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2 problems...Nelson isn't as good as Sark, and we don't have 2 All-pro tight ends and a break away back like Jenkins.

Or 2 excellent corners and an All-American punt returner.

I can't find complete box scores for the following SR games vs Utah: McMahon 1981, Nielsen 1976 & Sheide 1974. So I'm not going to count those games in the following stats - which is too bad, considering BYU won all three games by an average score of 46-20 and had 10 TD passes in those three games.



At any rate, here are what the following SR QBs have done vs Utah (listed by PER):

2009 Max Hall: 87.05 PER, 12 of 32 for 134 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 37.5%, 11 rush for 19 yds 0 TDs. BYU won 26-23.

1999 Kevin Feterik: 93.38 PER, 22 of 52 for 309 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs, 42.3%, 15 rush for -12 yards 0 TDs, BYU Lost 17-20.

1996 Steve Sarkisian: 107.33 PER, 7 of 12 for 70 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT 58.3%, 8 rush for 19 yards 0 TD. BYU won 37-17.

2001 Brandon Doman: 114.95 PER, 21 of 42 for 270 yards, 2 TDs 1 INT, 50%, 14 rush for 2 yards 0 TDs, BYU won 24-21.

1985 Robbie Bosco: 125.63 PER, 22 of 37 for 276 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 59.5%, (no rushing stats found). BYU won 38-28.

1979 Marc Wilson: 150.58 PER, 23 of 37 for 374 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 62.2%, 5 rush for -17 yards 0 TD. BYU won 27-0.

2006 John Beck: 169.07 PER, 38 of 43 for 375 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, 65.1%, 5 rush for 2 yards 0 TD. BYU won 33-31.

1991 Ty Detmer: 214.66 PER, 18 of 29 for 378 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs, 62.1%, 3 rush for -6 yards 0 TD. BYU won 48-17.

1983 Steve Young: 257.25 PER, 22 of 25 for 268 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs, 88.0%, 5 rush for -6 yards 0 TD. BYU won 55-7.



So since 1979 (not counting 1981) BYU is 9-1 with a SR QB vs Utah. The average stats are: 142.08 PER, 19 of 34 for 273 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 56.6%.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I can't find complete box scores for the following SR games vs Utah: McMahon 1981, Nielsen 1976 & Sheide 1974. So I'm not going to count those games in the following stats - which is too bad, considering BYU won all three games by an average score of 46-20 and had 10 TD passes in those three games.



At any rate, here are what the following SR QBs have done vs Utah (listed by PER):

2009 Max Hall: 87.05 PER, 12 of 32 for 134 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 37.5%, 11 rush for 19 yds 0 TDs. BYU won 26-23.

1999 Kevin Feterik: 93.38 PER, 22 of 52 for 309 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs, 42.3%, 15 rush for -12 yards 0 TDs, BYU Lost 17-20.

1996 Steve Sarkisian: 107.33 PER, 7 of 12 for 70 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT 58.3%, 8 rush for 19 yards 0 TD. BYU won 37-17.

2001 Brandon Doman: 114.95 PER, 21 of 42 for 270 yards, 2 TDs 1 INT, 50%, 14 rush for 2 yards 0 TDs, BYU won 24-21.

1985 Robbie Bosco: 125.63 PER, 22 of 37 for 276 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 59.5%, (no rushing stats found). BYU won 38-28.

1979 Marc Wilson: 150.58 PER, 23 of 37 for 374 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 62.2%, 5 rush for -17 yards 0 TD. BYU won 27-0.

2006 John Beck: 169.07 PER, 38 of 43 for 375 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, 65.1%, 5 rush for 2 yards 0 TD. BYU won 33-31.

1991 Ty Detmer: 214.66 PER, 18 of 29 for 378 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs, 62.1%, 3 rush for -6 yards 0 TD. BYU won 48-17.

1983 Steve Young: 257.25 PER, 22 of 25 for 268 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs, 88.0%, 5 rush for -6 yards 0 TD. BYU won 55-7.



So since 1979 (not counting 1981) BYU is 9-1 with a SR QB vs Utah. The average stats are: 142.08 PER, 19 of 34 for 273 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 56.6%.

Would love to see a repeat of Steve Young's numbers by Nelson.

stuckinbig10country wrote:
It's no secret that I'm not the biggest Riley fan, more from what I have seen from him off the field and what I know from some people in the area where he grew up than anything on the field. The one thing that I really like about him is that he doesn't give up, even when he should. You can't teach that.

Agree. I love Riley's fire, drive, competitive spirit. He's fun to watch & I was a Riley Nelson supporter from day 1. I have high hopes for both the team and Riley Nelson personally this year.

BroncoBot wrote:
To mirror a popular thread from last year.



"are we setting Riley Nelson up for failure???"



Just wondering. From what I've read and heard, a ton is going to be expected of Riley Nelson, unlike last year when he was basically expected to be "competent" enough to let the defense do their job. He did a bang up job and hopefully he's the most prepared for the job this year. I just don't expect him to be superman.

Not at all. Most of us expect that we will have an awesome top 20 D again, and we simply hope the O can put up 3.5 TD's per game. I like Riley but nobody is expecting him to be anything but Kevin Feterik for us.

mizzoucoug wrote:

To mirror a popular thread from last year.



"are we setting Riley Nelson up for failure???"



Just wondering. From what I've read and heard, a ton is going to be expected of Riley Nelson, unlike last year when he was basically expected to be "competent" enough to let the defense do their job. He did a bang up job and hopefully he's the most prepared for the job this year. I just don't expect him to be superman.

Not at all. Most of us expect that we will have an awesome top 20 D again, and we simply hope the O can put up 3.5 TD's per game. I like Riley but nobody is expecting him to be anything but Kevin Feterik for us.

That's probably a good baseline. Probably a bit better scrambler though.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I don't think people are expecting anything more than they should expect of any returning starting senior QB at BYU. Few and far between are the SR QBs who didn't have an outstanding SR season.

Nelson is a bit of an anomaly as a senior.



He transferred from another school.

He hardly played in 2009 as a back-up.

He hardly played in 2010 due to early injury.

He played less than half of 2011 due to injury and due to Jake Heaps being the starter initially.



The Bosco, McMahon, Detmer, Young, Beck, Hall, and even Sark kind of guys had a full junior season or more of play.



Nelson's situation is more like Doman without Staley. I expect Nelson to be as good as Doman was without Luke Staley. Every bit as good.



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Wow! The excuse making, bar-lowering, pre-apologizing for El Quirko just keeps pouring in.

Credit Riley! He gives it his all and is a huge threat to run. If the passing game can be more effective vs tough teams, he will have a better season than some of his ardent fans even suggest.

Not making excuses, just being more realistic with this entire team than I was with teams in the past. If he looks as bad and as disinterested as a certain unnamed qb from the recent past I expect Bronco to show him the bench quickly.

dmcougar wrote:
Wow! The excuse making, bar-lowering, pre-apologizing for El Quirko just keeps pouring in.

I don't see this happening as much as you seem to imply it is.