What needs to happen:

After spending basically all night and most of today stewing over this latest disappointment, here is what I have concluded needs to be done, and done right now:



1. Bronco needs to become intimately involved with, and to directly oversee the coaching of, the offensive line. I am beyond convinced that primary blame for last nights loss lies directly on the shoulders of the o line. They are the weakest link on the team, and it is the HC job to identify and improve weak areas. We have seen first hand how bronco can turn around a unit in just one week - see 2010 usu to sdsu. He needs to do the same thing with the o-line, starting tomorrow. That group is mentally weak and under performing...as usual. Its up to bronco to fix that.



I'm not saying bronco should become the o line coach. But he should be with the unit, driving them to become better, instilling in them the same drive and fight that he did with the defense two years ago.



2. Doman needs to create an identity on offense. Are we a running team? A passing team? Vertical or quick underneath? And if we decide that we are a vertically oriented passing team, then Brandon had better make sure that we have a person under center that can actually deliver them the ball.



3. In conjunction with #2 above, we should be as aggressive on offense for the first three quarters as we were in the 4th last night. Way too conservative and passive in offense until we were down by three scores and the clock was running down. We need that aggressive play calling and killer instinct all game long.



I loved the aggressiveness of what they tried to do on the last play from scrimmage - Hoffman running an out and up, going for the win. And there's a good chance it works if the line can keep the d line away from Riley's arm. Refer back to item #1.



4. I want to see some fire and passion out of bronco on the sideline. If someone screws up, then get in their face and let them know it. Act like you care about the outcome of the game. Guess what, bronco - your players feed off of their coach. Act like you care, and so will they.



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I'd love to see #1. I think the OL could use some extra attention from the HC. That's a great idea.

#1 for sure. With Grimes, the o-line was an over achieving powerhouse. When Weber took over, they were supposed to be the strength of the offense, and that has been the expectation almost every year since. Every year, they seem to be the biggest disappointment on the team; the perennial under achiever. That will remain so until something changes. If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you always got. Time for a change.

Yes, #1. Bronco turned the D around over night a couple years back. It's time for him to step in on O as well. The offense is soft and weak.

Does Bronco and BYU need to be careful to not overreact? In the end, BYU had a chance to, at a minimum, tie the game.



Consider:

- BYU missed a relatively easy FG with no time on the clock that would have a sent the game to OT - with the momentum clearly in BYU's favor.

-Riley was a split second late on a throw to Hoffman with :08 left that would have won the game 28-21.

-A little better communication between the OL and a ball isn't snapped early resulting in a TD recovery and a 21-17 win for BYU.

-A better angle on punt coverage and Utah doesn't get the ball 1st & 10 from the BYU 17 and the Utes don't score an early TD.



I know Bronco is cliche for saying that these games really do hinge on one or two plays, but that doesn't make the cliche any less true.



Think about each of those last three plays I listed, if they go the other the final score is BYU 28 Utah 10 and we're having an entirely different discussion today.



Be wary of over-corrections.

Spiff, the OL is a disaster. Has been for several seasons.



Doman's play calling stinks. There are no secret plays. Only an idiot runs the same play 7 times and gets 6 yards out of it.



These aren't knee jerk improvements. These are weaknesses that keep manifesting themselves. Against cupcakes, they aren't as apparent. Against any average team we're exposed.



On all accounts, BYU should have lit Utah up last week. When was the last time BYU lit up a Top 40 team?



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Homoe needs to have a PPI with coach and give some advice on the O. Looking at the USU-U game, some of the gameplan should have mirriored that game.

DOman still struggles to game plan. Simple as that. I was shocked by the lack of passes to the flat. I think ALisa cought one ball outside the hash, for like 7-8 yards. And that was it. Also, did not see any screens, which would have worked well when Utah was coming after us.



Fact is, I think we are stuck with limitations with RN as our QB. His lack of arm strength is causing us to limit the playbook. And there is no denying it. Ask Ross Apo for details, if you can find him. I think he is on BYU Football milk cartons this morning.

Lawboy wrote:
DOman still struggles to game plan. Simple as that. I was shocked by the lack of passes to the flat. I think ALisa cought one ball outside the hash, for like 7-8 yards. And that was it. Also, did not see any screens, which would have worked well when Utah was coming after us.



Fact is, I think we are stuck with limitations with RN as our QB. His lack of arm strength is causing us to limit the playbook. And there is no denying it. Ask Ross Apo for details, if you can find him. I think he is on BYU Football milk cartons this morning.

Our playbook is equally, if not more, limited by Brandon Doman's inability to game plan, or call an effective game. We should have been working the edges with the running game, and working the middle with the short-mid range passing game. We didn't do that nearly enough, we didn't even look for it, which a lot falls on Doman.

Or it falls on RN for his inability to find open receivers, and there were many. Rarely threw to Friel, who was open all game in the middle, rarely threw to Alisa, never got a ball to Apo. Doman can call the plays, but it is RN who has to execute, and 17-35 is not execution at all. It was poor.



The more I think about it, the more I realize that we have a limited QB with tunnel vision for Hoff. And Hoff is awesme, but of the 17 catches, only 5 guys caught balls. Utah had 11 guys catch balls.

By my count, here are the targets:

Alisa 4

Hoffman 11

Apo 3

Falslev 1

Friel 8

Ridley 1

Wilson 2



I think we clocked the ball 2x and had the 2 incompletions that were overturned fumbles, so I don't know where those two balls were going. I'm missing an attempt in there, but not sure where.



By that count 4 balls went to the RBs, 15 went to the WRs and 10 went to the TEs. That doesn't look like tunnel vision or only throwing to one guy.

He locks in on either Hoffman or Friel, depending on who the primary target is for the play. I think the fact that those two were primary on 19 of the 35 throws is more of an indictment of poor play calling than anything. Doman has to know that Nelson locks onto his first read, so he needs to call plays where the first read is not one of those two every now and then. For a left handed QB, he throws to the right more than any lefty I've ever watched.

The game against the :utard: is always a messy thing. Our offense always underperforms against them. The momentem never really got going because of the off-sides penalties. We would have a 3rd & short just to get a 5 yard penalty then a punt.



Eliminate the off-sides & I think we win that game.



Not to mention the long snap for a :utard: TD

stuckinbig10country wrote:
He locks in on either Hoffman or Friel, depending on who the primary target is for the play. I think the fact that those two were primary on 19 of the 35 throws is more of an indictment of poor play calling than anything. Doman has to know that Nelson locks onto his first read, so he needs to call plays where the first read is not one of those two every now and then. For a left handed QB, he throws to the right more than any lefty I've ever watched.

That might be an indictment of poor play calling, but on 19 throws to Hoffman and Friel, BYU had 13 catches (.684 complete) for 184 yards and 2 TDs 1 INT. that's a RER of: 173.98.



I can't believe BYU fans are finding fault with THAT kind of production.



On the season those two have 33 catches on 42 targets (.786) for 476 yards 6 TDs and 1 INT with a RER of 216.15.



Those are outstanding numbers and anyone who is finding fault with throwing to those two can go pound sand.

Regardless, you are not judged on how you pass to 2 players. 1 for 4 to Alisa on the easiest throw you have? 0 for 3 to Apo? A player who was open deep multiple times in the game, yet got the worst throws made to him, without question.



Look, I get that our Oline struggled and RN had pressure. What is new. But you can not prosper throwing the ball to 2 players only, especially with how often BYU rotates personnel. It is not acceptable to be so awful to the rest of the receiving corp. It just isn't. I'd settle for average to the rest, but we do not get close to that.

The other receivers need to step up and get open or show that they can be trusted. You are not going to get the ball if you can't create space or come up with it in heavy traffic. This has to happen fairly quickly as there is not a lot of time for the play to develop. I believe Riley said he felt that he held onto the ball too long - but in reality the plays took a long time to develop given the fierce pass rush that he faced. Doman needs to adjust the routes, plays to reflect what D is giving them.



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Y 4 Ever wrote:
After spending basically all night and most of today stewing over this latest disappointment, here is what I have concluded needs to be done, and done right now:

Not much else going on in your life? :lol:

Lawboy wrote:
Regardless, you are not judged on how you pass to 2 players. 1 for 4 to Alisa on the easiest throw you have? 0 for 3 to Apo? A player who was open deep multiple times in the game, yet got the worst throws made to him, without question.



Look, I get that our Oline struggled and RN had pressure. What is new. But you can not prosper throwing the ball to 2 players only, especially with how often BYU rotates personnel. It is not acceptable to be so awful to the rest of the receiving corp. It just isn't. I'd settle for average to the rest, but we do not get close to that.

Agreed, but you shouldn't be castigated for throwing to two players at an extremely efficient rate.

SpiffCoug wrote:
Does Bronco and BYU need to be careful to not overreact? In the end, BYU had a chance to, at a minimum, tie the game.



Consider:

- BYU missed a relatively easy FG with no time on the clock that would have a sent the game to OT - with the momentum clearly in BYU's favor.

-Riley was a split second late on a throw to Hoffman with :08 left that would have won the game 28-21.

-A little better communication between the OL and a ball isn't snapped early resulting in a TD recovery and a 21-17 win for BYU.

-A better angle on punt coverage and Utah doesn't get the ball 1st & 10 from the BYU 17 and the Utes don't score an early TD.



I know Bronco is cliche for saying that these games really do hinge on one or two plays, but that doesn't make the cliche any less true.



Think about each of those last three plays I listed, if they go the other the final score is BYU 28 Utah 10 and we're having an entirely different discussion today.



Be wary of over-corrections.

True, but the issue is this is true every time we play the yewts. At what point does the team start actually making these plays?



Facts:

1. We are 3-8 against the yewts over the past 11 years (!!!)



2. We just lost to a yewt team with a back up QB, without their star rb, without their two starting safeties, and with a generally inexperienced o line. And we have a very experienced team with a senior QB, and perhaps the best or one of the best D's and receiving corp that we have ever had.



So at what point does the "over reaction" become the appropriate reaction?



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SpiffCoug wrote:
Does Bronco and BYU need to be careful to not overreact? In the end, BYU had a chance to, at a minimum, tie the game.



Consider:

- BYU missed a relatively easy FG with no time on the clock that would have a sent the game to OT - with the momentum clearly in BYU's favor.

-Riley was a split second late on a throw to Hoffman with :08 left that would have won the game 28-21.

-A little better communication between the OL and a ball isn't snapped early resulting in a TD recovery and a 21-17 win for BYU.

-A better angle on punt coverage and Utah doesn't get the ball 1st & 10 from the BYU 17 and the Utes don't score an early TD.



I know Bronco is cliche for saying that these games really do hinge on one or two plays, but that doesn't make the cliche any less true.



Think about each of those last three plays I listed, if they go the other the final score is BYU 28 Utah 10 and we're having an entirely different discussion today.



Be wary of over-corrections.

I agree with no need to overreact.



I look at this a lot like the Red Sox and Yankees in the early 2000s. The "Who's your daddy" days. Right now the Utes are our daddy. They are in BYU's head and should automatically be given an extra 10 points on the betting lines.



Against Utah BYU makes uncharacteristic mistakes. Things that never happen in other games happen against Utah. We need to exorcise our demons but there is no reason to abandon what is generally working.