Give hill the ball, blank check

I think the best option moving forward is to make Hill the man and tell him not to worry about winning games or trying to do too much. Just get ready for next year.



That way he doesn't feel too much pressure or that he's getting thrown to the wolves.

I worry about that move. I love our future with Hill but I also don't want to throw him in unprepared. It can do bad things for the psyche. Plus I worry it would come across as entitled, and that worked out really poorly with Heaps.



If Riley can get healthy again and he can be more effective then I think it is best to stick with him for the most part. He looks slower, his arm looks worse and his general demeanor looks like he is hurting. If he can get back to how he was against Oregon State last year then I would want to stick with Riley while giving Hill more and most spot duty.



If Riley isn't healthy then don't play him, but if he is healthy then try to ease Hill in more slowly.



Besides, Hill did not have a stellar showing last night. On the year he is 6/14 (43%) 78 yards (5.6yds/attempt) and 1 TD. If you can give him more time before throwing him in fulltime.

Putting Hill in too early is a concern. Putting him in to late is a bigger concern. Notice that it took him several series to start getting some consistency on offense. By then it was the end of the game. The biggest mistake that was made by the coaching staff last night was waiting too long to make the change.

In my opinion, Hill should have started the second half. It would have been better for Riley (since he remains the starter) because they would have had the ability to say it was injury and not performance that caused the change and it would have been better for Hill because he would have had the ability to get some consistency before the game was over.

Isola wrote:
I worry about that move. I love our future with Hill but I also don't want to throw him in unprepared. It can do bad things for the psyche. Plus I worry it would come across as entitled, and that worked out really poorly with Heaps.



If Riley can get healthy again and he can be more effective then I think it is best to stick with him for the most part. He looks slower, his arm looks worse and his general demeanor looks like he is hurting. If he can get back to how he was against Oregon State last year then I would want to stick with Riley while giving Hill more and most spot duty.



If Riley isn't healthy then don't play him, but if he is healthy then try to ease Hill in more slowly.



Besides, Hill did not have a stellar showing last night. On the year he is 6/14 (43%) 78 yards (5.6yds/attempt) and 1 TD. If you can give him more time before throwing him in fulltime.

What damage can be done to his psyche if he's told not to worry about stats, or W's/L's?

Isola wrote:
I worry about that move. I love our future with Hill but I also don't want to throw him in unprepared. It can do bad things for the psyche. Plus I worry it would come across as entitled, and that worked out really poorly with Heaps.



If Riley can get healthy again and he can be more effective then I think it is best to stick with him for the most part. He looks slower, his arm looks worse and his general demeanor looks like he is hurting. If he can get back to how he was against Oregon State last year then I would want to stick with Riley while giving Hill more and most spot duty.



If Riley isn't healthy then don't play him, but if he is healthy then try to ease Hill in more slowly.



Besides, Hill did not have a stellar showing last night. On the year he is 6/14 (43%) 78 yards (5.6yds/attempt) and 1 TD. If you can give him more time before throwing him in fulltime.

Entitled? REALLY? Nobody has a greater sense of entitlement than Riley.

I'm not sure simply telling him it doesn't matter if he wins or loses would be enough. Fans are still going to go off and he is a competitor. Losing should always matter to him.



As for Riley being entitled, I don't buy it. He was cheerleading and pumping up the team last night even after he was replaced. I think he was even out on the field during a time out talking to Hill and the offense. You don't do that when you think someone took the spot you are entitled to.

Isola wrote:
I'm not sure simply telling him it doesn't matter if he wins or loses would be enough. Fans are still going to go off and he is a competitor. Losing should always matter to him.



As for Riley being entitled, I don't buy it. He was cheerleading and pumping up the team last night even after he was replaced. I think he was even out on the field during a time out talking to Hill and the offense. You don't do that when you think someone took the spot you are entitled to.

Possibly. But he can't look bad in front of Bronco if he wants to keep the keys to the car. I admit, he is a mighty politician.

I think you need to look at this from Norm Chow's perspective. If you are Norm Chow, which scares you more,

Riley Nelson

Strength: Tenacity and competitive spirit, experience.

Weekness: Small, hurting, lost a step (or two) due to injury, suspect range especially with injury.



Taysom Hill

Strength: Big, Tall, Fast, Good Arm Strength, Healthy.

Weekness: Less Experienced (as opposed to inexperienced).

I wonder how soon we hear the "Why does Hill tuck and run so quickly" complaints? I wonder if Hill only was able to drive the length of the field last night, because Boise wasn't ready for him and hadn't had a chance to prepare for him and he was able to catch them off guard?

The sample set is too small to really know, but Taysom got better and more accurate as he played, and what should not be lost on anyone is that BSU's cornerbacks are the best cornerbacks BYU will face all year, including Utah's and WSUs' It takes times to get rythyms and confidence and the feel for the game.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I wonder how soon we hear the "Why does Hill tuck and run so quickly" complaints? I wonder if Hill only was able to drive the length of the field last night, because Boise wasn't ready for him and hadn't had a chance to prepare for him and he was able to catch them off guard?

Hill wasn't prepped this spring/summer to be the man. He was prepped with a small package of plays.



If he struggles this year I will not criticize him, unless he really Riley's it up (i.e. throwing multiple passes directly to defenders, some for TD's)

byutx wrote:

I wonder how soon we hear the "Why does Hill tuck and run so quickly" complaints? I wonder if Hill only was able to drive the length of the field last night, because Boise wasn't ready for him and hadn't had a chance to prepare for him and he was able to catch them off guard?

Hill wasn't prepped this spring/summer to be the man. He was prepped with a small package of plays.



If he struggles this year I will not criticize him, unless he really Riley's it up (i.e. throwing multiple passes directly to defenders, some for TD's)

If he was prepped for just a small package, then maybe going with Lark is/would have been a better decision.



I just wonder if Hill is being set up for failure.

I think surprise was a big part of Hill's success last night. He won't have that as full time starter, and like Spiff says, people will murmur about Hill if he struggles.



I actually wonder about going to Lark while Riley is recovering but using Hill more to get him experience and take advantage of the surprise.



I want to see Hill get more snaps, but I don't want him to get in over his head, no matter how many blank checks you give him.

I saw Hill do one thing last night that I haven't seen Riley do at all this year. He looked off a defender, The defender followed Hill's eyes and then Taysom threw right where he moved that defender from. That is a skill that I haven't ever seen out of riley this year and didn't see it often last year. Is Hill a polished passer.... no, but with moves Like that he has the ability to become a passer.



In response to this theory of not throwing Taysom into the deep end and watching him struggle... I don't think the results would be anymore disastrous than how we are seeing Riley play now. Also don't put Jake Heaps and Taysom in the same category, their age and life experience puts them in much different circumstances.



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I'm a fan of jumping into the deep end. Sink or swim.



Hill is no Heaps.



Hill is more mature, a team player, a lot less ego, and a competitor. Heaps was...well we won't rehash that.



I'm in favor of starting Hill. Nothing special will be accomplished this season, so let's prep as much as possible for next season. Give Hill primary reps. Get his arm going and in sync with the offense.



Expectations at this point are low. He can play loose and shake off mistakes.

The fact is, Hill is an RM. If nothing else, that should help get him out of a Bronco dog-house ( ;) ). But it really does make him more mature. He should be given a legitimate shot to see what he can do with the team for a full game.

byutx wrote:

I worry about that move. I love our future with Hill but I also don't want to throw him in unprepared. It can do bad things for the psyche. Plus I worry it would come across as entitled, and that worked out really poorly with Heaps.



If Riley can get healthy again and he can be more effective then I think it is best to stick with him for the most part. He looks slower, his arm looks worse and his general demeanor looks like he is hurting. If he can get back to how he was against Oregon State last year then I would want to stick with Riley while giving Hill more and most spot duty.



If Riley isn't healthy then don't play him, but if he is healthy then try to ease Hill in more slowly.



Besides, Hill did not have a stellar showing last night. On the year he is 6/14 (43%) 78 yards (5.6yds/attempt) and 1 TD. If you can give him more time before throwing him in fulltime.

What damage can be done to his psyche if he's told not to worry about stats, or W's/L's?

Being told to not worry and actually being able to not look at the scoreboard and phase out the boos poured down on him at home games (because lets face it, fans are ticked right now) are 2 completely different things. You can't really believe that if Hill loses a bunch of games to nobodies his psyche will be just fine.



EDIT: Just to clarify, I in no way want to see Riley play another down unless we are up BIG, he's healed, and Lark has had at least 2 quarters. Just trying to point out that throwing Hill out there has its risks.

BroncoBot wrote:

Isola wrote:
I worry about that move. I love our future with Hill but I also don't want to throw him in unprepared. It can do bad things for the psyche. Plus I worry it would come across as entitled, and that worked out really poorly with Heaps.



If Riley can get healthy again and he can be more effective then I think it is best to stick with him for the most part. He looks slower, his arm looks worse and his general demeanor looks like he is hurting. If he can get back to how he was against Oregon State last year then I would want to stick with Riley while giving Hill more and most spot duty.



If Riley isn't healthy then don't play him, but if he is healthy then try to ease Hill in more slowly.



Besides, Hill did not have a stellar showing last night. On the year he is 6/14 (43%) 78 yards (5.6yds/attempt) and 1 TD. If you can give him more time before throwing him in fulltime.

What damage can be done to his psyche if he's told not to worry about stats, or W's/L's?

Being told to not worry and actually being able to not look at the scoreboard and phase out the boos poured down on him at home games (because lets face it, fans are ticked right now) are 2 completely different things. You can't really believe that if Hill loses a bunch of games to nobodies his psyche will be just fine.

Pshhh...I'm sure Bronco can/will let Hill know all about being booed by fans at home games, and teach Hill not to care one bit what the fans think.

Gunk wrote:

byutx wrote:

I worry about that move. I love our future with Hill but I also don't want to throw him in unprepared. It can do bad things for the psyche. Plus I worry it would come across as entitled, and that worked out really poorly with Heaps.



If Riley can get healthy again and he can be more effective then I think it is best to stick with him for the most part. He looks slower, his arm looks worse and his general demeanor looks like he is hurting. If he can get back to how he was against Oregon State last year then I would want to stick with Riley while giving Hill more and most spot duty.



If Riley isn't healthy then don't play him, but if he is healthy then try to ease Hill in more slowly.



Besides, Hill did not have a stellar showing last night. On the year he is 6/14 (43%) 78 yards (5.6yds/attempt) and 1 TD. If you can give him more time before throwing him in fulltime.

What damage can be done to his psyche if he's told not to worry about stats, or W's/L's?

Being told to not worry and actually being able to not look at the scoreboard and phase out the boos poured down on him at home games (because lets face it, fans are ticked right now) are 2 completely different things. You can't really believe that if Hill loses a bunch of games to nobodies his psyche will be just fine.

Pshhh...I'm sure Bronco can/will let Hill know all about being booed by fans at home games, and teach Hill not to care one bit what the fans think.

Maybe it was that game that damaged Bronco's psyche?

BroncoBot wrote:

Maybe it was that game that damaged Bronco's psyche?

No doubt. Bronco is clearly jaded towards fans. For whatever reason he doesn't seem to get the fans' perspective.



Course, unlike other universities, Bronco's job isn't contingent on fan popularity so he really doesn't have to care what the fans think. Still, a part of him can't help but want us to be pleased in his efforts.