Preparation and Execution

It's time to stop blaming everything on Riley and take a seriously hard look at the way the entire team played today.



1. Our D was not assignment sound in the first half - no pressure on QB and inability of defenders to cover short, midrange and deep passes. Huge hole that they dug. However, second half adjustment made, and D shut SJSU down - zero point second half.

2. Terrible O game plan in first half and poor execution when game in our grasp. SJSU took away our run game after we scored 7 points, comstantly pressured Riley and hit him on every pass, and forced us to throw 51 times. That's imbalance and easy to defend. They stacked the box, took away run and forced Riley to throw to areas where tight coverage and accuracy were necessary.

Doman made some adjustments in 4th Q but execution was poor - false starts, missed blocking assignments, Riley left unprotected when throwing. His fumbles came from getting hit blindside and he was hurt badly from tackles. Only his elusiveness kept plays alive but his injury lessens his accuracy. Lark would have wilted as he would have no protection and his scrambling is suspect. Problem - OL sucks at holding blocks and getting a good push on the D.

3. Our PK is terrrible. We should have kicked FG when in blue zone and at least get some points instead of goose eggs. Couldn't afford to do so because no confidence in PK unit.



What needs to change:

1. Need an execution sound OL that can dominate line of scrimmage, open holes for RB and protect our QB.

2. Need an automatic FG kicker.

3. Need an adaptive OC that can adjust to D scheme and have other options. He does not seem to have ability to alter game plan to take advantage of plan when defense throws something at him based upon weaknesses observed on film. What happened to keeping the D always guessing - using multiple weapons.



Holmoe's tweet is spot on. Team must change as it's play is unacceptable when trying to take it to the next level. Curious as to what will happen over the off-season, but this game crystallizes the previous comments TH made about changes a comin.



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byucougar1 wrote:
It's time to stop blaming everything on Riley and take a seriously hard look at the way the entire team played today.



1. Our D was not assignment sound in the first half - no pressure on QB and inability of defenders to cover short, midrange and deep passes. Huge hole that they dug. However, second half adjustment made, and D shut SJSU down - zero point second half.

2. Terrible O game plan in first half and poor execution when game in our grasp. SJSU took away our run game after we scored 7 points, comstantly pressured Riley and hit him on every pass, and forced us to throw 51 times. That's imbalance and easy to defend. They stacked the box, took away run and forced Riley to throw to areas where tight coverage and accuracy were necessary.

Doman made some adjustments in 4th Q but execution was poor - false starts, missed blocking assignments, Riley left unprotected when throwing. His fumbles came from getting hit blindside and he was hurt badly from tackles. Only his elusiveness kept plays alive but his injury lessens his accuracy. Lark would have wilted as he would have no protection and his scrambling is suspect. Problem - OL sucks at holding blocks and getting a good push on the D.

3. Our PK is terrrible. We should have kicked FG when in blue zone and at least get some points instead of goose eggs. Couldn't afford to do so because no confidence in PK unit.



What needs to change:

1. Need an execution sound OL that can dominate line of scrimmage, open holes for RB and protect our QB.

2. Need an automatic FG kicker.

3. Need an adaptive OC that can adjust to D scheme and have other options. He does not seem to have ability to alter game plan to take advantage of plan when defense throws something at him based upon weaknesses observed on film. What happened to keeping the D always guessing - using multiple weapons.



Holmoe's tweet is spot on. Team must change as it's play is unacceptable when trying to take it to the next level. Curious as to what will happen over the off-season, but this game crystallizes the previous comments TH made about changes a comin.



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I agree, there are alot more problems with this team than just Riley Nelson.

riley nelson sucks. our offensive line sucks. our coaches suck.



but seriously did you see how bad riley was yesterday? apo was WIDE and he threw it at the sjsu player. over and over and over he sucked sucked sucked and instead of letting someone ellse play they kept playing him. he couldn't even move. same mistake we made in the utah game and the boise state game.

jonnylingo wrote:
riley nelson sucks. our offensive line sucks. our coaches suck.

Last night our running backs sucked and our recievers dropped a TD pass that hit him in the hands. There were a lot of blown plays last night by everyone.

frdbtr wrote:

riley nelson sucks. our offensive line sucks. our coaches suck.

Last night our running backs sucked and our recievers dropped a TD pass that hit him in the hands. There were a lot of blown plays last night by everyone.

pull your head out frdbtr. you are freaking crazy. those mistakes are always there every now and then. the common denominator is riley just plain sucks. i can't stand hearing you try and consistently and irrationally defend crap.



i am sure he is a great person and a good leader but the fact is he is really really really really really really really really bad.



you are insane. i am about to just put you on the ignore button if you can't simply admit that riley is our main problem. sure we have plenty of problems but an average qb gets us two or more wins this season even with the crappy coaching and offensive line. riley nelson is a botton five quarterback in ncaa football. if you can't see it you are blind.

jonnylingo wrote:

jonnylingo wrote:
riley nelson sucks. our offensive line sucks. our coaches suck.

Last night our running backs sucked and our recievers dropped a TD pass that hit him in the hands. There were a lot of blown plays last night by everyone.

pull your head out frdbtr. you are freaking crazy. those mistakes are always there every now and then. the common denominator is riley just plain sucks. i can't stand hearing you try and consistently and irrationally defend crap.



i am sure he is a great person and a good leader but the fact is he is really really really really really really really really bad.



you are insane. i am about to just put you on the ignore button if you can't simply admit that riley is our main problem. sure we have plenty of problems but an average qb gets us two or more wins this season even with the crappy coaching and offensive line. riley nelson is a botton five quarterback in ncaa football. if you can't see it you are blind.

I don't think frdbtr is trying to say Riley is good. Just that he's the best we've got right now. really really really really really really really really bad is still better than really really really really really really really really REALLY bad.



frdbtr, you're not insane. Actually, you sound like one of the more "sane" individuals around here right now. And I seriously doubt that riley is literally a bottom 5 QB. Although, he did look awful last night.



but hey, how about that BYU basketball season we were all so excited for. Glad they're doing so well. :sulk:

Over generalizations are always irrational. Riley's TD throw to Foote was a miracle throw as he escaped and was getting buried as he threw the pass. It was not Riley's fault coughing up the fumbles when he is blindsided and hit in his spine. It is not Riley's fault when we have two successive false starts by #18 and #17 WR or when Falslev drops a sure TD pass. Bottom line, Riley was going to lead us to a TD the last series if the LB doesn't jump over a poor block attempt by Williams and knock he ball out of his hands. He was 7-9 and had converted several 3rd and 4th down plays to keep the drive alive. It is hard to complete passes when you are getting rocked (ask SJSU Fales - he was ineffective in 2nd half).



We had an inept OL and play calling hampered by the fact that our best backup QB got knocked out of the game over miscommunication from the sidelines. Hello - the entire group needs some refocus and fine-tuning. No matter how good our QB he needs good protection, multiple weapons and a great game plan.



Historical perspective - Jim Plunkett led the Raiders to the Super Bowl after a stint with the Partiots. Guy was great at Stanford and was a good QB just didn't have the horses. OJ Simpson was getting hammered in Buffalo before they brought in Reggie McKenzie and great run blockers to pave the way for his 2,000 yard season. We need similar situation - OL retooling and an experienced OC that can dissect D tendencies and play chess with countermoves and adjust when things aren't going well. Sad thing is most of these challenges start with coaching staff and the ability to put into practice lessons learned and hardships experienced. I haven't seen it translate into consistent improvement game to game - especially against top opponents. IMO when the O tenacity approaches that of Bronco's D mentality, we will see victories against better teams and winning close games. Last team to show this was Max Hall's senior year when we beat OK, defeated UT in overtime, and trounced rated OSU in LV Bowl. Time for some reorganization from within the staff.



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The frustrating thing about this season, as opposed to last season, is that there have been plays to be made to win every single game we've played. In the end, at BYU it is the job of the QB to make that play, and there is no excusing that. But it is obvious when the offensive line cannot get even half a yard push on 3rd and 4th down. When a tight end hasn't caught a pass consistently in multiple years. When a running back has an easy blitz pickup but wiffs on it. The defense gives up huge pass play after huge pass play on 3 early drives.



Opportunities have been there, but not a single position group, especially the QB, has risen up.

jonnylingo wrote:

jonnylingo wrote:
riley nelson sucks. our offensive line sucks. our coaches suck.

Last night our running backs sucked and our recievers dropped a TD pass that hit him in the hands. There were a lot of blown plays last night by everyone.

pull your head out frdbtr. you are freaking crazy. those mistakes are always there every now and then. the common denominator is riley just plain sucks. i can't stand hearing you try and consistently and irrationally defend crap.



i am sure he is a great person and a good leader but the fact is he is really really really really really really really really bad.



you are insane. i am about to just put you on the ignore button if you can't simply admit that riley is our main problem. sure we have plenty of problems but an average qb gets us two or more wins this season even with the crappy coaching and offensive line. riley nelson is a botton five quarterback in ncaa football. if you can't see it you are blind.

I am not defending anything. I am just not blaming every freaking problem with this team on 1 player.

It appears that TH sees something more than just I player:



"We all know — football must get better," Holmoe noted on Twitter.



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byucougar1 wrote:
It appears that TH sees something more than just I player:



"We all know — football must get better," Holmoe noted on Twitter.



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What's crazy is that this year BYU had the defense to get the job done against a superb schedule. The offense was just a dud. If I'm Bronco, Weber is gone, the o-line needs a coach who can get more out of them. Slim/fat I don't care, just get the job done. It will be nice to see who QB13 will be. Let's hope they aren't injured too quickly.

If we can learn anything else from this season, is that depth is critical (see OL, DBs, DL, RBs and of course, lest we forget, QB). One other thing is very important, play best athlete regardless of class rank. I believe we saw some of that this year with Hill, Kafusi, Peck, etc. It is good when starting is based upon productivity and not seniority.



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http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/collegeQuarterbackRating/count/81" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Actually I was wrong. Riley has improved hi stock. He is no longer 5th worst. He is only 23 rd worst or there abouts. He is ranked 94th!!! All we need is an AVERAGE qb maybe Someone ranked in the sixties and we probably have only two loses with all other things equal. People who don't believe that Riley is the main problem are not being objective. hill a freshman came in last few minutes against Boise state at Boise state and drove the whole field for a touchdown. Riley as a senior had the whole game to do that but couldn't.



Did you see his passes last night? I mean he literally can barely get it within five feet of where he wants it half of the time. I agree our line and d sucked but Riley was awful. Anybody who can't see that just look at the stats. He is bad. Just average gets us ten wins or more this season all things equal.



Travis Wilson is ranked 83. He is a true freshman playing with an offense that is horrendous. Their team is not even bowl eligible and he is still raked objectively better

than Riley by more than ten spots.



I highly doubt that lark or anybody else could be worse than Nelson simply because you can't get much worse.



It is not all rilles fault of course but i am tired of people defending him. Our oline is surely number two behind him.

jonnylingo wrote:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/collegeQuarterbackRating/count/81



Actually I was wrong. Riley has improved hi stock. He is no longer 5th worst. He is only 23 rd worst or there abouts. He is ranked 94th!!! All we need is an AVERAGE qb maybe Someone ranked in the sixties and we probably have only two loses with all other things equal. People who don't believe that Riley is the main problem are not being objective. hill a freshman came in last few minutes against Boise state at Boise state and drove the whole field for a touchdown. Riley as a senior had the whole game to do that but couldn't.



Did you see his passes last night? I mean he literally can barely get it within five feet of where he wants it half of the time. I agree our line and d sucked but Riley was awful. Anybody who can't see that just look at the stats. He is bad. Just average gets us ten wins or more this season all things equal.



Travis Wilson is ranked 83. He is a true freshman playing with an offense that is horrendous. Their team is not even bowl eligible and he is still raked objectively better

than Riley by more than ten spots.



I highly doubt that lark or anybody else could be worse than Nelson simply because you can't get much worse.



It is not all rilles fault of course but i am tired of people defending him. Our oline is surely number two behind him.

My point all along is; if we had the QB that would have gotten us 10 wins, we would have used him. I can't answer why the coaches didn't try lark, my only assumption is, they think he is worse than what we have.

jonnylingo wrote:

Did you see his passes last night? I mean he literally can barely get it within five feet of where he wants it half of the time. I agree our line and d sucked but Riley was awful. Anybody who can't see that just look at the stats. He is bad. Just average gets us ten wins or more this season all things equal.

Calm down and breath for a minute buddy. I haven't seen ANY defending of Nelson, just an emphasis that it wasn't ALL his fault. HE certainly had a big part of the blame last night (and this year). We all get that.

BroncoBot wrote:

Did you see his passes last night? I mean he literally can barely get it within five feet of where he wants it half of the time. I agree our line and d sucked but Riley was awful. Anybody who can't see that just look at the stats. He is bad. Just average gets us ten wins or more this season all things equal.

Calm down and breath for a minute buddy. I haven't seen ANY defending of Nelson, just an emphasis that it wasn't ALL his fault. HE certainly had a big part of the blame last night (and this year). We all get that.

I understand that. the thing i don't understand is that our coaches and some fans don't seem to realize how bad riley nelson is. the only justification is that well those behind him must really be bad. well that is our coache's mistake then because we probably have never had so much raw talent there that they failed to identify and develop. instead they chose to put their investment in to riley and it was a mistake.

If one objectively reviews the game, the following issues come into clear focus:



1. SJSU's offensive production in the first half changed the game plan from ball control to play catch up and throw the ball frequently.

2. SJSU's D played lights out and put constant pressure on Riley - 4 sacks, pounding his back, chest most every play they got their hands on him. Had he not been a Houdini, he could have easily been sacked another 9 times. OL couldn't stop a head of cabbage with an artillery range. Lots of pressure came right up through center - weak spot of the line and season.

3. Couldn't establish a run game - what the heck? Williams was eerily silent most of the game and didn't have many chances for outside sweeps (like the option that he scored on in first half).

4. Riley played with a dislocated rib since the 3rd Q on the run where he recovered his own fumble. This severely restricted his throwing range. Doman should have adjusted the routes to compensate for lack of long ball. Lots of dump passes to RB, quick slants (see Foote TD) and swing passes/Quick outs/Hook patterns (see would have been helpful. Couldn't go with Lark because he would have been a sitting duck and got hammered on the pass rush.

4. Inexcusable penalties late in the game - you would expect mental focus would be a strong point at this time of the season. No excuse for this type of miscue.

5. Need a back to stay in and block for Riley (additional protection) and serve as an pass outlet when WRs covered tightly. Also include TE Wilson more often as a release valve for high pressure pass rush.



Overall poor game plan adjustment and terrible OL play contributed mightily to this loss. Hill will face the same nonsense if the OL mess doesn't get straightened out and TE play doesn't improve.

For whatever reason the TE has become a lost art at the Y and this kills our passing options for the QB.



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