If You Listen To Bronco

And Taysom Hill, and The ESPN guys, BYU did not fail to make offensive adjustments.



The announcers spoke first when noting that BYU really did not have a deep threat to keep the UW safeties from cheating up 10 yards. On the CC thread, there was a ton of noise about why BYU went away from the quick outs and slants that kept drives alive in the first half. Answer: UW made adjustments cheating up with the safeties and took that away.



Taysom Hill spoke next and said that BYU adjusted but was slow to adjust.



Bronco spoke up and corrected Taysom Hill and said that BYU made the adjustments immediately, but failed to execute them. This relates to all of the blathering about why BYU was running all of those long-developing pass plays. Answer: UW took away the short quick stuff. Anae called the correct plays to counter UW. BYU failed to execute those plays.



Bronco laid the failure to execute squarely at the feet of the guys who are supposed to hold a block long enough to give Taysom Hill the time he needs to execute the long-developing plays to counter what UW, UW, ND, Utah, and probably UVA threw at us defensively.



Anae has said the same thing earlier in the season. 2J knew the cupboard was bare when he signed up. Anae recognized the problem and personally involved himself with the OL. There was some improvement. More is clearly needed.



Bronco said, the adjustment was to call plays for receivers to blast past the encroaching safeties, and get open behind them, but pass protection needs to provide time for that to develop. BYU has a weakness, and played 5 teams good enough to exploit that weakness.



Decide for yourself whether Bronco understands what the real problem is. He does not believe it is play calling.



The team may actually enjoy some rare stability in this offseason and better prepare to run the same system under the same staff with a more experienced QB and RB next year vs an easier schedule.



It is gonna be a long wait for the next season opener.

This years offensive line is the worst BYU has ever had as long as I have been a fan. We started the year with 3 wide recievers who deserved a scholorship lost one of them before the wisconsin game to a freak bye week accident and lost the other during the wisconsin game. Got half of the one back who broke his hand during the bye week but that left us with 1.5 wide recievers. We lost all our TE's during the year, started the year with 1 legit DB because of injury. Luckily our safeties stayed healthy (other than they both missed games with concussions), and played the toughest overall schedule we have ever played at BYU. We were still able to win 8 games with all of this....why? Because of Taysom Hill, and his athletic abilities. It was all coming together during the BSU game and then we lost all of our reciever talent. I think BYU would have won more games to end the year if we could have stayed healthy. Like I have said in other threads. Priority #1 in the off season is to get some talent at offensive line. Priority #2 is to coach some toughness into our soft recievers. I want to see some nasty in them, I want to see them delivering the contact coming off the line of scrimmage and looking like they enjoy it, i want to see them fight for every ball like it is the final play of the NC game. Go back and watch some 96 game film and tell me what you see different between what we have now and what we had then, it isn't even close.

the line the line the line. how did it get this bad? who is to blame. could it have been avoided? Lets hope that the line is improved next year. otherwise we are in for much of the same, probably worse.

jonnylingo wrote:
the line the line the line. how did it get this bad? who is to blame. could it have been avoided? Lets hope that the line is improved next year. otherwise we are in for much of the same, probably worse.

More than 2 losses with our cupcake schedule next year should be a fireable offense, (especially after following these 2 mediocre seasons).

We have a crappy line that can't execute. So, what do the coaches decide to do...not practice.



If Bronco wants execution, he's going to have to increase the reps.

Gunk wrote:



If Bronco wants execution, he's going to have to increase the reps.

+1

mtnradio wrote:

If Bronco wants execution, he's going to have to increase the reps.

+1

I don't think just one more rep will be enough. Might take a few more than that. ;)

It's kind of funny that for 4 bowl games in a row, with similar practice standards, BYU won. Sure, I think they could have practiced more, but what more can you do in 6 to 10 additional practices that you haven't been able to do in all of spring ball, all of fall camp, and all season?



I can't believe we're talking about practice....Not a game, not a game. We're talking about practice.

It seems to me that practices are to refine and prepare both body and mind. It also seems to me that BYU came out flat (i.e. not mentally prepared for the game) and they didn't execute well (not mentally or perhaps physically prepared for the game).



Yes, I'm talking about practice. Coaches use practice to make a team hungry for a win, to carefully hone the team for the game. Bronco has believed that a limited number is better than using the full allotment (perhaps it is the equivalent of the Laffer curve in economics). Others, with reason, question that belief based on how the team performed.

stuckinbig10country wrote:
It's kind of funny that for 4 bowl games in a row, with similar practice standards, BYU won. Sure, I think they could have practiced more, but what more can you do in 6 to 10 additional practices that you haven't been able to do in all of spring ball, all of fall camp, and all season?



I can't believe we're talking about practice....Not a game, not a game. We're talking about practice.

When is the last time the offense executed well in a bowl game? Special Teams?

Even the defense seems to like to wlt through the first series. Maybe this approach is fine for defense but not for offense.



Offense and special teams looked rusty at times - especially special teams.

Most teams come out flat and execute poorly in bowl games. They start as some of the ugliest games. Its a part of the long time off from playing, and no team is immune from it, which is not to say byu shouldn't practice more, just that the results may not be as beneficial as hoped. Is, practicing 4 more times would likely not have changed the outcome of the game.

I don't see how practicing more hurts. Don't even go full contact. Practice the plays, over and over again so it's second nature.



Get the team together. Get them jazzed. Don't send them home.



Back when I ran competitively our coach would have us meet every day in the post season (except Sundays). We weren't going to get any faster, but it kept us close, focused, excited and ready to go.



Not practicing is just bad d coaching.





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Cougarbib wrote:
When is the last time the offense executed well in a bowl game? Special Teams?

Even the defense seems to like to wlt through the first series. Maybe this approach is fine for defense but not for offense.



Offense and special teams looked rusty at times - especially special teams.

2009 - when BYU beat Oregon the offense was extremely good that game. Of course, the senior leaders on that team demanded extra practices from what they did in 2008.



or possibly 2010 - when BYU beat an awful and poor defense in UTEP.

SpiffCoug wrote:

When is the last time the offense executed well in a bowl game? Special Teams?

Even the defense seems to like to wlt through the first series. Maybe this approach is fine for defense but not for offense.



Offense and special teams looked rusty at times - especially special teams.

2009 - when BYU beat Oregon the offense was extremely good that game. Of course, the senior leaders on that team demanded extra practices from what they did in 2008.



or possibly 2010 - when BYU beat an awful and poor defense in UTEP.

Yes. 2009. Can't count UTEP. They were too beaten down by injuries at that point. Seniors on offense. That is coming. 2015



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Hopefully next year's team leaders realize they need to prepare more and practice harder and longer - not just more efficiently. And then demand that of the coaches.



Bronco needs to scrap the shorter, "more efficient" practices. When your methods are getting you to where you want to be, then you need to change your methods.

How many practices do you think Nick Saban uses before the bowl game......my guess is all of them. But what does he know right :bug:

I'm not saying it would have made a difference but why would you not use every practice the NCAA allows?

It's my understanding that there are no set amount of practices allotted for teams for the bowl game.



You can continue to practice as normal as long as teams adhere to the time restrictions the NCAA imposes - 20 hours a week. But the NCAA does stipulate that you can't practice during finals to allow for academics.



With the bowl game coming the week right after finals it makes sense that BYU would only have one week to prepare.



One ginormous IF to that above statement. IF BYU decides to also take off ALL of the time between the last game and finals week.



There were two weeks from between the final game of the season and finals week. Why did we have to take BOTH weeks off? You want to give the break, let them get away from football after a long season? Fine, give them one full week. Then hit it hard again for a week, then another week and then it's game prep week.



Makes no sense to me.



Like I posted above. Bronco and BYU need to change their practice methodolgy because after five years of trying this practice model it has only worked once. If you're only successful 20% of the time, it's time to re-examine and change.

According to this ESPN article, the NCAA allows 15 practices for bowl games

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls10/columns/story?id=5921827

That article was written in 2010. But has some very interesting points:

"It's probably no coincidence that all but 19 of the 70 FBS teams playing in bowl games in 2010 appeared in the postseason last year. Many coaches believe bowl practices are a spring board to next season, because they get to spend so much time developing younger players who don't get nearly as many reps during the regular season.

..."Having the extra practice time and being able to develop the younger players is a great help," said San Diego State coach Brady Hoke, who guided the Aztecs to their first bowl game since 1998, against Navy in the Dec. 23 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.



During the first week of bowl practices, Hoke said his team's freshmen who redshirted this season or played sparingly in regular-season games got as many as 45 snaps per practice, including full-contact scrimmages."

Or here is the link to an article about Marshall and bowl practices:



http://wvmetronews.com/2013/12/17/bowl-practices-will-benefit-2014/

“ If you count the week we had for the C-USA championship game and then about eleven or twelve practices before the bowl game, that’s just as many practices as you get for spring ball,” noted Coach Doc Holliday. “We have about 16-to-17 practices before that bowl game which is huge. Especially for the young offensive and defensive linemen because those are the ones you can really develop the most.”

WikiAnswers also states that a team can only have 15 practices before a bowl game. BUT BYUroster.com says there is no such limit, and they cite to an NCAA rule (17.1.6.1)



The NCAA website states:

What are NCAA guidelines for bowl teams and practice?

Although there is no specific limit on the number of practices teams may hold while preparing for a bowl game, standard NCAA rules apply for student-athletes’ participation in practice or other athletically related activities. Same as the regular season, these rules limit practice and other athletic activities to a maximum of four hours per day and 20 hours per week.

So, it appears that either 15 was the limit and it has changed, OR it is just a common misperception due to the number of practices teams typically use. One thing that this suggests to me, is that the later a team's bowl, the more practices they could conceivably get, and if there is such a benefit as the quoted articles above suggest there is, then A) BYU needs to more fully take advantage of that benefit, and B) BYU should look for the latest bowl game they can possibly schedule to take advantage of extra practices, C) teams who play the last bowl games get an additional advantage of more practice sessions, which is magnified even more over the teams who don't make it to bowl games, D) perhaps a practice limit should be imposed to introduce some parity.

I don't get it Bronco talks about using less practices but other coaches talk about taking advantage of the extra practices not to help the starters but to give the underclass man more reps to develop for the FUTURE. The saying that sometimes less is more isn't always true. Sometimes less is just that less!

mtnradio wrote:
According to this ESPN article, the NCAA allows 15 practices for bowl games

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls10/columns/story?id=5921827

That article was written in 2010. But has some very interesting points:

"It's probably no coincidence that all but 19 of the 70 FBS teams playing in bowl games in 2010 appeared in the postseason last year. Many coaches believe bowl practices are a spring board to next season, because they get to spend so much time developing younger players who don't get nearly as many reps during the regular season.

..."Having the extra practice time and being able to develop the younger players is a great help," said San Diego State coach Brady Hoke, who guided the Aztecs to their first bowl game since 1998, against Navy in the Dec. 23 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.



During the first week of bowl practices, Hoke said his team's freshmen who redshirted this season or played sparingly in regular-season games got as many as 45 snaps per practice, including full-contact scrimmages."

Or here is the link to an article about Marshall and bowl practices:



http://wvmetronews.com/2013/12/17/bowl-practices-will-benefit-2014/

“ If you count the week we had for the C-USA championship game and then about eleven or twelve practices before the bowl game, that’s just as many practices as you get for spring ball,” noted Coach Doc Holliday. “We have about 16-to-17 practices before that bowl game which is huge. Especially for the young offensive and defensive linemen because those are the ones you can really develop the most.”

WikiAnswers also states that a team can only have 15 practices before a bowl game. BUT BYUroster.com says there is no such limit, and they cite to an NCAA rule (17.1.6.1)



The NCAA website states:

What are NCAA guidelines for bowl teams and practice?

Although there is no specific limit on the number of practices teams may hold while preparing for a bowl game, standard NCAA rules apply for student-athletes’ participation in practice or other athletically related activities. Same as the regular season, these rules limit practice and other athletic activities to a maximum of four hours per day and 20 hours per week.

So, it appears that either 15 was the limit and it has changed, OR it is just a common misperception due to the number of practices teams typically use. One thing that this suggests to me, is that the later a team's bowl, the more practices they could conceivably get, and if there is such a benefit as the quoted articles above suggest there is, then A) BYU needs to more fully take advantage of that benefit, and B) BYU should look for the latest bowl game they can possibly schedule to take advantage of extra practices, C) teams who play the last bowl games get an additional advantage of more practice sessions, which is magnified even more over the teams who don't make it to bowl games, D) perhaps a practice limit should be imposed to introduce some parity.

Yep. Your last paragraph is completely 100% spot on.