Nick Kurtz and Dr. Anae

I don't want to further hijack another thread, so I'll restate here.



Early in the BSU game, Kurtz caught a ball on the sidelines, but fumbled it out of bounds. On the sideline, he made the error of joking about it. Dr. Anae was not amused and Kurtz was placed in his doghouse for the rest of the game. Only in the last week or so has Kurtz been back getting full reps and opportunities to play--because Anae didn't like his attitude after a fumble.



This is an issue I've had in the past with Dr. Anae--letting personality conflicts interfere with putting the best talent on the field. Once Richard Wilson was in the doghouse, we nearly never saw him again despite his abilities as Anae pushed him down the depth chart in practices and limited his reps. With Kurtz it was almost the same story.



I do believe Kurtz is our best receiver in the corps this year, with Blackmon as a close #2, though they bring different skillsets. BYU hasn't had a receiver with hips like Kurtz since Collie or Watkins, but he's taller and faster than Collie, and more sure-handed than Watkins.



In the games where he wasn't in the doghouse (Nebraska and Cincy) Kurtz has 11 receptions for 242 yards and two TDs. In the other five games where Anae buried him, Kurtz has 12 receptions for 112 yards and no touchdowns.



This is the most frustrating thing for me about Dr. Anae--his propensity to punish players for personality differences by taking away reps rather than dealing with it head on like any other coach on staff.

So, UCLA was the doghouse game?



In the next game, vs Michigan, Kurtz was tied for most catches, and in the next game, vs UConn, he caught five passes.



So, let's look at the other three games where Anae "buried" Kurtz.

BSU-Kurtz didn't have a catch, but this was BEFORE the UCLA game, so it doesn't fit your narrative.

ECU-Three games after the alleged doghouse game, Kurtz has one catch. But again, this is after he had a game where he led the team in catches and a game where he caught five passes. So, more likely just a bad game (like the BSU game) as opposed to some Anae conspiracy.

UCLA-Kurtz was the third-leading receiver on the team, despite getting into the doghouse "early on."



Do you have any actual evidence that Anae was trying to torpedo Kurtz, or is this just conjecture based on Kurtz having two bad games, one before the alleged incident and one three games after?

Blackmon must have also been in the Anae doghouse, because if you take out his two best games, he only has 15 catches for 127 yards.



Houk, too, without his two best games, he only has 10 receptions for 93 yards.



Don't forget Juergens; without his two best games, he only has 13 catches for 99 yards.

I agree, I think it has more to do with what the defense is giving and the effort the receivers are giving to getting open rather than a conspiracy. While I have been impressed with our receivers overall, I wish they were tougher as a group. I wish Matthews and Kurtz were as physical as Blackmon. If all our receivers were as physical as Blackmon, we may have been more competitive against Michigan.

Blackmon seems like he has finally found himself this year. I have been very impressed.



Bronco gave the whole team a hard time about their attitude on the sideline after the Michigan game. So I don't want to downplay the importance of attitude and team behavior, especially for a team that can't rely on individual skill to win like us. At the same time, I don't see any evidence of Kurtz being in the doghouse.



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Kurt was definitely in the doghouse vs BSU. After Tanner threw that pick towards Kurtz Anae benched him because of his effort.



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Schmoe wrote:
So, UCLA was the doghouse game?



In the next game, vs Michigan, Kurtz was tied for most catches, and in the next game, vs UConn, he caught five passes.



So, let's look at the other three games where Anae "buried" Kurtz.

BSU-Kurtz didn't have a catch, but this was BEFORE the UCLA game, so it doesn't fit your narrative.

ECU-Three games after the alleged doghouse game, Kurtz has one catch. But again, this is after he had a game where he led the team in catches and a game where he caught five passes. So, more likely just a bad game (like the BSU game) as opposed to some Anae conspiracy.

UCLA-Kurtz was the third-leading receiver on the team, despite getting into the doghouse "early on."

Sorry, it was the BSU game--game 2 of the season. Hence only Nebraska and Cincy being included as non-doghouse games. Sorry you wasted all that energy because I had a brain fart and misidentified the game 2 opponent--everything else in the OP stands.

Schmoe wrote:
Do you have any actual evidence that Anae was trying to torpedo Kurtz, or is this just conjecture based on Kurtz having two bad games, one before the alleged incident and one three games after?

Other than discussions with players who have confirmed it and Ben Criddle and Jake Kuresa discussing it on the radio, no, I do not have a signed confession from Dr. Anae.

Schmoe wrote:
Blackmon must have also been in the Anae doghouse, because if you take out his two best games, he only has 15 catches for 127 yards.



Houk, too, without his two best games, he only has 10 receptions for 93 yards.



Don't forget Juergens; without his two best games, he only has 13 catches for 99 yards.

Strawmen abound. Logic does not--this is why you might want to wait for a response to a question before jumping to a conclusions and running with it.



Suppose me, Criddle, Kuresa, and the two players I've talked to are right (sorry, this mental exercise would mean you are not right, strawmen aside) and Kurtz was denied reps for 5 games for a personalilty conflict--how much better might Kurtz and the BYU offense have been if Anae would have played him like the #1 receiver he is?

All I know is... 2 maybe 3 games ago I remember yelling at my tv... "Who is that? Why the hell isnt Kurtz on the field?"

I don't remember the exact game or the situation but I was definitely annoyed at the lack of snaps Kurtz was fielded for.

IMO he's our best receiver and ahould be on the field as much as Matthews.



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Anae is average at best.



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Wait....isn't the OP the same person who started a thread called "Okay, It's Out of Hand" ON MONDAY to chew out people who state their same opinion in thread after thread? But then started this thread ON TUESDAY to "restate" his opinion from another thread here? :lol: :whistle:

Doghouse or not, Kurtz and Matthews need to play with more toughness. They seem to be "finesse" receivers and when you get physical with them, they seem to fade. The games that Matthews played with an attitude were his best. Kurtz has unbelievable athleticism but is not physical. If he played physical every game, he would not be in anyone's doghouse.

I just figured he was a little banged up cuz he got rocked on that play vs Boise when he fumbled.



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snoscythe wrote:

Blackmon must have also been in the Anae doghouse, because if you take out his two best games, he only has 15 catches for 127 yards.



Houk, too, without his two best games, he only has 10 receptions for 93 yards.



Don't forget Juergens; without his two best games, he only has 13 catches for 99 yards.

Strawmen abound. Logic does not--this is why you might want to wait for a response to a question before jumping to a conclusions and running with it.



Suppose me, Criddle, Kuresa, and the two players I've talked to are right (sorry, this mental exercise would mean you are not right, strawmen aside) and Kurtz was denied reps for 5 games for a personalilty conflict--how much better might Kurtz and the BYU offense have been if Anae would have played him like the #1 receiver he is?

Not sure you know what a strawman is, now, which is surprising to me.



What I've done here is present the exact same kind of evidence that you have, but for other players, showing that X is not unique because Y, Z, and B all share the same characteristics you claimed were exclusive to X to show that you were right, which shows that the evidence posited does not actually support your side.



It seems to me that you've heard this from some former players and now you're seeking it out, looking for evidence to support your theory instead of looking at the evidence to form one (much like a global warming scientist).

Maybe my memory is wrong, but in the Cinci game Kurtz made a catch and then did some stupid jawing that caused a personal foul to get called and pushed us back to like th ten yard line. That'd put him in the doghouse in my book BUT then later he gets called and has thrown to him a 53 yard bomb for the go ahead TD....I say put him in the doghouse more often!

Schmoe wrote:
Not sure you know what a strawman is, now, which is surprising to me.



What I've done here is present the exact same kind of evidence that you have, but for other players, showing that X is not unique because Y, Z, and B all share the same characteristics you claimed were exclusive to X to show that you were right, which shows that the evidence posited does not actually support your side.



It seems to me that you've heard this from some former players and now you're seeking it out, looking for evidence to support your theory instead of looking at the evidence to form one (much like a global warming scientist).

I'd like to see your definition of a straw man. A straw man is "when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position". You took my actual position and distorted it into "any receiver who has two good games and some mediocre ones must be in Anae's doghouse!"...which was not the position at all:

Schmoe wrote:
Blackmon must have also been in the Anae doghouse, because if you take out his two best games, he only has 15 catches for 127 yards.



Houk, too, without his two best games, he only has 10 receptions for 93 yards.



Don't forget Juergens; without his two best games, he only has 13 catches for 99 yards.

I'm not sure what you call that distortion if not a straw man. But boy, you knocked that straw man down with gusto. Granted, I think some of your confusion was with me initially stating that he was doghoused against UCLA, which muddied the waters statistically. That's my mistake.



My position was based upon an on the field incident (a temporal event) and former and current players telling me this was the case, and I presented facts to show, not that Kurtz was in the doghouse, but to show the effect of Anae putting him in the doghouse. You just presented receiving stats unlinked to any sort of event that would have put any of them in the doghouse. Yes, receivers' production ebbs and flows, but the temporal link between Kurtz' stats and Anae's displeasure is the proof, not the naked stats.



Criddle and Kuresa discussed Kurtz being doghoused by Anae, and I've had two players on the team right now confirm that Anae was limiting Kurtz for an attitude adjustment. The stat were just there to show the impact of what I have been told is the case.

snoscythe wrote:
Criddle and Kuresa discussed Kurtz being doghoused by Anae, and I've had two players on the team right now confirm that Anae was limiting Kurtz for an attitude adjustment. The stat were just there to show the impact of what I have been told is the case.

If this is truly the case then I would say that Dr Bob is a petty person. I can see disciplining someone for talking back, showing disrespect, being divisive, not doing the things the coaches say, but joking about a ball fumbled out of bounds? A little overboard in my opinion.

Okay, this is absurd.



You've made an argument based on the premise that Kurtz is our best receiver by leaps and bounds, yet have done nothing to prove that.



Your initial evidence to support the claim that Anae put Kurtz "in the doghouse" was shown to be flawed, both because (a) he was our 3rd-leading, leading, and 3rd-leading receiver in the games directly following the alleged "doghouse" game and (b) the evidence you presented was shown to be statistically similar to other receivers who were not "in the doghouse."



Then, because I refuted your claim, you said that my argument was fallacious because you don't seem to understand your own argument and thought I had distorted it. You also added the fact that some players with an ax to grind with Anae claim he plays favorites and is petty (I'm sure players that played for most coaches who didn't get as much time as they'd like say stuff like this often).



Now, I'm not saying that Anae does or does not do what you allege, but I am saying that your argument (and ensuing defensiveness when called for having a weak argument) in this specific case is weak at best.

I don't get the hype over Kurtz. Sure he's tall and has decent hands, but that's about it. Seems to me he gets pushed around a lot and is slow.



I can see Anae being a grouch and benching a player far too long to assert authority over something stupid like personality differences.



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