QB Should Be Treated Like Any Other Position - Blaine Fowler

This has been my opinion for a while and it seems that most disagree with it. But on BYUSN yesterday Blaine Fowler said that the QB position should be treated like any other position - meaning that if someone is struggling you don't wait 6 games in to make a change. Now, that doesn't mean I think one bad throw means we should be calling for QB2. But I completely agree with Fowler that if the QB is struggling then we shouldn't be scared to pull him even if for just a short bit.

byufan4ever wrote:

This has been my opinion for a while and it seems that most disagree with it. But on BYUSN yesterday Blaine Fowler said that the QB position should be treated like any other position - meaning that if someone is struggling you don't wait 6 games in to make a change. Now, that doesn't mean I think one bad throw means we should be calling for QB2. But I completely agree with Fowler that if the QB is struggling then we shouldn't be scared to pull him even if for just a short bit.

what if the problem is the entire offense?

I agree that the qb who gives the best chance to win now should be playing.

I believe (and unlike Mr. Fowler, my opinion is NOT based on being a college and pro QB) that a coach should be slower at substituting at QB than most other positions because it does take some time to get in the flow of the game, etc. BUT (especially at BYU?) I think most coaches are too slow to make the change. Give the guy a few series ... but if he's struggling, maybe one or two series on the sideline will settle him down or maybe #2 will give the spark you need.



Of course, someone will point out that some guy named Brady struggled for 3 quarters in a big game, and his coach didn't pull him out ... right? ;)

BroncoBot wrote:

This has been my opinion for a while and it seems that most disagree with it. But on BYUSN yesterday Blaine Fowler said that the QB position should be treated like any other position - meaning that if someone is struggling you don't wait 6 games in to make a change. Now, that doesn't mean I think one bad throw means we should be calling for QB2. But I completely agree with Fowler that if the QB is struggling then we shouldn't be scared to pull him even if for just a short bit.

what if the problem is the entire offense?

Then sometimes a change at QB can spark a change in the entire offense.

BroncoBot wrote:

This has been my opinion for a while and it seems that most disagree with it. But on BYUSN yesterday Blaine Fowler said that the QB position should be treated like any other position - meaning that if someone is struggling you don't wait 6 games in to make a change. Now, that doesn't mean I think one bad throw means we should be calling for QB2. But I completely agree with Fowler that if the QB is struggling then we shouldn't be scared to pull him even if for just a short bit.

what if the problem is the entire offense?

Get a new coaching staff. There are a select few quarterbacks in BYU’s history that could have made Lemonade out of last years Lemon offensive machine.

byufan4ever wrote:

byufan4ever wrote:

This has been my opinion for a while and it seems that most disagree with it. But on BYUSN yesterday Blaine Fowler said that the QB position should be treated like any other position - meaning that if someone is struggling you don't wait 6 games in to make a change. Now, that doesn't mean I think one bad throw means we should be calling for QB2. But I completely agree with Fowler that if the QB is struggling then we shouldn't be scared to pull him even if for just a short bit.

what if the problem is the entire offense?

Then sometimes a change at QB can spark a change in the entire offense.

BYU gave 4 kids shots at being the spark. Either we had 4 non-spark qbs or that team was just bad. 2003 level bad.

BroncoBot wrote:

BroncoBot wrote:

This has been my opinion for a while and it seems that most disagree with it. But on BYUSN yesterday Blaine Fowler said that the QB position should be treated like any other position - meaning that if someone is struggling you don't wait 6 games in to make a change. Now, that doesn't mean I think one bad throw means we should be calling for QB2. But I completely agree with Fowler that if the QB is struggling then we shouldn't be scared to pull him even if for just a short bit.

what if the problem is the entire offense?

Then sometimes a change at QB can spark a change in the entire offense.

BYU gave 4 kids shots at being the spark. Either we had 4 non-spark qbs or that team was just bad. 2003 level bad.

For a spark to make a difference, it has to be in a dry environment with adequate oxygen and fuel....

exactly. No spark could have done it with the BYU football environment. Conditions seemed inadequate.

BroncoBot wrote:

exactly. No spark could have done it with the BYU football environment. Conditions seemed inadequate.

So what exactly is your point (not trying to be rude here)? That we should not change QBs when the team is playing bad?

byufan4ever wrote:

exactly. No spark could have done it with the BYU football environment. Conditions seemed inadequate.

So what exactly is your point (not trying to be rude here)? That we should not change QBs when the team is playing bad?

If it doesn't make the team better? Then no. Duh (not rude duh).

byufan4ever wrote:

exactly. No spark could have done it with the BYU football environment. Conditions seemed inadequate.

So what exactly is your point (not trying to be rude here)? That we should not change QBs when the team is playing bad?

My point being - the team sucked last year. No qb was going to help. No spark was going to help. And I lay that accusation at the feet of the coaches.



Also. The qb rotation was due to injury. 3/4 qbs injuried makes me believe it was a system/coaching problem.

For the record, only 2/4 QBs were injured: Mangum and Hoge. Koy Detmer stunk and got the hook and Critchelow was the last guy standing.



And the fact that all 4 got similar results doesn't tell us a whole lot. We don't know how the higher-ranked QBs would have done against the lower competition and vice versa. BYU schedule of diminishing difficulty makes the last guys standing look better than they actually are, and makes the coaches look foolish for not having played the scrubs earlier.

CrimsonCoug wrote:

For the record, only 2/4 QBs were injured: Mangum and Hoge. Koy Detmer stunk and got the hook and Critchelow was the last guy standing.



And the fact that all 4 got similar results doesn't tell us a whole lot. We don't know how the higher-ranked QBs would have done against the lower competition and vice versa. BYU schedule of diminishing difficulty makes the last guys standing look better than they actually are, and makes the coaches look foolish for not having played the scrubs earlier.

You don’t get much easier than Portland State as an opener, and we were in danger of losing that game. We couldn’t cross the 50 yard line against LSU. This offense was sick last year, and it wasn’t because of qb health.

Jarhead wrote:

For the record, only 2/4 QBs were injured: Mangum and Hoge. Koy Detmer stunk and got the hook and Critchelow was the last guy standing.



And the fact that all 4 got similar results doesn't tell us a whole lot. We don't know how the higher-ranked QBs would have done against the lower competition and vice versa. BYU schedule of diminishing difficulty makes the last guys standing look better than they actually are, and makes the coaches look foolish for not having played the scrubs earlier.

You don’t get much easier than Portland State as an opener, and we were in danger of losing that game. We couldn’t cross the 50 yard line against LSU. This offense was sick last year, and it wasn’t because of qb health.

Exactly. That's my point.



I'm happy that Mangum got the starting job. My opinion has little credibility, but I think that was the right call. I'm also happy for Mangum. He's always struck me as an exceptionally high character person. He went through some rough spots, and a lot of that was not things he had control over. But he always seemed to take things in stride without blaming others. He just put gritted down and went to work.

I was very pleased to see Wilson do so well, and I'm glad we had him to push Mangum beyond what Critchelow could.

To the point of this thread, I hope the coaches take appropriate measure of the quality of opponents during the first few weeks of the season. If Mangum is looking lost out there, then maybe pull him. But I have a feeling that we'll need Wilson due to injury before the season is out. Not jinxing Tanner, but that's a murderer's row of massive D Linemen the first half of the season--especially Wisconsin.