Positives and Negatives

Went to the local Fat Cats to watch the game on the big screen today... $6 gets you a soda, crappy slice of pizza, and, of course, the opportunity to watch the game on the big screen. The commentary by some of the fans in the theater throughout the game was possibly the worst I've heard in my entire life, but that's beside the point!



POSITIVES

- At the beginning of the season and in the pre-season our running game was a concern. I don't believe it is any longer, as it has been pretty darn effective lately, and the UNR game confirmed this



- Several young players are beginning to bloom. Quezada looked great... it's nice to have a good ol' fashion "speed" runner on the team. Di Luigi obviously looked great as well. The o-line did a great job at opening holes... something which was missing up until the Nevada game



- Despite the defense being pretty bad as a whole, a few players are standing out. Rich is beastly as always and our most consistent player, Hunter continues to show great potential, and Logan is a brilliant open-field tackler.



- Our passing game is picking up. The numbers are still less than impressive, but you can really tell that things are beginning to "click." Heaps missed some wide open targets, but it is to be expected. I think he's moving along just fine, and it was nice to finally see Jacobsen getting some catches



- Other than the muffed punt, special teams have been fantastic



- Offensive play-calling was much improved this game. As I've said before, Heaps being at QB really spreads out the field for us and opens up the running game. There was ONE area, however, in which our play-calling was just flat out awful, but I'll address that in the negatives



NEGATIVES

- Defense. In our three other games, the defense played sufficiently well enough to win, but our offense just wasn't doing jack. Nevada is the first game where our defense was to blame the most for the loss. ToP absolutely killed us with the constantly demoralizing long and methodical drives by Nevada that we just absolutely could not stop. This group is SLOW. The d-line cannot catch and tackle the opposing quarterback to save their life. Even Pendleton has looked incompetent lately. Our corners are slow. Our linebackers are slow.

There's no pussyfooting around this one - other teams are just flat out faster than us.

3rd down defense continues to be pathetic and embarrassing.



- Our offense performed very poorly in the redzone. WTF WAS UP WITH ALL THE FADE ROUTES!?!? Seriously... once or twice is enough... but I couldn't believe how many times we attempted fade routes or variations of them despite the fact that all it was doing was wasting a down. I can't help but think that our play-calling in the redzone cost us a touchdown or two.



- Our failure to capitalized on some last minute opportunities to get back into the game



- I'm confused as to why we're still using Kariya. He has dropped passes, made poor decisions, and is incapable of adjusting his body to catch less accurate throws. He is rarely effective running, and seems incapable at finding holes... sometimes I think he just prefers running into opponents... but Harvey Unga he ain't.



- While not unexpected, Heaps has made some stupid mistakes. The one that seems most inexcusable to me, however, was his dive to the sidelines on the crucial 4th and 4 earlier in the game. He didn't follow the block well - cutting to the left would have picked him up another 5 yards, but instead he opted to wuss out and dive toward the sideline... ended up costing us a scoring opportunity. But hey, these mistakes will disappear with time.





I think our offense is slowly but surely making a return to form. I think by the end of this year we'll be able to hang 30-40 points on teams like we're used to. Our offense should be fine in years to come... it's the defense that worries me. Until we can recruit better speed on defense, BYU will never be an elite team.

The glaring issues I see with this team are:



1) QB play. The fact of hte matter is that the QB play has been at about a D level this year. Jake is just not ready. He is not making the right throws yet, and has not figured out that moving the chains is most important. Max was great at just moving the chains. Jake will figure that out, but until then, we will struggle.



2)TE play. Our TE play has been really poor. After 4 games, that position has to make any impact. This group has just not igured out how to get open yet. I think they are still focused on route running, and not enough on getting in position to make a play. The QB needs this position to improve drastically.



3) WR Play. Guys are not getting open. Even crappy corners are shutting us down. This group--as a unit--is not getting it done.



4) D Line play. Fact is , this group has been a huge disappointment this year. Run defense starts at the front lines, and this group gets little push, can not get off blocks, and do not even talk pass rush, because they bring almost none. This unit is really hurting us right now.



5)LB Play-this group was better vs. Nevada. BUt still has been below average as a unit. Pendleton has been pedestrian this year, and I never thought we would miss Bouwman and Clawson so much, but we do.



This all adds up to this BYU team just not being very good this year. WE are not excellent in the QB area to compensate for weaknesses all over the field. Recruiting left major holes in keys areas, and let's hope that does not happen again.

Lawboy wrote:



4) D Line play. Fact is , this group has been a huge disappointment this year. Run defense starts at the front lines, and this group gets little push, can not get off blocks, and do not even talk pass rush, because they bring almost none. This unit is really hurting us right now.

I'd say this is the teams weakest unit as of now.



The thing is, though, our offense usually wins us these types of games. Holding FSU or AFA to 34 and holding Nevada to 24 in the past would've been enough for us to win - Max Hall and co. would've put up more points. Problem is, we do not have as dynamic of an offense this year, which means our defense has to win games... and the fact of the matter is that our defense is still very poor in areas.

Italics wrote:
POSITIVES

- At the beginning of the season and in the pre-season our running game was a concern. I don't believe it is any longer, as it has been pretty darn effective lately, and the UNR game confirmed this

- Several young players are beginning to bloom. Quezada looked great... it's nice to have a good ol' fashion "speed" runner on the team. Di Luigi obviously looked great as well. The o-line did a great job at opening holes... something which was missing up until the Nevada game

- Despite the defense being pretty bad as a whole, a few players are standing out. Rich is beastly as always and our most consistent player, Hunter continues to show great potential, and Logan is a brilliant open-field tackler.

- Our passing game is picking up. The numbers are still less than impressive, but you can really tell that things are beginning to "click." Heaps missed some wide open targets, but it is to be expected. I think he's moving along just fine, and it was nice to finally see Jacobsen getting some catches

- Other than the muffed punt, special teams have been fantastic

- Offensive play-calling was much improved this game. As I've said before, Heaps being at QB really spreads out the field for us and opens up the running game. There was ONE area, however, in which our play-calling was just flat out awful, but I'll address that in the negatives



NEGATIVES

- Defense. In our three other games, the defense played sufficiently well enough to win, but our offense just wasn't doing jack. Nevada is the first game where our defense was to blame the most for the loss. ToP absolutely killed us with the constantly demoralizing long and methodical drives by Nevada that we just absolutely could not stop. This group is SLOW. The d-line cannot catch and tackle the opposing quarterback to save their life. Even Pendleton has looked incompetent lately. Our corners are slow. Our linebackers are slow.

There's no pussyfooting around this one - other teams are just flat out faster than us.

3rd down defense continues to be pathetic and embarrassing.

- Our offense performed very poorly in the redzone. WTF WAS UP WITH ALL THE FADE ROUTES!?!? Seriously... once or twice is enough... but I couldn't believe how many times we attempted fade routes or variations of them despite the fact that all it was doing was wasting a down. I can't help but think that our play-calling in the redzone cost us a touchdown or two.

- Our failure to capitalized on some last minute opportunities to get back into the game

- I'm confused as to why we're still using Kariya. He has dropped passes, made poor decisions, and is incapable of adjusting his body to catch less accurate throws. He is rarely effective running, and seems incapable at finding holes... sometimes I think he just prefers running into opponents... but Harvey Unga he ain't.

- While not unexpected, Heaps has made some stupid mistakes. The one that seems most inexcusable to me, however, was his dive to the sidelines on the crucial 4th and 4 earlier in the game. He didn't follow the block well - cutting to the left would have picked him up another 5 yards, but instead he opted to wuss out and dive toward the sideline... ended up costing us a scoring opportunity. But hey, these mistakes will disappear with time.

I think our offense is slowly but surely making a return to form. I think by the end of this year we'll be able to hang 30-40 points on teams like we're used to. Our offense should be fine in years to come... it's the defense that worries me. Until we can recruit better speed on defense, BYU will never be an elite team.

Agreements in blue. Disagreements in red.

Italics wrote:
Went to the local Fat Cats to watch the game on the big screen today... $6 gets you a soda, crappy slice of pizza, and, of course, the opportunity to watch the game on the big screen. The commentary by some of the fans in the theater throughout the game was possibly the worst I've heard in my entire life, but that's beside the point!



POSITIVES

- At the beginning of the season and in the pre-season our running game was a concern. I don't believe it is any longer, as it has been pretty darn effective lately, and the UNR game confirmed this



- Several young players are beginning to bloom. Quezada looked great... it's nice to have a good ol' fashion "speed" runner on the team. Di Luigi obviously looked great as well. The o-line did a great job at opening holes... something which was missing up until the Nevada game



- Despite the defense being pretty bad as a whole, a few players are standing out. Rich is beastly as always and our most consistent player, Hunter continues to show great potential, and Logan is a brilliant open-field tackler.



- Our passing game is picking up. The numbers are still less than impressive, but you can really tell that things are beginning to "click." Heaps missed some wide open targets, but it is to be expected. I think he's moving along just fine, and it was nice to finally see Jacobsen getting some catches



- Other than the muffed punt, special teams have been fantastic



- Offensive play-calling was much improved this game. As I've said before, Heaps being at QB really spreads out the field for us and opens up the running game. There was ONE area, however, in which our play-calling was just flat out awful, but I'll address that in the negatives



NEGATIVES

- Defense. In our three other games, the defense played sufficiently well enough to win, but our offense just wasn't doing jack. Nevada is the first game where our defense was to blame the most for the loss. ToP absolutely killed us with the constantly demoralizing long and methodical drives by Nevada that we just absolutely could not stop. This group is SLOW. The d-line cannot catch and tackle the opposing quarterback to save their life. Even Pendleton has looked incompetent lately. Our corners are slow. Our linebackers are slow.

There's no pussyfooting around this one - other teams are just flat out faster than us.

3rd down defense continues to be pathetic and embarrassing.



- Our offense performed very poorly in the redzone. WTF WAS UP WITH ALL THE FADE ROUTES!?!? Seriously... once or twice is enough... but I couldn't believe how many times we attempted fade routes or variations of them despite the fact that all it was doing was wasting a down. I can't help but think that our play-calling in the redzone cost us a touchdown or two.



- Our failure to capitalized on some last minute opportunities to get back into the game



- I'm confused as to why we're still using Kariya. He has dropped passes, made poor decisions, and is incapable of adjusting his body to catch less accurate throws. He is rarely effective running, and seems incapable at finding holes... sometimes I think he just prefers running into opponents... but Harvey Unga he ain't.



- While not unexpected, Heaps has made some stupid mistakes. The one that seems most inexcusable to me, however, was his dive to the sidelines on the crucial 4th and 4 earlier in the game. He didn't follow the block well - cutting to the left would have picked him up another 5 yards, but instead he opted to wuss out and dive toward the sideline... ended up costing us a scoring opportunity. But hey, these mistakes will disappear with time.





I think our offense is slowly but surely making a return to form. I think by the end of this year we'll be able to hang 30-40 points on teams like we're used to. Our offense should be fine in years to come... it's the defense that worries me. Until we can recruit better speed on defense, BYU will never be an elite team.

How as our defense responsible for the nevada loss? They held nevada to 27 points, 3 in the second half? nevada's offense is one of top 5 int he country, easily. They are very good. Nobody has come close to holding them to 27 points. Our d did the job. Our offense lost the game by not getting points. The drove the field fine but didn't punch it in when they got close.



we are just going through growing pains. it will take some time before we are good but i think we will see improvement each week. too bad we don't have utah's schedule.

jonnylingo wrote:

How as our defense responsible for the nevada loss? They held nevada to 27 points, 3 in the second half? nevada's offense is one of top 5 int he country, easily. They are very good. Nobody has come close to holding them to 27 points. Our d did the job. Our offense lost the game by not getting points. The drove the field fine but didn't punch it in when they got close.



we are just going through growing pains. it will take some time before we are good but i think we will see improvement each week. too bad we don't have utah's schedule.

The defense did what it had to do to allow BYU to win. Did the Pack dominate ToP? Sure. But did the defense do enough to allow the offense to get into the game and win it? Yes. We do not have the defense of 06 and 07, or even 09, but it is good enough for us to out with 7 wins ---- if the offense gets it together..... which seems to be getting there

BYU lost. Negative

The Offense couldn't finish drives. Negative

Overall play calling. Negative

Heaps showed improvement. Positive

The Offense started connecting first downs. Positive

Defense held Nevada to 3 points in 2nd half. Positive



Outlook for the Future Positive.

I think BYU wins against Utah St 1-3 and San Diego St 3-1 in the next few weeks leading up to TCU. After TCU, BYU wins against Wyoming 1-3, UNLV 1-3, Colorado St 1-3 and New Mexico 0-105. I think BYU goes into the Utah game at least 7-4. The only game I question is San Diego St, however, let's face it, the teams San Diego St has beaten have a combined 2 wins to pair with 9 losses (against Idaho State and Bacone College). I think they then beat Utah (I will always pick BYU over Utah anytime no matter what the teams but I really think this team will have put it all together by then). BYU finishes 8-4 and plays in a bowl game (not bad for a rebuilding year).

Mars wrote:

POSITIVES

- At the beginning of the season and in the pre-season our running game was a concern. I don't believe it is any longer, as it has been pretty darn effective lately, and the UNR game confirmed this

- Several young players are beginning to bloom. Quezada looked great... it's nice to have a good ol' fashion "speed" runner on the team. Di Luigi obviously looked great as well. The o-line did a great job at opening holes... something which was missing up until the Nevada game

- Despite the defense being pretty bad as a whole, a few players are standing out. Rich is beastly as always and our most consistent player, Hunter continues to show great potential, and Logan is a brilliant open-field tackler.

- Our passing game is picking up. The numbers are still less than impressive, but you can really tell that things are beginning to "click." Heaps missed some wide open targets, but it is to be expected. I think he's moving along just fine, and it was nice to finally see Jacobsen getting some catches

- Other than the muffed punt, special teams have been fantastic

- Offensive play-calling was much improved this game. As I've said before, Heaps being at QB really spreads out the field for us and opens up the running game. There was ONE area, however, in which our play-calling was just flat out awful, but I'll address that in the negatives



NEGATIVES

- Defense. In our three other games, the defense played sufficiently well enough to win, but our offense just wasn't doing jack. Nevada is the first game where our defense was to blame the most for the loss. ToP absolutely killed us with the constantly demoralizing long and methodical drives by Nevada that we just absolutely could not stop. This group is SLOW. The d-line cannot catch and tackle the opposing quarterback to save their life. Even Pendleton has looked incompetent lately. Our corners are slow. Our linebackers are slow.

There's no pussyfooting around this one - other teams are just flat out faster than us.

3rd down defense continues to be pathetic and embarrassing.

- Our offense performed very poorly in the redzone. WTF WAS UP WITH ALL THE FADE ROUTES!?!? Seriously... once or twice is enough... but I couldn't believe how many times we attempted fade routes or variations of them despite the fact that all it was doing was wasting a down. I can't help but think that our play-calling in the redzone cost us a touchdown or two.

- Our failure to capitalized on some last minute opportunities to get back into the game

- I'm confused as to why we're still using Kariya. He has dropped passes, made poor decisions, and is incapable of adjusting his body to catch less accurate throws. He is rarely effective running, and seems incapable at finding holes... sometimes I think he just prefers running into opponents... but Harvey Unga he ain't.

- While not unexpected, Heaps has made some stupid mistakes. The one that seems most inexcusable to me, however, was his dive to the sidelines on the crucial 4th and 4 earlier in the game. He didn't follow the block well - cutting to the left would have picked him up another 5 yards, but instead he opted to wuss out and dive toward the sideline... ended up costing us a scoring opportunity. But hey, these mistakes will disappear with time.

I think our offense is slowly but surely making a return to form. I think by the end of this year we'll be able to hang 30-40 points on teams like we're used to. Our offense should be fine in years to come... it's the defense that worries me. Until we can recruit better speed on defense, BYU will never be an elite team.

Agreements in blue. Disagreements in red.

This reminds me of what my school assignments look like when the professor runs "safe-assign" on them, a software which highlights all of the plagiarized areas.

Way to bring back horrible memories... :blush:

Ha ha LOL. How do you know the name of the software!?

runbyu1 wrote:
Ha ha LOL. How do you know the name of the software!?

oh... you know... :whistle:



And yes... I do think the defense was much to blame for the Nevada loss. Forget that we held them to fewer points than they've been scoring lately... they executed exactly the way they wanted to execute - slow, demoralizing drives that quieted the crowd, tired our defense, and drained the clock. Why go for the "big one" when you know you're guaranteed 4-5 yards every play? Their drives killed all momentum, and made it awfully hard for the offense to "get going." But trust me I'm not saying that the offense played a great game, far from it... but they showed improvement, the defense did not.

The UNR drive (was it in the second half?) that went 21 plays and like 9 minutes was the ultimate statement by UNR. That was impressive.



In the 4th quarter I thought the offense looked better. I'm excited to see the improvement on Friday.