CSU this Saturday

I'm surprised that a CSU thread has not been start yet. So here we go.



I watched the CSU vs SDSU game on Saturday, and here are my thoughts about what I saw and what it means for our game on Saturday.



Offense: The Rams are still running a pro-style offense. Run heavy, and use the play action pass from that. Their game on saturday was disheartening for them. Their defense gave them five turn-overs, but they only converted those into two field goals. Their quarterback is a freshman, and has a good arm, and should be one of the greats in MWC in two years. But if he has no ran game, he will be in trouble. He also is not a running QB, which works in our favor. Our run defense should stuff their running backs, and the d-line should get pressure on the QB. (SDSU had 10+ tackles for loss).



Defense: Forced five turn-overs on the road. Good looking linebacking core, a power running game will work well against them. They showed they are good, but can beaten. Corners and dline appear to be a weakness. If Jake Heaps plays like he did on Saturday, he will carve up CSU. The running backs will have a combined two hundred yards game again.



Last weeks game was a game that CSU lost, more then a game SDSU won.



Another note is the mental state of both teams. CSU can't go bowling, lost a game they should have won (zebra's helped them fail). Will their heads be in the game? Granted they will be playing BYU, and BYU is leaving, so they may want to take us out. BYU on the other hand is on a winning streak, destroyed their last opponent, and can still go bowling.



Not sure of the final score, but early guess 35 - 10 BYU.

This is the real apex of our up and down season. Here is where we will get a consistency test. WIll Anae be Anae or will be An(ae)ything but Anae? What does that all mean? In 2 games the run worked the pass worked. Now that Heaps and WRs are playing like they should be will Anae have less pressure?



The only real issue is if we are struggling (since it's the road) he'll need to (or have Doman) chew into them, fire them up, and make adjustments. To me that will keep his job.



Go beat the Rams, like tcu beat utah.

If Jake Heaps throws consistently with accuracy, timing, location, and touch - everything else will work out and Anae will look like a genius. If Heaps gets rattled and starts throwing too hard, behind, above and all around i.e. scatter gun, it will be a long day and the running game and defense will need to win it. Pick 6's, or short fields from fumbles, picks, bad punts, big returns, will win the game for the team that gets those breaks if Heaps is not on. If Heaps is on - Big win for the Cougs.



Heaps has only been consistently on 1 game - UNLV. SDSU was his next best look but not for 4 quarters. UW had moments. The rest of the games had few shining moments.



Hopefully, UNLV started a new trend.



Go Cougs

Mars wrote:


1- I think we hold CSU's run-game below 30 yards.

2- I think we can run on CSU.

3- I think BYU's pass defense came into this season unusually overrated, as a senior group. They haven't been that good. BYU's run D has seen a drastic turnaround since Bronco took over. What about the pass D? Results don't seem to have been as drastic there. Could still be a partially-hidden team weakness. CSU will try to expose it.

4- I fear Jake's performance on the road against a confusing CSU pass D. Two INTs on Saturday, just one TD? I hope not.



To me, turnovers will make a huge difference. I also think this game will be either won or lost through the air, both on offense and on defense.



Though I'm crossing my fingers we don't lose, I'll still be openly hoping on the other hand for another blowout win. Either could happen.

I think the pass defense has been serviceable, if not decent most of the time. There were a few lapses during the TCU game and the end of the UNLV game but those happened when new players were at playing safety and it only takes one guy to blow coverage and leave a receiver wide open for a TD.



Bronco has focused so much on the run that it's expected that the defense gives up a few throws over the top. As a group, I feel like they have done a pretty good job considering the injuries and the changes that have been thrown their way this year. No worse than the last couple years anyway. I'll have to look at the stats on that though.



What I love is that the defense is killing the running game. When teams were beating BYU earlier this year it was on the ground, not through the air. BYU stopped the run and immediately games were more competitive. If we can force CSU to throw to get the win, I like BYU's chances.



I guess what I'm saying is- I'm not worried about the defense at all. If the offense can put together a half decent effort (no pick sixes, or fumbles in BYU territory eg- Wyoming game) BYU should get a win pretty easily.

StatsCougar wrote:
I'm surprised that a CSU thread has not been start yet. So here we go.



I watched the CSU vs SDSU game on Saturday, and here are my thoughts about what I saw and what it means for our game on Saturday.



Offense: The Rams are still running a pro-style offense. Run heavy, and use the play action pass from that. Their game on saturday was disheartening for them. Their defense gave them five turn-overs, but they only converted those into two field goals. Their quarterback is a freshman, and has a good arm, and should be one of the greats in MWC in two years. But if he has no ran game, he will be in trouble. He also is not a running QB, which works in our favor. Our run defense should stuff their running backs, and the d-line should get pressure on the QB. (SDSU had 10+ tackles for loss).



Defense: Forced five turn-overs on the road. Good looking linebacking core, a power running game will work well against them. They showed they are good, but can beaten. Corners and dline appear to be a weakness. If Jake Heaps plays like he did on Saturday, he will carve up CSU. The running backs will have a combined two hundred yards game again.



Last weeks game was a game that CSU lost, more then a game SDSU won.



Another note is the mental state of both teams. CSU can't go bowling, lost a game they should have won (zebra's helped them fail). Will their heads be in the game? Granted they will be playing BYU, and BYU is leaving, so they may want to take us out. BYU on the other hand is on a winning streak, destroyed their last opponent, and can still go bowling.



Not sure of the final score, but early guess 35 - 10 BYU.

Man I hope you are right in your analysis.



I predict a win for purely emotional reasons.

1. Today is my birthday

2.Today is my daughter's birthday as well

a.this daughter gave birth to a son who has my name

b.this duaghter lives in Ft Collins

c. this new grandson will be blessed in Ft Collins this Sunday

3. We will have a group of family cheering the cougars at the game

4 Tomorrow is my 1 year anniversary at cougarcorner.

a. I remember logging on to another cougar site and thinking my hometown had become a ghost town.



So for me the stars are ligning up. The only analysis I have done is that the temperature will be in the 30s with a chance of snow.



Go Cougars!!!

The bottom line for me in this game is our offense against their defense. I like our chances of holding a freshman QB to a poor performance with Bronco running the D so I don't expect them to have much success against us with their offense.



So the bottom line is; will Jake Heaps performance from last saturday carry over in some way to this coming saturday. Even if he isn't as sharp, if he takes care of the ball and uses his arm to move the chains, we win. BYU should continue to establish the run and run the passing game from that.

frdbtr wrote:
The bottom line for me in this game is our offense against their defense. I like our chances of holding a freshman QB to a poor performance with Bronco running the D so I don't expect them to have much success against us with their offense.



So the bottom line is; will Jake Heaps performance from last saturday carry over in some way to this coming saturday. Even if he isn't as sharp, if he takes care of the ball and uses his arm to move the chains, we win. BYU should continue to establish the run and run the passing game from that.

Good plan.



My keys for the game would be -



Protect the ball.

win the field position battle.

3:2 run to pass (at least). Let the hogs win the game.

Cougarbib2 wrote:
If Jake Heaps throws consistently with accuracy, timing, location, and touch - everything else will work out and Anae will look like a genius. If Heaps gets rattled and starts throwing too hard, behind, above and all around i.e. scatter gun, it will be a long day and the running game and defense will need to win it. Pick 6's, or short fields from fumbles, picks, bad punts, big returns, will win the game for the team that gets those breaks if Heaps is not on. If Heaps is on - Big win for the Cougs.



Heaps has only been consistently on 1 game - UNLV. SDSU was his next best look but not for 4 quarters. UW had moments. The rest of the games had few shining moments.



Hopefully, UNLV started a new trend.



Go Cougs

:sick: I just threw up in my mouth.

Bib, one guy doesn't make or break our offense. Recievers have to be catching the ball, line has to be makin holes for runners and blocking so one QB can have the time to throw and let's not leave out decent game planning by our offensive coaches and the ability of said coaches to adjust to what they see the defense is giving them. ----Yes, QB has to be consistant to have good passing game.

I really like the fact Anae adjusted last week in the 1st quarter no doubt and passed alittle more than what we had in the past three games. What was more amazing where the reciever were catching the bullets Heaps was throwing on the crossing patterns---first time this season.

IndiCoug wrote:

If Jake Heaps throws consistently with accuracy, timing, location, and touch - everything else will work out and Anae will look like a genius. If Heaps gets rattled and starts throwing too hard, behind, above and all around i.e. scatter gun, it will be a long day and the running game and defense will need to win it. Pick 6's, or short fields from fumbles, picks, bad punts, big returns, will win the game for the team that gets those breaks if Heaps is not on. If Heaps is on - Big win for the Cougs.



Heaps has only been consistently on 1 game - UNLV. SDSU was his next best look but not for 4 quarters. UW had moments. The rest of the games had few shining moments.



Hopefully, UNLV started a new trend.



Go Cougs

:sick: I just threw up in my mouth.

Bib, one guy doesn't make or break our offense. Recievers have to be catching the ball, line has to be makin holes for runners and blocking so one QB can have the time to throw and let's not leave out decent game planning by our offensive coaches and the ability of said coaches to adjust to what they see the defense is giving them.

I really like the fact Anae adjusted last week in the 1st quarter no doubt and passed alittle more than what we had in the past three games. What was more amazing where the reciever were catching the bullets Heaps was throwing on the crossing patterns---first time this season.

Pretty sure Bib would agree with you. So do I, but you gotta admit that a LOT of the offense depends on how well Jake plays. That's why QBs are so important. They have a disproportionate amount of influence on the game as the ball passes through their hands every play. If Jake makes good decisions (See UNLV and WYoming for most of the game) and the rest of the offense doesn't have a complete meltdown (they haven't for a while) I'm calling a BYU win.

IndiCoug wrote:

If Jake Heaps throws consistently with accuracy, timing, location, and touch - everything else will work out and Anae will look like a genius. If Heaps gets rattled and starts throwing too hard, behind, above and all around i.e. scatter gun, it will be a long day and the running game and defense will need to win it. Pick 6's, or short fields from fumbles, picks, bad punts, big returns, will win the game for the team that gets those breaks if Heaps is not on. If Heaps is on - Big win for the Cougs.



Heaps has only been consistently on 1 game - UNLV. SDSU was his next best look but not for 4 quarters. UW had moments. The rest of the games had few shining moments.



Hopefully, UNLV started a new trend.



Go Cougs

:sick: I just threw up in my mouth.

Bib, one guy doesn't make or break our offense. Recievers have to be catching the ball, line has to be makin holes for runners and blocking so one QB can have the time to throw and let's not leave out decent game planning by our offensive coaches and the ability of said coaches to adjust to what they see the defense is giving them. ----Yes, QB has to be consistant to have good passing game.

I really like the fact Anae adjusted last week in the 1st quarter no doubt and passed alittle more than what we had in the past three games. What was more amazing where the reciever were catching the bullets Heaps was throwing on the crossing patterns---first time this season.

Dont waste you time indi.

Time for impressions. Who am I?



"We will only win the CSU game if Jake Heaps is perfect like all byu quarterbacks should be. If he is not perfect we will lose and then we should bench him and see what our backups can do."



Any guesses? :P

jonnylingo wrote:
Time for impressions. Who am I?



"We will only win the CSU game if Jake Heaps is perfect like all byu quarterbacks should be. If he is not perfect we will lose and then we should bench him and see what our backups can do."



Any guesses? :P

Actually, I haven't heard anyone post something like that.

jonnylingo wrote:
Time for impressions. Who am I?



"We will only win the CSU game if Jake Heaps is perfect like all byu quarterbacks should be. If he is not perfect we will lose and then we should bench him and see what our backups can do."



Any guesses? :P

I would say that you are exaggerating any criticism that has been leveled at heaps. No one has called for perfection from him by any stretch of the imagination. Saturday he was not perfect, but he was very good. Before Saturday though, he was playing WAY below average.

jonnylingo wrote:
Time for impressions. Who am I?



"We will only win the CSU game if Jake Heaps is perfect like all byu quarterbacks should be. If he is not perfect we will lose and then we should bench him and see what our backups can do."



Any guesses? :P

One more comment though. It does say a lot about how you heaps worshippers view/read posts where people recognize that the true freshman is playing poorly.

my turn! Who am I?



"Jake Heaps is perfect, and only idiots claim that his every pass hasn't been exactly on time, accurate, and easily catchable. Everybody knows that any pass not caught by my football savior, Jake Heaps, is a conspiracy between the coaches and receivers to make him look bad so that he wont get too big of a head, even though lol that is impossible because he's also perfectly humble. I testify that Jake Heaps did not improve in the game against UNLV because duh he's already perfect. If he had gone straight to the NFL instead of the Cougars he would have won the Super Bowl this year, even if he were on the Bills or Cowboys."

frdbtr wrote:

Time for impressions. Who am I?



"We will only win the CSU game if Jake Heaps is perfect like all byu quarterbacks should be. If he is not perfect we will lose and then we should bench him and see what our backups can do."



Any guesses? :P

One more comment though. It does say a lot about how you heaps worshippers view/read posts where people recognize that the true freshman is playing poorly.

I don't worship Heaps but I can't STAND IT when someone who has no idea about what it takes to be a QB or a receiver spout off about how he should throw and where he should throw like they were a Div 1 QB.

Heaps has had his problems this year but who wouldn't have??? Any one of our QB's on the roaster would have problems because the passes that where good weren't getting caught. How would any QB do better when the receivers don't catch it? Some of you guys are clueless.

jonnylingo wrote:
Time for impressions. Who am I?



"We will only win the CSU game if Jake Heaps is perfect like all byu quarterbacks should be. If he is not perfect we will lose and then we should bench him and see what our backups can do."



Any guesses? :P

Couple come to mind --- ;) just look around.

Your right jonny, it's a waste of time taking point of some of these comments.

Back to the subject (although I really enjoyed Hawkwing's impression of jonnylingo) - I believe the Rams will be very motivated against the Cougars, and will play well. I watched part of their game against UNLV, and they looked almost as good as BYU did. This will be a very dangerous game for BYU, and they'll need to be very well prepared.

IndiCoug wrote:

jonnylingo wrote:
Time for impressions. Who am I?



"We will only win the CSU game if Jake Heaps is perfect like all byu quarterbacks should be. If he is not perfect we will lose and then we should bench him and see what our backups can do."



Any guesses? :P

One more comment though. It does say a lot about how you heaps worshippers view/read posts where people recognize that the true freshman is playing poorly.

I don't worship Heaps but I can't STAND IT when someone who has no idea about what it takes to be a QB or a receiver spout off about how he should throw and where he should throw like they were a Div 1 QB.

Heaps has had his problems this year but who wouldn't have??? Any one of our QB's on the roaster would have problems because the passes that where good weren't getting caught. How would any QB do better when the receivers don't catch it? Some of you guys are clueless.

I don't have to know what it is like to play D1 to know that some guys can do it, and others can't. I'm sure it's hard, otherwise, I'd be playing somewhere getting payed big bucks. BYU didn't give Heaps a scholarship to lose games. I'm not fine with subpar play at QB, or receiver, or O-line or any position because it's difficult. Come on. Perform or move over for someone who can. We should all be able to agree on that.



For most of the year Heaps looked like he was on the verge of getting it, but wasn't quite there. Last Saturday he was awesome. Hope he keeps it up, or BYU is going to have to find someone who knows "how and where to throw the ball" at this level. One game isn't enough to solidify Heaps as future HOF in my mind.



Also, I love the "it's not possible reasoning with you guys" attitude from the "Heaps-worship" crowd.