Why BYU Lost to TX

Lots of points to discuss, but I will start off. Our punting game was not good several punts were less than 20 yards and it gave TX some great field position. Some of the punt coverage in the secon half (especially the Shipley return) also placed UT in good field position.



Our Defense was not prepared or ready for play action option and really had trouble with arm tackling and plain missing the QBs and RBs in the backfield or at line of scrimmage.



Offense became too predictable in second half and the DL was in Heaps face and creating pressure rushed throws.



We had better fix these elements quickly or Utah, UCF and TCU are going to pick on these same weaknesses.



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I really think that the Defense missed Ogletree tonight more than we might realize right off the top. I think his experience over Hadley would have helped on that read option that Ash was running. I think had we been able to eliminate that option early, they would have stuck with using only McCoy.



Uale needs to not see the field. He misses tackles, he doesn't react to the ball in the air at all, and is out of position a lot. He should have been right in Shipley's back on both 3rd down conversions that he made, but he was caught flat footed. He was also the one that was responsible for the receiver on the trick play that sealed the game. Flat out awful performance by him.



Heaps. Where to start on him? He can't throw into the small windows required against man to man. He is afraid of contact. He has a lot to improve on.



The receivers still cannot get off the line against press coverage (problem against Utah, UCF, USU and TCU). I'm seeing no difference in technique and positioning in this group of receivers than the past.



The O-line might be the most disappointing thing about this team. They have 4 returning starters and a supposed 1st round left tackle (I don't see it, and haven't understood all the praise for Reynolds). This is a broken record, but the O-line starts off every season poorly, and I have to now believe it is coaching. Weber probably should have been another casualty of the offensive staff makeover last year.



Doman. I think last week was pretty terrible, but it was his first game. Tonight, I don't know what to think because Heaps didn't make any reads. He never looked past the line of scrimmage. I really don't think that tonight is a fair game to judge him on because the QB play was so atrocious.



The running backs aren't showing well, but I'm not sure what the reason is. Is it because they aren't talented enough? Is it the calls? Is it the O-line? It's at least a little bit of the O-line, but I don't know what else to pin it on.



The D line and Linebackers were pretty good for at least 2.5 quarters. The corners actually played pretty well too. The other safety (Hadley) was solid as well.



Special teams is a joke. Open tryouts for a punter should be held on Monday. And the one decent punt that he had was poorly covered. Sorensen was as good as I've ever seen him on FG's, but I still don't trust his accuracy from anywhere. Sure, he's made kicks from 60 yards in high school, but the goal is literally a third of the field wide.



BYU lost for so many reason, and not one of them was because the team on the other side of the field was better than they were. Not individually and not collectively.

Can't knock Sorensen at all. He was the lone bright spot on special teams. His kickoffs were deep, and he was 3 for 3 on field goals and 1-1 of PAT's. In no way, shape or form can you get after him. He did everything he could, and he did it well.

stuckinbig10country wrote:



Heaps. Where to start on him? He can't throw into the small windows required against man to man. He is afraid of contact. He has a lot to improve on.



Doman. I think last week was pretty terrible, but it was his first game. Tonight, I don't know what to think because Heaps didn't make any reads. He never looked past the line of scrimmage. I really don't think that tonight is a fair game to judge him on because the QB play was so atrocious.

I agree with this completely. I do wonder if the coaches are having some trust issues with Jake because he is playing afraid. Jake lacks aggressiveness in the passing game. He has no killer instinct. And he is definitely afraid to get hit, so he dumps it off far too quickly. Jake needs to man up in the pocket and deliver the ball downfield, and take his lumps. HE needs to prove his toughness to his team. RIght now, that is Jake's biggest weakness.

Texas made adjustments to our Offense and our Defense after half time. We didn't do the same. What I keep hearing from Bronco and the gang is that we failed to execute at critical moments in the game. Execute seems to be the key word.



Will say that I was disappointed right before half. Felt we should have spiked the ball to keep clock from running down. Set up a play to go to end zone and give our bigs a chance to make a play. This would characterize the entire second half as we didn't show any innovation or play calling similar to first half which kept UT off balance. If our offense doesn't improve finishing drives with TDs we are going to lose several more close ones unless the D scores off of turnovers and becomes our offense.



Good thing about this game, for the second week in a row we find out what areas we need to improve upon and can hopefully make adjustments by next game. Two games decided by one point indicates we are in all of the games and have a chance to win if we capitalize on mistakes and make real time adjustments.



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byucougar1 wrote:
Will say that I was disappointed right before half. Felt we should have spiked the ball to keep clock from running down. Set up a play to go to end zone and give our bigs a chance to make a play. This would characterize the entire second half as we didn't show any innovation or play calling similar to first half which kept UT off balance. If our offense doesn't improve finishing drives with TDs we are going to lose several more close ones unless the D scores off of turnovers and becomes our offense.



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I will have to say that the clock management at the end of the first half completely disgusted me. We needed about 10 yards to get into Sorenson's FG range and we sit there and let the clock run out about 15 seconds before snapping the ball. We had 2 plays worth of time and elected to let the clock run and only get one off. Horrible....all on Doman.

Ungoy wrote:
Can't knock Sorensen at all. He was the lone bright spot on special teams. His kickoffs were deep, and he was 3 for 3 on field goals and 1-1 of PAT's. In no way, shape or form can you get after him. He did everything he could, and he did it well.

And he saved a potentially devastating TD return with a half decent tackle. I don't get the "Sorensen can't punt well stuff". He's done well. He had one bad punt against ole miss which turned into a non factor.

frdbtr wrote:

Will say that I was disappointed right before half. Felt we should have spiked the ball to keep clock from running down. Set up a play to go to end zone and give our bigs a chance to make a play. This would characterize the entire second half as we didn't show any innovation or play calling similar to first half which kept UT off balance. If our offense doesn't improve finishing drives with TDs we are going to lose several more close ones unless the D scores off of turnovers and becomes our offense.



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I will have to say that the clock management at the end of the first half completely disgusted me. We needed about 10 yards to get into Sorenson's FG range and we sit there and let the clock run out about 15 seconds before snapping the ball. We had 2 plays worth of time and elected to let the clock run and only get one off. Horrible....all on Doman.

Couldn't agree more with this. When this happened, I suddenly got a bad feeling about the game even though we were up 10 on TX going in to half. WE PLAYED NOT TO LOSE and I knew we were toast with that mentality carrying over in to the 2nd half.

declocoug wrote:

Can't knock Sorensen at all. He was the lone bright spot on special teams. His kickoffs were deep, and he was 3 for 3 on field goals and 1-1 of PAT's. In no way, shape or form can you get after him. He did everything he could, and he did it well.

And he saved a potentially devastating TD return with a half decent tackle. I don't get the "Sorensen can't punt well stuff". He's done well. He had one bad punt against ole miss which turned into a non factor.

I don't know the numbers and don't feel like looking them up cause I'm lazy but it seems as if he really has lacked at booming some kicks ( I feel like he was a different and better punter last year, but maybe that's just me), I guess he's been consistent at hitting about 40 yarders.... but that's about it.

byucougar1 wrote:
Our punting game was not good several punts were less than 20 yards and it gave TX some great field position.



Our Defense was not prepared or ready for play action option



We had better fix these elements quickly or Utah, UCF and TCU are going to pick on these same weaknesses.



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I just rewatched the game and don't remember any shanked punts less than 20 yards. I think you're plain wrong on this one. I'd really like to see more touchbacks, though, especially against teams with quick return runners (Utah, TCU).



What is the play action option? Or do you mean play action AND option? We need to be using #13 just like Texas used #14. I agree that BYU did not look prepared to defend any type of option play (read, belly, spread or otherwise)



Neither Utah nor TCU are as talented on defense this year as Texas became in the second half.

Bronco refered to the running game that UT employed in the second half as a zone read which they had not prepared for during the week as they hadn't used it much against Rice. They would either run it up the middle or on the perimeter based upon alignment of DL and LBs. LBs didn't make correct reads and wrap up when they did penetrate resulting in several big gains. Bottom line is we prepared for Gilbert's passing and up the middle of tackle runs which we stuffed. When it came to zone reads and having to account for the athletic QB Ash sprinkled with play action pass of McCoy we were caught flat footed.



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Bronco refered to the running game that UT employed in the second half as a zone read which they had not prepared for during the week as they hadn't used it much against Rice. They would either run it up the middle or on the perimeter based upon alignment of DL and LBs. LBs didn't make correct reads and wrap up when they did penetrate resulting in several big gains. Bottom line is we prepared for Gilbert's passing and up the middle of tackle runs which we stuffed. When it came to zone reads and having to account for the athletic QB Ash sprinkled with play action pass of McCoy we were caught flat footed.



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Bronco's jabbing at Doman with the use of "No pressure" is code talk for "very present, life-sucking, fear inducing, throttle choking pressure. Occassionally it subsides, but under adversity Jake and Doman get nervous under the pressure.



Folks are right about 1st half v 2nd half.

We controlled the LOS in the 1st and Texas controlled it in the 2nd. End of story.

Bronco's using "execution" is code talk for we were sucking air in the 2nd half. At least I hope it is, bc if he cant see in reviewing tapes this one fact, then we are in trouble the rest of the year. Yes, execution could have been better. AND yes, saying we didnt have the energy in the 2nd half wouldnt bode well with fans. But if BYU was giving a 10 in effort in the 1st half, Texas was giving an 8 and getting beat.

In the second half our Oline and Dline were giving an 7 and texas stepped it up to a 9 or 10. Thats the difference. I dont know if our guys got over confident or went soft in the last few minutes of the 1st half, but we did not EXECUTE OUR EFFORT and Tx took the momentum.

I blame the defense. If they hadn't intercepted Gilbert twice in the first half and made him look like a complete fool, maybe Texas wouldn't have replaced him so quickly. Maybe their offense could have squandered a few more drives.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I blame the defense. If they hadn't intercepted Gilbert twice in the first half and made him look like a complete fool, maybe Texas wouldn't have replaced him so quickly. Maybe their offense could have squandered a few more drives.

lol.

post of the day.



Poor Gilbert.

I hate to brag. but I told Hookem this was going to happen.

Wait till this week. We're vulnerable for this once again. The Sputes will watch Tx game film. They know where we're vulnerable. Our front 7 will eat up Wyner and then for our reward, we'll get the very mobile younger qb--THAT WE DIDNT PREPARE FOR!! Sorry, I usually dont bag on Bronco and that was a little backhanded of me. I love Bronco.

frdbtr wrote:
I will have to say that the clock management at the end of the first half completely disgusted me. We needed about 10 yards to get into Sorenson's FG range and we sit there and let the clock run out about 15 seconds before snapping the ball. We had 2 plays worth of time and elected to let the clock run and only get one off. Horrible....all on Doman.

Does Mendenhall completely delegate his clock management at the end of halves? In most places, that's all on the head coach. I blame Mendenhall for that, not Doman, because the head coach should know enough to jump in and call timeout even if the OC somehow mismanages.



In terms of clock management, I've never been impressed with the Mendenhall-Anae-Doman. From what I can recall, the times BYU actually successfully accomplished two-minute drills can be more attributed to savvy senior QBs (Beck in 06 and Hall in 09) than good clock management at the end of halves/games.



Watching the offense at the end of the half versus Texas gave me the distinct impression that this was the first time they'd ever ran their two-minute offense since fall practice began.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I blame the defense. If they hadn't intercepted Gilbert twice in the first half and made him look like a complete fool, maybe Texas wouldn't have replaced him so quickly. Maybe their offense could have squandered a few more drives.

Brilliant!! :lol:

Mingjai wrote:

Watching the offense at the end of the half versus Texas gave me the distinct impression that this was the first time they'd ever ran their two-minute offense since fall practice began.

I have to disagree, it wasn't the first time, because we didn't run one. :sulk:

Things tha still bother me in that game were the way we got away from distributing the ball to everyone in the first half. We were connecting with Holt, Matthews, Jacobson, Hoffman, Apo and JJ. The second half it was almost always JJ. If we employ similar approach in both halves, and finish inside the blue zone we win and win by several TDs. The D can bring it, I just wish the offense had same intensity as the D. Perhaps Doman needs to have a QB coach so that he can focus on being an OC and not split duties - able to focus better.



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