Backing Down about Heaps

I went back and rewatched the first half from the UCF game and I had a change of heart. I have been a vocal critic of Heaps, and I think I may have gone too far. I wanted to fess up right away and clarify my position.



I think there are a couple of reasons why I was so tough on Heaps.

1. Our offense has been anemic, which really bothers me.

2. I am really disappointed that we may never get to see how Lark or Munns would have been with the starting gig.



Really I think my frustration has been more with how the coaching staff handled things in spring of 2010. It was a tough situation because Max Hall had just left, Riley Nelson had been with the program a year but was not your typical BYU QB, Lark was a redshirt RM sophomore fresh off his mission, Munns was a redshirt freshman who had yet to return from his mission, and Heaps was a highly touted freshman who graduated enrolled early to make it for spring camp.



The coaches decided to have Nelson and Heaps split time with the 1s and Lark would get the scraps. I can see how that seemed like a good decision at the time, especially giving Heaps the reps instead of Lark, since Heaps was still in the swing of football, but I think it was a bad idea. It setup a situation that we could have a true freshman starting QB and Lark and Munns were facing a real possibility of never seeing the field at BYU just because.



If Lark had returned the summer before and spent the season with the team I think he would have been splitting the reps with Nelson, or if Heaps hadn't enrolled early. With the additional preparation I think Lark could have been at least serviceable when Nelson went down with injury. If that had happened then Lark would have finished out last year and probably would have been the starter this year. Heaps would have had more time to prepare and could have competed for the starting job next year as a true junior or redshirt sophomore. Munns would have had two years with the team before competing with Heaps for the starting job as a redshirt junior. They all would have had a shot at the starting job and we wouldn't have been stuck saying "Well Heaps is doing pretty well for a true sophomore."



That is true. Heaps is doing pretty well for a true sophomore, but the coaches shouldn't have put him in that situation. And they shouldn't have set up Lark and Munns to never see the field.



And don't fool yourselves. Lark and Munns have never and will never be given real reps with the 1s unless the coaches yank Heaps. They have never been given a real shot at creating chemistry, getting comfortable and really performing. I think it is wrong that BYU recruited two big time 4-star QB recruits and they will never get a chance to really compete for the starting job, and frankly I am shocked that neither of them have transferred.



I was wrong to aim this frustration and disappointment at Heaps who has played quite well, and I think he will likely develop into a real start. But one way or another I would like to see Lark and Munns get playing time.



For the rest of the year we may only have two tough games, @ TCU and @ Hawaii. If we build a 3 score lead in any of those games, then I want to see Lark or Munns in the game and I want to see him throwing with an open play book. If for no other reason than to develop a better back up in case Heaps gets hurt.



And if we don't build a 3 score lead against the cup cakes...then Heaps probably isn't doing his job and I will want to see one of them in the game.

I agree with much of what you have written, but I do think some heaps criticism are on the mark. Some, such as his poor red zone play, lack of passes to the TE/RB spots for TDs, happy feet in the pocket at times, and poor footwork on some throws are fair. But BYU has bigger issues on O than we thought, and far less talent. Bronco needs to address this in recruiting, like he has done with the D.

Lawboy wrote:
I agree with much of what you have written, but I do think some heaps criticism are on the mark. Some, such as his poor red zone play, lack of passes to the TE/RB spots for TDs, happy feet in the pocket at times, and poor footwork on some throws are fair. But BYU has bigger issues on O than we thought, and far less talent. Bronco needs to address this in recruiting, like he has done with the D.

Heaps still has a lot of work to do, but rewatching the first half, I wouldn't put the blame on him. There were plenty of mistakes.



I want to see Heaps improve and the other QBs getting some snaps in garbage time, but I was misplacing my frustration solely on Heaps.

Well put, I agree with everything said so far. Heaps can (and will improve), but we have A LOT MORE problems on offense than just him.



A rising tide does not lift all boats. Sometimes boats have holes in them.

I think that all the Heaps critics need to chillax (yes, I do have a teenagers - so I'm down with the lingo)



Remember this:



1. Heaps is true sophomore - and 19 year old (???)

2. He has a brand spanking new OC who now officially have 4 games under his belt

3. He has sub-par RBs, and an OLine that, as usual, is underachieving.



Name the QBs that came in and dominated as sophomores. I can think of 1 that had a great sophomore year (Detmer), and one that had a good one (Hall). McMahan, Young, Bosco, Wilson etc, etc, all had the advantage of spending two years learning the system as backups to an experienced QB, and then stepping in a juniors. Sarkisian was a JC guy, who struggled as a junior and then excelled as a senior. Beck played as a Freshman, sucked it up, and didn't really hit his stride until 4 games into his senior year - and look how he turned out.



So relax...I mean "chillax"... and lay off the kid. As long as the fan pressure doesn't push him over the edge, he'll come around, and do just fine as the year goes on, and as he and Doman get more experience, the O will start to look like the O we've all been expecting.



And the next 2 years will be something special.

I've never said anything personal about Heaps but I have always been a believer that you earn your right to start on the field and Heaps has been terrible this year. Maybe it will pay off in the future and maybe it won't. We don't know if Heaps is ever going to turn the magic corner. He is as much an unknown as our other options in my mind.



To say that he has played pretty well is doing the kid no service. Coddling him is no service either. He is smart enough to know that he has really been struggling this year. The job is still his to lose and I'd love to see him put this all to bed against a decent opponent. However, he has yet to put together a good game against anyone with capable defense.



In my mind, others do share the blame, but the biggest problems with BYU's offense have been 1. Heaps 2. Doman.



My biggest worry is that we spend this season with Heaps giving him basically 2 seasons and he just does not improve. What if he doesn't develop like everyone hopes? I don't think he has earned the right to start this week but I will still be cheering him on with everything I got on Friday night. There is no excuse to lose to Utah State. If his play is the reason we lose the game this week I will start to question peoples loyalty to Heaps. Yes he is a 19 year old kid but my loyalty will always lay with the program first and if he is bringing the program down he has to sit.



Anyways, here's to hoping he lights it up this week since he is still our starting Quarterback.

fifthqb wrote:
.... However, he has yet to put together a good game against anyone with capable defense.

In my mind, others do share the blame, but the biggest problems with BYU's offense have been 1. Heaps 2. Doman. ....



Anyways, here's to hoping he lights it up this week since he is still our starting Quarterback.

How many capable defenses are left on our schedule for Heaps to show his capacity?

vancouvercougar wrote:

.... However, he has yet to put together a good game against anyone with capable defense.

In my mind, others do share the blame, but the biggest problems with BYU's offense have been 1. Heaps 2. Doman. ....



Anyways, here's to hoping he lights it up this week since he is still our starting Quarterback.

How many capable defenses are left on our schedule for Heaps to show his capacity?

TCU. If he has a good game against them we will know that he has turned the corner (considering Hall only had a good game once out of three tries against TCU that would be an accomplishment.) If he sucks against TCU then we probably won't know how good he is until next year and will be fill full of false hope based on his numbers against patsies (ala the end of last season...)

Y 4 Ever wrote:
Name the QBs that came in and dominated as sophomores. I can think of 1 that had a great sophomore year (Detmer), and one that had a good one (Hall). McMahan, Young, Bosco, Wilson etc, etc, all had the advantage of spending two years learning the system as backups to an experienced QB, and then stepping in a juniors. Sarkisian was a JC guy, who struggled as a junior and then excelled as a senior. Beck played as a Freshman, sucked it up, and didn't really hit his stride until 4 games into his senior year - and look how he turned out.

Both John Walsh and Kevin Feterik played reasonably well their sophomore year(s)--both had PERs in the 145 range. I think part of the problem BYU fans had with Walsh and Feterik is that they never really improved much from the potential they showed as sophomores.



Ryan Hancock went 7-1 as a sophomore beating a ranked Penn State team. Part of the reason Hancock has achieved cult status among BYU fans is because he quit when he was ahead.



Actually, Jim McMahon was WAC offensive player of the year as a sophomore in 1978 splitting time with Marc Wilson. McMahon then redshirted in 1979 to allow Wilson to play out his senior year as starter as well as fully recover from an injury.

Mingjai wrote:

Name the QBs that came in and dominated as sophomores. I can think of 1 that had a great sophomore year (Detmer), and one that had a good one (Hall). McMahan, Young, Bosco, Wilson etc, etc, all had the advantage of spending two years learning the system as backups to an experienced QB, and then stepping in a juniors. Sarkisian was a JC guy, who struggled as a junior and then excelled as a senior. Beck played as a Freshman, sucked it up, and didn't really hit his stride until 4 games into his senior year - and look how he turned out.

Both John Walsh and Kevin Feterik played reasonably well their sophomore year(s)--both had PERs in the 145 range. I think part of the problem BYU fans had with Walsh and Feterik is that they never really improved much from the potential they showed as sophomores.



Ryan Hancock went 7-1 as a sophomore beating a ranked Penn State team. Part of the reason Hancock has achieved cult status among BYU fans is because he quit when he was ahead.



Actually, Jim McMahon was WAC offensive player of the year as a sophomore in 1978 splitting time with Marc Wilson. McMahon then redshirted in 1979 to allow Wilson to play out his senior year as starter as well as fully recover from an injury.

I think Feterik was a little underrated. He had bad OLines and marginal talent late in his career. Sure, he wasn't capable of being a super star, but he was decent.

Isola wrote:
I went back and rewatched the first half from the UCF game and I had a change of heart. I have been a vocal critic of Heaps, and I think I may have gone too far. I wanted to fess up right away and clarify my position.



I think there are a couple of reasons why I was so tough on Heaps.

1. Our offense has been anemic, which really bothers me.

2. I am really disappointed that we may never get to see how Lark or Munns would have been with the starting gig.



Really I think my frustration has been more with how the coaching staff handled things in spring of 2010. It was a tough situation because Max Hall had just left, Riley Nelson had been with the program a year but was not your typical BYU QB, Lark was a redshirt RM sophomore fresh off his mission, Munns was a redshirt freshman who had yet to return from his mission, and Heaps was a highly touted freshman who graduated enrolled early to make it for spring camp.



The coaches decided to have Nelson and Heaps split time with the 1s and Lark would get the scraps. I can see how that seemed like a good decision at the time, especially giving Heaps the reps instead of Lark, since Heaps was still in the swing of football, but I think it was a bad idea. It setup a situation that we could have a true freshman starting QB and Lark and Munns were facing a real possibility of never seeing the field at BYU just because.



If Lark had returned the summer before and spent the season with the team I think he would have been splitting the reps with Nelson, or if Heaps hadn't enrolled early. With the additional preparation I think Lark could have been at least serviceable when Nelson went down with injury. If that had happened then Lark would have finished out last year and probably would have been the starter this year. Heaps would have had more time to prepare and could have competed for the starting job next year as a true junior or redshirt sophomore. Munns would have had two years with the team before competing with Heaps for the starting job as a redshirt junior. They all would have had a shot at the starting job and we wouldn't have been stuck saying "Well Heaps is doing pretty well for a true sophomore."



That is true. Heaps is doing pretty well for a true sophomore, but the coaches shouldn't have put him in that situation. And they shouldn't have set up Lark and Munns to never see the field.



And don't fool yourselves. Lark and Munns have never and will never be given real reps with the 1s unless the coaches yank Heaps. They have never been given a real shot at creating chemistry, getting comfortable and really performing. I think it is wrong that BYU recruited two big time 4-star QB recruits and they will never get a chance to really compete for the starting job, and frankly I am shocked that neither of them have transferred.



I was wrong to aim this frustration and disappointment at Heaps who has played quite well, and I think he will likely develop into a real start. But one way or another I would like to see Lark and Munns get playing time.



For the rest of the year we may only have two tough games, @ TCU and @ Hawaii. If we build a 3 score lead in any of those games, then I want to see Lark or Munns in the game and I want to see him throwing with an open play book. If for no other reason than to develop a better back up in case Heaps gets hurt.



And if we don't build a 3 score lead against the cup cakes...then Heaps probably isn't doing his job and I will want to see one of them in the game.

You are right about our offense as a whole, wrong about Heaps. Our offense has been terrible this year. So has Heaps.



He has a per of 100.5 through 4 games. Absolutely horrific. That is the worst rating of all freshman and sophomore QB's so far this year. He has massive talent, but hasn't put it together so far.



There is a lot of blame to go around, but Heaps deserves a lot of that.

Y 4 Ever wrote:

Both John Walsh and Kevin Feterik played reasonably well their sophomore year(s)--both had PERs in the 145 range. I think part of the problem BYU fans had with Walsh and Feterik is that they never really improved much from the potential they showed as sophomores.

I think Feterik was a little underrated. He had bad OLines and marginal talent late in his career. Sure, he wasn't capable of being a super star, but he was decent.

You're probably right. I do remember him getting completely lit up by an aggressive Marshall defense in the bowl game. It's too bad--if the wheels hadn't fallen off at the end of the 1999 season, he'd be remembered as a great. BYU was up to #15 before that fateful trip to Laramie.

Mingjai wrote:

Mingjai wrote:
Both John Walsh and Kevin Feterik played reasonably well their sophomore year(s)--both had PERs in the 145 range. I think part of the problem BYU fans had with Walsh and Feterik is that they never really improved much from the potential they showed as sophomores.

I think Feterik was a little underrated. He had bad OLines and marginal talent late in his career. Sure, he wasn't capable of being a super star, but he was decent.

You're probably right. I do remember him getting completely lit up by an aggressive Marshall defense in the bowl game. It's too bad--if the wheels hadn't fallen off at the end of the 1999 season, he'd be remembered as a great. BYU was up to #15 before that fateful trip to Laramie.

And were it not for a phantom holding call against VA, they might have been top ten.

A starting BYU QB is a starting BYU QB. First year starter gets a bit of a pass, I'll be fine with them being slightly below average in PER. 2nd year starter needs to be at average.

Y 4 Ever wrote:
I think that all the Heaps critics need to chillax (yes, I do have a teenagers - so I'm down with the lingo)



Remember this:



1. Heaps is true sophomore - and 19 year old (???)

2. He has a brand spanking new OC who now officially have 4 games under his belt

3. He has sub-par RBs, and an OLine that, as usual, is underachieving.

#1 is probably one of the reasons I have come across so down on Heaps. Being a sophomore may be an excuse for not being terrific, but it is not an excuse for the coaches. If he is too young, BYU has older quarterbacks, so why aren't we playing them. Nelson and Lark are ~23, and Munns is ~22. If Heaps is too young at 19, then play one of the older QBs.



To me it would be like excusing Heaps play because he is just 6'1", while a 6'5" Munns sits on the bench.



If Heaps is too young to do well, then let one of our older QBs play while Heaps gets older on the bench.



BTW, the other two points are valid, but Heaps is still going to share in the blame.

hawkwing wrote:
A starting BYU QB is a starting BYU QB. First year starter gets a bit of a pass, I'll be fine with them being slightly below average in PER. 2nd year starter needs to be at average.

I'm not saying I am suddenly pleased with Heaps performance, because he is clearly missing some passes.



I just think I was wrongly placing my frustration on Heaps, when it really belonged on the coaching staff for their handling of the entire situation. I think they should have followed a more traditional line of succession instead of making Heaps the Heir Apparent the minute he committed. As a result we keep getting told to "be patient" because Heaps is just a true sophomore, and to ignore the fact that we have two 4-star older QBs on the bench.



It is Heaps fault that he over threw Jacobson in the endzone last week, but it is not his fault that the coaches shoved him to the front of the line prematurely.

I find it humorous that now we need to be patient with Heaps. Last year we couldn't afford that patience.



Coaches and fans didn't make Heaps the "Heir Apparent." They made him the All-American starter. Heir apparent implies some sort of waiting. There was no waiting to be done with Heaps. He had to start immediately. Those who wanted him to red-shirt were lambasted and told to get on board with this kid who was the future and the future was actually the present.



And again, Heaps is 20, not 19. I know it's not much of a difference, but it does look different when he's being compared to 22 and 23-year olds. Three or four years makes him look much younger than a two or three year comparison. It's the same type of exaggeration opponents use against our returned missionaries who are always 25 or 26 when they're usually really 23 or 24.

Isola wrote:

A starting BYU QB is a starting BYU QB. First year starter gets a bit of a pass, I'll be fine with them being slightly below average in PER. 2nd year starter needs to be at average.

I'm not saying I am suddenly pleased with Heaps performance, because he is clearly missing some passes.



I just think I was wrongly placing my frustration on Heaps, when it really belonged on the coaching staff for their handling of the entire situation. I think they should have followed a more traditional line of succession instead of making Heaps the Heir Apparent the minute he committed. As a result we keep getting told to "be patient" because Heaps is just a true sophomore, and to ignore the fact that we have two 4-star older QBs on the bench.



It is Heaps fault that he over threw Jacobson in the endzone last week, but it is not his fault that the coaches shoved him to the front of the line prematurely.

I agree with what you're saying. Heaps never should have played last year, and he shouldn't be playing this year. He's simply not physically and mentally ready to compete at this level. That doesn't make him a bad person, or the suckiest suck that ever sucked, as some posters say.



But as long as he is in games and getting under 130PER I will be pointing out his flaws and where he can (and must improve). Just as I am pointing out how JJ could improve by dancing in the backfield less, and Brown could improve by fixing his snap issues. The Kariyan can improve by getting his blitz pickups timed better. etc.



Lots of areas for this offense to improve.

hawkwing wrote:

I agree with what you're saying. Heaps never should have played last year, and he shouldn't be playing this year. He's simply not physically and mentally ready to compete at this level. That doesn't make him a bad person, or the suckiest suck that ever sucked, as some posters say.



But as long as he is in games and getting under 130PER I will be pointing out his flaws and where he can (and must improve). Just as I am pointing out how JJ could improve by dancing in the backfield less, and Brown could improve by fixing his snap issues. The Kariyan can improve by getting his blitz pickups timed better. etc.



Lots of areas for this offense to improve.

This is one of the things I am backing down on with Heaps. I agree he shouldn't have played last year, and if he hadn't then Lark or Munns would have, and would probably be in position to start this year.



However, the Coaches haven't properly prepared Lark or Munns to replace Heaps this year (sorry I don't see Nelson as a viable full-time option). They kept giving Nelson 3 times as many reps as Lark and Munns. Like I said in the OP, Lark or Munns need to start getting playing time either because Heaps is excelling and we have a big lead, or because Heaps is still struggling to build a lead against cupcakes. But I am not sure Lark and Munns are ready, because the coaches haven't been giving them enough reps. And if Heaps continues to struggle or if he gets hurt, we could be in a real bind without a viable backup.



That falls on the coaches, not the QBs.

Isola wrote:

I'm not saying I am suddenly pleased with Heaps performance, because he is clearly missing some passes.

Some? Try half.



Heaps wanted to be thrust into the limelight as much as the coaches wanted him there (you don't hold press conferences if you don't like to be in the limelight). He graduated early so he could get to BYU ealier and start practicing earlier. He came on board and made a go of it, clearly expressing his desire to play. Coaches swallowed it hook line and sinker.



They had Nelson who can barely throw a football more than 10 yards and an RM QB that hadn't thrown a football in two years. I don't blame the coaches one bit for choosing to play Heaps, who at the time was the #1 high school QB in the nation.



The talent was there and is still there, we're just hoping for a bit of consistency and that's on Heaps.