The BCS likes to say that, under the current system, “every game counts.”  This is just a flat-out lie on many levels.  First and foremost, how can anyone say with a straight fact that LSU’s victory over Alabama in the regular season “counted” for anything? 

Secondly, it has become obvious that, after one loss, any game played by any team not in the SEC doesn’t “count” for anything.  Ultimately, Oklahoma State’s 12 wins didn’t “count” for anything.  Neither did Stanford’s 11 wins in the regular season.  Oregon’s season was basically over after the first game, when it lost to LSU. 

The current system is a travesty.  Why is the NCAA’s largest revenue sport still the only one in which a true champion is not determined on the field of play?  The answer, plain and simple, is that it is all about the money, but not in the way one would think. 

The BCS in general, and the bowls in particular, wield an incredible amount of power over the NCAA.  Worse yet, they allow this voluntarily.  Human nature dictates that there must be something in it for the school presidents and athletic directors who continue to vote for this system, because people almost always act in their own self-interest.  To understand this fully, a little bit of background is necessary. 

The “Granddaddy of them All,” the Rose Bowl, was originally created in 1902 to promote tourism in Pasadena.  Soon, other cities followed suit, and by 1937, there were five major bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic, Orange Bowl, and Sun Bowl.  These games were considered to be exhibitions, and had no bearing on who was called the National Champion, as all polls were done shortly after the season had ended. 

Now, there are so many bowls that 6-6 teams are being allowed to play, and 6-7 UCLA was even granted a waiver to play in a bowl this year.  The BCS was created in 1988, ostensibly to create the five “best” bowl matchups, including the “BCS Championship Game.” 

All it has done, though, is to create a “system” that is almost exactly like the old bowl system, but with two teams playing for a paper “championship” while other worthy teams are excluded.  Most teams don’t complain most years, because a major bowl with a payout in the $10 million range is a great “consolation prize.”

Really, though, it isn’t a prize anymore.  A bowl game used to be an exhibition game that would reward the student-athlete for a great year.  While the athletes are still rewarded with a week of activities and a great “swag bag” of gifts like iPods and popular video game systems, it is really nothing more than another road game, another week of hard work, and another opportunity to get injured. 

In other words, bowl games are now exactly what those who argue against a playoff cite as their main reason for arguing against a playoff: more wear and tear on the “student-athlete.”  With the new schedule that plays the “championship game” a full week after the New Year’s Day bowls, and lesser bowls playing the week in between, the other argument that a playoff would take too long is laughable.

So, why do the presidents keep voting against a playoff and refusing to even discuss it most years?  It is because the presidents get too many perks from the bowls.  Basically, too many bowls are a money-laundering operation where money is funneled from the general funds of the athletic departments and turned into vacations for the presidents, athletic directors, various trustees and school officials, and their families. 

Schools are required to “buy” amounts of tickets that they can’t possibly sell, and the difference is “made up” by the school purchasing the unsold tickets themselves.  This money is used to entertain presidents and AD’s, and to buy numerous gifts for decision-makers.  The Fiesta Bowl Scandal of 2011 is laughable, in that those who were fired were only doing what nearly every other major bowl is doing in a de facto sense: bribing school officials. 

Consequently, even though the NCAA is leaving a ton of money on the table by not having a true playoff, most bowl officials believe that a true playoff would diminish the importance of the bowls.  Bowl officials desperately want to retain their power, and don’t hesitate to use the relationships they have built with presidents and AD’s over the years to their advantage.

So, how does this affect the Cougars?  First of all, it is obvious that they need to stay right where they are.  If the Cougars want to play for the “National Championship,” they will have to run the table, but it is possible in a great year.  The trick is to schedule just enough games against high-quality competition to obtain high rankings, but not so many that they risk being knocked out of the running.

Until the system is changed, it just doesn’t make sense for the Cougars to join a conference.  At this point, they have one main competitor: Notre Dame.  If the Cougars are the best of the independent teams, they will probably get a slot in a BCS bowl.  Instead of competing against 10-14 teams for the honor, it is much better leverage to compete against a few independents. 

The Cougars have enough natural rivalries to fill out an entertaining schedule, and enough TV coverage to get ranked highly if they win between 11 or 12 games.   As we guessed last spring, it will take at least 10 wins to get into a BCS bowl, and probably 11.  Until the system changes, it just makes more sense to remain independent. 

If there is ever a playoff consisting of conference champions only, then the Cougars will be forced to join a conference.  In the meantime, though, they are in the best possible situation.  They can continue to grow the BYU brand, take care of business on the field, and set their sights squarely on overtaking Notre Dame as the top independent football program in the country.

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

The BCS Scam-pionship and How It Affects the Cougars

Cougars win Third Straight Bowl Game

In August, we correctly guessed that anything less than ten regular season wins would keep the Cougars from a BCS bid and put them in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces bowl. Even though the bowl was in Fort Worth, the finish was more worthy of their early 1980’s appearances in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The Cougars came from behind twice, and would finally win the game in the last minute on a play for the ages.

As has been their habit against good teams, the Cougars started slow. Tulsa started their first drive on their own 24, and Brandon Ogletree was whistled for a facemask penalty, giving the Golden Hurricane the ball on their own 39. The Cougars then allowed Tulsa to drive down the field 61 yards for a touchdown in a little over six minutes. Tulsa would net 19 yards on the ground and 42 in the air. This would turn out to be one more rushing yard than Tulsa got for the rest of the game combined.

As we often see in bowl games against reasonably well-matched teams, most of the game was a defensive struggle. The Cougars scored on a 35 yard field goal by Justin Sorenson with seventeen seconds left in the first quarter to close the margin to 7-3 for Tulsa. On Tulsa’s second offensive drive in the second quarter, the defense went to sleep for four plays, and it would cost them an 86-yard drive for a touchdown that took only 1:16 off of the clock. A seven-yard run was followed by passes of 50, 14, and 14 yards to put Tulsa ahead 14-3.

At the end of the first half, special teams came up big, as David Foote recovered a Justin Sorenson punt that was fumbled by JD Ratliff at the Tulsa 17. If there’s one thing the Cougars have proven this year, it’s that they are able to take advantage of opportunities caused by turnovers. Riley Nelson did what great QB’s and teams do, throwing a 17-yard pass to Cody Hoffman on the first play for a touchdown to bring the Cougars to within 14-10 with twelve seconds left in the first half. On the play, which will probably be in a lot of highlight reels, Matt Reynolds lost his helmet, but then flattened Tulsa DE Cory Dorris, giving Nelson time to make what turned out to be a crucial throw.

In the second half, though, it was more defense. Finally, with 1:41 left in the third quarter, Nelson hit Hoffman with another TD pass, this time for 31 yards, to put the Cougars on top, 17-14. With 10:42 left in the fourth quarter, though, the defense would once again allow a big play for Tulsa, as they took advantage of a short field. They completed a 58-yard drive with a 30-yard TD pass, and would go on top, 21-17.

After failed drives by both teams, the Cougars would get the ball back at the Tulsa 48 with 4:18 and the season on the line. Riley Nelson will never be confused with a classic, drop-back, rifle-armed NFL quarterback, but he is one of the most competitive and fearless quarterbacks in the game. The last drive showed almost everything that is great about the Cougars in four minutes and seven seconds. After three plays for one yard, it was fourth and nine on the Tulsa 47-yard line. Failing to find an open receiver, Riley Nelson tucked the ball and ran 14 yards for a first down.

The Cougars then went to the running game with Bryan Kariya and JJ DiLuigi getting the ball to the Tulsa 13-yard line, and Riley Nelson getting the ball to the eight. Nelson would complete a pass to Marcus Mathews at the two. Then came the play that had the football world paying attention to the Cougars. BYU had no time outs left, and Nelson was yelling the signal to “clock” the ball. As the ball was snapped, everyone on the team did what they would normally do in a “clock” situation.

Everyone, that is, but Riley Nelson and Cody Hoffman. Nelson threw the ball to Hoffman on the right side of the end zone for a touchdown with eleven seconds left on the clock. A Justin Sorenson extra point, and subsequent kickoff into the end zone for a touchback would leave Tulsa with eleven seconds to go eighty yards. Tulsa would lateral the ball twice and fumble it once before Travis Uale would cover the ball up for the victory.

Game balls go to Riley Nelson, Cody Hoffman, and Matt Reynolds on offense. On defense, Kyle Van Noy had another solid game, with nine solo tackles, two sacks, and one QB hurry. David Foote gets the special teams game ball for his fumble recovery, and Justin Sorenson gets one for a very consistent game and for not giving Tulsa a chance to win the game on his kickoff.

In winning the Armed Forces Bowl, the Cougars won three bowl games in a row for the first time in their history. They also wrapped up their fifth 10-win season in the last six years, which they have only done once before, from 1980-1985. At the beginning of the season, we knew the Cougars had a chance of having a special season, but that it would take a few bounces going the right way for it to happen. All in all, though, 2011 turned out to be a very good year for BYU.

On the good side, BYU has found its next great quarterback. Once again, Riley Nelson probably won’t make it to the NFL, but he is the consummate team player, and one of the toughest quarterbacks in college. Most of all, Riley Nelson is a leader. Greatness is often measured in stats. With Riley Nelson, though, it has to be “measured” by the intangibles.

To be a great quarterback, you have to win games. Also, your team has to follow you. Riley Nelson has a very rare talent. He is able to make the team play better when he is in the game. Like a great point guard in basketball, Nelson’s strength is his ability to manage the team and get the job done, regardless of individual stats or glory.

When Nelson lost his job to Jake Heaps, a lesser man would have pouted and complained about “losing his starting job due to injury.” Riley Nelson didn’t do that, though. Instead, he “manned up,” contributed to the team in any way he could, and made sure he would be prepared for his next opportunity. When Nelson finally got the opportunity, he took full advantage of it, and the Cougars showed their respect by the way they responded with Nelson behind center. By the time it was all over, the Cougars had another ten-win season.

Thank you, Riley Nelson, for being such a great leader this season. The Cougars are in good hands for 2012.

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

Armed Forces Bowl Highlights

When:  December 30  10:00 am, MST

Where:  Ford Stadium, Dallas

Teams:  BYU (9-3, independent) vs Tulsa (8-4, CUSA)

Tulsa is quite similar to the Cougars.  The Cougars won eight of their last nine games, while Tulsa won seven of their last eight.  Tulsa ran better numbers than the Cougars this year, finishing 23^rd in the FBS in total offense with 454.4 yards per game, and 24^th in scoring at 34.1 points per game.  Meanwhile, the Cougars finished 41^st in total offense with  410.8 yards per game, and 42^nd in points with 30.6 points per game. 

On defense, Tulsa allowed 27.6 points per game this year, while the Cougars allowed only 20.3 points per game to rank 23^rd in the FBS.  Remember that the Cougars’ total is skewered greatly by the Utah game getting out of hand to the tune of 54 Ute points.  

 Both teams lost to higher-ranked teams but took care of business against lower-ranked teams.    Both teams are balanced, though Tulsa is a little better at running the ball.  Tulsa averaged 204.6 yards per game on the ground and 249.8 in the air.  The Cougars gained 165.8 on the ground and 245.0 in the air. 

For Tulsa, here are the players to watch out for.

G.J Kinne, QB. 

Kinne started all twelve games for the Golden Hurricane and finished with 230 completions in 359 attempts for 2876 yards with 12 interceptions and 25 TD’s.  He also ran for 513 yards in 112 carries. 

Ja’Terian Douglas, RB.

Douglas ran the ball 108 times for 909 yards, which comes out to an impressive average of 8.2 yards per carry.  He scored four touchdowns. 

Trey Watts, RB.

Watts ran the ball 147 times for 872 yards for an average of 5.7 yards per carry and three touchdowns. 

Willie Carter, H-back/slot receiver.

Carter caught 61 passes in eleven games for 868 yards for an average of 14.2 per catch and 78.9 per game.  He had seven touchdowns and a long catch of 69 yards.

Bryan Burnham, Wide Receiver.

Burnham caught 50 passes in twelve games for 737 yards, an average of 14.7 yards per catch and 61.4 per game.  He had eight touchdowns and a long catch of 56 yards.

Carter and Burnham are just two of five receivers who got serious time and gained at least 355 yards in 2011. 

On defense, LB’s Cornelius Arnick (91 solo tackles) and Shawn Jackson (63 solo tackles) lead the way, with  Dexter McCoil (FS),Marco Nelson (SS), and LB Alan Dock right behind them.   

All in all, this looks to be a competitive matchup for the Cougars.  The Cougars are going for their third consecutive bowl win, which is something they have never been able to accomplish.  They are also going for their fifth ten-win season in the last seven years, which would put head coach Bronco Mendelhall in a class with Bob Stoops and Mark Richt as coaches who had five seasons of ten wins or more in their first seven years. 

The biggest question for the Cougars is who will back up Riley Nelson at QB if he gets injured.  James Lark was the backup QB when Nelson was injured, but we can’t even pretend to know exactly what is going on with the backup position right now.  All we can do is hope that Nelson is able to play the entire game, giving OC Brandon Doman ample time this spring to develop some depth at the position for next season. 

We have a feeling, though, that Doman may want Nelson to slide or go out of bounds a bit more often in the bowl game. 

Our take:

We think that Tulsa will have problems moving the ball against the Cougar defense.  We also expect the defense to come up with a turnover or two.  We see the game being played close to the vest in the first half, with the Cougars finally pulling away in the fourth quarter as Riley Nelson’s leadership and versatility makes the difference. 

BYU 34, Tulsa 14.

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Preview

Taking Care of Business: Hawaiian Style

Most of us expected the Cougars to take care of business against Hawaii on Saturday.  We just didn’t expect the return of Riley Nelson to the starting lineup.  Nelson not only managed to overcome rib and lung injuries to make the flight over to the islands, but was able to play, too.

In the first half, some may have begun to wonder if Nelson was healthy enough to play this game.  Nelson put up decent numbers, but the Cougars trailed 13-10 at the half, even with an 18:32 to 11:28 advantage in time of possession.  

For awhile, it looked like it could be one of those “anything that can happen will happen” games.  It looked especially bad in the second quarter when Justin Sorensen missed a field goal attempt wide left after missing one wide right in the first quarter.  Making it worse, Hawaii scored on a 79-yard pass on their first subsequent play from scrimmage.  

Sorensen would finally end a streak of five misses with a 33-yarder at the end of the half to make the score Hawaii 13, BYU 10.  At the half, besides the huge advantage in time of possession, the Cougars had outplayed the Warriors on both sides of the ball, but the one long pass play had put Hawaii ahead.  

The question during halftime was, “will the Cougars finally take advantage of the personnel differential and pull away, or would the Warriors find a way to stay in the game and make it close?  As we all know, the longer an underdog stays in the game, the more confidence they get, and the better their chances of pulling off an upset.  

Finally, in one glorious quarter, all of the questions for both Riley Nelson and the Cougars were answered.  The numbers?  BYU gained 37 on the ground and 168 in the air for a total of 205 yards, while Hawaii lost nine yards on the ground and gained fifteen in the air for a total of six yards.  The Cougars scored 28 points and the Warriors none, but it was even more dominating than the scoreboard looked.  

For the game, which ended in a 41-20 victory, Nelson had his career-best passing performance, going 25 of 37 for 363 yards and three touchdowns.  Cody Hoffman caught seven passes for 123 yards, and provided the best highlight of the game when he turned a one-handed catch into a 39-yard touchdown.  Ross Apo “only” had four catches, but two of them were for touchdowns.  JD Falslev and Marcus Matthews both had 80 yards, with five catches for Falslev and four for Matthews.  

The defense held Hawaii to 299 yards.  They were more solid than spectacular, but the one big play was a game changer.  Joe Sampson returned a Joey Iosefa fumble 26 yards on Hawaii’s first drive of the second half.  It would help set the tone for the quarter, and Hawaii was never a threat after that.  

Overall, it was an entertaining game for a national audience.  It was also a statement by Riley Nelson that he isn’t going to give up any opportunity start unless he is told not to play by the medical staff.  Nelson once again showed the toughness that has earned him the respect of his teammates.  

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

BYU vs Hawaii Highlight Video

For this week, we had written a post about what we called the “Jake Heaps Question.” As we were about to post it, we got the news that Jake Heaps was, indeed, going to transfer from BYU. This wasn’t surprising, but it would have been better if he had waited until after the Armed Forces Bowl game against Tulsa, because another injury to Riley Nelson could put the Cougars in a bind.

Heaps is a talented QB who will probably get better. Right now, Heaps has two years of eligibility left. If he had stayed at BYU he would have had to sacrifice his personal stats and possibly his chances to play in the NFL by watching Nelson again next year, leaving him one more year to play football as the starter, or redshirt, learn and grow, and prepare to be the starter for two years.

If he had gone on a mission, it would have been the best option of all. He would have fulfilled the his church obligations, and he would have come back stronger, older, wiser, and more mature. He would have had to wait two years to play football, though, and that apparently would have been too long. As we’ve learned, Jake Heaps cares most about ….well…. Jake Heaps.

Heaps will still have to wait a year to play football unless he transfers to a smaller school where he can play right away. The problem with a smaller school is that it won’t further his ambition to be an NFL quarterback.

Ultimately, the answer to the Jake Heaps question is that Jake Heaps is more about his NFL career than he is about BYU or the LDS mission that BYU football really works for. To his credit, he acted like a man this year, and took his demotion with grace and class. This move, though, makes it obvious that he doesn’t have the patience to wait for one year for his chance to start, and that his personal agenda is more important to him than BYU as a team with a mission and winning football games together.

One of the dangers of being a program like BYU that holds its players to a higher standard is that often, players can’t quite handle it. In this era, the voices that encourage a player to think, “me, me, me” are a lot louder and more pervasive than the voices of reason. In this case, more playing time is more important to Jake Heaps than staying at “his” school or working within the team’s mission.

Ultimately, the Jake Heaps story at BYU will be one of unfulfilled potential and disappointment. It was tough that Heaps was demoted, but he didn’t move the team as well as Riley Nelson, and really left the coaches no choice. If he had stayed, he could have grown into a more complete quarterback, and he would have had an opportunity for a great senior season that would have catapulted him into one of the first two rounds of the NFL draft.

As fans, we’re pretty angry, and I’ve seen many others manifesting dissatisfaction throughout the social media channels. At this site, we’ve supported and stood by Heaps despite other criticisms because we believed that beneath what appeared to be self-interest, Heaps was personally committed to the team deep down. That is, apparently, not the case.

Now he will be remembered as just another guy (like Ben Olson) who came, went, made a little noise, but never really finished what he started. In the end, though, we wish him well. Jake isn’t the first kid to transfer from one college to another, nor will he be the last. We hope he grows a little during the year he sits out, and we hope that he doesn’t blow his next chance to “man up.”

This attitude, however, that Jake is all about Jake and not about BYU, is really the ‘hubris’ that was his downfall on the team.  Why did the players seem to play harder for Riley? Because he served a mission and Jake didn’t? No. It’s because Riley transferred to BYU because he wants to be a BYU quarterback, he loves the team and is committed to the school’s mission.  When Jake stood by and watched his interceptor run for the endzone, it sadly communicated to fans and the team where his heart was. Sorry Jake, but your actions have just shown that you don’t have that undefinable quality that it takes for greatness as a BYU QB, and it’s the whole reason you never had the team completely on your side.

We still wish Heaps well in his pursuit of his dreams, but BYU will go forward and be fine.  We will be grateful that he helped bring us Kyle Van Noy and Ross Apo. But to borrow from an old folk song, “Farewell, Jake: we hardly knew ye.”

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

The Jake Heaps Question: Answered

Happy Senior Night

Senior day or night, like homecoming, is best done against a tomato can.  Seniors play their last home game, fans get to celebrate them, and those who stuck it out but didn’t play a lot often see some time in the fourth quarter.  The 2011 version against New Mexico State was a great final home game for the seniors and some of them made great contributions to the 42-7 victory.  

If honor of the seniors, we’ll look at some of their contributions first.  JJ DiLuigi ran 12 times for 75 yards, for an average of 6.25 per carry.  It puts him at 16th on the all time list, which is pretty good for someone who isn’t a burner but maximized every bit of his talent while in Provo. 

Bryan Kariya added another 30 yards and one touchdown in 7 carries.   Matt Marshall got one carry, but he made the most of it with a two-yard touchdown.  TE Matthew Edwards caught a 9-yard TD pass.  Terence Brown didn’t show up on any stat sheets, but his contributions on the offensive line have been greatly appreciated by everyone who has played QB during his stay in Provo, and he played a typically solid game.  

There were plenty of contributions on defense, too.  Jadon Wagner caused a fumble in the first half that was recovered by Jameson Frazier, and Wagner recovered one in the third quarter.  

As for the rest of the team, Jake Heaps was solid once again, putting up the kind of numbers we expected at the beginning of the year.  He was 21 of 36 for 238 yards with one interception and four touchdowns.  For his efforts, Heaps was named Independent Player of the Week.  It should be noted that Heaps took his demotion with class and dignity, didn’t complain, never stopped working, and stayed ready in case he was needed.  It is great to see Heaps rewarded for doing things the Cougar way.  

Ross Apo lead the team in receiving with five catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns.  JD Falslev and McKay Jacobson were over 40 yards, JJ DiLuigi had three catches for 31 yards.  Cody Hoffman and Kaneakua Friel were over 20 yards.  

On defense, Preston Hadley and Brandon Ogletree had seven tackles each to lead the Cougars, while Kyle Van Noy gave a typical Kyle Van Noy performance with 6 solo tackles and two tackles for loss.  The only thing missing for Van Noy was another turnover.  

All in all, the Cougars were very workmanlike in their methodical dismantling of New Mexico State, with seven points each in the first and fourth quarters, and fourteen points each in the second and third quarters.   The defense was also solid, allowing one touchdown in the second quarter but nothing the rest of the way.  

Congrats to the Cougars for another fine performance.  Next up: Hawaii in two weeks.  

Cougars Accept Bowl Bid

We already knew this would happen, so it is no surprise, but the Cougars were officially extended their guaranteed berth in the Armed Forces Bowl against a yet-to-be-named CUSA team.  Most of CUSA is similar to Central Florida, who played the Cougars tough but were ultimately not quite good enough.  

The only sticking point is that this game is being played on SMU’s home field, and SMU is currently projected to be the opponent.  Playing a road game against an up-and-coming team that is angry because it didn’t do better is not exactly a fair deal.  On the bright side, SMU is currently 6-5, with four losses in their last five games.  We’ll know later, but the intangibles appear to be solely on the side of the Mustangs.  

What is Going On with the Big East?

A few weeks ago, it looked like the Cougars to the Big East, along with Boise State, UCF, Houston, and aforementioned SMU, was a done deal.  Now, it is reported that the Cougars are holding the deal up, and that San Diego State might get their berth if they don’t settle by the end of next week.  

Reportedly, the first snag is money because BYU has a great TV deal.  That is negotiable and probably will require concessions on both sides.  The second factor, though, may be too much to overcome.  

Reportedly, the Cougars want assurances that the Big East will keep their BCS Automatic Qualifier status.  They want to be able to return to independent status with no penalty if the Big East loses its AQ status.  This is inherently fair because it simply forces the Big East to deliver on what they promise.  The problem here is that the Big East doesn’t see it that way.  

As it sits right now, the Cougars can realistically get into a BCS game by finishing  11-1 and being ranked higher than Notre Dame.   Some years, 10-2 might even be enough.  Even with all of the ups and downs this year, the Cougars can still finish 9-3.  The point is that they are really close to being able to make it to a BCS bowl as an independent. 

Therefore, it is perfectly natural for the Cougars to protect themselves before entering any agreement with any conference.  The politics here are very basic: the conferences want to lock everybody in with extreme punitive damages for leaving, while the schools want the flexibility to evolve with the current landscape.  

We hope that the Cougars don’t give in on their requirement that the Big East puts its money where its mouth is.  The Cougars are a very desirable program, and a move to the Big 12 or Pac 12 would make more sense than one to the Big East.  

The only real reason for the Cougars to join the Big East is for the AQ berth.  The travel, even in a “Big East Western Division,” will be very demanding.  If the Big East’s AQ berth disappears, the Cougars should be allowed to do the same. 

After all, what’s fair is fair.

UPDATE: The Big East deal appears to be dead. We’ll see, but BYU appears to really be in this independent status for the long haul.

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

BYU vs NMSU Highlight Video

Enter Jake Heaps, who did a great job in relief of Nelson.  Heaps was 15 out of 20 with two touchdowns and one interception for an average of 9.3 yards per attempt and 12.3 yards per completion for a stellar efficiency rating of 175.7, just a touch better than Nelson’s 171.49 rating.  Heaps will now get to play the next two games, first against another tomato can in New Mexico State, and finally against Hawaii, which is the most Jekyll/Hyde team in the history of football.  

I’m sure there will be a lot of people who clamor for the return of Heaps to the starting position.  Once again, though, there will be no QB controversy.  Coach Bronco Mendenhall has stated that the starting job is still Nelson’s, and that Nelson will play as soon as he is able.  Heaps still has the best upside for the future, but Nelson is a bit more efficient right now.  

There are many reasons that those in the Heaps camp can cite for awarding the starting job to Jake Heaps.  Heaps throws the ball a lot better than Nelson, and has a higher upside.  After losing his starting job, he didn’t whine, cry, or act like a diva.  Instead, he worked hard to get better.  He is now following through on his play fakes much, much better, and has made his throwing motion a bit more compact, giving him a slightly quicker release.  

Also, while Heaps was playing against the tough teams at the beginning of the schedule, Nelson has gotten to play the weaker teams in the middle.  Both have losses to good teams, and have cleaned up on the lesser teams.  Ultimately, though, the two most important reasons will be in Nelson’s favor.  First of all, the upperclassmen are more willing to follow Nelson than they are Heaps.  You can call it leading by example or whatever you want, but the fact is that the team just plays better when Nelson is in there.

Secondly, during the season, it is against the “code” to let a player lose his starting job to an injury.  Nelson’s performance has been very good, and Coach Mendenhall won’t take Nelson’s job away from him just because Heaps shows he can beat up a few lesser teams.  Also, there is a reason why the team will do anything for Nelson: he is tough.  He played the entire second series with two broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung, and drove the team in for a touchdown.  

Basically, we have Riley Nelson’s toughess, maturity, running ability, and attention to detail against the arm, playmaking, and potential of Jake Heaps.  There will be a time for Jake Heaps to shine.  We thought it was this year, but it wasn’t to be.  There is no sin in that, nor is there any reason for Jake Heaps to hang his head.  He is young, and was beaten out by an older player.  Besides, Heaps has two more games this season to make it a good one.  

In an ideal situation, Heaps shouldn’t have had to be force fed the offense last year, anyway.  Most quarterbacks in good programs get to watch for a couple of years and learn everything about the offense from a seat on the bench, applying it against other teams’ scrubs at the end of blowouts.  In that ideal situation, Heaps would be learning and progressing right now, making him ready to contribute somewhere down the line.  

Instead, Heaps has had to shoulder the responsibility of being THE man at a marquee program for quarterbacks at a younger age than he should have.  And when he sits on the bench, it feels like it is because he failed instead of because that’s just the way things are done.  Ultimately, the way events have gone this year will help Heaps grow at a faster rate than he would have, but at an emotional cost.  For now, his responsibility is to get ready for the next game and do as well as he can.  Then, he can get ready for the next game.  That is really all he can do right now, and all he should have to do.  

We expect Nelson to come back for the bowl game, and then the battle starts all over again next spring and summer.  We don’t know which quarterback will win, but the team will win either way by having two quarterbacks with different strengths capable of starting.

The best-case scenario for the Cougars would be for Riley Nelson to have one great year as a senior and for Heaps to have one great year as a senior the following year.  It might seem sorta unfair to Heaps to only have one “season in the sun,” but Brigham Young University isn’t about individual glory, and it never was.  

There are 120 teams playing Division 1 or Football Bowl Subdivision football right now.  They range from football factories to schools that know they can’t win and have football almost as an afterthought, or because they know how much it means to a school to be perceived as a “major college.”  The Cougars are different from all of them.  

At BYU, the coaches can’t just recruit anyone like a big football factory can.  They can’t overlook “minor” transgressions because those students would be almost a lock to break the honor code sometime down the road.  And they can’t overlook low GPA’s, SAT’s, and ACT’s, because those players probably won’t be able to hack actually having to go to their own classes and do their own school work.  

At most colleges, players supposedly represent their school, but usually end up representing themselves more than their schools.   At BYU, they not only represent the school, but the LDS, even if they aren’t yet members.  They may represent themselves, but they can only do it by being sportsmen and citizens of whom the LDS and BYU can be proud.

Both Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson have represented BYU and the LDS in a way of which everyone can be proud.  In other words, the program is in great hands, no matter who starts and who sits on the bench.

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

Staying the Course with Jake Heaps…For Now

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

BYU vs Idaho

Right from the start, the Cougars were in trouble.  When Brandon Ogletree was called for a bogus personal foul after the Cougars had made a great stop on defense, he temporarily lost his poise.  Unfortunately, losing his poise made for a wide-open TCU receiver on the next play: TCU 7, BYU 0.

On the next series, after officials somehow “missed” a pass interference penalty and a personal foul against TCU, the special teams decided to start Christmas gifts early.  As the commentators mentioned, the Cougars had only punted three times since Riley Nelson took over in the USU game.  The punt was a disaster as Riley Stephenson was unable to field a bad snap, and TCU subsequently got the ball inside the 10.  

Next, the defense was caught napping, and TCU backup QB Matt Brown scored on a run through a hole that the marching band could have gotten through.  TCU 14, BYU 0.  After that, it was simply a case of the Cougars not being able to get out of their own way long enough to catch up.  This game ended up as a ten point game, but 14 of TCU’s points came after botched snaps by Reed Hourning.  

Going into the season, TCU was seen as a top ten team by many.  The Cougars were seen as a fringe top-25 team at best.  TCU was seen as having an elite defense and an offense that merely had to plug in another player to replace current NFL QB Andy Dalton.  

Both teams came into this game with two losses, though, and there really isn’t much of a difference between them now, even after Friday night’s missed opportunity.  What makes this possibly the most painful loss of the season is that, by losing to a team that really isn’t any better than they are, the Cougars missed a golden opportunity to make a statement in the marquee Friday night game on ESPN.

The Cougars outgained the Horned Frogs, both on the ground and through the air, for a total advantage of 354 to 283  They had 24 first downs to 14 for TCU.  While the time of possession was almost even, the Cougars ran 81 offensive plays as opposed to 62 for the Horned Frogs.  

But when you add in two botched punts and two terrible interceptions by Riley Nelson, not to mention another week of penalties being called or not called at just the “right” time, it adds up to a crucial loss on a national stage.  The bottom line is that you can’t give up this many turnovers and win against a good team.  

Luckily, the worst of the schedule is over, and Friday’s cloud has plenty of silver lining.  First of all, the team never quit.  Even when most teams would have lost their edge and gotten blown out, the Cougars never stopped trying to make a game of it.  Here is a quote from Bronco Mendanhall:

“I think it was a privilege to coach this team tonight, because they wanted to keep on playing.  I think they wished we could have played two or three more quarters.  They wanted to keep playing football…they realized and were frustrated by the mistakes we made, but they were having fun, and they were supporting each other, and they believe in one another, and I believe in them.”

Sure, the Cougars made mistakes.  Coach Mendenhall took some of the blame for the playcalling at the end of the second half, and admitted he would have done a few things differently, especially on the last drive.  But everyone on the team, from coaches to players to support personnel, has each others’ backs.  Going into a bye week, it is comforting to know that there won’t be any of the backbiting and bickering that often happens on less mature teams in this position.  

Also, the defense played very well against what has been a high-powered offense most of the season.  They really played well enough to win.  They were fooled on a wheel route after the Ogletree penalty, and they had problems defending the wildcat plays run by the backup QB.  Other than that, the defense played as well as could be expected, considering the short fields TCU was given by turnovers and special teams mistakes.  

One last point about this game before moving on: if anyone thinks Jake Heaps should have gone in, please don’t bother.  Riley Nelson has his weaknesses: first, he doesn’t have a rocket arm.  Second, his greatest strength, his competitiveness, is also his greatest weakness sometimes.  Nelson doesn’t quite realize yet that there are times to keep the play going and times to just throw the ball away.  

Ultimately, though, Nelson’s feet and his leadership skills make up for his lack of arm strength, and he will learn when to bail out of a play with a little more experience.  We expect him to make a quantum leap in that department after he has had two weeks to watch film of his mistakes against TCU.   

We still think Heaps has a lot of potential, and we expected him to be the starting QB this season, but the players on the team play better for Nelson than they do for Heaps.  The bottom line is that it is the job of Brandon Doman and Bronco Mendenhall to decide who is going to play QB for the Cougars.  We heartily recommend trusting the coaches to do their jobs the best they know how.

At the beginning of the year, we thought 11-1 would be a great season, 10-2 would be a very good season, and 9-3 would be a good season.  The Cougars have a very good chance of ending at 9-3.  They need to take care of business against Idaho in two weeks and then New Mexico State the next week, before another bye week and a game at always-dangerous Hawaii on December 3.  

A 9-3 season capped with a bowl victory to make it 10-3 would be a very good place to start their tenure as an independent team.  We don’t really know how long the Cougars will be an independent team, but they are positioning themselves for a great future either way.  

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

One Game Does Not Define A Season

The benefit of playing a game like this one in the middle of the season is that you can rest up and get a few players healed for bigger games.  In this situation, though, it wasn’t really any advantage for the next big game, as next week’s opponent, TCU, destroyed New Mexico, 69-0.  

So, what did we learn Saturday?  Pretty much nothing we didn’t already know.  There were a lot of contributions all around, and it was a good day for almost everyone.  Kyle Van Noy and Riley Nelson both won FBS Independent Player of the Week awards.  The awards are voted by a panel of two media members from every football market in the country.   

Van Noy continued his stellar play, blocking and recovering a punt and collecting two sacks on the day, along with three tackles for loss.  Most LB”s don’t really have years like the one Van Noy is having until they are juniors or seniors.  Van Noy’s accomplishments are all the more impressive when stacked up against other sophomore LB’s at major college programs.  

Then again, there is the elephant in the room.  Van Noy injured Idaho State’s punter David Harrington, giving him a concussion and taking him out of the game.  ISU coach Mike Kramer called it a dirty hit, and his soundbite at halftime is, sadly, all a lot of people will remember from the game.  Van Noy, who apologized to Kramer of his own volition after the game, said he didn’t know he was hitting the punter and didn’t know the hit was late.  Was the hit late?  Yes.  Dirty?  No.  

Football is a tough game played by tough people.  Players are coached from junior football at five years old to play hard through to the end of the play.  Sometimes players don’t hear the whistle, or they hear it after their synapses have already fired off for one last hit.  We’re not saying the hit wasn’t late, but Van Noy didn’t intentionally deliver a late hit, nor did he intentionally injure the punter.  

As far as we are concerned, the matter is over.  Van Noy apologized, Bronco Mendenhall apologized, and that should really be enough.  If Kyle Van Noy had established a pattern of dirty play, it would be another situation altogether, but he hasn’t.  Van Noy’s body of work, so far, is that of someone who plays as hard as anyone on the field every play of every game.  We wish Harrington well, but we also have to put Harrington’s injury in the “stuff happens in football” category.

As for Riley Nelson, what can we say?  Nelson continues to improve every week, and this was a great week for him to just have fun playing football.  Nelson went 11 for 17, with three touchdowns, and gained 62 yards in seven rushes for another touchdown.  The Cougars spread the wealth around, too.  Ross Apo and Cody Hoffman each had 5 catches for 71 yards, and eight players in all caught passes.

The rushing game was in great form, too.  The Cougars ran the ball 44 times for 302 yards, which works out to a 6.6-yard average.  Michael Alisa had eight carries for 66 yards, and Josh Quezada had 11 carries for 62 yards. JJ DiLuigi was once again versatile, with six carries for 42 yards and an average of 7.0, and a 51-yard catch during the first drive of the second half, for 103 yards of offense.  

There was a Jake Heaps sighting.  After he threw an interception on his first series, he calmed down and ended up going eight of the next nine for 67 yards, ending eight of ten.  Both Heaps and Nelson have shown a lot of Cougar class as they have traded places twice in the last two years.  Heaps looked a lot better at executing play fakes than he did earlier in the year.  We have to deduce that his time on the bench is making him a better player.  Kudos to both players for avoiding the “quarterback controversy” that so many in the media are trying to drum up.

On defense, it was more of the same.  Jordan Pendleton had two sacks, two tackles for losses, and total of 23 players made solo tackles, with 26 making solos or assists.  Travis Uale, Marcus Matthews, and Daniel Sorenson had interceptions.  

All in all, the Cougars dominated both sides of the ball.  It was a well-earned break, and an opportunity for a lot of players to get playing time.  It was more of a “live practice” than a game, with both sides of the ball having the opportunity to work on their execution against live competition.  

Next, though, comes TCU on Friday night.  TCU is 5-2, and the game is at Arlington Stadium in Texas.  TCU is obviously not the dominant team it was last year, but they are still a tough team.  They lost rivalry games to Baylor and SMU, both of whom have been playing decent ball.  Even though it was TCU who got all of the pre-season accolades, they are really quite similar to the Cougars.  

They are playing good defense, and they really don’t have a marquee victory on their resume this year.  The Cougars have played a tougher schedule, though, and the Horned Frogs have beaten mostly cupcakes, with their wins coming over Air Force, Louisiana-Monroe, Portland State, SDSU, and New Mexico.  There are a couple of decent teams there, but they don’t have a big enough body of work to know exactly where they sit on the college football food chain.  

This should be one of the better games of the season.  We think the Cougars will win, 35-34, in what will undoubtedly be called an “upset” by most of the media.  

Post from: BYU Sports Guy

Finally, a Cupcake