BYU Football Schedule 2013

February 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment 

DATE OPPONENT PLACE FINAL SCORE
8/31 Virgina Charlottesville, VA  TBA
9/7 Texas PROVO, UT TBA
9/21 Utah PROVO, UT TBA
9/27 Middle Tennessee St. PROVO, UT TBA
10/4 Utah State Logan, UT TBA
10/12 Georgia Tech PROVO, UT TBA
10/19 Houston Houston, TX TBA
10/26 Boise State PROVO, UT TBA
11/9 Wisconsin Wisconsin, MI TBA
11/16 Idaho State PROVO, UT TBA
11/23 Notre Dame South Bend, IN TBA
11/30 Nevada Reno, NV TBA
DATE TBA OPPONENT TBA BOWL TBA SCORE TBA

See the 2012 Schedule and Score Results

See the 2011 Schedule and Score Results

See the 2010 Schedule and Score Results

See the 2009 Schedule and Score Results

 BYU Football Schedule 2013

As Expected, Cougars Tame Wildcats. Bring it on, Utes

September 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

Weber State wasn’t expected to be much more than a quaint collection of used blocking sleds and tackling dummies.  They didn’t exceed anyone’s expectations on Saturday.  Riley Nelson needed all of one half to pass for 244 yards and one TD, and the Cougars won, 45-13. 

Weber State may be an instate team, but they really aren’t an instate rival.  Consequently, the Cougars were sure to say all of the right things after the game, complementing Weber State for playing so hard.  Honestly, though, this game wasn’t nearly as close as the final score might indicate.  Even the fact that the Cougars were looking ahead to bitter rival Utah couldn’t stop this game from being a blowout.    

The numbers pretty much say it all.  The Cougars outgained the Wildcats in total yardage, 532-254.  The Cougars passed for 307, while the Wildcats passed for 139.  The Cougars gained 225 on the ground, while the Wildcats gained 115.  The Cougars turned the ball over twice, while the Wildcats turned it over three times.  Weber State couldn’t even beat the Cougars in punting with a 50.7 average, because Riley Stephenson punted five times for a 53.2 yard average. 

The first star of the game for the Cougars was Riley Nelson for putting the game away by halftime and not having to risk injury playing through back spasms in the second half.  The second star is Riley Stephenson, who added 6 PAT’s and a field goal to his five punts.  The third star goes to LB Spencer Hadley, with two sacks.  After all, we can’t name Kyle Van Noy the defensive star every week. 

Probably the biggest story of the weekend is that James Lark got semi-meaningful playing time and looked like a competent QB, completing 7 of 10 for 45 yards and 1 TD.  Taysom Hill was 1-3 in limited action, but did run for two touchdowns. 

 Just the fact that we have had to type “Riley Nelson” and “back spasms” in the same sentence is enough cause for concern at QB.  Thankfully, Lark has proven that the Cougars won’t be totally lost if Nelson is hurt for any period of time.  If it did happen, we may end up seeing both QB’s playing a lot.  Hopefully, though, Riley Nelson is allowed to have an uninterrupted senior year.

We apologize if the Weber State post is a bit dismissive or offhand this week, but we are thinking about the exact same thing that every Cougar fan is thinking about: the crass, vile, and overrated Utah Utes.   

We haven’t forgotten how the Utes ran up the score after the game was out of hand, and we haven’t forgotten how much the Utes and their fans celebrated at the Cougars’ expense last year.  It’s said that a little class goes a long way, but the Utes couldn’t even display that much.

You can bet that the Cougars, from coaches to players to maintenance employees, haven’t forgotten it either.  Utes call it “The Beatdown.”  We call it “The Nightmare.”   We remember 7 turnovers, 11 net yards rushing, and numerous uncalled late hits and excessive celebration by the Utes.  We remember the incessant trash-talking.  Oh, and we still remember Derrick Shelby trying to plant the Utes flag in the “Y” of “BYU.”  Funny how players who don’t have to come back the next year do and say some of the stupidest things to rivals after a victory. 

There’s a way to win with class.  You play hard, but in an atmosphere of mutual respect for your opponent, no matter how bitter a rival.  Then, there is what Utah did last year.  Did the Utes play a great game last year?  Yes.  But did they show even a thimbleful of class to go with their ocean of celebration?  Absolutely not.

Fast forward to 2012: the Cougars are 2-0, with a victory over a Pac-12 team that might yet do some damage this year, and a blowout of hopelessly overmatched Weber State.  Meanwhile, the Utes have a blowout over hopelessly overmatched Northern Colorado, and in inexplicable loss to Utah State. 

The Utes had a great time at the Cougars’ expense last year, and went 4-0 in their conference games.  After the BYU game, the Utes were 2-1 with a fairly close loss to USC, and probably thought that they were as good as the media have been telling them they were for years.  The Utes, though, proved that they just aren’t that great of a football team week in and week out, and finished with a 4-5 record in the Pac 12. 

The bottom line is that the Utes are not nearly as great as they and their fans think they are.  They don’t have the front line talent or the depth to compete with elite Pac 12 teams.  They are still a decent team, but their first year in the Pac 12 has to have burst the bubble of all but the most delusional Utes fans. 

And now, to make it worse, starting QB Jordan Wynn was injured last week, and has decided to retire from playing football.  Senior backup Jon Hays went 12-26 for 154 yards against USU after Wynn was hurt.  At this point, it’s a battle between Hays and freshman Travis Wilson to see who gets the nod.  Kyle Willingham probably won’t announce it until game time.  

Either way, it doesn’t look good for the Utes.  They will be playing a supremely motivated BYU team starting a senior QB, while the Utes will be struggling to find an identity, no matter who gets the nod at QB. 

We don’t expect a blowout, but we do expect the Cougars to play harder than even they think it is possible to play.  This game should be a grind, and we expect the Cougars to win by somewhere between 10 and 14 points. 

Most of all, when the Cougars win, there won’t be any trash-talking, excessive celebration, or attempts to vandalize the home field of the Utes.

It’s called “class.”

sports football  As Expected, Cougars Tame Wildcats.  Bring it on, Utes

BYU x Utah State TOTALLY BIASED Preview 2012

July 12, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

Next on the schedule for the Cougars in our ‘Totally Biased’ / ‘Way Too Early’ Previews for 2012 will be Utah State.  While this is still a “rivalry game” for “The Old Wagon Wheel,” it really hasn’t been much of a rivalry since the 1970′s.  Since 1983, the Aggies have won twice.  To put it another way, in the last 23 games, the Cougars are 21-2 against USU. 

USU led the series from its beginning in 1922 until the Cougars tied it in 1991 at 32-32-3, but it has been all Cougars since then.  Since the Aggies tied it back up at 33-33-3 in 1993, they have beaten the Cougars once, in 2010.  Consequently, the Cougars now lead the series, 44-34-3, and it doesn’t look like the trend is going to change anytime soon. 

So, what are we looking at this year from USU?  We would like to say that they are the “up and coming” team they think they are.  Ultimately, though, they are a team that lost to Ohio University in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.  They had to win their last five teams to finish the regular season 7-5, but they won all of them by a touchdown or less. 

While teams love to point to this as evidence of their “toughness,” statistics indicate that teams who win a lot of close games one year usually have a worse record the next as “luck evens out.”  So, can USU use last season as a springboard to better things, or are they still a team that is not quite ready for prime time?

Continuing their tradition of being accepted for conferences shortly after the Cougars leave, USU will be joining the MWC in 2013.  This year, though, they get to play in what is left of the WAC.  Playing in a weak conference helped the Aggies run for 282.7 yards per game in 2011.  They return QB Chuckie Keeton, and juco transfer Adam Kennedy.  Both have starting experience.  They lose two of their top three rushers, with only Kerwynn Williams returning from their three-pronged rushing attack of 2011. 

USU does return four of their top five receivers, though.  Matt Austin, Stanley Morrison, Travis Van Leeuwen, and Eric Moats combined for 95 receptions and 1,310 yards last year, out of 186 and 2,270.  It should also be noted that the returning Kerwynn Williams and the two quarterbacks combined for 1,074 yards rushing last year, out of 3,675. 

They also lose three starters on the OL, but they return 75 total career starts.  They have a new offensive coordinator in Matt Wells, who was last year’s QB coach.  Our guess is that there won’t be much of a transition, and that this year’s USU will look a lot like last year’s USU schematically. 

On defense, they will be in the second year of their change from the 4-3 to the 3-4.  If a team is going to take a “quantum leap” after changing schemes on defense, the second year is often the year it happens.  They lose both inside LB’s from 2012: Bobby Wagner, who averaged 102 tackles his last two seasons, and Kyle Gallagher, who had 72.5 tackles. 

They will be moving a few players around, but they should be improved from last year.  They return CB’s Jumanne Robertson and Nevin Lawson, and SS McKade Bradley.  They made plenty of mistakes last year during the adjustment period, but should improve this year. 

USU will run what coach Gary Andersen calls a “power spread.”  It features a lot of running and high percentage passing.  Both quarterbacks are able to run and pass effectively out of the offense, and they should put up some very nice stats this year.  They did manage to put up a total offense of 5,945 yards last year.  The problem, though, was that they were 7-6. 

We like what USU is doing.  We think that, with continued improvement, they can be a top 50 team someday.  They might even win the WAC this year.  But we don’t see them beating the legitimate teams on their schedule.  They are not going to beat Utah, they are not going to beat Wisconsin, and they are not going to beat the Cougars. 

Colorado State, which has USU’s OC from last year, might end up being a pivotal game for the Aggies.  They could even go 9-3 if things go really, really right for them.  They could also go 6-6 if things go terribly wrong.  We are guessing that 8-4 sounds about right, with a loss to the Cougars. 

The problem with USU is that they just don’t have the horses to get the job done against bigger teams.  The spread offense is a great equalizer, but as more teams are using it, defenses are making better adjustments to it.  Ultimately, it still comes down to being able to dominate the line of scrimmage, and we see the Cougars dominating both sides against the Aggies.

Because of the rivalry, we expect the first half to be close.  USU always plays one of their best games against the Cougars, and we expect this to be no exception.  We don’t believe in “110 percent” here, but the Aggies will definitely get the maximum output from their team in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, emotion and effort can only take a team so far before fatigue and talent take over.  The Aggies are looking at superior personnel on both sides of the ball, and their scheme isn’t going to fool the Cougars.  We expect USU to get a lot of yards outside of the red zone.  The sticking poing for the Aggies, though, is that the field compresses in the red zone, and often negates much of the advantage of the spread.  When that happens, it all comes back to personnel. 

football  BYU x Utah State TOTALLY BIASED Preview 2012We see this game being close for most of the first half, with the Cougars starting to rip some holes down the middle toward the end of the half, taking advantage of the DL and the inexperienced ILB’s.  We see the Cougars taking control of the game by scoring the last touchdown of the first half and the first touchdown of the second half, before pulling away to win by at least seventeen points.

football  BYU x Utah State TOTALLY BIASED Preview 2012

Thoughts on the Cougars and Conference Expansion

May 25, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

A lot of people in the media seem to think that the Big East is about to try and get the Cougars to join again.  The Cougars almost accepted last year, but didn’t because they weren’t sure about TV money or where the current, high-stakes game of “musical conferences” would leave the Big East when the dust settled.

sports football  Thoughts on the Cougars and Conference ExpansionWe don’t think it’s going to happen this year, either.  Simply stated, while the possible Big East TV contract could pay out as much as $6.4 million per team, we don’t even know whether the Big East will be invited along if the major conferences decide to form an elite division.  Also, travel costs would be a joke, and it would be really difficult for fans to travel to the road games. 

After the revelation that the Big 12 has been courting Florida State and Virginia Tech, a lot of insiders have opined that we may soon see those four “superconferences,” and that they will have a playoff.  As it sits now, the Big 12 and SEC champions will meet in one bowl, and the Big Ten and Pac 12 in the Rose Bowl.  This has also rekindled talk of a “plus one” model, in which the winners of those two games would probably be invited to the championship game.

Either way, it is beginning to appear that if you aren’t in one of those four conferences, you won’t be playing for any national championships anytime soon. 

So, let’s look at BYU’s pros and cons for the four possible “breakaway” conferences. 

SEC: The SEC is too tough, and the Cougars would be at too much of a competitive disadvantage due to recruiting and travel.  Simply put, the SEC allows too many “borderline” kids in, and the level of athleticism in the conference is too high. 

Most of the teams use “hostesses” to help in recruiting, and they certainly aren’t introducing recruits to the honor code.  Basically, the South is great at using “southern hospitality” to keep their best athletes at “home.”  It is easy to understand why it is very difficult for “outsiders” to make much headway there. 

And those athletes: southern football players are usually the best in the country because great high school players are treated like rock stars there.  Football is more important in the south than it is anywhere else, except Texas, which is it’s own country and therefore doesn’t count as “the south.”  Kids start young, play all year, and treat football like life and death.

Also, travel would be a nightmare.  It would be almost as bad as the Big East at this point.  Once again, it would be too difficult for fans to get to the games, and the travel costs would be prohibitive.  When fatigue is factored in, it would just be too much for kids that actually have to work hard in school besides playing football. 

In the SEC, the Cougars would be playing the toughest schedule in the country, especially when travel is counted in.  We would stay away from the SEC like it was the plague.

Big Ten:  The Big Ten wants teams that are members of the Association of American Universities.  This translates as “big time research schools.”  While the Cougars would be a lot better-matched with many Big Ten teams than SEC teams, the Big Ten would probably also object to the religious nature of BYU. 

In other words, there is no way this would happen.

Pac 12:  This is the conference that makes the most geographical sense for the Cougars, but there is one major problem: the Pac 12 doesn’t want to invite an LDS school.  This has been cited and subsequently leaked in private league discussions.  In a way, this would be the best conference for the Cougars, but it doesn’t really count because they will never get a chance to find out.

Thanks to the closed minds of the presidents of the Pac 12, the Cougars will not ever be allowed to play in the conference which makes the most geographical sense for them.  This leads us to the last of the four conferences.

Big 12:  This is our choice for the correct conference for the Cougars.  It has a perfect blend of a few football factories and a lot of good universities.  There is no requirement that a school be in the “prestigious AAU,” and the travel is not nearly as bad as the conferences more to the east. 

The Big 12 has had discussions with the Cougars in the past, and would be happy to have them if the Cougars said “yes.”  At this point, though, the Cougars would need a “running buddy,” such as Boise State.  We know that BSU has joined the Big East, but we also know that they want more than anything to play with the “big boys” and be taken seriously on the national scene. 

If the Big East becomes a second-rate conference, it is difficult to imagine that BSU would subject themselves to all of the extra travel they are about to experience.  Our guess is that BSU would withdraw from the Big East in a heartbeat if there were four major conferences and one of them invited BSU. 

If there is no move to four superconferences, the situation might get muddier.  We could even see someone like Utah State or Nevada get an invitation, though we doubt it at this time.  Of all the schools, though, we think Utah is the most natural team to accompany the Cougars to the Big 12.  We know that they are now in the Pac 12, but there is a lot of parochialism in that conference, and all teams don’t always get treated equally behind the scenes. 

Still, though, when it’s all said and done, we expect the Cougars to be in the Big 12, with or without Utah or BSU. 

sports football  Thoughts on the Cougars and Conference Expansion

A Way Too Early Look at the 2012 Schedule

April 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

The Cougars recently announced their full 2012 schedule.  Here’s a few thoughts about each game, and what we should see.  We will, of course, cover the games fully as they get closer. 

 

September 1: Washington State.

The eyes of the entire football world will be on this game, but most people outside of Provo or the LDS faith won’t be cheering for the home team.  This game features the return of “The Pirate,” Mike Leach.  Leach is different, and is a walking storyline generator. 

The media will be all over this one, and many of them will be openly rooting for Leach to win because of the dubious nature of his firing at Texas Tech.  Since Craig James no longer works for ESPN, and it was revealed in Leach’s book that James hired a PR company to discredit Leach, ESPN might side with Leach and disassociate themselves from James. 

Either way, this “Cougars vs Cougars” matchup could be one of the more entertaining games of the year.  We think this one is a tossup.

 

September 8: Weber State

Two words: tomato can. The experienced and well-coached Cougars of BYU should make this one a blowout.

 

September 15: at Utah

There is no way to sugarcoat this: the Cougars got embarrassed at home last year by the Utes, and this will be even more of a grudge match than usual.  Not only was the game a blowout, but the conduct of some of the Utes and their fans rubbed salt in the wound, both on and off the field.  I think the Cougars will find a way to win this game out of sheer determination. 

 

September 22: at Boise State

This could be the best year to play Boise State in the last seven or eight.  BSU expects to have as many as 14 graduating players see the inside of an NFL camp this year.  While the bigger football factories such as Alabama can reload, BSU will be rebuilding.  The graduation of all-world QB Kellen Moore will be too much for BSU to rebound from.  BSU will win eight games due to a fairly easy schedule; BYU won’t be one of them. 

 

September 29: Hawai’i

Hawai’i is a very good team at home.  They aren’t at home on September 29.

 

October 5: Utah State

As always, this will be an intense “rivalry game.”  We don’t see USU pulling off the upset here, though. Even though it practically took a miracle to win last year, BYU has learned not to overlook this game, and will bring their ‘A’ game the same way we expect them to against Utah.

 

October 13: Oregon State

Normally, it would appear unwise to schedule a Pac 12 team for homecoming.  Normally, Oregon State would have something resembling a decent football team.  It’s not a normal year. If BYU takes care of business the way we expect them to, the Cougs will come into this game undefeated. We’re not overlooking OSU, but, seriously, look at their performance lately…

 

October 20: at Notre Dame

This could be a matchup of undefeated teams.  Or, Notre Dame could enter this game on a four game losing streak.  Our guess is that Notre Dame will find a way to be good this year.  Then, again, BYU is a “trap game” for Notre Dame, because they play Stanford the week before and Oklahoma the week after. 

Beating Notre Dame at home is difficult any year despite the weaker seasons the team has had the last few years. Even though we’ll cheer BYU onto the win, this is a game that BYU could very likely lose.

 

October 27: at Georgia Tech

Normally, a team that went 8-5 last year and is starting a redshirt freshman QB would not be much to worry about.  Georgia Tech, though, is always a team to worry about.  They are one of the few teams that uses the triple option, and they execute it very well. 

The problem defending the triple option isn’t that it is anything special, but that teams almost never see it.  It requires a different mindset to defend than any other offense.  Also, because it can produce some prolific rushing yardage, it has a tendency to produce an advantage in time of possession, and can keep the other team’s offense off of the field. 

This game is scary.  Very scary.  It is on the road and is right after Notre Dame.  It doesn’t look good for the Cougars here, especially if the team loses against ND. This is one we’ll go ahead and predict a loss for, despite our confidence that BYU can win this game. It’s just probably the toughest on this year’s schedule.

 

November 10: Idaho

This game could be close in the first half, but we see the Cougars pulling away in the second half. This will probably be one of the games that the coaching staff will plan to get some team-building done for next year. Riley Nelson may play the first half, but will probably wrap the game up and let the 1st backup play the rest.

 

November 17: at San Jose State

This is another game that the Cougars should win easily, but it is on the road, and things can happen on the road.  Luckily, we don’t see any of those things happening this time around. BYU has consistently played pretty well against average teams on the road the last few years. This will be a game that will be played for four full quarters, but the Cougs should probably win by a margin of at least two scores.

 

November 24: at New Mexico State

Another game that the Cougars should win.  Pretty much everything that applies to San Jose State applies here, too. 

 

This is one of the best opportunities the Cougars have had for a shot at the National Championship in a long time.  Returning QB Riley Nelson might not be the prettiest QB in the country, but he is one of the most courageous, and is great at getting the job done, no matter what that entails. 

The major roadblocks are WSU, Utah, BSU, Notre Dame, and GA Tech.  We really think that the Cougars will beat Utah, BSU, and possibly Notre Dame, but it might be too much to expect an undefeated season.  If the Cougars are going to get a shot at the BCS Championship game, they will have to go undefeated.  They have a good enough schedule to make a case if they go undefeated, but will probably not make it with even one loss, due to the usual college football politics. As we’ve seen in the past, the ones in control are just waiting for that one loss to write you off.

While it didn’t apply to Alabama’s loss to LSU last year, the NCAA’s advertising slogan “Every Game Counts” will apply to the Cougars this year, as long as they keep on winning.  Our guess is that a one-loss season could still result in a BCS bowl, but that anything less will end up in a Poinsettia Bowl berth. 

There is a slight chance that a two-loss season could still result in a BCS bowl as the “top independent,” or “top non-BCS conference team,” but it would be a lot better for the Cougars if they took care of business every week since the number of undefeated or near-undefeated non-BCS contenders has grown in the last few years. We don’t really see this happening, but the colllege football landscape is a complicated field where these conditions could potentially exist. Not likely though.

We’re always optimistic, but even we can’t predict an undefeated season.  But we will go with 11-1 as our totally overly-optimistic prediction and a BCS bowl berth.

 

Incoming search terms:

  • pga tour byu
sports football  A Way Too Early Look at the 2012 Schedule

BYU Football Schedule 2012

December 31, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

DATE OPPONENT PLACE FINAL SCORE
9/1 Washington State PROVO, UT  W 30-6
9/8 Weber State PROVO, UT W 45-13
9/15 @Utah Salt Lake City, UT L 24-21
9/22 @Boise State Boise, ID L 7-6
9/29 Hawaii PROVO, UT W 47-0
10/5 Utah State PROVO, UT W 6-3
10/13 Oregon State PROVO, UT L 42-24
10/20 @Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN L 17-14
10/27 @Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA W 41-17
11/12 Idaho PROVO, UT W 52-13
11/17 @San Jose State San Jose, CA L 20-14
11/24 @New Mexico State La Cruces, NM W 50-14
12/24 SDSU Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl W 23-6

See the 2011 Schedule and Score Results

See the 2010 Schedule and Score Results

See the 2009 Schedule and Score Results

 BYU Football Schedule 2012

Controversy? What Controversy?

October 4, 2011 by · 1 Comment 

football  Controversy?  What Controversy?Is it Riley Nelson or Jake Heaps?  Jake Heaps or Riley Nelson.  The numbers are there.  Jake Heaps completed 11 out of 25 for 107 yards, and rushed for five yards.  Riley Nelson completed 10 of 14 for 144 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 62 yards.  When you use the stat of yards per pass attempt, Heaps had 4.28 yards per attempt, and Nelson had 10.3 yards per pass attempt, not counting sacks or scrambles.  

On the surface, it would appear that Nelson is a runaway choice to be the starter for next week.  However, there is a lot more to picking a starting QB than what is on the surface.  

This happens a lot more in college than the NFL, because over half of the teams in the NFL run the same exact offense with different terminology.  So, in the NFL, the skill set for a starting QB is extremely narrow opposed to the skill set for a college QB.  Consequently, the NFL keeps QB’s who fit a narrow prototype, and it is usually easier to quantify who is the best for the team.

In college, though, it’s different.  Teams run different variations and combine a lot of different offenses.  The game is slow enough that some things that wouldn’t work in the NFL work great in college.  Also, coaches run different defenses in college.  There are so many different personnel packages and schemes on both sides of the ball that you never know what offense will work against what defense.  

What does this have to do with Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson?  Everything.  It is difficult to build a team exactly like you want to in college.  Unlike the NFL, players choose where they want to play.  In the NFL, most teams don’t have one or two glaring weak spots.  In college, almost every team has one or many weak spots that can be exploited by a savvy coach.  

Even though Riley Nelson had much better passing stats than Jake Heaps, Nelson is a QB whose strength is that he is a threat to run.  It forces the opposing team to alter their defense.  A disciplined NFL team with no weak spots would simply cover gaps and refuse to break contain.  A college team usually has to have a player “spy” on a running QB.  This can be a very fast LB or an extra DB.  Either way, it takes one man out of coverage and can create mismatches in the secondary.  

Jake Heaps failed to get the job done in the first half, and bringing in Riley Nelson was the correct move.  He was a “change of pace” when the Cougars needed it, and he did a great job.  Remember, though, that USU practiced all week for Jake Heaps.  If they had practiced for Riley Nelson, the outcome might have been different.  

It is often said that backup QB is the best position on the team, because you never do anything wrong.  Whenever the starter fails to perform, the fans and media clamor for the backup.  Now, it appears that most of the fanbase wants to see Nelson as the starter until further notice.  The media may or may not want Nelson to start.  Usually, they just want controversy because it gives them something more compelling to report.

Ultimately, though, the responsibility falls on the coaching staff.  Riley Nelson did his job as a backup QB; he came in, performed admirably, and won the game for the Cougars.  That is great, but the sample size is too small.  Coaches see the players six days a week in practice.  They know who is capable of doing what.  

As fans, all we see are the games.  All we know is what we see on Saturday (or, in the Cougars’ case, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday).  If the decision was being made solely on what happened during those three hours, Nelson would be a runaway pick as the starter.  

The coaches, though, have access to a lot more information, and make their decisions accordingly.  The coaches will make their decision based on what they see in practice.  Really, though, we expect to see Jake Heaps start against San Jose State this week.  

This year’s schedule has been tough.  The Cougars have played against much better competition than they did last year.  To their credit, they are 1-1 in intrastate rivalries this year, where they were 0-2 last year.  No games are “easy,” but it would be nice to see what Jake Heaps can do against an average team that doesn’t have a “rivalry game” with BYU.  Remember the UTEP game?

Sometimes, it does a QB good to sit on the bench and watch the action.  Jake Heaps has a lot of talent, but he needed a pattern interrupt.  He got one big time on Friday.  Jake Heaps took his lumps during the toughest part of the schedule.  He deserves to have a chance to see what he can do against the less difficult part.

Besides, the Cougars are in a perfect position right now.  They have a starting QB with a lot of talent and potential, and a higher upside.  If what he is doing doesn’t work, they have a backup QB who can come in and totally disrupt everything the opponents have practiced for all week.  

Make no mistake about it.  Jake Heaps has NFL potential.  He is still young, too: only a true sophomore.  In a more ideal situation, he could have had a redshirt year to sit on the bench.  When Nelson was injured last season, that was no longer an option.  

Also, Nelson was playing against his old team and had a lot to prove.  Once again, the sample size is too small to make a judgment. 

The bottom line is that, until further notice, Jake Heaps is still the starting QB.  If Riley Nelson outperforms him in practice, he will become the starter.  Either way, we are more than willing to trust whatever the coaches decide to do.  

Ultimately, it is the coaches whose reputations are on the line here, and it is they who have the most information to make a decision.  As far as we are concerned, there is no controversy.  We trust that whatever decision Bronco Mendenhall makes will be the correct one.

On a less serious note, here’s a pretty funny video a fan made about Riley Nelson’s hair:

football  Controversy?  What Controversy?

BYU vs USU Highlight Video

October 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

highlights football  BYU vs USU Highlight Video

BYU Football Schedule 2011

March 21, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

DATE OPPONENT PLACE & TIME CHANNEL FINAL SCORE
9/3 @ Ole Miss Oxford, MS
3:45pm
ESPN W 14-13
9/10 @ Texas Austin, TX
6:00pm
ESPN 2 & ESPN 3D L 17-16
9/17 University of Utah PROVO, UT
7:15pm
ESPN 2 L 54-10
9/23 UCF PROVO, UT
6:00 pm
ESPN W 24-17
9/30 Utah State PROVO, UT
6:00pm
ESPN W 27-24
10/8 San Jose State PROVO, UT
8:15pm
ESPN U W 29-16
10/15 @ Oregon State Corvallis, OR
4:00pm
Fox College Sports, KBYU, BYUtv W 38-28
10/22 Idaho State PROVO, UT
1:00pm
BYUtv W 56-3
10/28 @ TCU Arlington, TX
7:00pm
ESPN L 38-28
11/12 Idaho PROVO, UT
7:15pm
ESPN2 W 42-7
11/19 New Mexico State PROVO, UT
8:15pm
ESPNU W 42-7
12/3 @ Hawaii Honolulu, HI
2:30pm
ESPN2 W 41-20
12/30 vs Tulsa Armed Forces Bowl
12:00pm
ESPN, ESPN3 W 24-21

See the 2010 Schedule and Score Results

See the 2009 Schedule and Score Results

 BYU Football Schedule 2011

BYU Football Schedule 2010

May 3, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

DATE OPPONENT PLACE & TIME CHANNEL FINAL SCORE
9/4 Washington Provo, UT
5:00pm
CBS W 23-17
9/11 Air Force USAFA, CO
2:00pm
VERSUS L 35-14
9/18 Florida State Tallahassee, FL
TBA
TBA L 34-10
9/25 Nevada Provo, UT
4:00 pm
MTN L 27-13
10/1 Utah State Logan, UT
6:00pm
ESPN L 31-16
10/9 SDSU (Homecoming) Provo, UT
4:00pm
MTN W 24-21
10/16 TCU Fort Worth, TX
3:00pm
VERSUS L 31-3
10/23 Wyoming Provo,UT
12:00pm
MTN W 25-20
11/6 UNLV Provo, UT
12:00pm
MTN W 55-7
11/13 Colorado State Fort Collins, CO
12:00pm
MTN W 49-10
11/20 New Mexico Provo, UT
4:00pm
MTN W 40-7
11/27 Utah Salt Lake City, UT
1:30pm
CBS C/MTN L 17-16

See the 2009 Schedule and Score Results

sports  BYU Football Schedule 2010

Last updated by at .

Next Page »