The difference in this year's team

[Cougs_Rule]

Potable quotables for $300, please. See last weeks media interviews of Doman and then Riley. BYUtv.

Doman: I wish he wouldn't.....

Riley: I don't care what they want....I am going to play how I know how to play.

[frdbtr]

Potable quotables for $300, please. See last weeks media interviews of Doman and then Riley. BYUtv.

Doman: I wish he wouldn't.....

Riley: I don't care what they want....I am going to play how I know how to play.

Lets see the context dude, I don't remember either of those quotes. I want to see what context they were put in. link to the articles would be best.

[Y12]

"internal crud" is almost as bad as the BCS. Even beyond BYU, it has ruined the game for fans as great opportunities are lost.

Lack of leadership cannot be overstated in the feeling of underachiement the last two years.

[Lawboy]

Not sure why this is a surprise. I talked about it at great lengths. And if you think that the locker room issues were all about Heaps-Nelson only, you are wrong. It was a big part of it, but there were some seniors last year that added greatly to it as well.

2012 really is a fresher start. Addition by subtraction in many instances.

[byucougar1]

Not to re-hash the whole Heaps vs Nelson issue, but I felt there was something amiss when Riley lead his team to the winning TD drive in OT vs Heaps team. Pandemonium broke out for the victors, and the 2nd string QB (Nelson) outshined the starter under pressure. It turns out that the team has always believed in him regardless of the adversity the team faced. This confidence was well placed as he ended up doing that vs USU and TU. My problem with the situation is the delayed recognition of the problem and subsequent change. This is not unlike the M. Alissa insertion into the starting lineup. I saw early in the MS game that he showed flashes of brilliance when he had a big gain on the swing pass. Never understood why they didn't run more plays with him. Same things with Joe Sampson - who clearly showed that he could make the big hit and big play - delay in inserting him into the lineup. Anyway, my concern, is that I hope when there appears to be a hot hand or someone that is rallying the team with their play, that the coaches are not afraid to pull the trigger and insert said player into the lineup. This being said, I also hope that the team chemistry has eliminated any cliques as these are disastrous to a team regardless of the team leader. Presenlty, I believe that Riley is unifying and not dividing the team.

[Gunk]

Honestly, if you were an O-lineman or a WR last year did you really have any confidence in scared-little-girl Heaps after the 2nd game of the season? Probably not. You probably played hard and wished him the best, but inside didn't have the faith he could get it done.

If Heaps wasn't busy cowering he was busy chucking the ball 10 feet above receivers or down at their ankles and then blaming his poor throwing on a lack of a running game. Three and out was Heaps mantra.

I don't recall exactly, but I think it took Nelson all of 6 quarters of football to score more touchdowns than Heaps had done all season last year. That's infectious. Players want to play. WRs want to catch the ball. O-linemen want to feel their efforts are yielding results not turnovers and positive field position to opponents.

Heaps sucks. The only think he was good at was sticking to the talking points his PR firm prepared. It's been backed up statistically, so why we continue to debate this, I don't know.

[Mars]

Honestly, if you were an O-lineman or a WR last year did you really have any confidence in scared-little-girl Heaps after the 2nd game of the season?

If I'm a BYU o-lineman last season, my loyalty belongs to the guy who buys me the most cougar tails...

[SpiffCoug]

The more I think about it, the more I think last year's division on the team was the coaches' fault. Either they didn't have a good pulse on the team (i.e. they didn't know how small the Heaps' supporters group was on the team and/or how large the Riley's supporters group was) or they knew where the team stood, but went with the unpopular guy.

I can see why, Heaps was very good at the end of 2010 and had done nothing to dissuade the coaches otherwise with his performance in spring and fall camps. Although, they likely discounted the spring and fall camp struggles (which Heaps did have) in large part because Riley wasn't consistently better or good enough in practice.

The first half of 2011 was a colossal failure by the coaching staff and the team for not coming together and for not producing at any acceptable level in the first four and half games.

With their one personnel change, the dynamic on offense was changed and the dynamism I think we'll see through 2012 arrived.

[Lawboy]

THe dynamic will be there as long as RN stays healthy. And that fact worries the he!! out of me. WIth good reason.

[Cougarbib]

THe dynamic will be there as long as RN stays healthy. And that fact worries the he!! out of me. WIth good reason.

You know opponents will make note of his style and aggressiveness and at a minimum make sure he gets hit early and often. Hopefully no dirty play.

Hopefully we have a RB better than Harvey Langi is at picking up the blitzes. Hopefully we have a fullback with Manase or Fui ability to lead block or pick up a blitz. Hopefully we have FB, RB, and TE that can carry a larger share of the load. OL will need to pass block and run block equally effectively. The days of pass block well and do your best with the run blocking will not cut it anymore with this offense. Then maybe Riley stays healthy and leverages some very good wide receivers. That is what it will take for this offense to be special.

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