Is Riley a legend in the making?

From coming off the bench to lead a heroic comeback, to having a Twitter account dedicated to his abs, to playing a career game after "miraculously" healing from injury he has played the part of legend this year.



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then again, so did Jake Heaps in 2010.

He still needs a signature win (Beck v Utah 2006) (Hall v OK 2009) but he's got the charisma, the hair, and the abs to be legen-dary.

I sure hope so.

If our special teams hadn't given TCU 28 points on a silver platter, he would have already had his signature win.

I'm glad we don't have to pitch this as a Riley vs Heaps deal anymore. Remember last year the same was being said about Heaps. He had done very well against the cupcakes we played the second half of the year. I feel the same could be said about Riley this year. Everyone is riding his wave right now but he has done well playing sub par teams. Will he be able to make those circus passes with a good D-1 rush in his face? Will he be able to find an open receiver when facing a good secondary? I like the energy he brings to the game, I like his leadership but I'll wait until we've played a few good teams next year before I will start thinking he has a shot at legendom!



Go Cougs!

L Hatton

Louisville, KY

The question is, is Riley a legend in the making. The answer is an unequivocal yes. But we'll have to see next year if he actually makes that legend status.

KYCoug wrote:
I'm glad we don't have to pitch this as a Riley vs Heaps deal anymore. Remember last year the same was being said about Heaps. He had done very well against the cupcakes we played the second half of the year. I feel the same could be said about Riley this year. Everyone is riding his wave right now but he has done well playing sub par teams. Will he be able to make those circus passes with a good D-1 rush in his face? Will he be able to find an open receiver when facing a good secondary? I like the energy he brings to the game, I like his leadership but I'll wait until we've played a few good teams next year before I will start thinking he has a shot at legendom!



Go Cougs!

L Hatton

Louisville, KY

Could be true, but Riley plays like he really wants to be here, and it's not just a stepping stone for his next big gig.

-signed one of biggest Heaps fans there was.



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jmvcougar wrote:

I'm glad we don't have to pitch this as a Riley vs Heaps deal anymore. Remember last year the same was being said about Heaps. He had done very well against the cupcakes we played the second half of the year. I feel the same could be said about Riley this year. Everyone is riding his wave right now but he has done well playing sub par teams. Will he be able to make those circus passes with a good D-1 rush in his face? Will he be able to find an open receiver when facing a good secondary? I like the energy he brings to the game, I like his leadership but I'll wait until we've played a few good teams next year before I will start thinking he has a shot at legendom!



Go Cougs!

L Hatton

Louisville, KY

Could be true, but Riley plays like he really wants to be here, and it's not just a stepping stone for his next big gig.

-signed one of biggest Heaps fans there was.



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Just wait until a defense stacks the box and forces him to throw. Nelson will be exposed then and you will be begging for Heaps to come back. [/TIC circa October]

frdbtr wrote:
If our special teams hadn't given TCU 28 points on a silver platter, he would have already had his signature win.

He still could have won that game despite those screw ups by special teams by not screwing up so much himself.

snoscythe wrote:

KYCoug wrote:
I'm glad we don't have to pitch this as a Riley vs Heaps deal anymore. Remember last year the same was being said about Heaps. He had done very well against the cupcakes we played the second half of the year. I feel the same could be said about Riley this year. Everyone is riding his wave right now but he has done well playing sub par teams. Will he be able to make those circus passes with a good D-1 rush in his face? Will he be able to find an open receiver when facing a good secondary? I like the energy he brings to the game, I like his leadership but I'll wait until we've played a few good teams next year before I will start thinking he has a shot at legendom!



Go Cougs!

L Hatton

Louisville, KY

Could be true, but Riley plays like he really wants to be here, and it's not just a stepping stone for his next big gig.

-signed one of biggest Heaps fans there was.



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Just wait until a defense stacks the box and forces him to throw. Nelson will be exposed then and you will be begging for Heaps to come back. [/TIC circa October]

Yup, TCU threw the kitchen sink at Riley and for the most part he handled it well. There were a couple of plays that everyone wanted back but he played pretty well overall. I think he would have looked better against TCU if we didn't find ourselves in a 14-0 hole before the game even started. I don't think he would have pressed as much.

Y12 wrote:
From coming off the bench to lead a heroic comeback, to having a Twitter account dedicated to his abs, to playing a career game after "miraculously" healing from injury he has played the part of legend this year.



http://www.bluecougarfootball.com/2011/12/and-legend-grows.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



then again, so did Jake Heaps in 2010.

Yes, I would say just like Steve Young ;)

jonnylingo wrote:

If our special teams hadn't given TCU 28 points on a silver platter, he would have already had his signature win.

He still could have won that game despite those screw ups by special teams by not screwing up so much himself.

Ah yes, I forgot. :roll:

frdbtr wrote:

frdbtr wrote:
If our special teams hadn't given TCU 28 points on a silver platter, he would have already had his signature win.

He still could have won that game despite those screw ups by special teams by not screwing up so much himself.

Ah yes, I forgot. :roll:

How many turnovers did riley have frdbtr? Where were those turnovers? Were necessary turnovers? Don't just role your eyes, back up your statement with reason. Riley could have won that game had he done one thing: not thrown the ball while he was being tackled.



Nobody disputes our special teams laid a huge egg putting him in the hole. Despite that Falslev and Riley himself had us in a position to win that game. But when you turn it over three times, you lose. He had three turnovers if I recall correctly. A few of them were when we were about to score.

jonnylingo wrote:

jonnylingo wrote:

If our special teams hadn't given TCU 28 points on a silver platter, he would have already had his signature win.

He still could have won that game despite those screw ups by special teams by not screwing up so much himself.

Ah yes, I forgot. :roll:

How many turnovers did riley have frdbtr? Where were those turnovers? Were necessary turnovers? Don't just role your eyes, back up your statement with reason. Riley could have won that game had he done one thing: not thrown the ball while he was being tackled.



Nobody disputes our special teams laid a huge egg putting him in the hole. Despite that Falslev and Riley himself had us in a position to win that game. But when you turn it over three times, you lose. He had three turnovers if I recall correctly. A few of them were when we were about to score.

There is no absolute proof that BYU would have scored at all if Riley hadn't had those turnovers. (have you seen sorenson's kicking lately?). We do know for a fact though that BYU scored 28 points in that game and TCU scored 38, without the 28 points we gave them for free on special teams, BYU scored enough to win the game.

frdbtr wrote:

frdbtr wrote:

frdbtr wrote:
If our special teams hadn't given TCU 28 points on a silver platter, he would have already had his signature win.

He still could have won that game despite those screw ups by special teams by not screwing up so much himself.

Ah yes, I forgot. :roll:

How many turnovers did riley have frdbtr? Where were those turnovers? Were necessary turnovers? Don't just role your eyes, back up your statement with reason. Riley could have won that game had he done one thing: not thrown the ball while he was being tackled.



Nobody disputes our special teams laid a huge egg putting him in the hole. Despite that Falslev and Riley himself had us in a position to win that game. But when you turn it over three times, you lose. He had three turnovers if I recall correctly. A few of them were when we were about to score.

There is no absolute proof that BYU would have scored at all if Riley hadn't had those turnovers. (have you seen sorenson's kicking lately?). We do know for a fact though that BYU scored 28 points in that game and TCU scored 38, without the 28 points we gave them for free on special teams, BYU scored enough to win the game.

Is that the best you can do? Sorenson kicked a 42 yarder and a 44 yarder in that game. Just say we don't know for a fact that we score? Riley had us in the red zone and turned it over more than once. he could have won us that game despite the special teams crap.



we ran and passed for more yards than tcu. riley should have won us that game. he came up short. he played well minus his huge turnovers. he had two interceptions and a fumble. The most important part you are not addressing is that two of those turnovers CAME IN THE RED ZONE. that was a perfect opportunity for riley to win that came. had he punched it in instead of turning it over we would have had 14 points. if he splits them we get 10 points.



You are not being honest if you are disputing the fact that despite the special teams blunders, riley played well enough to win us that game. he had us in position to win. he blew it with stupid turnovers.



I don't care, I am just saying he could have had a signature win. he was in the red zone twice. just needed to not screw up and get the ball in the endzone. i am not disputing that had special teams not spotted tcu the ball inside the 50 more than once that we still would have have won. that is obvious. we outplayed tcu minus those turnovers. all i am saying is that riley wins that game if he doesn't turn the ball over three time. that killed us just as much as the special teams turnovers.

Riley did have a chance to get a "signature" win. He did blow it with key turnovers at key moments.

jonnylingo wrote:
Is that the best you can do? Sorenson kicked a 42 yarder and a 44 yarder in that game. Just say we don't know for a fact that we score? Riley had us in the red zone and turned it over more than once. he could have won us that game despite the special teams crap.



we ran and passed for more yards than tcu. riley should have won us that game. he came up short. he played well minus his huge turnovers. he had two interceptions and a fumble. The most important part you are not addressing is that two of those turnovers CAME IN THE RED ZONE. that was a perfect opportunity for riley to win that came. had he punched it in instead of turning it over we would have had 14 points. if he splits them we get 10 points.



You are not being honest if you are disputing the fact that despite the special teams blunders, riley played well enough to win us that game. he had us in position to win. he blew it with stupid turnovers.



I don't care, I am just saying he could have had a signature win. he was in the red zone twice. just needed to not screw up and get the ball in the endzone. i am not disputing that had special teams not spotted tcu the ball inside the 50 more than once that we still would have have won. that is obvious. we outplayed tcu minus those turnovers. all i am saying is that riley wins that game if he doesn't turn the ball over three time. that killed us just as much as the special teams turnovers.

I am aware of Riley's turnovers, and I admit that during the game it irritated me that he didn't just take the sack and come back to play another down. My point is, that we can't just drop all the blame for the loss on the guy that had us with a chance to win AFTER spotting TCU 28 points on special teams. How many teams actually have a chance to win a game after spotting the opponent 28 points on special teams? It just doesn't happen. BYU lost to TCU due to special teams. Riley Nelson was the guy that battled like a warrior and had us in the game. (and of course falslev got us back 7 of the 28 points with his return)

While we're spreading the blame, let's not forget the O-line. I cannot recall, but I don't believe Riley was being tackled because he held onto the ball too long. The o-line broke down a lot against TCU.



So, Special Teams--let down.



O-line--let down.



Nelson throwing the ball even when being tackled--let down (and it doesn't help that he got away with it against Hawaii--I was hoping he had learned better after TCU).



Rest of Riley's career this year--awesome.



Future--so bright I need some 8)

I am willing to give the turnovers a pass considering this was the first truely good defense that RN had played against. I expect that he will learn from the experience and do better. It appears against Hawaii he was trying to avoid those errors except for the one miracle pass to Hoffman.



Also he did well against OSU even though their record was not good. Their D had some talent.

SpiffCoug wrote:
Riley did have a chance to get a "signature" win. He did blow it with key turnovers at key moments.

Him coming back and winning it despite the atrocious mistakes by our special teams would have made it even more of a signature win.